Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation into the Supreme Court led to the arrest of a Florida man who threatened to murder Democrats and “Weak Republicans” if the nomination failed.
James Royal Patrick Jr. of Winter Haven was arrested Wednesday after posting a series of disturbing messages on his Facebook page where he threatened to kill members of Congress and their families if the judge was not confirmed for the position on the Supreme Court.
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The 53-year-old resident of Polk County was charged with one count of written threats to kill or injure, according to Huffington Post. He is currently under arrest in the Polk County Jail on a $500,000 bond.
“I can tell it seems I will be sacrificing my life for my country,” Patrick wrote, according to the Orlando Sentinel. “But I am ready and will know who needs to be killed after the vote to put Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court.”
In another post, Patrick reportedly wrote, “I expect to be confronted and I will be ready to kill and ready to die.”
In other posts, Patrick claimed to have weapons and ammunition. He also reportedly wrote about waking up in the middle of the night thinking about killing Democrats and their families.
The outlet writes that it took Polk County police only five hours from receiving the tip to execute a search warrant at his home, where they found a .308 caliber hunting rifle, Desert Eagle handgun and ammunition for both weapons.
Patrick reportedly admitted to writing the messages on social media in an attempt to annoy liberals with his “crazy statements.” He allegedly told police he never intended on actually following through on his reckless threats.
“People need to calm down, and stop making threats of violence — we will not tolerate it,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd told the Sentinel. “Anyone who threatens to kill a public officer or law enforcement officer will go to jail.”
The U.S. Senate confirmed Judge Kavanaugh into the Supreme Court with a 50-48 vote on Saturday afternoon. He is expected to be sworn Saturday with former Justice Anthony Kennedy, whose seat Kavanaugh is taking over, expected to attend.
“I applaud and congratulate the U.S. Senate for confirming our GREAT NOMINEE, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, to the United States Supreme Court. Later today, I will sign his Commission of Appointment, and he will be officially sworn in. Very exciting,” President Donald Trump tweeted after the Senate vote.
