Man who was mad about Chinese spy balloon is convicted of threatening former Speaker McCarthy

A Montana man was convicted Wednesday of threatening to assault former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy after becoming upset that the government had not shot down a Chinese spy balloon that floated over his home city.

Richard Rogers, 45, of Billings, delivered the threat to a McCarthy staffer during a series of more than 100 calls to the speaker's office in just 75 minutes on Feb. 3, 2023, prosecutors said. That was one day after the Pentagon acknowledged it was tracking the spy balloon, which was later shot down off the Atlantic Coast.

The 12-person federal jury also found Rogers guilty on two counts of making harassing telephone calls: the ones to McCarthy's office plus 150 calls he made to an FBI tip line in 2021 and 2022.

Rogers routinely made vulgar and obscene comments in those calls.

Sentencing was set for January 31. He faces up to six years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the conviction for threatening to harm a member of Congress, and the other two counts each carry a maximum penalty of two years and a $250,000 fine.

Threats against public officials in the U.S. have risen sharply in recent years, including against members of Congress and their spouses, election workers and local elected officials. Rogers' case was among more than 8,000 threats to lawmakers investigated by the U.S. Capitol Police in 2023, and officials expect another surge with the 2024 election.

During a three day trial, Rogers testified that his outraged calls to the FBI and McCarthy's office were a form of “civil disobedience."

He and his attorneys argued that using obscenities with FBI operators and Congressional staff was protected as free speech under the First Amendment, which establishes the right “to petition the government for a