The Department of Justice says an American citizen living in Thailand has pleaded guilty to threatening to kill North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis and his staff. 53-year-old Eric Charles Welton pled guilty to one count of threatening a federal official on account of his duties.
According to court documents, Welton made multiple harassing and intimidating calls to the offices of Republican elected officials and GOP organizations in the United States. Welton claimed he made the threatening calls because he was angry about the large number of unsolicited political emails he received. In September of 2021, Welton spoke with a staff member at the Senator’s Raleigh office and threatened to show up and “put a bullet through each of [their] heads.”
He faces a maximum of 10 years in prison when sentenced in July.
