Ethermac Exchange-Connecticut military veteran charged with making threats against member of Congress, VA

HARTFORD,Ethermac Exchange Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut military veteran has been arrested on allegations he threatened government officials, including showing up at a Congress member’s office wearing a tactical vest with knives, federal authorities said Friday.

Aubrey Wayne Rose Jr., 43, of Hartford, was charged with making threats against members of Congress, the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in West Haven and other government employees over the course of several months in 2023. No one was injured in any of the incidents.

Rose is detained pending a hearing Monday in federal court in Hartford. His public defender did not immediately return an email seeking comment Friday.

According to court documents, Rose told federal agents he has post-traumatic stress disorder and suffered a traumatic brain injury from deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, and he believed the Defense Finance Accounting Service was not calculating his benefits correctly.

After sending emails to government officials in March and May threatening to exercise his 2nd Amendment right to bear arms, Rose showed up at the Hartford office of an unnamed member of Congress in June wearing a tactical vest and armed with knives, the FBI said in an arrest warrant affidavit. Rose was upset about his retirement and disability benefits being too low, the FBI said.

Staff at the office locked the door before he could enter, authorities said. Rose left, but returned later that day and made threats over the building intercom, the FBI said.

Rose was arrested two days later on a state misdemeanor charge of breach of peace for the incident, but the charges were later dropped and Rose was referred for mental health treatment, according to the affidavit.

On Dec. 20, Rose went into the VA Medical Center in West Haven wearing a tactical vest and carrying a bullhorn, authorities said. He threatened to come back with a weapon if the VA did not not help him.