Campus Notebook: Illinois man pleads guilty for threats to Rep. Rodney Davis

An Illinois man has admitted to threatening to kill Rep. Rodney Davis, a guilty plea accepted July 24 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois.

Randall E. Tarr was charged in January with threatening to assault and murder Davis, an Illinois Republican. According to a sworn affidavit by an FBI agent, Tarr called Davis’ congressional office in Decatur and left a voicemail accusing the lawmaker of “backing the Russians” and said, “I’d like to shoot your fucking head off you stupid motherf*****.”

The Nov. 25, 2019 voicemail was sent to the Capitol Police and eventually traced back to Tarr through caller ID. Capitol Police reached out to local police in Tarr’s hometown of Rochester, Ill., and asked them to investigate.

The FBI interviewed Tarr on the next day. He said a commercial about Davis had made him mad and then he called Davis’ office using the number in the commercial.

Davis, who is the top Republican on the House Administration Committee, which has oversight of the Capitol Police, said he was grateful for the work of law enforcement.