Minocqua Brewing Company owner Kirk Bangstad posted to Facebook the phone number of a Secret Service agent who contacted him Thursday and urged followers to tell the agent to “stand down” in what may be a serious violation of federal law.
Bangstad, who is under Secret Service and FBI investigation for potentially threatening President Trump, posted the transcription of a voicemail one of the agents left him and included the unredacted phone number the agent provided. Bangstad then instructed his followers to “call this number and ask this Secret Service agent to stand down and honor his oath to his country.”
The Protecting Law Enforcement from Doxxing Act, codified as 18 US Code § 119, makes it a serious federal crime to “knowingly [make] restricted personal information about a covered person…publicly available” with the “intent to threaten, intimidate, or incite the commission of a crime of violence against that covered person.” Conviction under the statute is punishable by up to five years in federal prison.
Bangstad’s post makes it clear that his intent in publishing the agent’s private cell phone number is to incite his followers to intimidate the agent into dropping the investigation into Bangstad. This appears to be an obvious violation of this statute.
The agent had contacted Bangstad about a recent post lamenting that President Trump wasn’t assassinated at the White House Correspondents Dinner on Saturday and offering free beer the day the President dies.
“Well, we almost got #freebeerday,” Bangstad wrote immediately following hte incident. “Either a brother or sister in the Resistance needs to work on their marksmanship or he faked another assassination to get a positive news cycle. We’ll never know. Regardless, we stand at the ready to pour free beer the day it happens.”
On Thursday, Bangstad wrote a frantic and paranoid email to supporters indicating that the FBI and Secret Service were on their way to talk to him.
“I’m speaking with them with my lawyer Fred in less than an hour,” he wrote. “If you don’t hear from our socials tonight, something is wrong. I am of sound mind and body, and am in no way thinking of harming myself.”
