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FBI investigates threats against Democratic House members
Top Stories * Updated 30m ago
Matt Kelley
The FBI and local authorities are investigating a severed gas line at the home of Rep. Tom Perriello's brother, the Virginia Democrat said in a statement.
Earlier this week, a conservative activist in Virginia posted what he believed to be the home address of the congressman. But it turned out to be Perriello's brother address. Politico wrote about the mix up here.
Perriello voted for the health care bill that President Obama signed into law Tuesday.
"While it is too early to say anything definitive regarding political motivations behind this act," Perriello's statement says, "it's never too early for political leaders to condemn threats of violence, particularly as threats to other members of Congress and their children escalate."
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters this afternoon that officials from the FBI and the U.S. Capitol Police talked to Democratic lawmakers today about how to handle perceived security threats.
Reported acts of vandalism involving lawmakers' offices include the breaking of a glass door at the Tucson office of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., on Monday, the Associated Press reported. Giffords also voted for the health care bill.
USA TODAY's Kevin Johnson says the FBI is appealing for public assistance to identify the possible sources of threats.
"Any threats or incidents directed against members of Congress are being taken seriously by the FBI, Capitol Police and other law enforcement agencies," FBI spokeswoman Katherine Schweit said.
It was immediately unclear how many threats had been directed against members, but Schweit said the agency was "seeking to identify those responsible.'' Schweit confirmed that FBI officials participated in a Wednesday briefing for congressional officials called by the the U.S. Capitol Police.
"Anybody who has information, we want them to contact us,'' Schweit said.
Updated at 5:40 p.m. ET.* Giffords' spokesman, C.J. Karamargin, said a security guard reported the broken window early Monday morning, hours after he and other staffers had left the office after watching the health care vote on television.
"That was the frightening thing, that people were here just before this happned," Karamargin said in a telephone interview from the Tucson office. "We feel lucky no one was injured."
He said the office had received many phone calls with "nasty and rude and hateful comments" from opponents of the health care bill but no death threats.
Giffords' office supplied the photo above of the shattered glass door.
Updated at 5:50 p.m. ET. Separately, Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., today reported two "alarming" incidents that occurred last week. She said a brick was thrown through a window in her Niagra Falls' district office. Also, she said, someone left*her voicemail "referencing snipers." She said the FBI is investigating. Her*statement:
This comes on the heels of an obscene display over the weekend, when one protestor outside the Capitol spit on one member of Congress, another used an obscenity against one of our members and shouters in the gallery who interrupted the floor debate were applauded by Republican congressmen. These displays have coarsened the debate, inflamed tensions and contributed to an increase in incivility.
Updated at 6 p.m. ET.*Mike Troxel, the blogger who admitted he posted the Perriello address,*could not be reached for comment today and his website was inaccessible. Troxel is "a participant" in a tea party group in Lynchburg, Va., says the group's chairman, Mark Lloyd.
"The Lynchburg TEA Party, and the TEA Party movement, do not encourage violence, damage to property, or criminal activity of any sort," Lloyd said in an e-mailed statement.
Lloyd noted that the address wasn't posted on the Lynchburg group's website but on Troxel's blog. Reached by phone, Lloyd declined to put a reporter in touch with Troxel Wednesday afternoon.
Top Stories * Updated 30m ago
Matt Kelley
The FBI and local authorities are investigating a severed gas line at the home of Rep. Tom Perriello's brother, the Virginia Democrat said in a statement.
Earlier this week, a conservative activist in Virginia posted what he believed to be the home address of the congressman. But it turned out to be Perriello's brother address. Politico wrote about the mix up here.
Perriello voted for the health care bill that President Obama signed into law Tuesday.
"While it is too early to say anything definitive regarding political motivations behind this act," Perriello's statement says, "it's never too early for political leaders to condemn threats of violence, particularly as threats to other members of Congress and their children escalate."
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters this afternoon that officials from the FBI and the U.S. Capitol Police talked to Democratic lawmakers today about how to handle perceived security threats.
Reported acts of vandalism involving lawmakers' offices include the breaking of a glass door at the Tucson office of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., on Monday, the Associated Press reported. Giffords also voted for the health care bill.
USA TODAY's Kevin Johnson says the FBI is appealing for public assistance to identify the possible sources of threats.
"Any threats or incidents directed against members of Congress are being taken seriously by the FBI, Capitol Police and other law enforcement agencies," FBI spokeswoman Katherine Schweit said.
It was immediately unclear how many threats had been directed against members, but Schweit said the agency was "seeking to identify those responsible.'' Schweit confirmed that FBI officials participated in a Wednesday briefing for congressional officials called by the the U.S. Capitol Police.
"Anybody who has information, we want them to contact us,'' Schweit said.
Updated at 5:40 p.m. ET.* Giffords' spokesman, C.J. Karamargin, said a security guard reported the broken window early Monday morning, hours after he and other staffers had left the office after watching the health care vote on television.
"That was the frightening thing, that people were here just before this happned," Karamargin said in a telephone interview from the Tucson office. "We feel lucky no one was injured."
He said the office had received many phone calls with "nasty and rude and hateful comments" from opponents of the health care bill but no death threats.
Giffords' office supplied the photo above of the shattered glass door.
Updated at 5:50 p.m. ET. Separately, Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., today reported two "alarming" incidents that occurred last week. She said a brick was thrown through a window in her Niagra Falls' district office. Also, she said, someone left*her voicemail "referencing snipers." She said the FBI is investigating. Her*statement:
This comes on the heels of an obscene display over the weekend, when one protestor outside the Capitol spit on one member of Congress, another used an obscenity against one of our members and shouters in the gallery who interrupted the floor debate were applauded by Republican congressmen. These displays have coarsened the debate, inflamed tensions and contributed to an increase in incivility.
Updated at 6 p.m. ET.*Mike Troxel, the blogger who admitted he posted the Perriello address,*could not be reached for comment today and his website was inaccessible. Troxel is "a participant" in a tea party group in Lynchburg, Va., says the group's chairman, Mark Lloyd.
"The Lynchburg TEA Party, and the TEA Party movement, do not encourage violence, damage to property, or criminal activity of any sort," Lloyd said in an e-mailed statement.
Lloyd noted that the address wasn't posted on the Lynchburg group's website but on Troxel's blog. Reached by phone, Lloyd declined to put a reporter in touch with Troxel Wednesday afternoon.
