Edward Cieri Jr., of Philadelphia, is free on $35,000 unsecured bail.
A Philadelphia man has been charged with threatening a staff member and office of the Montgomery County Republican Committee in Whitpain Township.
Edward Cieri Jr., 39, of the 1200 block of S Bonsall Street, was charged Wednesday by Whitpain Police with misdemeanor charges of threatening to use weapons of mass destruction, terroristic threats with the intent to terrorize another, terroristic threats that cause a serious public inconvenience, and harassment, per charging documents.
Cieri is free on $35,000 unsecured bail, per court documents.
On Saturday at 11:18 a.m., police were dispatched to the committee office at 860 Penllyn Blue Bell Pike for a report of threats, per the affidavit. An employee told police he received a phone call at 11:07 a.m., with a younger male on the other end of the line, police said. The caller ID showed the name of Cieri’s mother, per the affidvavit.
The man asked the employee if he was a Republican, which he said yes, police said. Then, the man on the phone, alleged to be Cieri, repeatedly called the victim a derogatory term for a gay man, per the complaint.
The victim was mocked by Cieri, police said, who told him, “I’ll put one in your head” and that he would “shoot that place up” and “blow it up.” After the short phone call, the employee called 911.
The victim told police he was in a heightened sense of fear and felt threatened, police said.
An investigation revealed that Cieri was the son of the person on the caller ID and that he lives in Philadelphia County, per the affidavit.
On Monday, at 5 p.m., police visited Cieri’s residence to talk to him. During the interview, he allegedly admitted to calling the Republican Committee office because he was angry over politics, police said.
Cieri said he was threatening, instigating, and threatening toward the victim, and causing the problem, police allege.
According to authorities, Cieri admitted to telling the employee to “watch the building” and for “terroristic incidents,” and that “the place might be shot up or there might be a bomb.”
At arraignment, Magisterial District Judge Maureen Coggins ordered Cieri to have no contact with the victim, to stay away from the Committee offices, and to give up his firearms, police said.
A preliminary hearing is set for Nov. 14 at 10 a.m. before Magisterial District Judge Suzan Leonard.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
