“Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., said that one of his staffers received a call from a man on Tuesday who threatened to come to the congressman’s office with an assault rifle and kill him,” Fox News reports.
“The staffer, who the congressman said on Twitter has only been in the job for a month, wrote in an email screenshotted by Swalwell that the call came in at 11:30 a.m.”
“Asked me about where Congressman Swalwell is currently. Asked if he could talk to him. Went on a rant regarding gay issues. Mentioned he has guns and wants to ‘F— him up,'” the staffer wrote in the message.
“He will bring guns (AR-15s) to the office to kill him and f— him up.”
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Rep. Swalwell blamed Donald Trump and Kevin McCarthy after his office received the death threat.
— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) August 30, 2022
Fox News reported:
Swalwell said that he shared the message to show that “bloodshed is coming.” It’s the latest threat he has posted on Twitter after sharing a voicemail earlier this month in which someone threatened to cut his and his family members’ heads off.
Threats against lawmakers nearly doubled last year to 9,000, House Sergeant-at-Arms William Walker previously told the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch.
A 60-year-old Florida man, Paul Vernon Hoeffer, pleaded guilty earlier this year to making threatening calls to two members of Congress.
Threats sometimes foment into real world violence. House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., and five other people were shot in June 2017 as they practiced for the annual Congressional Baseball Game.
Daily Mail provided additional details:
He went on a rant about LGBTQ issues, using a slur for gay men several times on the phone, though telling Swalwell’s staffer he identified as one.
‘Said he is a gay man, but doesn’t take it up the a**, but gives it,’ she described.
The man also said he would come to the office, or wherever Swalwell is, to hurt the congressman.
‘He will bring guns (AR-15s) to the office to kill him and f**k him up,’ Swalwell’s aide said.
The man called at least twice and Swalwell’s office was able to record part of his message, including him using the anti-gay slur.
Congress is on recess until after Labor Day, with most lawmakers back in their districts or on trips.
It’s unclear if the Capitol Police are investigating the incident, with a spokesperson telling Forbes the department ‘does not discuss potential security measures’ involving lawmakers.
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