A gay man in Florida who said he was only exercising his right to free speech was convicted by a federal jury on Thursday of threatening to kill former U.S. Rep. George Santos and his husband last year in a voicemail laced with profanity and antigay slurs.

Frank Stanzione, 53, of Boynton Beach, was convicted of transmitting a threat to kidnap or injure another person in a voicemail he left at the Washington D.C. office of then-Congressman Santos on January 29, 2023, the Department of Justice announced in a statement.

“George Santos you fat fckng piece of sht fggot," Stanzione said in the voicemail. "You better watch your mother fckng back because I’m gonna bash your mother fckng fggt head in with a bat until your brains are splattered across the fckng wall. You lying, disgusting, disgraceful, motherfucking fggt. You mother fckng piece of sht. You’re gonna get fckng murdered you gddmn lying piece of garbage. Watch your back you fat, ugly, piece of sh*t. You and your husband are dead.”

Staff reported the message to the United States Capitol Police (USCP) the following morning, January 30, and a cell phone number associated with Stanzione was quickly identified as the source of the call.

read more: https://www.advocate.com/crime/florida-man-threatened-george-santos