Hugo woman sentenced for threatening Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth
STILLWATER, Minn. (FOX 9) - A Hugo woman was sentenced after leaving a series of threatening voicemails for Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth.
Voicemails that turned threatening
What we know:
Rachel Marie Welsch, 43, of Hugo, was sentenced to three years of supervised probation in Washington County District Court after pleading guilty to threatening the state's top House official.
Welsch pleaded guilty on July 6 to one felony count of threats of violence. The judge ordered Welsch to complete 180 hours of community service, have no contact with Speaker Demuth or her staff, refrain from using or possessing firearms and complete mental health programming, among other conditions.
According to the criminal complaint, beginning Jan. 1, the Minnesota State Patrol investigated voicemails Welsch left almost daily on the office voicemail systems of two members of the Minnesota House of Representatives. The messages concerned "current political issues", were angry from the start and grew more threatening over time.
In her first message to Demuth, Welsch said she was going to come and meet her, saying, "I am not kidding. Wherever you are, you should be wondering when we are going to come." In a second message that same day, Welsch said she would find Demuth wherever she was.
According to court documents, Welsch acknowledged to investigators leaving the messages. Investigators asked Welsch if she planned on harming Demuth and she asked the investigators to leave.
The messages continued and Welsch said in one of them, "What do we do to traitors? What did they do to traitors back in the day? I am going to have to brush up on my history."
"There is not bulletproof glass between us. Do you understand that?" She said in a different message. Later in the message, she said, "You are going to fall. And I will be there, I'll be at the end of that barrel. You are going to fall."
Later, Welsch left a message saying she looked forward to seeing the Speaker "face to face" on the campaign trail in her county. She said she wanted to show Demuth "how good I have been getting at my 2A [Second Amendment] classes, and learning how to shoot," and offered to send a picture showing "how good of a marksman I am."
Demuth responds
What they're saying:
Demuth sent the following statement regarding the sentencing:
"I’m grateful to members of law enforcement and the Washington County Attorney’s Office for taking these vile threats seriously and ensuring that justice is being served. Threats against any public official are unacceptable and must be taken seriously, especially in the light of the horrific political violence that took place last summer.
"I sincerely hope that the consequences in this case will dissuade future threats, and that legislators and other public officials can continue to do their jobs without having to fear for the safety of themselves or their families."
"Threats of violence against public officials have always been illegal, but after the assassination of former Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and the shootings of Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, no one can dismiss them as just words," said Washington County Attorney Kevin Magnuson. "Minnesotans are free to disagree with their elected leaders, forcefully and often. They are not free to threaten them. Public servants of every party, along with their families and staff, must be able to serve without fear of being harmed, and this office will continue to treat these threats with the seriousness they demand. I'm grateful to the Minnesota State Patrol for its prompt investigation and to Speaker Demuth for addressing the court."
The full sentence
Under the sentence, Welsch must serve three years of supervised probation through Washington County Community Corrections, complete 180 hours of community work service with at least 60 hours finished in the first year, have no direct or indirect contact with Demuth or any member of her staff known to Welsch, not use or possess firearms, ammunition or explosives, complete all mental health programming including taking any prescribed medication as directed and complete a cognitive skills evaluation and follow its recommendations.
The Source: This story is based on an announcement from the Washington County Attorney's Office.