MP Swalwell says man threatened to kill him with assault rifle: ‘Bloodshed to come’

Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., said one of his staffers received a call Tuesday from a man who threatened to come to the congressman’s office with an assault rifle and kill him.

The staffer, who the congressman said on Twitter had only been on the job for a month, wrote in an email captured by Swalwell that the call came in at 11:30 a.m.

“He asked me about the current whereabouts of Congressman Swalwell. They asked if he could talk to him. He went on a rant about gay issues. He mentioned he had guns and wanted to ‘F—‘ him,” wrote the staff member in the message. “He’s going to bring guns (AR-15s) into the office to kill him and make him stand up.”

Swalwell said he shared the message to show that “bloodshed is coming.” It’s the latest threat he’s posted on Twitter after sharing a voicemail earlier this month in which someone threatened to cut off his head and that of his family members.

US CAPITOL POLICE address threats to disrupt congressional baseball game

Threats against lawmakers nearly doubled last year to 9,000, Sergeant-at-Arms William Walker previously told the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Legislature.

Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., listens during a U.S. House Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington.
(Anna Moneymaker/Pool via REUTERS)

A 60-year-old Florida man, Paul Vernon Hoeffer, pleaded guilty earlier this year to making threatening calls to two members of Congress.

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Threats sometimes encourage real-world violence. House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., and five others were shot in June 2017 while practicing for the annual Congressional Baseball Game.

The FBI and Capitol Police did not return a request for comment Tuesday about the threat against Swalwell.