Long Island Man Arrested After Threatening To Kill GOP Rep. Who Voted For Biden's Infrastructure Bill

Nassau County authorities have confirmed that Kenneth Gasper, a 64-year-old resident of Long Island, New York, has been arrested after threatening to kill Republican New York Representative Andrew Garbarino for voting for President Joe Biden's infrastructure bill.

The criminal complaint against Gasper "was extremely upset over an infrastructure bill" and made clear, in reference to Garbarino, "If I see that mother [expletive] in the street, I'm going to kill him."

Gasper was charged with second-degree aggravated harassment and was arraigned Thursday, November 11. He has pleaded not guilty, was released, and has been ordered to stay away from Garbarino.

Garbarino broke with his party to vote for the $1 trilllion infrastructure package which, among other things, would put $550 billion in new funding into transportation, broadband and utilities.

The measure passed in a 228-206 vote. Garbarino was one of thirteen Republicans to vote for it.

Gasper's call to Garbarino came shortly after Georgia Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene tweeted that Garbarino and the other twelve Republicans to vote for the infrastructure bill were "traitors" to the Republican agenda.

Greene's tweet also included phone numbers for all of the lawmakers.

Speaking to Buzzfeed News after receiving Gasper's threat, Garbarino said:

"It's amazing people want to kill me over paving roads and clean water,. The misinformation out there about this bill is so bad that I'm getting death threats."

Many have condemned Gasper's actions and have suggested that they are indicative of a wider trend within the Republican Party to call for violence against elected officials.

Violent threats against lawmakers are expected to double this year, according to a recent report from The New York Times, which observed that "menace" has entered mainstream American politics.

Greene, for her part, has defended her decision to single out the Republicans who voted for the infrastructure bill.

On Saturday, November 13, she insisted that her decision was justified, claiming that she also receives "nasty calls," except from the "deranged left," not Republicans.

Greene insisted that the Republicans who voted for the infrastructure bill are helping Democrats "destroy our economy, take away our freedoms, enslave us in crippling debt, and corrupt our society with immoral policies."