Houston man threatens to stab Texas officials in voicemail rant over blocked anime

A Houston man faces a felony charge after leaving a profanity-laced voicemail threatening to stab Texas governor’s office staff because an age-verification law was blocking his access to anime, according to a Texas Department of Public Safety affidavit.

TL;DR

• Joseph Roy Ozment, 35, called the Governor’s Constituent Communications line on July 25 and left a threatening voicemail, DPS says.
• He is charged with a third-degree felony terroristic threat against a public servant and faces up to 10 years in prison.
• DPS traced the call to Cypress, Texas, and arrested Ozment at his Houston home.
• Mainstream anime services including Crunchyroll remained accessible in Texas at the time, according to local reporting.

What the voicemail said

According to the arrest affidavit, Ozment demanded that officials undo the law he blamed for the block, saying his Google account already confirmed he was over 18. He then threatened to stab government staff and told them to “unlock” his anime, the affidavit states.

The employee who first heard the message told investigators he feared for his own safety, his coworkers’ safety and the safety of the public at the Capitol Complex, according to court records reviewed by FOX 7 Austin.

How investigators tracked him down

The message was forwarded to the DPS Executive Protection Bureau, which used an emergency location ping to trace the phone to Cypress, about 32 miles from Ozment’s registered Houston address, KXAN reported.

Ozment was booked into Travis County Jail on charges that included impeding a public servant and influencing government through fear of injury. He has since bonded out and returned to Houston, telling ABC13 he believes the state overreacted.

Which law actually caused the block

Investigators have not confirmed which website or anime title Ozment was trying to reach. Texas has not banned anime outright, but two laws intersect with online content access: House Bill 1181, which requires adult sites to verify visitors’ ages, and the App Store Accountability Act, signed by Governor Greg Abbott in May 2025, which requires Apple and Google to verify user ages before app downloads.

Because Ozment said his Google account already showed him as over 18, his complaint appears to point toward the app-store law rather than the adult-content statute, FOX 7 Austin reported. Mainstream anime platforms such as Crunchyroll, HIDIVE and Yomi remained available in Texas at the time of reporting, according to KXAN.

UK angle: anime streaming isn’t cheap either

Anime fans in the UK have faced their own recent price squeeze rather than access blocks. Crunchyroll’s UK Fan tier rose from £4.99 to £5.99 a month and its Mega Fan tier rose from £5.99 to £6.99 a month after a price increase that took effect for new subscribers in February 2026, according to AnimeBlurayUK.

Crunchyroll UK Mega Fan tier: £6.99/month Source: AnimeBlurayUK, citing Crunchyroll customer notice

What happens next

Under Texas Penal Code § 22.07, prosecutors do not need to prove Ozment had a weapon or a concrete plan — only intent to instill fear or influence government action. If convicted, he faces two to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to £8,000 (roughly $10,000), Hoodline reported.

For readers who’d rather avoid a criminal record over a streaming hiccup, Screen & Story has more on the platforms currently airing new simulcasts, including our look at Crunchyroll’s Witch Hat Atelier dub, its Ghost of Tsushima Legends tie-in, and the state of the wider UK games and entertainment market.

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Reported from publicly available court documents and verified press sources. Last reviewed 12 August 2026.