A Kentucky man has been sentenced to more than two years in federal prison for making violent threats against U.S. Representative Thomas Massie (R-KY) and other lawmakers.
Benjamin Keebler, 55, of Florence, will serve a sentence of two and a half years under U.S. District Court Judge David Bunning in Covington.
Keebler pleaded guilty in March to federal charges of cyberstalking and threatening communications. Prosecutors stated that over a period of more than two years beginning in 2023, Keebler made threatening calls and voicemails to numbers associated with Representative Massie’s Washington, D.C., offices. The threats also targeted a senator whose office is located in Nebraska, including an alleged instruction for someone to conduct a “hammer visit” at the senator’s home.
According to court documents, one of Keebler’s calls in 2025 asked about the date of Representative Massie’s next town hall meeting so that he could “shoot (Massie) in the head.” This occurred after Representative Massie introduced firearms legislation. A February 2023 voicemail recorded by Keebler contained the phrase: “Live by the gun. Die by the gun, boy.”
Prosecutors indicated that Keebler’s threats were motivated by his disagreement with lawmakers’ beliefs and views on political issues. Keebler’s attorney, Marvin Knorr III, argued that his client would not have made these threats if he had been properly diagnosed and treated for bipolar disorder. A medical report stated that Keebler’s “perception of the current aggressive and divisive political climate provided him with a reality-based ‘target’ to project his agitated depression and mania onto.”
Keebler admitted in court that he let his mental health issues get the best of him, calling his actions a “complete embarrassment.” He also stated: “I recognize that by my own hand I have brought consequences upon myself.”
U.S. District Court Judge David Bunning described the threats as “completely crossing the line.” As part of his sentence, Keebler is prohibited from contacting Representative Massie or the senator and must undergo government-supervised mental health treatment.
