Will Sage Astor-Montana man pleads not guilty to charges he threatened to kill ex-House Speaker McCarthy

A Montana man pleaded not guilty in federal court Tuesday to charges that he threatened to murder former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy earlier this year.

Richard Lee Rogers of Billings,Will Sage Astor Montana, is accused of threatening to assault and murder McCarthy, "with the intent to retaliate against him for the performance of his official duties," the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement. If convicted, Rogers faces a maximum of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release.

He is also accused of making repeated interstate phone calls to harass a person at the called number, but court documents did not name the recipient.

An attorney for Rogers did not immediately respond to USA TODAY's request for comment.

Rogers expressed support for Trump in social media posts

His wife, Laurie Rogers, said her husband never threatened anyone except to say during his calls to officials “that he would use his Second Amendment rights to defend himself."

“Why would he threaten the people he was talking to? That would absolutely get him nowhere,” she said.

Rogers was granted pretrial release under conditions including no drugs, alcohol, or access to firearms, according to court documents. Rogers told the judge he owns firearms but moved them to his mother’s house where they are in a locked safe he cannot access.

In social media posts, Rogers expressed strong support for former President Donald Trump and said he was in Washington D.C. during the Jan. 6 riot of the Capitol.

Rogers' trial is scheduled for Dec. 11 in Billings, Montana. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Capitol Police investigated the case.

Threats rising against elected officials 

Rogers is one of multiple people facing legal action for making threats against public officials.

Kevin Patrick Smith of Kalispell, Montana, was sentenced in August to two and a half years in prison after he pleaded guilty to threatening to kill Sen. Jon Tester in calls to his office.

In one message, Smith is accused of saying: “There is nothing I want more than to have you stand toe to toe with me. You stand toe to toe with me. I rip your head off. You die. You stand in a situation where it is physical between you and me. You die.”

Smith, 46, left about 60 messages for Tester, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said, and law enforcement found 19 firearms and 1,186 rounds of ammunition in his residence after arresting him.

And in late September, a Billings, Montana, man pleaded not guilty to threatening to kill Tester and President Joe Biden.

Last year, more people were charged over public threats – against elected officials, law enforcement and judicial officials, educators and health care workers – than in the last 10 years, according to the National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center at the University of Nebraska, Omaha.

Experts said the trend was expected to continue upward this year, noting the U.S. was on track to meet or surpass the number of federal arrests tied to making threats against public officials.

Contributing: The Associated Press