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Federal and Salem law enforcement are investigating a phone threat against U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson
SALEM
U.S. Capitol police, the FBI and Salem police are investigating a report of a man who called U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson’s Salem district office threatening the congressman.
Daniel Halliburton, Johnson’s security director and a field representative, reported to city police at 4:37 p.m. Tuesday that a man called Johnson’s Salem office, yelled profanities at him and made threatening statements about the congressman.
The Salem police report says the man who called Johnson’s office lives out of town. There is no information available on the threats.
Johnson’s office also filed a report with Capitol police, who are working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Salem police on this.
Johnson’s office is declining to comment “because it’s an ongoing investigation,” said Ben Keeler, the congressman’s spokesman.
In May 2012, James J. Shuba of Canfield was sentenced by a federal judge to three years’ probation for making a death threat by telephone against Johnson, of Marietta, R-6th.
Shuba, who was 64 years old when convicted, pleaded guilty to making a threatening interstate telephone call from Ohio to Johnson’s Washington, D.C., office on June 23, 2011, about six months into the congressman’s first term in office.
Shuba also was fined $3,000 and ordered to perform 40 hours of community service.
During that phone call, Shuba told a congressional employee: “Bill Johnson is a g--d---- son of a b----, and I hate him. I wanna kill him. He wants to end Social Security and Medicare. I hope he dies. He should be dead,” according to the federal grand-jury indictment.
Shuba is a postal retiree who served in the Ohio National Guard.
Johnson was re-elected last month to his third two-year term.
His 18-county district includes all of Columbiana County and eight townships in Mahoning County.