BULLETIN: Family Of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor Threatened With Murder And Rape, Feds Say; Glendon Swift Of Lenoir City, Tenn., Arrested; FBI Says Cantor Was Called Vile Names And That Swift Threatened To ‘Destroy’ Him

Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., and House Majority Leader.

BULLETIN: A Tennessee man has been arrested by FBI agents and police after making threats against Rep. Eric Cantor and his family, federal prosecutors said.

Cantor, R-Va.,  is U.S. House Majority Leader.

Charged with threatening to assault or murder a member of the immediate family of a U.S. official was Glendon Llewellyn Swift, 62, of Lenoir City. He was arrested by the FBI and Lenoir City Police late yesterday, and made a primininary appearance this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge C. Clifford Shirley Jr. in Knoxville, federal officials said.

“Threatening to harm the family of a public official is a very serious charge, and we are grateful to the FBI and their law enforcement partners for their quick action in this case,” said U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride of the Eastern District of Virgina.

Events unfolded in this fashion, according to a criminal complaint filed by an FBI agent:

On Oct. 28 at 9 a.m., a Congressional staffer in Cantor’s office in Glen Allen, Va., called U.S. Capitol Police after listening to two disturbing voicemails left for Cantor the previous evening. Capitol Police contacted the FBI in Richmond.

In the voicemails, Cantor was called a “Republican son of a bitch.” Religious slurs repeatedly were directed at Cantor, according to the complaint.

In messages laced with screaming and profanities, the caller said he would “destroy” Cantor, while also threatening to come to Cantor’s home to “murder” his wife and “rape” his daughter.

Investigators traced the call to Swift’s cellphone, according to the complaint. Yesterday, Swift was stopped by a marked patrol car in Lenoir City for a traffic violation, and FBI agents questioned him.

Swift admitted making the calls, according to the complaint.

Lenoir City is in Loudon County in East Central Tennessee. The city has population of about 8,600. One of the state’s largest cities, Knoxville in nearby Knox County, is about 35 miles away from Lenoir City.