CNN
—
At least four Democratic members of Congress in Connecticut announced Thursday that they were targeted with bomb threats at their homes where they were celebrating Thanksgiving with their families.
Reps. Joe Courtney, Jim Hymes, John Larson, and Jahana Hayes each released statements saying they had been targeted with bomb threats and urging law enforcement to respond. In either case, law enforcement ultimately found no evidence of a bomb, and all four members of Congress reported that their families were safe.
The incident comes a day after several of Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees and government appointees were similarly targeted for what the president-elect’s transition team called a “violent and un-American threat to life.” Ta.
Such incidents have increased in recent years and are not unusual for lawmakers, an official familiar with the investigation into yesterday’s call told CNN.
Law enforcement officials have previously told CNN that these calls can be scripted by individuals overseas to make a variety of threats, and are sometimes made for attention and entertainment. Ta.
CNN has reached out to the U.S. Capitol Police and local law enforcement agencies that responded to the threats against House Democrats.
Mr. Himes, Mr. Courtney and Mr. Hayes condemned this type of intimidation and all political violence in a statement Thursday. Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said: “There is no place for political violence in this country. I hope we can all get through the holiday season in peace and civility.” .
“I am grateful that my colleagues in the Connecticut Congressional Delegation who received similar threats are also safe,” Larson said in a statement.
The FBI said in a statement Wednesday that it is aware of “numerous bombings and swatting incidents targeting incoming administration candidates and appointees” and is working with other law enforcement agencies. “We take all potential threats seriously and, as always, we encourage the public to immediately report anything that appears suspicious to law enforcement,” the statement added.
Former FBI deputy director and CNN contributor Andrew McCabe said he was not surprised by yesterday’s threat.
“This has become a very common aspect of life for people who are in high-profile or less controversial positions. It’s been going on for years,” McCabe said. he said in an interview Wednesday. “They probably know 90 percent of the time that these threats that come in are of no value and are of no use to them, but in the unlikely event that a real threat gets through. If so, we can’t risk not responding.”
Swatting is a criminal scam in which a person falsely reports a crime, such as a mass shooting or bomb threat, in order to get police to arrive at a specific location. In an era of increasingly partisan politics, these types of threats target a wide range of ideologies. For example, Special Counsel Jack Smith and Judge Tanya Chutkan, who oversaw the federal election-subversion case against President Trump, have been targets of such cases in the past.
This story has been updated with additional information.
