Federal Jury in Louisiana Returns Guilty Verdict Against Man for Making Threats Toward a Medical Center and the Veterans Administration

Louisiana - A federal jury in Louisiana has returned a guilty verdict against a man for making threats toward a medical center and the Veterans Administration.

United States Attorney Brandon B. Brown stated on February 14, 2023, that a federal jury has found Aaron Wade Knight, 31, of Noble, Louisiana, guilty on two counts of making threats of violence against Sabine Medical Center (SMC) and Veterans Administration employees (VA). District Judge Elizabeth E. Foote presided over the proceeding.

The two counts, in this case, relate to instances that happened on June 1, 2022, when Knight made threats of violence against SMC employees in Many, Louisiana, and VA personnel in Shreveport, Louisiana, and Alexandria, Louisiana. Knight, who resided in Virginia at the time, called the VA hotline in Alexandria and spoke with a nurse who was operating the call center on 1 June in the early morning hours. Knight then told the nurse that he was upset about a charge he received for a hospital visit at the SMC a few weeks prior.  Knight became more upset as the talk progressed and asked her, "What do I need to do, do I need to blow up this place to get help?" Concerned by Knight's threatening remarks, the nurse phoned a patient advocate at the Shreveport VA who had previously worked with Knight.

The patient advocate subsequently called Knight out of worry regarding his remarks to the nurse. During the phone call, Knight became irritated with the patient advocate, began to rant, and made the following threat: "Do I need to go up there and shoot these [redacted] in the face?"

Knight faces a maximum of five years in prison per count, three years of supervised release, and a maximum $250,000 fine. The scheduled sentencing date is June 26, 2023, at 1:15 p.m.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Many Police Department conducted the investigation, while Assistant U.S. Attorneys J. Aaron Crawford and Andrew Weber prosecuted the case.