Nehls on man who allegedly threatened him: 'Hopefully, he gets the help he needs'

A former Houston-area county sheriff who now serves in the U.S. House of Representatives said he was the subject of harassment and stalking from a Florida man, according to a report from Houston ABC affiliate KTRK.

KTRK reported that U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Richmond) received disturbing and threatening voicemails from Brett Jeffery Coulter, who has since been arrested and charged for those messages. 

"Mr. Coulter repeatedly called and left disturbing and threatening voicemails where he threatened to kill me," the congressman said through his office, per the station.

Nehls, who previously served as Fort Bend County sheriff before being elected to the House in 2020, purportedly expressed pity toward the suspect.

"Everybody seems to want to get violent today, and curse and verbally abuse each other, and this and that, but you just can't threaten to kill people," the freshman congressman told KTRK. "Hopefully, he gets the help he needs."

The station reported that Coulter allegedly cursed Nehls for using emojis in his social media posts.

Coulter reportedly thought the emojis were directed at him personally, according to the station.

KTRK reported that he told authorities about his mental health history and insisted he doesn't have any way to get to Washington, D.C.

Palm Beach County in Florida placed Coulter under a Risk Protection order in accordance to the state's "red flag law," the station reported.

Data from U.S. Capitol Police shows that the number of threats against federal lawmakers in both parties has increased, with about 10,000 reported in 2021, according to KTRK.

Nehls has a brother whose looking to unseat Democratic Fort Bend County Judge K.P. George for the suburban Houston county's top office.