An Emmy-award nominated cameraman on the likes of Late Night with Conan O'Brien and The Ellen DeGeneres Show is set to appear in c...
An Emmy-award nominated cameraman on the likes of Late Night with Conan O'Brien and The Ellen DeGeneres Show is set to appear in court over an alleged death threat he made to Republican congressman Matt Gaetz.
Eugene Huelsman was arrested last week for a call he made to Gaetz's office just three days after the Capitol riots in January, in which he allegedly threatened to shoot the congressman.
Gaetz, 39, was one of the foremost Republicans echoing former President Donald Trump's allegations of widespread voter fraud in the wake of the election.
'Tell [M.G.] to watch his back, tell him to watch his children,' Huelsman said according to the indictment.
'I'm coming for him. I'm gonna f---ing kill him. I'm gonna put a bullet in you and I'm gonna put a bullet in one of your f---ing kids too.'
The news comes just days after Gaetz claimed a hitman had traveled to Washington D.C. to kill him in a bizarre speech in the House of Representatives last week.
United States Representative Matt Gaetz (Republican of Florida) allegedly received a death threat from Eugene Huelsman on January 9, just days after the Capitol riots (Gaetz pictured September 2021)
Eugene Huelsman was arrested last week for a call he made to Gaetz's office just three days after the Capitol riots in January. Huelsman's role as a long-time camera operator for national television networks such as NBC, CNN and ABC was first revealed in a Fox News broadcast and subsequently shared via Gaetz' official Twitter account
Huelsman allegedly made the call to Gaetz threatening his life on January 9, just days after the Capitol riots (pictured) Gaetz, 39, was one of the foremost Republicans echoing former President Donald Trump's allegations of widespread voter fraud in the wake of the election
Huelsman's role as a long-time camera operator for national television networks such as NBC, CNN and ABC was first revealed in a Fox News broadcast and subsequently shared via Gaetz' official Twitter account.
Huelsman was indicted in May in Florida on one felony count of making a threat to injure the person of another, but his whereabouts at the time were not known to authorities.
A judge sealed the indictment until law enforcement managed to locate the cameraman in California and arrested him last week.
Huelsman was subsequently released by on a $20,000 bond according to a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office, but is scheduled to appear before a magistrate judge in Pensacola on Friday, according to court records.
It is the latest development in what has been a tumultuous few months for Rep. Gaetz, who only last week told the House of Representatives he had received another unrelated death threat from a 'hitman' via Twitter.
A copy of the indictment of Eugene Huelsman, outlining the charge against the cameraman who is accused to threatening to kill Florida congressman Matt Gaetz
Gaetz is facing a number of allegations that include sex trafficking, prostitution, obstruction of justice, campaign finance violations and a number of other corruption claims. He has denied any allegations of wrongdoing and has repeatedly pointed out that despite his alleged crimes, no charges have yet been brought against him
Gaetz claimed he received a direct message on October 8 via Twitter from a user which read: 'I lived in Portland. Portland has ordered a hit on you. I accepted the contract. Have a good day.'
He went on to say he was told by a source that the Capitol Police recommended the arrest of the individual, who had purportedly traveled to D.C., but it was later blocked by the Department of Justice.
'If my name weren't Gaetz, if it were Omar or Talib, you bet this person would have been arrested,' Gaetz declared.
'But the Department of Justice doesn't seem to care so much when it's Republicans.'
Gaetz is facing a number of allegations that include sex trafficking, prostitution, obstruction of justice, campaign finance violations and several other corruption claims.
The lawmaker, who is a close ally of former President Donald Trump, has denied any allegations of wrongdoing and has repeatedly pointed out that despite his alleged crimes, no charges have yet been brought against him.
Gaetz has been steadfast in his denial of the claims and has said repeatedly he will not resign from Congress as a result.
It emerged last week that a federal Florida judge delayed GOP Rep Joel Greenberg's sex trafficking sentence by five months so he can cooperate with a probe into Gaetz.
US District Judge Gregory Presnell agreed to postpone the sentencing until next March, in order for Greenberg to probe prosecutors with more information on sex trafficking crimes as per his plea deal.
Greenberg, the former Seminole County tax collector, is facing up to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty last May to six federal crimes, including sex trafficking of a child, identity theft, stalking, wire fraud and conspiracy to bribe a public official.
His cooperation in helping to investigate sex trafficking crimes is said to play a possible role in looking into allegations against his friend Gaetz.
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