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    Saturday, December 07, 2024

    Democratic lawmakers targeted with threats signed with ‘MAGA’

    House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said bomb threats and swatting incidents were made against Democratic lawmakers, their families and law enforcement personnel, shortly after the FBI said several similar threats were aimed at people President-elect Donald Trump has chosen for his incoming administration.

    The threats, Jeffries said Friday, were “all signed with ‘MAGA’ at the conclusion of the message.”

    Threats of violence aimed at lawmakers are “unacceptable, unconscionable and have no place in a civilized society,” Jeffries said. “All perpetrators of political violence directed at any party must be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

    President Joe Biden, who is in Nantucket, Mass., for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, was asked by reporters about the threats. He replied that the FBI was “working hard” to address the threats to both groups. The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

    The threats, Jeffries said, included “detailed threats of a pipe bomb placed in mailboxes to swatting.” He also said Congress needed to provide “maximum protection for all Members and their families moving forward.” Jeffries, who did not name the targeted lawmakers, said law enforcement reacted swiftly and that no devices were found.

    Democratic Reps. from Connecticut Rosa DeLauro, Jahana Hayes and Jim Himes said in separate statements on Thursday that they were targeted with bomb threats. Rep. Seth Magaziner, D-R.I., said on Friday he was notified that he and his family were the targets of a bomb threat at their home. “We are safe and there was no evidence of a bomb on the property,” he said.

    Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., also received a bomb threat similar to those “made against other Democrats on Thanksgiving,” his office confirmed on Friday.

    The Trump selections who said this week that they were targeted with bomb threats include Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., whom Trump has tapped for U.N. ambassador; former congressman Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., the president-elect’s choice for administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency; Brooke Rollins, whom Trump plans to nominate to lead the Agriculture Department; Scott Turner, whom Trump said he would ask to run the Department of Housing and Urban Development; Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Ore., his choice for labor secretary; and Pete Hegseth, his pick to lead the Defense Department.

    Turner, Chavez-DeRemer and Hegseth made brief public statements about the threats against them. Trump’s transition team declined to provide more information when contacted by The Washington Post on Wednesday, but spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said the incoming president appreciated the law enforcement response. “President Trump and the entire Transition team are grateful for their swift action,” Leavitt said in a statement.

    “Swatting” refers to incidents in which false reports of serious crimes or dangerous situations are reported to law enforcement to prompt an immediate, armed response that could endanger people.

    Violent threats and attacks aimed at government officials have risen sharply in recent years.

    In 2017, a gunman shot Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La. and three other people at a baseball field in Alexandria, Virginia. The shooter was pronounced dead at a hospital after a gun battle with police.

    In 2022, a man broke into the California home of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and attacked her husband with a hammer. In 2023, several lawmakers were targeted with “swatting” episodes around the holidays. In May, Attorney General Merrick Garland warned of mounting violent threats aimed at election workers.

    Maegan Vazquez contributed to this report.

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