Credit: Montgomery County District Attorney
A Philadelphia man must answer to charges that he made a threatening phone call that forced the temporary closure of the Montco Republican headquarters in Whitpain Township in October 2024, according to Mainline Media.
Edward Cieri Jr., 39, of the 1200 block of Bonsall Street, waived his preliminary hearing in Montgomery County Court on charges of terroristic threats, bomb threats and harassment. Cieri is free on $35,000 unsecured bail and will face a March 19 formal arraignment hearing in county court after which a judge will set his trial date.
As a condition of bail, Cieri is prohibited from having contact with the victim, cannot possess firearms and must stay away from GOP committee offices, according to the article.
The investigation began on Oct. 26 around 11:18 a.m. when Whitpain Towship police were dispatched to the GOP Headquarters, 800 block of Penllyn Blue Bell Pike. A staff person at the headquarters reported he received a threatening telephone call, according to the criminal complaint filed by Whitpain Detective Brad Potter.
According to the article, the staffer told police that when Cieri Jr. called the staffer and the staffer told Cieri Jr. that he was a Republican, the caller allegedly called the staffer a derogatory term. The caller then allegedly told the staff member, “I’ll put one in your head.” The caller went on to tell the staff member that he would “shoot that place up” or “blow it up,” according to arrest documents.
Cieri allegedly told the staff member to “watch the building” and “watch for terroristic threats” and added that “the place might be shot up or there might be a bomb,” according to court papers.
Police traced the call back to Cieri and a detective visited Cieri’s residence on Oct. 29. At that time, Cieri allegedly admitted to calling the GOP headquarters “because he was angry over politics,” according to the arrest affidavit.
Read the full article here.
