California man arrested for allegedly threatening to kill Matt Gaetz and members of his family

A California man has been arrested for allegedly making a death threat against GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz just after the Jan. 6 Capitol breach.

Eugene Huelsman, 58, of Thousands Oaks was arrested last week by Los Angeles authorities on an indictment that was returned in May by a federal grand jury in Pensacola, Florida.

Prosecutors say that on Jan. 6, Huelsman called the office of an individual described in the indictment only as "M.G." and made a series of threats against him and his family.

"Tell [M.G.] to watch his back, tell him to watch his children. I'm coming for him ... I'm gonna f---ing kill him ... I'm gonna put a bullet in you and I'm gonna put a bullet in one of your f---ing kids too," said Huelsman, according to the indictment. 

Last week, Gaetz, of Florida, spoke on the House floor about the Justice Department's failure to, in his view, be aggressive enough in acting upon threats against him.

"I think someone may be trying to kill me, and if they are successful I would like my constituents and my family to know who stopped their arrest," Gaetz said on Oct. 20. He also said someone who had threatened him on Twitter traveled to Washington, D.C., in recent days, but that the Justice Department had declined to arrest the individual, despite the recommendation of the Capitol Police to do so.

Gaetz discussed the matter with Politico, saying that he believes his comments last week prompted the arrest of Huelsman, but that he had been speaking on the floor about a different threat.

"An indictment was issued in May, and has now been unsealed the week after my criticism," he said. "If they took our security seriously, they would arrest all of the people who violate federal law and the threats to kill us, not just some of them ... I think that the Department of Justice is biased against Republicans."

Huelsman was released Friday in Los Angeles on a $20,000 bond. This Friday, he is scheduled to appear before a magistrate judge in Pensacola.

Politico reports that Huelsman, according to online databases, has worked for many years as a camera operator on film and TV sets. He earned five Emmy nominations for his work on NBC's "Late Night with Conan O'Brien."