A Pennsylvania Democrat mounting a primary challenge against Sen. John Fetterman now faces federal charges after prosecutors say he left a series of chilling voicemails urging a sitting member of Congress to assassinate President Donald Trump.
As reported by The Post Millennial, a federal affidavit reviewed by Law&Crime states that Raymond Chandler III has been charged with influencing, impeding, or retaliating against a federal official by threat, along with threatening a family member of a federal official. Federal investigators allege that Chandler left multiple voicemails for an unidentified member of Congress in April, including an April 29 message in which he allegedly told the lawmaker, "You've probably getting quite used to my voice."
In that same April 29 voicemail, Chandler allegedly escalated from harassment to explicit incitement, laying out in graphic detail what he wanted the lawmaker to do to the President. "Sir, I'm calling this evening because what I want you to do is I want you to take a firearm. I want you to put it in your hand. I want you to walk into the Oval Office. I want you to put that firearm to the President's head, and I want you to pull the trigger and I want you to kill him."
Chandler allegedly framed his demands as some twisted form of civic engagement, invoking constitutional language while calling for political murder. He allegedly continued: "I am petitioning you, Senator for redress of grievances. My redress of grievances is that this president is awful."
The affidavit recounts that Chandlers rhetoric then turned overtly apocalyptic and theological, branding the President in religiously charged terms. "He's a liar among all liars. He's a great deceiver. He's the antichrist. I want you to walk into the Oval Office with a gun in your hand. I want you to put it to his temple, and I want you to pull the trigger." According to the affidavit, Chandler also said: "That is what I want you to do as my agent."
He allegedly pressed further, explicitly tying his assassination demand to his view of free speech and the duties of an elected official. "That's what I want you to do as my elected official. That's what I am petitioning you to do with my free speech. I want you to kill the President. I want you to assassinate the President. That's what I want you to do. Now, Senator, are you gonna come after me? Are you going to try me because of my voice and what I said?"
Authorities say this was not an isolated outburst, pointing to an earlier voicemail Chandler allegedly left on April 18 that broadened his threats to include wealthy Americans and the lawmakers own family. In that message, he reportedly said, "Sir, I have, uh, I'm calling this morning 'cause I want you to imagine a scenario. I want you to imagine a scenario where all the 1200 billionaires in this country, all their properties are surrounded simultaneously by a thousand people." He later added: "[T]hat is the future."
Chandlers rhetoric then veered into classic hard-left class warfare, invoking wealth redistribution and mass unrest as inevitable. "It's not a future I want, it's not a future I'm advocating for, but wealth concentration has gotten so bad in this country. The greed has gotten so bad. People are suffering so much, sir, that that is what is in our future. You will not escape their wrath. We must redistribute the wealth away from people like you."
The FBI said it reviewed voicemails from Chandler going back about a year, with messages allegedly including his name and address. The case underscores the increasingly radical tone among some on the left, where violent rhetoric against President Trump and open hostility toward wealth and political opponents are too often excused as mere speech until law enforcement is forced to step in.
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