ATLANTA – A man accused of threatening the staff of U.S. Rep. John Lewis has been deemed competent to stand trial.
A report from the warden at the Federal Medical Center in Lexington, Ky., indicates Dante Antione Rosser is competent to stand trial and understands the nature of the legal proceedings, U.S. Magistrate Judge Alan Baverman said Tuesday. Baverman had ordered a mental health evaluation during a hearing in March.
Court records say the Democratic congressman’s Atlanta-based staff members expressed “grave concerns” for their safety after Rosser visited their office and also made repeated phone calls.
Rosser made 46 calls over two days in February and demanded the congressman’s staff seek “financial reparations” for his family, according to a sworn statement from a U.S. Capitol Police special agent. The statement says Rosser threatened to “splatter their heads all over the ground.”
A federal grand jury in March indicted Rosser, saying he threatened to assault and murder a congressional employee.