FBI arrests young Tennessee woman for making murder threat against Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn

The FBI arrested a 22-year-old woman on Thursday for threatening to kill Tennessee Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn earlier this year. In a release, the Department of Justice (DOJ) accused Penelope Convertino of leaving a voicemail message at the conservative politician's Nashville city office last May 30, in which she threatened to shoot him in the head. The young woman, from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, was formally charged with threatening to murder a federal official with the intent to intimidate, obstruct, and interfere.

As detailed by the Justice Department, Convertino's voicemail message read, "My name is mother**ker, and I’m gonna kill Marsha Blackburn. I’m gonna shoot her with a gun. I’m gonna blow up her head on national TV." According to the agency, Convertino's message had an even cruder part, in which he commented, "She will literally have brains splattered behind her because she will not be a person. She will be a dead f**king body." If convicted, Convertino could face up to 10 years behind bars and a $250,000 fine.

Blackburn's words

In the case, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee Rob McGuire commented that all public officials should have the security of being able to perform their jobs without receiving these types of threats. "Our public officials should be able to do their jobs without receiving vile death threats. Threatening public officials with deadly violence cannot and will not be tolerated. We will not hesitate to hold those who make these kinds of violent threats accountable for their crimes," McGuire said.

Blackburn, who recently ran for governor of Tennessee, expressed appreciation to the appropriate authorities. "Threats against the life of any public official are unacceptable and should be prosecuted to the fullest extent. I am grateful to law enforcement and federal prosecutors in the Middle District of Tennessee for taking this threat seriously and for their swift action. My focus remains on serving the people of Tennessee, and I will not be intimidated or deterred by those who seek to silence me," she told local WKRN.