A profanity-laced voicemail packed with antisemitic slurs and an explicit death threat against Florida Rep. Randy Fine is now in the hands of U.S. Capitol Police, according to his office and multiple media reports. The recording, obtained by news outlets this week, zeroes in on Fine and the wider Jewish community with graphic language at a time when lawmakers say hateful calls and online threats are piling up.
Audio of the message was obtained and detailed by TMZ, which reports that callers to several congressional offices have been unleashing antisemitic rants and violent language. In the voicemail targeting Fine, one caller is quoted as saying “the U.S. government needs to kill Jews” and issuing a direct death threat against the congressman, along with other crude taunts aimed at his Washington office. Staffers described the clip to reporters as part of a small sample of the kinds of messages members have been getting recently.
Fine’s office called the voicemail the latest in a string of hateful contacts the congressman has received and said the recording has been turned over to investigators, the New York Daily News reports. U.S. Capitol Police confirmed they are reviewing the threat but refused to get into specifics about how they are protecting Fine. A department spokesperson told the Daily News that “for safety reasons, we cannot discuss potential security measures for the members of congress, or any potential investigations.”
A broader spike on Capitol Hill
The voicemail to Fine lands as Jewish lawmakers in both parties say they are seeing a steep climb in harassment and threats. Axios reviewed dozens of recent messages and found increasingly explicit antisemitic slurs and violent threats aimed at members of Congress. Lawmakers told the outlet the volume and intensity feel markedly worse than in previous years, with more callers skipping the dog whistles and going straight to open threats.
The surge in vitriol has overlapped with a bruising Republican primary fight in Fine’s own district, where social media personality Dan Bilzerian went after the congressman on X earlier this spring, calling him “this fat jew” and filing to challenge him in the GOP primary, as previously reported in coverage of Instagram playboy crashes Central Florida race. That feud has thrown extra national attention on Fine and turned a local House contest into a magnet for commentary about antisemitism and political rhetoric.
Other members have aired the messages
Florida Rep. Jared Moskowitz, another Jewish member of Congress, recently pulled back the curtain on what his office has been hearing. He played several voicemails during a media interview and described what he called a steady rise in antisemitic hostility. The Forward reports that Moskowitz said the threats led him to arrange 24-hour police protection at his home. He told national television audiences the recordings were “deeply disturbing” and part of a broader normalization of violent rhetoric aimed at Jewish officials.
Legal and security implications
Threats against members of Congress are typically routed to federal authorities and can result in criminal charges when investigators manage to identify the caller. In one notable example, federal prosecutors in December 2022 charged a Washington state man they said left hundreds of violent, racist and antisemitic voicemails for various lawmakers, a case that showed how hateful recordings can turn into felony prosecutions, according to reporting from the Associated Press.
Congressional offices generally flag threatening messages to Capitol Police and, when necessary, to the Justice Department for potential criminal review. Fine’s staff says this latest voicemail is part of a broader pattern of hate the congressman has been documenting. Investigators are now working to trace the call and assess how credible the threat may be, all while trying to protect member safety without tipping their hand on investigative steps.
This story will be updated as officials release additional details and as the Capitol Police inquiry progresses.
