‘It’s a threat’: Tampa man said he would ‘plant a bomb’ in U.S. Rep’s office, DOJ says

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Federal agents arrested a Tampa man accused of threatening to plant a bomb at a U.S. Representative’s Tampa office earlier this month.

Rigoberto Albizar Martinez, 56, left the congressmember, Rep. Kathy Castor, a profanity-laden, threatening voicemail on May 1, according to a criminal complaint from the Department of Justice.

“I’m going to plant a bomb in your office. It’s a threat,” Martinez said, according to a transcription of the alleged voicemail, translated from Spanish. “It’s a threat, so take it however you want you son of a f—— b—-.”

In the voicemail, Martinez also decried “you Democrat sons of b——,” “pro-Palestinians” and “those f—— black sons of b—— … all those Black Lives Matter, all those black people,” according to the complaint.

Martinez left his phone number in the voicemail, which matched the caller ID from the phone call received by the Representative’s office, a Special Agent with U.S. Capitol police wrote in the complaint. Martinez previously admitted to leaving a threatening voicemail to a U.S. Congressmember in 2021 that stated, in part, “be careful with the package that you will receive in your mailbox.”

When speaking to federal agents, Martinez admitted to leaving the voicemail and making the statement about planting a bomb, according to the complaint.

“Martinez did not express any remorse for leaving the threatening voicemail and indicated that he would like to go to court with the victim,” court documents stated.

During the interview, agents reported Martinez telling them, “Tell (mispronounced victim name) to make sure she doesn’t tell the Uber to cut my account. It’s not a threat; it’s an alert.” The agent believed Uber suspended his account after law enforcement contacted the rideshare company during their investigation.

Martinez was arrested and charged with making a telephonic threat to damage or destroy a building with an explosive device. He was ordered to be held under 24-hour house arrest.

The victim is not named in the complaint. WFLA reached out to Castor’s office, who confirmed she received the threat.

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