Indiana Lieutenant Governor Micah Beckwith says a news report is how he learned about threats against him and his family. He questions why the Federal Bureau of Investigation office in Indianapolis did not tell him sooner.

He says The Indianapolis Star contacted him before publishing the story, and that is when he first heard about it.

“We didn’t know about it until the Star article came out. That’s how we found out, just like everybody else,” Beckwith says. “A reporter reached out the day before. Apparently the FBI looked into it back in September and never let us know. We’re trying to get to the bottom of that.”

Beckwith says the alleged threat involved someone talking about burning down his home with his family inside, and he says the person was not anonymous.

“The guy behind these alleged threats talked about burning down my house with my kids in it,” Beckwith says. “This wasn’t just an anonymous online type threat… this was a person telling another individual this is what he’s going to do. That doesn’t sit well with my wife.”

Beckwith says he recognized the person.

“I didn’t know his name, but when I saw a picture, he was just at a town hall two weeks ago, standing five feet away from me,” he says. “He doesn’t live very far away either… I was a little shocked when I found out it was him.”

“This wasn’t some random online threat,” he says. “This was someone telling another person what he was going to do. That doesn’t sit well with my wife, and we want answers.”

“I didn’t know his name at the time, but I’ve seen him before. He was just a few feet away from me at a town hall a couple weeks ago. I was shocked when I saw who it was.”

Beckwith says political violence is becoming more common and needs to stop.

“We see this kind of thing too often, and it’s becoming normal. It shouldn’t be,” he says.