LEBANON- A man from Lebanon, PA has been arrested for making what authorities call a “hit list” of 20 Pennsylvania Democrats, including their leadership in both the state House and Senate.
Adam George Berryhill was charged with misdemeanor terroristic threats with the intent to terrorize another, remaining incarcerated in the Lebanon County Prison on $250,000 bail. More charges may be pressed against the 42-year-old, with other outlets saying that, due to prior involuntary commitments to psychiatric facilities, he was not allowed to possess a gun but showed pictures of him holding one in social media posts.
According to some of the victims, including PA State Senator Santarsiero, Berryhill claimed to be planning a “Memorial Day operation” and threatened “police officers who would stand in his way, and claimed he had a “God given right” to kill authorities.”
Santarsiero continued in a public statement, saying that, “I’m grateful to the local and state police who investigated and arrested the individual responsible for the threats. This particular case involved an individual with a clear history of mental illness. But in a broader sense, this is another example of how political violence is becoming normalized in our country. We need to continue to speak out against that trend and we need to address one of the root causes: a completely unregulated and unaccountable internet and social media environment that too often reinforces the most extreme content because it feeds a sense of outrage that, in turn, makes it too easy to accept violence as an alternative. Congress needs to act, and if it doesn’t, the states need to step in.”
Governor Josh Shapiro also issued an extensive statement, saying that he spoke with Speaker Joanna McClinton and Senate Leader Jay Costa, who are both believed to be on the list. That statement can be read below.
“I told them (McClinton and Costa) that while these threats of political violence seek to intimidate and silence, my Administration will continue to do everything in our power to keep them safe and ensure their members can continue to make their voices heard as the people’s elected representatives.
“We are experiencing a dangerous rise in threats of political violence across the Commonwealth and I appreciate the quick action of the Pennsylvania State Police and the Lebanon County District Attorney to charge and arrest the perpetrator. It is also clear a better process is necessary to notify elected officials directly when these threats are made. Lt. Colonel Bivens has spoken extensively with House and Senate leadership and their teams, and the Pennsylvania State Police have instituted a new process to notify members of the General Assembly immediately and directly of any and all threats of violence against them.
“It is on all of us to combat hate speech and political violence, and I call on all of my fellow Pennsylvanians and fellow leaders to stand up against this dangerous rising tide of violence we are seeing across our country.”
Some members of the General Assembly who were on the so-called “hit list” were reportedly not notified until Berryhill was charged. According to some outlets, this charging came after he originally came onto the radar of Pennsylvania State Police about a month earlier.
Shapiro was also the victim of an attack by an individual who was reported to have mental illness issues previously. That man, Cody Balmer, pleaded guilty in October of last year to throwing makeshift Molotov Cocktails into the Governor’s Mansion on the night of April 13th. He would be sentenced to decades in prison by a Dauphin County Common Pleas Judge in October.