Emmy-nominated cameraman sentenced to 6 months of house arrest for issuing death threat to Matt Gaetz and his family

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Emmy-nominated cameraman sentenced to 6 months of house arrest for issuing death threat to Matt Gaetz and his family
Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., listens during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2021.J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press
  • An acclaimed Hollywood cameraman was given half a year of house arrest for threatening Matt Gaetz.
  • Eugene Huelsman sent Gaetz's office a two-minute voicemail telling Gaetz to "watch his back."
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A five-time Emmy-nominated cameraman was sentenced on Thursday to six months of home confinement for issuing a death threat to Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz and his family.

Eugene Huelsman, 59, called Gaetz's congressional office on January 9, 2021, and left a profanity-filled voicemail threatening the GOP representative, according to the Department of Justice.

He pleaded guilty in April to one count of making an interstate threat, per court documents seen by Insider.

"Tell [Matt Gaetz] to watch his back, tell him to watch his children, tell him to watch everyone. I'm coming for him," Huelsman said in the voicemail, the documents show.

His roughly two-minute message involved threats to "put a bullet in" Gaetz and members of his family.

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"I hope you die in a shallow grave, you despicable tyrant," Huelsman said at the end of his voicemail, per court records.

US District Court Judge T. Kent Wetherell II also sentenced Huelsman to five years of probation and a $10,000 fine, court documents show.

Huelsman's lawyer, Curtis Fallgatter, told Politico that the cameraman sent in the emotionally charged voicemail because he was upset about the January 6 Capitol riot.

Gaetz has long courted controversy for publicly praising the rioters as "good people" and "patriotic Americans."

Fallgatter also told Politico that Huelsman has "lost all of his employment" due to his arrest in California in October.

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The cameraman is credited for work in high-profile shows such as "The Ellen DeGeneres Show." He received five Emmy nominations between 2004 to 2008 for his work on "Late Night With Conan O'Brien."

The Justice Department said Huelsman was previously investigated by the Secret Service for threatening a former president and his family. Authorities didn't specify who this president was.

"The free exercise of speech is central to our democracy," said US Attorney for the Northern District of Florida, Jason Coody, in the Justice Department's public statement. "However, the communication of threats of physical violence, in this case by an individual who had previously made and been investigated for similar threats of violence, is clearly unlawful."

Fallgatter and a spokesperson for Gaetz did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.

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