Las Vegas man charged with threatening Sen. Jacky Rosen

A Las Vegas man was arrested last week after federal authorities accused him of leaving numerous profanity-laden, antisemitic tirades in threatening voicemails to Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., who is Jewish.

While authorities didn’t identify the Nevada senator in a news release or court documents, a spokesperson for Rosen’s office confirmed that she was the subject of the threats.

“Threats against public officials should be taken seriously,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “Senator Rosen trusts the U.S. Attorney’s office and federal law enforcement to handle this matter.”

John Anthony Miller, 43, was arrested Thursday after the senator was targeted with voicemails left with her office between Oct. 11 and Oct. 19, and on Oct. 24, according to court documents and a Monday news release from the U.S. attorney’s office in Nevada.

Rosen, who is the only Jewish woman serving in the U.S. Senate, visited Israel this month. Rosen was part of a bipartisan delegation of senators who traveled to Israel after the Oct. 7 surprise attack by Hamas to speak with Israeli leaders and families of hostages taken in the attack.

The voicemails transcribed in the complaint, one of which said “we’re gonna finish what Hitler started,” appear to reference the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with the caller also mentioning Israeli settlers as well as the West Bank. The voicemails were filled with profanity, insults and threats, with the caller at one point saying he would see the senator soon.

Threatening a federal official

In one of the voicemails, the caller identified himself as John Miller, according to the complaint, which was filed in federal court on Friday and written by an FBI special agent who investigated the case.

According to the complaint, a person also showed up at the Lloyd George U.S. Courthouse in downtown Las Vegas on Oct. 18 and said he was going to see the senator. The person showed a courthouse security officer an ID card that indicated his last name was Miller.

When the security officer asked for a closer look at the identification, Miller refused to cooperate, the complaint said. The person then was denied entry to the courthouse, at which point he “became agitated and started yelling and shouting profanities” while walking on Las Vegas Boulevard, the complaint alleges.

The document also includes a screenshot of a video that depicts a man, identified as Miller, on the sidewalk along Las Vegas Boulevard on Oct. 18. Officials matched the image to a photo of Miller taken after a May 2022 arrest.

On Oct. 24, according to the complaint, the senator’s office received more voicemails, this time from an unidentified number. The voice and speech pattern matched that of Miller’s earlier voicemails, the special agent alleged.

Because Miller’s phone number appeared on the senator’s office phone call display with the earlier calls, the FBI special agent was able to review T-Mobile subscriber information that identified John Miller of Las Vegas as the customer with that phone number.

The Metropolitan Police Department also provided the special agent with 911 calls from the same number. In two of the calls, the agent alleged, the caller identified himself as John Miller and provided the same number as his contact.

Miller faces a charge of threatening a federal official, authorities said. A preliminary hearing has been set for Nov. 13.

Contact Brett Clarkson at bclarkson@reviewjournal.com. Staff writer Taylor Avery contributed to this report.