Rep. Swalwell Says Man Threatened To Kill Him With Assault Rifle: ‘Bloodshed Is Coming’

Topline

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) tweeted Tuesday that a man called one of his staffers and threatened to kill the congressman with an assault rifle, marking the latest instance of a member of Congress reporting a recent death threat.

Key Facts

Swalwell said a staffer who has only been on the job for one month took the threatening call.

The caller said in a profanity-laced message that he planned to bring AR-15 assault rifles to Swalwell’s office to “f—- him up,” according to a description of the call Swalwell relayed, adding that the man also used homophobic slurs.

Swalwell said he shared the message to demonstrate that “bloodshed is coming,” blaming former President Donald Trump and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) for a rise in violent rhetoric.

It’s not clear if Capitol Police are investigating the call—a spokesperson told Forbes the department “does not discuss potential security measures” involving members of Congress.

Key Background

The number of threats against members of Congress has skyrocketed in recent years. More than 9,600 threats poured in to Capitol Police in 2021—over ten times the 902 threats reported in 2016, just before Trump took office. Members of both parties have been afflicted with threats, including Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), a member of the January 6 committee who in July released a three-minute clip of calls he received, including one where a caller threatened his wife and newborn baby. Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), the only other Republican on the January 6 committee, reportedly hired private security after her vote last year to impeach Trump. Prominent Democrats like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.) also regularly face threats, with a Florida man being sentenced earlier this year to 18 months in prison for threatening their lives. The sentence came just a few months after a QAnon conspiracy theorist who also threatened Pelosi received a 28-month prison term. Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), a staunch Trump backer, became the victim of actual violence in 2017, when he was seriously wounded in a shooting at the annual Congressional Baseball Game. The shooter, a 66-year-old Bernie Sanders supporter, was voraciously anti-Trump and had a history of calling to “destroy” Republicans.

Tangent

This isn’t the first time Swalwell, a Democratic candidate for president in 2020, has publicized a threat against him. In June, he shared a call in which a man threatened his children.

Further Reading

Threats against members of Congress are skyrocketing. It’s changing the job (Los Angeles Times)

Kinzinger publishes compilation of threatening calls he’s received (Axios)

Man who issued death threats to Pelosi, Ocasio-Cortez sentenced to 18 months in prison (The Hill)