A 62-year-old Arkansas man is facing federal charges after prosecutors say he left threatening voicemails at the offices of two different Massachusetts members of Congress, nearly a year apart. David Czerniak, of Hatfield, Arkansas, was arrested Wednesday morning and made an initial appearance in federal court in the Western District of Arkansas, before an expected court date in Boston.
A federal grand jury in Boston indicted Czerniak on two counts of interstate transmission of threatening communications, according to Boston 25 News. Investigators allege that on or about February 7, 2025, Czerniak left a threatening voicemail for a member of Congress at the lawmaker's Massachusetts office, then left a second voicemail for a different member of Congress on December 6, 2025. The United States Attorney's Office announced the arrest and charges, according to 7News WHDH.
The alleged voicemails, as detailed by the same outlet's report, included a reference to the Oklahoma City bombing perpetrator and the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Czerniak is accused of saying, “You better watch your back. It's coming. It's coming to all you guys. Remember what Timothy McVeigh did? Remember what happened to Charlie Kirk?” In the second voicemail, he allegedly threatened the recipient and others, and said the lawmaker and family members would face consequences if immigrants harmed his own family or friends.
What Czerniak Could Face in Court
Each of the two counts carries a potential maximum of five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine, KARK reported. Czerniak was arrested in Arkansas and is expected to appear in federal court in Boston at a later date, per the same outlet's reporting. U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley addressed the case directly, saying, “Threats of violence against elected officials are not protected speech. They are federal crimes.”
The identities of the two Massachusetts members of Congress targeted in the voicemails have not been disclosed in available reporting.
Part of a Sharp Rise in Threats Against Lawmakers
The case lands amid a documented surge in threats against members of Congress nationally. Threats investigated by the U.S. Capitol Police more than doubled to 9,625 in 2021 from 2017, according to the Boston Globe. The Capitol Police went on to investigate 9,474 concerning statements or direct threats against members of Congress in 2024, up from 8,008 the year before, as reported by CBS News.
The numbers have only climbed since. Threats surged 58 percent in 2025 to nearly 15,000, the Globe reported, and the Washington Post separately reported that the number of cases investigated by Capitol Police grew by more than 50 percent that year. Capitol Police Chief Michael G. Sullivan has said threats in 2026 are on pace to exceed even that elevated level, according to the Globe's reporting, and the paper noted that both Democrats and Republicans have reported being targeted, sometimes by people within their own party.
Other Cases Targeting Congress Members
Federal prosecutions over threats to lawmakers are not rare, though few of the reported threats ever result in charges. The Missouri Independent reported that just 22 of the 7,501 threats investigated against members of Congress in 2022 led to prosecution, including a Florida man who was sentenced to three years of probation and fined $7,000 after pleading guilty to threatening Rep. Ilhan Omar. CBS News also reported that two foreign nationals were charged in 2024 over threatening swatting incidents targeting dozens of members of Congress, and that a man in the San Jose, California area was accused that year of threatening a Florida legislator and staff over Instagram.
In a case with echoes of the Massachusetts allegations, NBC News reported that a Washington state man, Mark Leonetti, was charged with seven counts of making interstate threats after allegedly leaving more than 400 voicemails for members of Congress over a two-year span.
