A Maryland man who threatened to murder a Republican Representative and his family has been given a minor slap on the wrist as punishment. Sidhartha Kumar Mathur is being punished with community service after threatening the life of Representative Andy Harris. Prosecutors and the judge who heard the case evidently sought to ensure that Mathur received as little punishment as he possibly could for appearances sake.
Extremely graphic threats
Representative Andy Harris openly supported Donald Trump in his attempts to establish an investigation into allegations of fraud in the 2020 election.
Mathur responded by sending a message through the congressman’s website in which he threatened to carry out a terrorist attack against his office.
He told the Maryland Republican that he would murder him and his family, telling the congressman specifically that he would like to torture him and see him “skinned alive.”
This is obviously not the sort of individual who has any business being involved in our political system, though he is hardly unique in that regard.
The Maryland man lied about his threats before finally confessing in June. Lying to a federal agent is a felony so Mathur was subsequently charged for this.
Because Mathur made such vivid and extreme threats and did so multiple times, one would expect that he would be treated as a potentially dangerous individual by the authorities.
Minor punishment for threatening Republican
Instead, the unhinged individual received incredibly sympathetic treatment from prosecutors who helped to keep him out of prison.
Two years of probation, 16 days in prison, and 100 hours of community service will the extent of the punishment received by Mathur.
The Justice Department apparently thinks that this punishment is perfectly fitting because Mathur apologized for threatening to kill the Republican and his family.
His grotesque and repeated threats were described as simply a heated expression of frustration with the political situation, rather than the promise of premeditated violence which they appeared to be.
It should go without saying that it is hard to believe that a politically reversed situation like this could not possibly have resulted in such a lenient sentence.
Congressman Harris said that he expects to receive threats as an elected official but that the violent threats against his family were particularly shocking.
