A Virginia Beach man was taken into custody on Friday after threatening to kill Congressman Scott Taylor (VA-2) after visiting his office the day prior. Wallace “Wally” Grove Godwin, 69, reportedly became disgruntled with the lawmaker regarding a discussion on his stance on federal marijuana policy.
Godwin told a member of Taylor’s staff, “Scott is having an event this Saturday. I am going to get my shotgun and do something about this. I will just handle this myself.”
The fanatic man then pointed at two staffers in the room and stated, “You two are next.”
WKTR reports the man has been outspoken about his anti-marijuana stance on social media. Court records indicated that last year that he even tried to sue the government for $500 million for not enforcing the federal marijuana laws. The case was dismissed for lack of standing.
On Godwin’s Twitter account, he writes consistently about the U.S. not enforcing anti-marijuana laws properly. In his last tweet he even gives out his phone number and writes before, “Pres.Trump my name is Wallace Godwin please call me Facebook will not let me say what I want to say.”
“This was not my first run-in with him,” Taylor said.
According to court documents, the most recent threat follows two aggressive interactions between Godwin and Taylor, one in 2017 in which Godwin visited the congressman’s Virginia Beach home and interacted directly with the lawmaker outside his residence. Another incident involved Godwin yelling at congressional staff members at Taylor’s Virginia Beach office.
Godwin was scheduled to make his initial appearance in front of a judge on Friday at Norfolk federal courthouse at 2:30 p.m.
In a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, Godwin has been charged with threatening to murder and assault a United States official, facing a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, if convicted.
Congressman Taylor commended area law enforcement after the arrest saying he was glad the situation was dealt with quickly and is staff members were kept safe. “I was concerned for my neighbors,” Taylor told reporters.
