Man accused of threatening lawmaker on Facebook says he was 'fed up' with Republicans
MIAMI _ Two weeks after a U.S. congressman and four others were shot during a baseball practice in a Washington, D.C., suburb by a man with a history of lashing out at Republicans, a Florida lawmaker decided he wasn't taking any chances.
So Sunday, after someone threatened his life on his Facebook page, state Rep. Jose Felix Diaz, R-Miami, informed police.
And on Monday, Northwest Miami-Dade resident Steve St. Felix, 34, was arrested and charged with written threats with intent to do bodily injury. Police said St. Felix was "fed up" with the Republican Party _ and that he hadn't taken his meds when he posted the threat. It's unclear what condition the medications were treating.
The threat _ "I'll kill your ass and you better not show up to the next REC meeting" _ was quickly removed from Diaz's Facebook page, police said. It appeared to refer to the Republican Executive Committee, the name of the local Miami-Dade County GOP.
St. Felix's listed address is clear across the county from where Diaz lives.
Diaz, 37, is running for a contested state Senate seat. The primary is July 25.
On June 14, Steve Scalise, the U.S. House Republican whip, was badly injured during an early morning shootout in Alexandria, Va., as a group of Republicans practiced for their annual baseball game against Democrats.
Two members of Scalise's Capitol Police security detail, a congressional aide and a lobbyist were also shot and injured. The shooter, James T. Hodgkinson, a 66-year-old from a Belleville, Ill., a suburb outside St. Louis, was shot and killed.
_Miami Herald
