Several New York politicians, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, say they have received death threats after the brutal hammer attack on Paul Pelosi, husband of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi.
Elected officials also met this morning in Brooklyn to discuss threatening graffiti that appeared over the weekend calling for the deaths of local politicians, reported NBC News.
“There have been more threats against elected officials. It’s documented that I’ve gotten some,” Schumer (D-NY) said Sunday during his Spectrum News NY1 debate in Schenectady against his African-American Republican challenger Joe Pinion, facing elections on November 8. “We have to calm the rhetoric and condemn the violence where it occurs.”
In response, Pinion criticized Schumer for using divisive rhetoric and encouraging violence against two conservative Supreme Court justices, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. Schumer had said in March of 2020 that judges would “pay the price” if they voted to restrict the right to abortion , recalled New York Post.
“There is only one person on this stage whose rhetoric has literally brought an American to the door of a judge of the Supreme Court to kill him. That was Chuck Schumer,” Pinion said. “It is Chuck Schumer whose divisive rhetoric has led to the environment we see today.”
A now-erased graffiti that read “Kill elected officials” appeared in Bushwick immediately after of the attack on Pelosi’s husband on Friday. Additionally, several cars were vandalized by having their windows smashed overnight Saturday.
Although no one was injured in these incidents, neighbors and community leaders believe the events are a combination of two problems: local bars and nightclubs allow patrons to get out of control and that is intertwined with ever-increasing threats against politicians.
“We have to assess the climate that has been created in this country so that people think they can take actions such as entering Nancy Pelosi’s house to kill her,” he said. Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) during the press conference today.
No arrests have been made as the investigation continues in New York. Anyone with information should call 1-888-577-TIPS (74782) and in Spanish 1-888-57-CLUE (74782). Also through crimestoppers.nypdonline.org or by text message to 274637 (CRIMES), followed by TIP577. All communications are strictly confidential.
Meanwhile, in California David DePape, the man accused of attacking Paul Pelosi with a hammer, has been identified as a Canadian from 39 years in the country as an undocumented immigrant. On Saturday, the representative said that while her husband continued to improve after Friday’s assault at their San Francisco home, their children and grandchildren were “heartbroken and traumatized.”