A man who threatened Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in a Facebook comment last summer has been sentenced.
Timothy Ireland, 42, was reported to U.S. Capitol Police in August after he wrote a comment on July 23 threatening the New York Democrat, which read: “She should be shot. Can’t fire me, my employer would load the gun for me.”
When authorities contacted Ireland about the threatening remarks, he admitted to writing the post and claimed he was proud of his comments. He also told Capitol Police that he always carried a concealed weapon.
Authorities then dove into Ireland’s personal record and found that he had several outstanding warrants for his arrest, including a felony failure to appear in Sarasota, Florida, and a misdemeanor failure to appear in Cook County, Georgia, related to a marijuana possession charge. He also had previous felony convictions for dealing in stolen property from Sarasota in 1996.
Capitol Police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives raided Ireland’s home in Toledo, Ohio, in November and found three rounds of .32-caliber ammunition and four rounds of .45-caliber ammunition. Because Ireland is a convicted felon, he was arrested and charged with being a felon in possession of ammunition.
Ireland was sentenced Wednesday to supervised release for three years for the weapons charges.
