A former Virginia Beach man received the sentence Friday on charges he threatened Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in 2022.
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A former Virginia Beach man is set to serve five years in federal prison after threatening the lives of former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris while they were in office.
Kevin Butler, 47, received the sentence on Friday, according to a press release from the Department of Justice. He was convicted of seven counts of knowingly and willfully making various threats against the president and vice president of the United States following a two-day bench trial last year.
“Threats of violence against elected officials affront the political process and the rule of law,” Acting United States Attorney Robert N. Tracci of the Western District of Virginia said after the sentence was handed down. “This office will seek clear accountability against those who threaten public officials with acts of violence.”
Evidence and court records showed Butler made a series of phone calls to a Virginia Probation and Parole office in early December 2022, according to the press release. In these calls, he threatened the lives of Biden and Harris, leaving voice mails stating he would “jump over the fence” outside the White House, with a firearm, and “kill the President.”
It was the second time he was convicted of making such threats. In 2014, Butler was convicted in the Eastern District of Virginia for making threats against against then-President Barack Obama and then-Vice President Joe Biden.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service.
