A 36-year-old Whitney man is being held on $250,000 bond after Texas investigators say he left two threatening voicemails at Governor Greg Abbott's office, including one in which he vowed, “We will kill you.” Brandon Andrew Miller was arrested and charged with making a terroristic threat against a public servant, a third-degree felony under Texas law.
According to KIII-TV, Miller left the first voicemail at 8:12 p.m. on August 21, then called back two minutes later with a second message, both after normal business hours. As reported by KEYE, Miller allegedly told Abbott to “learn your f****** place,” declared that Abbott was “fired,” and threatened to pull Abbott's entrails out through his throat while keeping him alive. He is also accused of telling the governor's office, “We will kill you.”
How Investigators Tracked Him to Whitney
The Texas Department of Public Safety Criminal Investigations Division was notified of the voicemails on August 26, five days after they were left, per KEYE's reporting. A communications supervisor in the Governor's Office Constituent Division gave investigators a sworn statement describing after-hours voicemails that caused staff members to fear serious bodily injury, the outlet reports.
State special agents, working with DPS's Homeland Security Division, traced the phone number to a Verizon Wireless account registered to Miller. Investigators then obtained a one-time location ping from Verizon that placed the phone near Whitney, Texas, leading to Miller's arrest, according to the same account. Under Texas Penal Code Section 22.07(a)(6), state prosecutors pursuing a third-degree terroristic threat charge must prove Miller intended to influence government conduct or place others in fear — they are not required to show he had a concrete plan or the physical capability to carry out the threat, according to L&L Law Group.
A Pattern of Threats Against the Governor's Office
Miller's arrest closely mirrors an earlier case Hoodline covered weeks ago involving a Houston man charged over anime access. Joseph Roy Ozment, a 35-year-old Houston resident, was arrested by Texas DPS on July 25 and charged with the same third-degree felony after leaving a voicemail threatening to stab Abbott's staff over blocked online anime access. Both cases were pursued under the same statute and investigated within weeks of one another, illustrating a pattern of rapid felony threat investigations by state troopers targeting the governor's office.
State investigations into threats made against elected leaders are led by DPS Special Agents in coordination with the agency's Homeland Security Division, which draws on state intelligence networks and the iWatchTexas reporting system, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. The agency's Criminal Investigations Division also runs a specialized Threat-to-Life program within its Special Investigations unit, tasked with evaluating and neutralizing violent threats directed at public servants, critical infrastructure, and public safety.
What a Conviction Could Mean for Miller
If convicted, Miller faces a mandatory statutory prison sentence of 2 to 10 years in state custody and a fine of up to $10,000, under Texas Penal Code Section 12.34, as detailed by Versus Texas. Texas prosecutors have consistently pursued third-degree felony charges for targeted threats against public servants at both the local and state level. In December, a San Antonio City Council aide was booked into jail on the same charge after attaching a note reading “Die Fascist” under a colleague's office desk, as reported by the San Antonio Express-News.
State authorities have also moved quickly on threats tied to broader political events. In June 2025, DPS troopers intercepted and arrested a suspect in La Grange after officials warned lawmakers of credible violent threats connected to an anti-Trump Capitol protest in downtown Austin, according to The Texas Tribune. It remains unclear whether Miller has retained an attorney, how he intends to plead, or whether prosecutors will pursue formal charges in Hill County, where he was located, or elsewhere given the calls were directed at the governor's office.
