John Boehner’s former bartender once made plans to slip poison into the House speaker’s drink, or shoot him and drive away.
Among the reasons driving the assassination plot: Michael Hoyt heard voices that told him Boehner was evil. He thought the Ohio Republican was the devil. He blamed Boehner for the Ebola outbreak. And he thought the speaker was mean to him.
The 44-year-old Butler County, Ohio, man was indicted last week on charges that he planned to murder Boehner — a plan that he made after being fired from the Wetherington Golf & Country Club in West Chester.
The story of Hoyt’s arrest was first reported by WCPO in Cincinnati. The station reported that police learned the details of his plans after Hoyt called officers on Oct. 29.
“Hoyt told the officer he was Jesus Christ and he was going to kill Boehner because Boehner was mean to him at the country club and because Boehner is responsible for Ebola,” United States Capitol Police Special Agent Christopher Desrosiers reportedly told WCPO. “Hoyt advised he had a loaded Beretta .380 automatic and he was going to shoot Boehner and take off.”
Hoyt also reportedly emailed Boehner’s wife, Debbie, twice.
“If I had any intention of hurting Mr. Boehner, I could have poisoned his wine at Wetherington many, many times,” he wrote in one of his emails.
According to the WCPO report, Hoyt told police that he heard voices that told him Boehner is evil, and that he wanted to expose the Ohio Republican as the devil. He blamed Boehner for the Ebola outbreak and believed the speaker was among a group of country club patrons who complained about his service and cost him his job.
Police seized guns and ammunition from the man’s home. They said he kept a notebook that contained the words “John Boehner” and “Ebola,” and that Hoyt had been treated for a psychotic episode about two years ago. Police placed Hoyt on a 72-hour psychiatric ward hold.
Boehner’s spokesman, Michael Steel, issued a brief statement acknowledging the report Tuesday evening.
“Speaker Boehner is aware of this situation, and sincerely thanks the FBI, the Capitol Police and local authorities in Ohio for their efforts,” he said.
