A defense contractor working in Maryland is accused of threatening to kill a South Florida member of Congress over a bill she filed that would require children in public schools to be vaccinated.
The Daily Beast identified the representative as U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson. Capitol Police and the U.S. Department of Justice would not confirm the report to the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Wilson’s spokeswoman referred questions to Capitol Police.
Court documents filed in federal court identify the member only as “Congressperson #1.”
In a message left June 26, Darryl Albert Varnum told the congresswoman to “get the f**k out” because he thought she was taking away his rights, according to an affidavit.
“I’ll come down to Miami b**ch,” the caller is quoted in court documents as saying. “I’ll f**k you up. Like Cubans don’t even know.”
Just 12 minutes after the message was left, a post appeared on Varnum’s Facebook timeline that included a picture of the American flag and “H.R. 2527 Vaccinate All Children Act of 2019,” the affidavit states.
“Holocaust has begun! I’m done with this bullshit. Time to step up or ship out!,” the post read. Less than an hour later, another post appeared stating, “All our guns are next, been trying for years!”
Varnum works for Sealing Technologies, which has a contract with the Defense Information Systems Agency, according to court documents. As part of his job, Varnum had access to “sensitive information,” the affidavit states.
The vaccination bill is making its way through Congress.
A message left on a cellphone number associated with Varnum was not immediately returned.
Last month, John Joseph Kless, 49, of Tamarac, pleaded guilty in federal court to threatening multiple members of Congress because of their support of gun control and comments that had been made toward President Donald Trump.
U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell of California, U.S. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey and U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan received the messages laden with profanity and racist comments, according to an affidavit filed in federal court.
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© 2019 the Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)
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