A Las Vegas man is facing federal charges over a series of violent, antisemitic threats he made to an unnamed U.S. senator in Nevada, allegedly calling her “subhuman” and vowing to “finish what Hitler started.”
“You done picked your side bitch and you done chose evil,” John Anthony Miller, 43, said in an Oct. 17 voicemail, according to a newly unsealed criminal complaint first reported by The Daily Beast. “I don’t give a fuck if you were born into it or not, bitch, you are fucking evil, bitch and we’re gonna exterminate you, fuck.”
The legislator is not named in the complaint, but Jacky Rosen, a Democrat, is the state’s only Jewish senator. (Nevada’s other senator, Catherine Cortez Masto—also a Democrat—is Roman Catholic.) In an email on Monday afternoon, Rosen’s office confirmed she was indeed the one targeted by Miller.
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“Threats against public officials should be taken seriously,” a spokesperson for Rosen told The Daily Beast. “Senator Rosen trusts the U.S. Attorney’s office and federal law enforcement to handle this matter.”
Rosen has shown support for Israel in the weeks since armed Hamas gunmen launched a surprise cross-border attack from Gaza, killing more than 1,000 Israelis. Since then, thousands of Palestinians have been killed by Israeli air strikes.
Rosen has always been proudly open about her Judaism, noting on her official Senate webpage that she was previously the president of Congregation Ner Tamid, Nevada’s largest synagogue. She is the third female Jewish senator in U.S. history, and the first former synagogue president to serve in the Senate, where she is the co-founder and co-chair of the Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism.
“I cannot comment on the case at this time,” Miller’s public defender, Ben Nemec, told The Daily Beast.
Miller began threatening Rosen on Oct. 11, four days after the Israel-Hamas war kicked off, according to the complaint. It says the calls ramped up over the next week or so, peaking on Oct. 17 with a series of voicemails from Miller, whose phone number came up on the caller ID each time.
“All these fucking lies is in your fucking hands, you fucking bitch, and I’m gonna fucking see you soon, you fucking sellout fucking fa***t bitch,” Miller allegedly said in one.
“You done picked your side bitch and you done chose evil,” he allegedly said in another. “I don’t give a fuck if you were born into it or not, bitch, you are fucking evil, bitch and we’re gonna exterminate you, fuck.”
In a third, Miller allegedly said, “You just fucking woken up a motherfucking monster, you fucking piece of shit unhuman, subhuman, you’re vermin, bitch, you are vermin, bitch, and we’re gonna finish what Hitler started you fucking slut.”
On Oct. 18, the complaint says Miller showed up at the federal courthouse on Las Vegas Boulevard, where Rosen has an office. He told security that he was there to see the senator and showed an ID card which showed his last name as “Miller,” according to the complaint. When a court security officer asked for a closer look, Miller allegedly refused. At that point, Miller “became agitated and started yelling and shouting profanities, including, ‘[K]ill every last Israeli terror-fucking-rist,’ while walking on Las Vegas Boulevard,” the complaint states.
The next day, Miller continued his campaign, leaving a slew of additional threatening voicemails at the senator’s office, the complaint continues. In one, Miller asked if Rosen had “any family members that [were] Israeli settlers,” calling them “savage” and accusing them of “war crimes,” it alleges.
“She lets her own family members kill these Palestinians in the West Bank,” Miller went on, according to the complaint. “The Christians in the West Bank. Senator, I’m sorry to say, but ya know what, you’re a piece of shit and you’re gonna burn in fucking hell for your fucking crimes. You think you’re not fucking complicit, bitch? You’re gonna bum in hell, bitch, and me and Jesus are gonna piss on you, bitch.”
On Oct. 24, Miller went on another tirade, allegedly leaving yet another set of unhinged voicemails—this time from an unidentified number. However, the “voice and pattern of speech matched that of Miller’s prior voicemails,” the complaint states.
“Watch, bitch, you’re [sic] whole fucking family’s in danger, bitch,” he allegedly said.
Miller was subsequently arrested and appeared in Las Vegas federal court on Friday, where he was formally charged with threatening a federal official. He was ordered detained, pending his next hearing on Nov. 13. If convicted, Miller faces up to a year behind bars.
