House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries called for “maximum protection” for lawmakers and their families after a spate of bomb threats against House Democrats over the Thanksgiving holiday.
“It is imperative that Congress provide maximum protection for all members and their families moving forward,” the Brooklyn congressman’s office said in a statement Friday.
“America is a democracy. 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.”
At least 10 of President-elect Donald Trump’s high-profile nominees were hit earlier this month with what incoming press secretary Karoline Leavitt called “violent, unAmerican threats to their lives.”
Among those who received threats were Rep. Elise Stefanik, the incoming United States ambassador to the United Nations, and Lee Zeldin, the incoming director of the Environmental Protection Agency.
In the latest incidents, the entire Connecticut Democratic House delegation received bomb threats signed “MAGA, ” an apparent reference to President elect Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan.
The individual threats varied from swatting to detailed threats of a pipe bomb placed in mailboxes, according to Jeffries.
