Fox News reports an Ohio man with serious mental issues threatened to poison House Speaker John Boehner,and was in a position to make good on his threat last fall, as he was tending bar at a country club Boehner frequented:
A grand jury indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Ohio on Jan. 7 identified the accused man as Michael R. Hoyt, a resident of Cincinnati.
A separate criminal complaint said Hoyt was fired last fall from his job at a country club in West Chester, Ohio, where he served drinks to Boehner, who is a member.
In a subsequent conversation with a police officer, Hoyt said that before leaving, he “did not have time to put something in John Boehner’s drink,” according to the complaint.
The court paper also said, “Hoyt told the officer he was Jesus Christ and that he was going to kill Boehner because Boehner was mean to him at the country club and because Boehner is responsible for Ebola.“
How long will it take for leftists to cite this guy as evidence that Christian “extremists” are prone to violence, too? We’re probably also in for a lecture about how conservative Ebola panic, allegedly fomented in a calculated effort to make voters angry at President Obama going into the midterm elections, helped drive Mr. Hoyt around the bend.
This will be topped off by left-wingers making exactly the sort of jokes about Boehner’s hypothetical death that they would absolutely savage anyone for making about a Democrat. The Boston Globe already published one such offering, entitled “Would Anyone Have Noticed If Bartender Succeeded In Poisoning John Boehner?” speculating that poison wouldn’t kill him because his “pickled liver would have filtered out the toxins.” The Globe might be having second thoughts about running that piece, as the link to it was dead as of 8:30 AM Wednesday morning. It was subsequently re-activated, with heavy stealth editing — that is, it was significantly revised without any acknowledgement of changes being made, the favored instrument of big media editorial cowardice. (Hat tip to eagle-eyed Twitter pal @Conndawg68, who has screen captures of the article preserved, in case it slips into the memory hole again.)
According to the criminal complaint, Hoyt said he had a loaded Beretta .380 automatic pistol and he was going to shoot Boehner. Hoyt volunteered to be taken to a psychiatric hospital, and police took his weapon.
He is currently being held under a court order for mental evaluation and treatment, and U.S. Capitol Police and the FBI believe he “poses a current and ongoing credible threat” to Boehner, the complaint added.
The complaint says Hoyt was treated for a previous psychotic episode about two years ago. He was prescribed medication “which he voluntarily stopped taking” about six months ago, it added.
A senior congressional source told Fox News that Hoyt was committed to a mental institution from October through the end of December but then was released. Once he was out, law enforcement felt strongly enough to move to indict him to get him off the street because of the potential threat posed to Boehner.
A more productive conversation might involve the institutionalization and release of people with serious mental problems. Fortunately the authorities realized Hoyt was trouble and kept an eye on him. Speaker Boehner and others in Congress are aware of the threat and are taking it seriously as well. The speaker released a statement thanking “the FBI, the Capitol Police, and the local authorities in Ohio for their efforts,” while an unnamed congressional aide quoted by Fox News said the disturbed Mr. Hoyt “said some things that really spooked us.”
According to WCPO News in Cincinnati, Hoyt has been serving drinks to Boehner at the Wetherington Country Club for over five years. He blamed Boehner for losing his job, in addition to holding him accountable for Ebola and serving as an agent of Hell, and had a chilling email exchange with the Speaker’s wife:
Hoyt: “Mr. Boehner, I sincerely do not want to embarrass anyone. I am willing to drop all of this if you and Dr. Bob Buring deliver my termination report to me personally, or transport me to a secure location where the three of us can have an honest conversation. If I had any intention of hurting Mr. Boehner, I could have poisoned his wine at Wetherington many, many times. I do not believe I have lied about anything nor exaggerated. This is extremely urgent. Tuesday. Earlier the better. Talk to Dr. Bob Buring. PLEASE!!! We can work together and succeed or …..fail miserably. My phone died. I am at home. I have a dog and cat so please do not bust in. I will leave my lights on inside and out all night. You probably already know where I live. REDACTED Matson Ave. Deer Park, Ohio.”
Debbie Boehner: “What is this about??”
Hoyt: “Mrs. Boehner, I was fired. I could not email Mr. Boehner directly because of the zip code block on his email. It doesn’t matter anyway. If he took a real interest in anything he would insure his Club was better than the Country, but they are exactly the same and life goes on SSDD. Sincerely, Mike. Mike, your former bartender.”
Hoyt ended up creating an 11-page blog post detailing his theories about Boehner being the Devil, called 911 because he thought evil servants of Hell were going to “come chop him up” to silence him, and reported that the Devil’s voice was coming out of his car speakers and home stereo, warning him that Boehner was evil. Unsurprisingly, there isn’t much consistency in these delusions.
WCPO also says the police seized a lot more than one pistol when they searched Hoyt’s home and subsequently visited his mother’s house:
Police searched Hoyt’s home on Oct. 31 and seized an SKS assault rifle magazine, two boxes of 7.62 ammo, 35 loose rounds, a speed loader and a box of .380 rounds. A notebook containing “John Boehner” and “Ebola” were among other writings found during the search, as well as two envelopes with lists of country club members, according to documents.
Agents said they also found a bullet hole in the upper wall of Hoyt’s first-floor bedroom.
Officers said they later recovered Hoyt’s SKS assault rifle at his mother’s home in Hebron, Ky. She told investigators she removed it from his home while he wasn’t there because she noticed he was not eating or sleeping and becoming increasingly agitated, Desrosiers said.
Some of Hoyt’s writings suggest that he really wanted to confront Boehner in front of a large crowd, such as the audience at a sport stadium; perhaps such fantasies kept him from taking quieter actions. We can all join Speaker Boehner in expressing gratitude that Hoyt was taken into custody before anything horrible happened.
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