FBI Nabs Suspect Over Chilling Threat To Assassinate Sen. Marsha Blackburn

The FBI arrested a 22-year-old woman on Thursday for threatening to kill Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) earlier this year. 

The Justice Department accused Penelope Convertino, of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, of leaving a voice mail message at Blackburn’s Nashville office threatening to shoot the senator on May 30. Convertino has been charged with making a threat to murder a federal official with the intent to impede, intimidate, and interfere. 

“Our public officials should be able to do their jobs without receiving vile death threats,” said Acting United States Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee. “Threatening public officials with deadly violence cannot and will not be tolerated. We will not hesitate to hold those who make these kinds of violent threats accountable for their crimes.”

According to the Justice Department, Convertino’s voice mail said: “My name is mother**ker and I’m gonna kill Marsha Blackburn. I’m gonna shoot her with a gun. I’m gonna blow up her head on national TV,” Convertino said, according to the Justice Department. “She will literally have brains splattered behind her because she will not be a person. She will be a dead f**king body.”

If convicted, Convertino could face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. 

Blackburn, who is running for governor of Tennessee, expressed gratitude to federal investigators. 

“Threats against the life of any public official are unacceptable and should be prosecuted to the fullest extent,” she told local outlet WKRN. “I am grateful to law enforcement and federal prosecutors in the Middle District of Tennessee for taking this threat seriously and for their swift action. My focus remains on serving the people of Tennessee, and I will not be intimidated or deterred by those who seek to silence me.”

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Republican Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) criticized the FBI, saying it took far too long to make an arrest in the case.

“Someone threatens [Blackburn’s] life and it takes the [FBI] 3 months to arrest the dirtbag?! That’s a problem,” he posted on X. 

Blackburn, who was re-elected to a second Senate term in 2024, will face off against Republican Rep. John Rose in the August 2026 Republican gubernatorial primary.