A 25-year-old Duluth man faces federal charges for making threatening phone calls to the offices of two U.S. senators in January.
📞 What Happened: Robert Davis Forney allegedly called Senator Ted Cruz’s office twice on January 9 and left voicemails threatening sexual violence against the Texas senator and his family. The next day, authorities say he called Senator Deb Fischer’s Nebraska office and made similar threats against her. Both senators are Republicans.
⚖️ The Charges: A federal grand jury indicted Forney on June 10 for communicating threats in interstate commerce. He appeared before a magistrate judge today in Atlanta.
🏛️ Why It Matters: Threats against elected officials have been rising nationwide, and federal authorities are cracking down on political violence to protect democracy.
🔍 The Investigation: The FBI and U.S. Capitol Police are handling the case. It’s part of Operation Take Back America, a Justice Department initiative targeting violent crime and protecting communities.
🛡️ By The Numbers: Capitol Police investigate thousands of threat cases each year, and that number keeps growing according to Acting Chief Sean Gallagher.
How to Read and Understand the News
Truth doesn’t bend because we dislike it.
Facts don’t vanish when they make us uncomfortable.
Events happen whether we accept them or not.
Good reporting challenges us. The press isn’t choosing sides — it’s relaying what official, verified sources say. Blaming reporters for bad news is like blaming a thermometer for a fever.
Americans have a history of misunderstanding simple things. In the 1980s, A&W rolled out a 1/3-pound burger to compete with McDonald’s Quarter Pounder. It failed because too many people thought 1/3 was smaller than 1/4. If we can botch basic math, we can certainly misread the news.
Before dismissing a story, ask yourself:
- What evidence backs this?
- Am I reacting to facts or feelings?
- What would change my mind?
- Am I just shooting the messenger?
And one more: Am I assuming bias just because I don’t like the story?
Smart news consumers seek truth, not comfort.
B.T. Clark
B.T. Clark is an award-winning journalist and the Publisher of The Georgia Sun. He has 25 years of experience in journalism and served as Managing Editor of Neighbor Newspapers in metro Atlanta for 15 years and Digital Director at Times-Journal Inc. for 8 years. His work has appeared in several newspapers throughout the state including Neighbor Newspapers, The Cherokee Tribune and The Marietta Daily Journal. He is a Georgia native and a fifth-generation Georgian.
