A man who threatened to shoot Republican Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie was sentenced Friday to over two years in prison after telling staff he wanted to shoot the congressman in the head.
Benjamin Keebler was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison in a federal court after he pleaded guilty in March to cyberstalking and threatening communications, the Enquirer reported. An audio recording of one of his threats revealed that Keebler referred to “deep state Massie.”
Keebler allegedly left several threatening calls and voicemails to numbers associated with Massie, according to the Enquirer. He spoke with a member of Massie’s staff and said he intended to visit Massie’s office with bear mace.
“Live by the gun. Die by the gun, boy,” Keebler allegedly said in a February 2023 voicemail.
In February 2025, Keebler called the office asking about the congressman’s next townhall meeting so he could “shoot in the head,” according to the Enquirer. Keebler also threatened a U.S. senator with a “hammer visit.” The senator was not named in court documents.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Boone said in court that Keebler’s threats to lawmakers are “inherently corrosive to a democratic society,” according to the Enquirer.
Voting registration records list Keebler as an independent, according to the Enquirer.
Keebler’s attorney, Marvin Knorr III, argued his client would not have made these threats if he were properly diagnosed and treated for bipolar disorder, according to the Enquirer. A doctor’s report stated that Keebler’s “perception of the current aggressive and divisive political climate provided him with a reality-based ‘target’ to project his agitated depression and mania onto.”
Keebler said he let his mental health issues get the best of him and that his actions had been a “complete embarrassment,” according to the Enquirer.
“I recognize that by my own hand I have brought consequences upon myself,” Keebler said.
U.S. District Court Judge David Bunning, who handed down the sentencing, said Keebler’s threats “completely crossed the line,” according to the Enquirer.
As part of his sentence, Keebler cannot have contact with Massie or the senator and must participate in mental health treatment under government supervision, according to the Enquirer.
Cases of political violence surged in recent years, most notably the three assassination attempts against President Donald Trump. Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk died from a gunshot wound to the neck during an event at Utah Valley University in September 2025.
In October 2022, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul, was attacked inside his home in San Francisco, California, when an assailant broke in and hit him with a hammer, causing him to be hospitalized.
Minnesota House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were murdered at their home by a gunman disguised as a police officer in June 2025.
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