Congresswoman Nancy Mace of South Carolina’s 1st District has responded to the arrest and charging of Michael Richard Fadich, also known as Rem Heathen, in Oregon. Fadich, who previously posted a death threat against Rep. Mace on Instagram in May 2025, is now facing charges including attempted murder after allegedly shooting a man in Portland last month.
In her statement, Rep. Mace described the initial threat: “In May 2025, Fadich posted a graphic on Instagram depicting a gun pointed directly at Rep. Mace’s face. The message was unmistakable: he wanted her dead.” Her office reported the threat to authorities at that time, but prosecutors did not pursue charges.
Rep. Mace criticized the lack of prosecutorial action following the original incident: “This blood is on the hands of every prosecutor who looked at this threat and looked away,” she said. “I pray for the safety of the women he’s housed with.” Due to Oregon law, Fadich is currently being held in a women’s prison.
Fadich’s social media reportedly included Antifa-related content and explicit threats. According to reports referenced by Rep. Mace, he had been involved with an Antifa cell in Portland and had a history of militant activity.
Rep. Mace receives more than 1,300 threats per year on average. She contrasted this case with another recent prosecution: “When prosecutors do their job, lives are saved. For example, Samuel Cain sits in a jail cell today and has been denied bond three times after threatening to kill me. But when they fail, like with Fadich, innocent people pay the price.”
She called for federal authorities to review why no action was taken after the original threat: “I am asking the Department of Justice and FBI to immediately investigate why federal prosecutors failed to act on one more death threat against me and to determine whether Fadich should face federal charges for threatening a Member of Congress.”
“To every prosecutor who declined to act: you had the chance to stop this man, and you didn’t. And someone took a bullet for it,” Rep. Mace added.
The December 21 incident in Portland left one man hospitalized with serious injuries from gunshot wounds; police recovered multiple firearms at the scene. Fadich was arrested on January 8 in Mt. Shasta, California.
Nancy Mace has represented South Carolina’s 1st district since replacing Joe Cunningham in 2021 (https://mace.house.gov/about). Before serving in Congress, she was part of the South Carolina House of Representatives from 2018 to 2020 (https://www.congress.gov/member/nancy-mace/M001212). Born in Fort Bragg, North Carolina in 1977, she resides in Charleston (https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/M001212). She graduated from The Citadel with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1999.
