Defense: Man harmless despite threat against Kansas lawmaker

By JOHN HANNA
Associated Press

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A defense attorney says a man charged with threatening to kill a Kansas congressman is harmless. A public defender told jurors Tuesday during a federal criminal trial that 32-year-old Chase Neill believes he has a special relationship with God and his weapons are “meteors and plagues,” not “knives and guns.” Prosecutors say Neill became fixated on U.S. Rep. Jake LaTurner and threatened to kill LaTurner in a call in June to the Republican congressman’s Topeka office. The trial began amid what authorities say is a sharp rise in threats to the nation’s lawmakers. But the public defender told jurors that the June call didn’t prompt local authorities to arrest or Neill or send him to a mental hospital.