Sen. Ernst Rides In Charity Event The Day After Omaha Man Arrested For Making Threats Against Her Life

PACIFIC JUNCTION - One day after the FBI arrested an Omaha man for suspicion of making threats against her life, U.S.  Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) was in Mills County Saturday, taking part in a charity motorcycle ride for Our Military Kids, a non-profit organization that provides support to families of deployed National Guard and Reserve members and children of wounded service personnel.

During a formal address to fellow riders and event volunteers at Loess Hills Harley Davidson, Ernst made no direct mention of Friday’s arrest of Robert William Simet. The 64-year-old Omahan is accused of making threatening comments about Ernst  and other government officials to Loess Hills Harley Davidson employees and other witnesses while in the motorcycle shop on Wednesday.

“Despite of all the ugliness that is out there in the world, it’s days like this that bring us together and really show us that we can be supportive and show kindness to others out there,” Ernst said. “That’s what we’re doing through Our Military Kids.”

According to court filings, Simet allegedly told Loess Hills Harley Davidson employees he believes Ernst is part of ISIS and he was unhappy that she was scheduled to make an appearance at the motorcycle shop for Saturday’s event.

"I could kill her, they would kill me, it would not matter, I would win either way," Simet said, according to employee statements made to the FBI.

The court documents indicate employees told  FBI investigators Simet said that if he came to the event he would take "everybody with him," which they interpreted to mean  he would kill people if he showed up.

Simet allegedly told one of the employees, "Everyone in the government needs to be killed off. Specifically, all Congress members should be killed."

Loess Hills Harley Davidson employees found the statements alarming and initially voiced their concerns to the Mills County Sheriff’s Office. After interviewing dealership employees, Mills County Deputy Evan York contacted the FBI office. FBI investigators later conducted multiple interviews at Loess Hills Harley Davidson.

Although employees were initially uncertain of Simet’s identity, he was eventually identified through a sales receipt at the motorcycle shop and print out of his driver’s license.

Simet was arrested Friday morning. When FBI officials went to his home, many of the windows were covered on the interior with aluminum foil and a security camera was attached to the house.

FBI Omaha Special Agent in Charge Randall Thysse thanked the motorcycle dealership employees and other witnesses for coming forward and reporting Simet’s comments to authorities.

“The safety of our elected officials is something that cannot be taken lightly," Thysse said in a prepared statement.

Simet will be transferred to Council Bluffs for a court appearance Tuesday, July 11. He's charged with threatening to assault a federal official.

Ernst was among more than 100 motorcycle riders participating in Saturday’s event. A retired lieutenant colonel from the Iowa Army National Guard, she spent 12 months in Kuwait in 2003–04 as the company commander of the 1168th Transportation Company during the Iraq War.

Speaking from a makeshift stage on the bed of a pickup truck, Ernst praised the work of Our Military Kids, an organization that provides grants for participation in activities that help military children cope with stress and anxiety while their parents are deployed or recovering from injuries. Ernst noted that her own daughter was 3 years old when she was deployed during the Iraq War.

“We know how tough those deployments can be on our children,” Ernst said. “Our Military Kids is a wonderful organization that does support the children of the members that are deployed and those families that are going through a recovery process after an injury. It’s organizations like this that really step out of their way to provide the activities that are necessary to help cope with the stress of having a parent deployed.”

Ernst helped lead the riders out of the Loess Hills Harley Davidson parking lot. The charity ride included a stop in Hamburg to view the Fremont County Freedom Rock.