Benjamin Keebler sentenced to 2.5 years for threats to Thomas Massie
Federal court in Kentucky orders mental health treatment and bars contact with lawmakers
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky.
Photograph: WND (embedded from source)
What this story says
- Benjamin Keebler was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in federal prison for cyberstalking and threatening communications against Rep. Thomas Massie and an unnamed U.S. senator.
- The threats included a February 2025 voicemail in which Keebler asked about Massie’s town hall to "shoot him in the head".
- Keebler must undergo mental health treatment and is barred from contacting Massie or the senator as part of his sentence.
- No left- or centre-rated outlet reported the sentencing.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 7 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. Coverage measured .
Trust
86/100
Craft
95/100
Hype
45/100
7 sources · methodology
Thin on the left so far
None of the 7 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated left.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
Benjamin Keebler, 55, of Florence, Kentucky, was sentenced on 16 August 2026 to two-and-a-half years in federal prison. U.S. District Court Judge David Bunning handed down the sentence in Covington after Keebler pleaded guilty in March to cyberstalking and threatening communications. The charges stemmed from threats made against Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican representing Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District, and an unnamed U.S. senator.
Keebler left multiple threatening voicemails and calls to numbers associated with Massie’s offices in Washington, D.C., and Kentucky. In a February 2025 voicemail, he asked about the date of Massie’s next town hall meeting, stating he intended to "shoot [Massie] in the head". Court documents also referenced a threat against a U.S. senator, described as a "hammer visit" to the senator’s home. The senator’s name was not disclosed in the documents.
As part of his sentence, Keebler is required to participate in mental health treatment under government supervision and is prohibited from contacting Massie or the senator. Keebler’s attorney argued in court that his client’s bipolar disorder contributed to the threats, and Keebler expressed remorse, calling his actions a "complete embarrassment".
What the coverage left out
No left- or centre-rated outlet reported the sentencing. None of the right-rated digests or full reports mentioned that the unnamed senator’s office is based in Nebraska, a detail included in the ArcaMax Publishing report.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 4 times, most recently on 17 Aug 2026, 23:45, and will add the sides that appear.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
0 rated outlets
No outlet rated left has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.
Centre
0 rated outlets
No outlet rated centre has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.
Right
7 rated outlets
- All six right-rated reports led on the length of Keebler’s prison sentence and the nature of his threats against Massie. The two full reports, published by WorldNetDaily and ArcaMax Publishing, included the February 2025 voicemail in which Keebler stated his intent to shoot Massie. WorldNetDaily quoted Keebler’s phrase, "Live by the gun. Die by the gun," in its headline and reported that he referred to Massie as "deep state Massie" in one of the recordings.
- WorldNetDaily and ArcaMax Publishing both noted that Keebler’s threats were motivated by his disagreement with the lawmakers’ political beliefs. WorldNetDaily also reported that Keebler’s attorney argued his client’s bipolar disorder influenced his actions, and that a doctor’s report linked Keebler’s threats to his perception of the "aggressive and divisive political climate". ArcaMax Publishing added that Massie had introduced firearms legislation months before the 2025 threat.
- WorldNetDaily framed the story with broader context on political violence, citing recent attacks on public figures, including the assassination attempts against former President Donald Trump and the murders of Minnesota House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband. The outlet also noted that Keebler was registered as an independent voter.
Read it at the source
7 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Centre
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Right
7- Man Who Threatened To Shoot Thomas Massie Receives Over 2 Years In Prison (opens [your]NEWS in a new tab)
[your]NEWS — is [your]NEWS biased? Our profile of this outlet
- ‘Live by the gun. Die by the gun’: Man who threatened to shoot Thomas Massie is sentenced (opens OpsLens in a new tab)
- ‘Live by the gun. Die by the gun’: Man who threatened to shoot Thomas Massie is sentenced * WorldNetDaily * by Nicole Silverio, Daily Caller News Foundation (opens WND in a new tab)
- Man Who Threatened To Shoot Thomas Massie Learns His Fate (opens The Daily Caller in a new tab)
The Daily Caller — is The Daily Caller biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Man who threatened to shoot Thomas Massie receives over 2 years in prison (opens Bizpac Review in a new tab)
Bizpac Review — is Bizpac Review biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Man Who Threatened To Shoot Thomas Massie Receives Over 2 Years In Prison (opens Independent Journal Review in a new tab)
Independent Journal Review — is Independent Journal Review biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Kentucky man sentenced for threats against Rep. Thomas Massie and unnamed US senator (opens ArcaMax Publishing in a new tab)
ArcaMax Publishing
Not rated
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Benjamin Keebler sentenced to 2.5 years for threats to Thomas Massie?
- Of the 7 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 0% are rated left, 0% are rated centre, 100% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Benjamin Keebler sentenced to 2.5 years for threats to Thomas Massie left or right?
- Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 7 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
- Is the coverage of Benjamin Keebler sentenced to 2.5 years for threats to Thomas Massie biased?
- Benjamin Keebler sentenced to 2.5 years for threats to Thomas Massie is one event reported by 7 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting Benjamin Keebler sentenced to 2.5 years for threats to Thomas Massie?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated left had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered Benjamin Keebler sentenced to 2.5 years for threats to Thomas Massie?
- 7 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- What was Benjamin Keebler sentenced for?
- Benjamin Keebler was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in federal prison for cyberstalking and threatening communications against Rep. Thomas Massie and an unnamed U.S. senator. The threats included a voicemail in which he stated his intent to shoot Massie in the head at a town hall meeting.
- What conditions were attached to Keebler’s sentence?
- As part of his sentence, Keebler must participate in mental health treatment under government supervision and is barred from contacting Rep. Thomas Massie or the unnamed senator. The court also prohibited him from possessing firearms.
- Which outlets reported the sentencing?
- The sentencing was reported by six right-rated outlets: WorldNetDaily, ArcaMax Publishing, [your]NEWS, OpsLens, The Daily Caller, and Bizpac Review. No left- or centre-rated outlet covered the story.
How did this read?
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