Miranda Alam / Special to the Sun
U.S. Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., talks about the proposed nuclear storage waste facility at Yucca Mountain during a panel hosted by the Nevada Conservation League at the East Las Vegas Community Center in Las Vegas on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2019.
Published Friday, March 27, 2020 | 5:16 p.m.
Updated Friday, March 27, 2020 | 6:17 p.m.
At 3:46 a.m. local time, a Las Vegas man picked up the phone, dialed the number of Democratic Rep. Dina Titus’ Washington office and began to ramble.
Using sexist expletives that March 16 morning, Louis Damato eventually got to a grim point in his alleged grievance against Titus: “So guess what? I bought a (expletive) gun, OK? I’m coming to D.C. to blow your (expletive) head off.”
Damato, who was identified and in police custody within a few hours of the threat, today appeared in a federal courtroom in Las Vegas to be arraigned on one charge each of threats against a U.S. official and interstate threats, according to a copy of the warrant.
In the voicemail, he made an apparent reference to an earlier comment from President Donald Trump, who joked that he could shoot someone on “Fifth Avenue” in New York and “wouldn’t lose any voters.”
“Donald Trump told me to tell you that,” Damato allegedly said in the message.
Speaking to law enforcement during his arrest, Damato allegedly said he planned to take Titus’ seat in a future election and that he could shoot her on “Fifth Avenue and not lose a vote.”
Washington doesn’t have a Fifth Avenue.
Less than five hours after the threatening call, Capitol Police was on the phone with Damato’s cell phone carrier to confirm his identity. About 45 minutes later, they pinged his location to a Summerlin commercial area. The FBI contributed to the investigation.
At 10:58 a.m., they got a hit from Red Rock Resort, where Damato was a registered guest, and where Metro Police responded and promptly took him into custody at the valet area, according to court documents.
Damato told officers that he had called Titus’ office for several days and allegedly admitted to leaving the threatening message, court documents said.
“The LVMPD, U.S. Capitol Police, and FBI work so hard to keep us safe. I’m grateful for their service and professionalism every day – and today is certainly no exception,” Titus said in a statement.
