Throughout the past couple of months, Republicans and government officials who work for President Trump have received death threats, been run out of restaurants and stores, and followed to their cars. The uptick in harassment coincides with increasingly aggressive rhetoric from leading Democrats.
Here are 14 times Trump administration officials and Republican lawmakers have been threatened or run out of establishments recently.
1. Protestors to Mitch McConnell: ‘We Know Where You Live!’
Protestors followed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to his car outside of a restaurant in Kentucky on Saturday. In a video recording of the encounter, protestors are seen walking behind McConnell and shouting at him: “Vote you out!”
Hundreds of protestors were demonstrating outside of a nearby Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office on Saturday, when the senator was spotted dining at a restaurant just a few miles away, CNN reported.
“We know where you live too, Mitch!” the group of protestors are seen yelling. “Abolish ICE!”
2. Protestors Follow Elaine Chao To Her Car
Two weeks ago, protestors followed McConnell and his wife, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, as they were getting into a vehicle. These demonstrators played audio of border-crossing foreign children whose parents were reportedly apprehended and heckling the senator for the Trump administration’s border enforcement policies.
“Why are you separating families?” the men ask.
“Why don’t you leave my husband alone!” Chao responds.
video: @SecElaineChao telling protestors to leave her husband, Mitch McConnell, alone. pic.twitter.com/9jj1AojRMM
— Adam Parkhomenko (@AdamParkhomenko) June 26, 2018
The day before this showdown between Chao and protestors, Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters called for Democrats to “create a crowd” whenever they see a Trump administration official at a restaurant or shopping mall and to “tell them they’re not welcome anymore, anywhere.”
3. Liberals Wish Rep. Steve Scalise Was Dead
In response to Water’s call for mobs of protestors to heckle and crowd around Republicans, Rep. Steve Scalise, who survived an anti-Republican shooting last year, called for civility among all Americans, from both sides of the aisle. His call for civility was met with pushback from people who said they wished he had “succumbed to his wounds.”
4. Liberal PAC Fundraises For Billboard Encouraging Passersby to ‘Take Out’ Scalise
In May, a liberal PAC was raising money to erect a poster encouraging passersby to “take out” Scalise. The wording of the billboard, combined with a comment from the PAC chairman saying his group was planning to “toss mortars” at Republicans, was sloppy, to say the least.
5. Man Arrested For Threatening To Kill Republican Supporters
On Saturday, a man was arrested in Suffolk County, New York, for threatening to kill supporters of Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin and President Donald Trump. The Daily Caller has more:
‘Martin Astrof was arrested after he threatened to kill supporters of Congressman Lee Zeldin and President Donald Trump,’ Suffolk PD said. ‘Astrof went to the campaign headquarters of Congressman Zeldin and became irate with a campaign worker at approximately 11:15 a.m. After threatening to kill the campaign worker and other supporters, Astrof backed his car up in an aggressive manner nearly striking the worker.’
6. Cynthia Nixon Calls ICE a ‘Terrorist Organization’
“Sex and the City” star and gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon, who campaigned in Suffolk County over the weekend, called ICE a “terrorist organization,” and called for the “monstrous Trump-Pence administration” to be abolished.
I can think of no better description than to call ICE a terrorist organization, and I will wear any criticism from @mike_pence as a badge of honor.
— Cynthia Nixon (@CynthiaNixon) July 6, 2018
First we #AbolishICE. Then we abolish the monstrous Trump-Pence administration. Neither can happen soon enough. @realDonaldTrump @mike_pence https://t.co/CBmvUsFkX6
— Cynthia Nixon (@CynthiaNixon) July 7, 2018
7. Woman Screams Out Steve Bannon at a Bookstore
On Saturday, a woman reportedly screamed at former White House advisor Steve Bannon, who was shopping at a bookstore in Richmond, Virginia. The woman called Bannon a “piece of trash” and continued to yell at him until the bookstore owner called the cops, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
8. Woman Confronts Scott Pruitt At DC Restaurant With 2-Year-Old Son On Her Hip
Last Monday, a woman eating with her two-year-old son at a restaurant in Washington DC confronted former Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt and urged him to resign.
“This is my son, he loves animals, wants clean water, clean air,” the woman said. “I’m urging you to resign before your scandals push you out.”
9. Mob of Protestors Swarm DHS Secretary at DC Restaurant, Yell ‘Shame! Shame!’
Days earlier, a group of protestors swarmed Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen at a Mexican restaurant in Washington DC and shouted “SHAME! SHAME! SHAME!” at her repeatedly until she left.
10. Restaurant Owner Kicks Out Sarah Huckabee Sanders
Two weeks ago, the owner of a restaurant in Lexington, Virginia, asked Sarah Huckabee Sanders to leave her eatery because the White House press secretary works for the Trump administration.
11. Net Neutrality Supporter Threatened to Murder FCC Chairman’s Family
In late June, a man was arrested and charged for threatening to kill Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai and his family. Earlier this year, Pai, had to cancel appearances because of bomb threats aimed at him after the chairman voted to repeal Internet traffic regulations last December.
12. Protestors Left A Burnt, Decapitated Animal Body On DHS Employee’s Front Porch
In a recent threat assessment, DHS officials reported an uptick in the number of threats made against employees at the department since the increased attention to Trump’s enforcement of U.S. immigration policies. In one case, a DHS employee who lives in the Washington DC area found a body of a burned, decapitated animal on his front porch, ABC News reports.
13. Idaho State Rep. Threatened With Death, Rape
Idaho State Rep. Priscilla Giddings has been threatened with rape and encouraged to kill herself by people who disliked a Facebook post in which she explains how having a gun saved her life while fighting the Taliban overseas. Giddings, a former combat pilot and current major in the Air Force Reserves, says that disarming women in the U.S. is a step backwards. You can listen to the vile voicemail messages she received here.
14. Protestors Hand ‘Wanted’ Posters With Stephen Miller’s Face On Them To His Neighbors
Several weeks ago, White House senior advisor Stephen Miller’s face was slapped onto “Wanted” flyers found circulating among his neighbors at an apartment complex he reportedly lives in.
They are handing out these flyers to Stephen Miller's neighbors at the luxe CityCenterDC pic.twitter.com/OYmllt6JEj
— Rachel Sadon (@Rachel_Sadon) June 25, 2018
Miller reportedly told his colleagues that a bartender at a restaurant flipped him off when he went to pick up a sushi order at a nearby restaurant and repeatedly yelled at him. This confrontation prompted Miller to throw away $80 worth of sushi for fear that it had been tampered with.
