VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A 69-year-old Virginia Beach woman will spend 30 days in prison after pleading guilty to making threats against an elected official.
Jeannie Blassingham was sentenced for leaving a series of vile voicemails to an elected official and their staff in May of 2025.
Prosecutors say that in the profanity-laced statements, she threatened physical violence and said the official could "expect to be confronted by people who think" the official "needs to die right now."
The U.S. Capitol Police investigated the case.
"It's always illegal, whether the person is an elected official or is your next-door neighbor, to threaten bodily harm in the United States of America. That's not how we do it," said Richard James, a crime analyst and former detective.
The threats come amid a sharp rise in hostility toward public officials. One study from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue found that violent rhetoric targeting public officials increased 241% over a three-year period ending in 2025.
James has run for political office numerous times and has experienced threats firsthand.
"Not only I had nasty things said to me, I had people try to physically threaten me," James said.
He said that as the midterms inch closer, emotions can run high.
"People get emotionally involved and then they say or do things that they may regret later," James said.
In his case, he called police and said the man later apologized for the threats, saying he was drinking.
"Law enforcement must take it serious because whether they had been drinking, or whether it's involved in mental illnesses, people still can get hurt so they have to take it seriously," James said.
Dr. Sarah Williams, a licensed mental health therapist, said that when it comes to politics, people need to control their emotions.
She said when emotions get out of control things can spiral.
"We are looking at responses that are dictated by triggers that are not in alignment with rational, thinking that can result in violence, that can result in bodily harm or some cases self harm because the lack of ability to balance and regulate those emotions," Williams said.
In the recent case in Virginia Beach, Blassingham's attorney Jarrett McCormack said, "Ms. Blassingham was going through a difficult period in her life during the time of the offense. Despite that, she has been doing incredibly well since then, and I anticipate that, upon her release from her brief period of incarceration, she will continue to excel. She has expressed great remorse for her actions, and is looking forward to continuing down the path of a quiet, law-abiding life that she has been on for over a year already."
Williams emphasized the importance of pausing before reacting. She said you may regret to responding too strongly to a trigger.
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