Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) wrote to Attorney General Loretta Lynch Friday asking her to investigate a tweet by a former congressman, arguing that it constitutes a “terroristic threat” against President Barack Obama.
After last week’s tragic attack on Dallas police officers, former Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) tweeted that Obama and Black Lives Matter activists need to “watch out” for “Real America.”
“Threats of any kind against the President or ordinary Americans are unacceptable. This particular statement bears significant weight because of Walsh’s position as a high-profile former Member of Congress. As such, Mr. Walsh’s refusal to renege on the statement could result in real violence against the President or the Black Lives Matter movement,” Ellison wrote.
Ellison’s letter also cites a federal statute that classifies threats against the president as a Class E Felony, which could result in up to five years of prison.
Walsh denied that his tweet was a threat.
“I would never, ever, ever threaten the life or incite violence against a President of the United States or anyone. That’s not at all what I meant. I do believe Barack Obama’s words and the deeds of Black Lives Matter have gotten cops in this country killed,” he told The Huffington Post.
He added, “Congressman Ellison, who’s a good, devoted, practicing, peaceful Muslim should spend his time trying to convince all Muslims around the world who are not peace-loving to quit engaging in acts of terror. That would be better time spent than going after something that I tweeted a week ago.”
The Justice Department did not return a request for comment.
“I stand by what I meant,” Walsh told CNN last week. His tweet disappeared just hours after he posted it, and he blamed Twitter officials for its removal from his profile.
Walsh, who served in Congress from 2011-2013, made a name for himself as a no-holds-barred conservative and an incessant critic of Obama. During his short tenure on the Hill, for example, he accused the president of holding allegiances to “socialism, communism and Nazism.”
Since the president took office in 2009, at least 65 people have been arrested for threatening to harm him.
This article has been updated to include comment from Walsh.
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