Since we’re talking about threats made against Republicans today, this is worth mentioning. Rep. Claudia Tenney received a threatening email yesterday after the shooting in Alexandria. From CNN:
The email sent to Tenney had the subject line “One down, 216 to go,” Tenney’s office confirmed to CNN.
“Did you NOT expect this?” the body of the email read. “When you take away ordinary peoples very lives in order to pay off the wealthiest among us, your own lives are forfeit. Certainly, your souls and morality were lost long before. Good riddance.”
CBS News published a screenshot of the email:
On Twitter a user named David Catron caught the significance of the “216 to go”:
@phillyrich1 Did U pick up on the significance of '216 to Go' ? It's not a generic threat to Rs. It's tailored to those who voted 4 #AHCA
— David Catron (@Catronicus) June 15, 2017
Catron is correct. The House passed the GOP health care bill last month by a vote of 217 to 213. The “one down” is obviously a reference to Rep. Scalise who is still in critical condition in a hospital. That leaves 216 other House Republicans who voted for the bill. So not only was the threat specifically tied to the shooting that happened in the morning, it also suggests the person who made it is following the GOP closely, not unlike James Hodgkinson.
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