(Bloomberg) — House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said lawmakers from his party had been targeted by “violent threats” over the Thanksgiving holiday that included claims of bombs and swatting calls to law enforcement, following similar incidents directed against some of President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet picks.
The incidents against the Democratic lawmakers “ranged from detailed threats of a pipe bomb placed in mailboxes to swatting, all signed with ‘MAGA’ at the conclusion of the message,” Jeffries said in a statement Friday, referencing Trump’s “Make America Great Again” political slogan.
“Thanks to the swift reaction from law enforcement, no devices were found and Members of Congress and their families were kept safe on the holiday,” Jeffries added. “Threats of violence against elected officials are unacceptable, unconscionable and have no place in a civilized society. All perpetrators of political violence directed at any party must be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”
Some Democratic lawmakers from Connecticut said they were among those targeted on Thanksgiving, including Representatives Jim Himes, Rosa DeLauro and Jahana Hayes, who posted on the X social-media platform about the threats they received.
Swatting is a form of harassment in which a caller falsely reports a dangerous incident in hopes of provoking an armed police response.
Earlier: Lutnick’s Home Receives Bomb Threat as Trump Picks Targeted
Trump’s transition team on Wednesday said that some of his nominees and appointees to the incoming administration were targeted by bomb threats and hoax phone calls.
Among the recipients of the threats were Cantor Fitzgerald LP’s Howard Lutnick, Trump’s pick for Commerce secretary, and Representative Elise Stefanik of New York, the president-elect’s choice for US ambassador to the United Nations.
New York State troopers received an email Wednesday morning claiming that a bomb had been placed in the mailbox of Lutnick’s Upper East Side home in Manhattan, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The FBI in a statement Wednesday said it was “aware of numerous bomb threats and swatting incidents targeting incoming administration nominees and appointees.” The agency said it takes potential threats seriously and was working with law enforcement partners.
US political figures have been increasingly targeted in swatting-style attacks, including an incident earlier this year in which a caller falsely claimed that there was a fire at the White House.
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