Topline
The bomb threats sent to six congressional Democrats from Connecticut on Thanksgiving were signed “MAGA,” for Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan , House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Friday, after a week of violent threats targeting both parties.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries holds a press conference at the U.S. Capitol on Dec. 14, 2023 … [+]
Key Facts
In a statement, Jeffries said the messages received by the elected officials on Thanksgiving “ranged from detailed threats of a pipe bomb placed in mailboxes to swatting,” but all had one thing in common—the MAGA signature.
The threats were received by Sen. Chris Murphy and Reps. Jim Himes, Joe Courtney, John Larson, Jahana Hayes and Rosa DeLauro, all Democrats—the only member of Congress from Connecticut who appears not to have received a threat is Sen. Richard Blumenthal, also a Democrat.
Jeffries decried the threats and called them “unacceptable” and “unconscionable,” adding that House Democrats are working with the Sergeant at Arms office to provide “maximum protection” to congressional members.
The Thanksgiving threats came soon after some newly appointed members of Trump’s administration and several of his cabinet nominees received bomb threats and were targeted in swatting incidents Tuesday and Wednesday.
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Key Background
The Department of Homeland Security and FBI warned in October that political candidates and officials could be targeted with “physical attacks, threats of violence, swatting and doxing, mailing or otherwise delivering suspicious items, arson, and other means of property destruction” before and after the election. Trump was targeted in two assassination attempts on the campaign trail this year, and in September a man was charged with making nearly 500 threats that contained violent, racist and homophobic rhetoric alongside threats of assassination from torture, hanging and shooting against members of the Supreme Court. The bulletin from DHS and the FBI said domestic violence extremists have mobilized this year in response to social issues including immigration, LGBTQ+ issues and abortion rights.
Big Number
At least 300. That’s how many cases of political violence were identified by Reuters since the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
