Overview

• Thomas Austria Crouse was arrested on Aug. 27 in Austin on a federal criminal complaint alleging he transmitted an interstate threat.
• Court documents say he left an Aug. 25 voicemail threatening to find and decapitate the staffer and to kill the staffer’s family.
• The FBI interviewed Crouse on Aug. 26 and urged him to stop, after which he allegedly left five new voicemails telling the victim to commit suicide.
• The FBI, U.S. Secret Service, and Washington, D.C. Capitol Police are investigating, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Roomberg is prosecuting the case announced by U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons.
• Crouse is charged with transmitting an interstate communication containing a threat, carries a maximum penalty of five years if convicted, and the case is proceeding in federal court in San Antonio.