Robert Lemke Sentenced to 3 Years Over Threats to Journalists and Politicians

Mr. Lemke, of Bay Point, Calif., told Professor Jeffries that he was part of a group of “active/retired law enforcement or military” that had “armed members near your home,” according to court documents.

Professor Jeffries said in an email that he was satisfied with the sentence and declined to comment beyond a letter he sent to Judge Hellerstein.

The letter said that the texts had created “a palpable sense of fear” in his home.

“I could see it in my 11-year-old daughter’s eyes when she wondered whether the odd creak in the house was actually someone trying to break in and harm us,” Professor Jeffries wrote.

He said that Mr. Lemke turned “a family’s world upside down” and “shook us to the core.”

Mr. Lemke sent a similar text to a relative of Mr. Stephanopoulos, saying that the journalist’s words were “putting you and your family at risk.”

“We are nearby, armed and ready,” Mr. Lemke wrote, according to prosecutors. “Thousands of us are active/retired law enforcement, military, etc. That’s how we do it.”

Brian Stelter, CNN’s chief media correspondent, said in an article published Monday that he and a colleague, the anchor Don Lemon, had been among the journalists that Mr. Lemke had threatened. Mr. Stelter described one message he received from Mr. Lemke that included a photo of his father’s grave.

He said that Mr. Lemon began “choking up” while telling Judge Hellerstein that “people like Robert Lemke” had called him “horrendous names,” including homophobic and racist slurs.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/21/us/politics/robert-lemke-capitol-riot.html