Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) alerted his supporters on Thursday of a death threat his office on Capitol Hill received the previous day.
"The caller told our receptionist - a young intern - that '10 people are going to kill the Congressman within 24 hours,'" Grayson wrote in a campaign e-mail. "We gave the information to the Capitol Police; they are investigating."
The notice from Grayson comes on the heels of conservative media critic Dan Gainor offering to pay $100 to the first member of congress who punches the Florida Democrat in the nose.
"One day, a Republican operative offers $100 to anyone who'll punch me in the nose," Grayson explained. "The next day, I get a death threat. After Fox News spewed its usual clownish hatred about me yesterday, my office received a call."
The freshman lawmaker went on to write: "Fox. You'd think that they would have learned their lesson after Dr. George Tiller was killed. And they did learn a lesson: a lesson in killing."
Grayson issued a call for support at the conclusion of his message. "We have to stand up, and we have to fight back," he said. "Because what is at stake is . . . everything."
Here's a copy of the e-mail the Florida Democrat's camp blasted to supporters:
One day, a Republican operative offers $100 to anyone who'll punch me in the nose.
The next day, I get a death threat.
After Fox News spewed its usual clownish hatred about me yesterday, my office received a call. The caller told our receptionist - a young intern - that "10 people are going to kill the Congressman within 24 hours." We gave the information to the Capitol Police; they are investigating.
Fox. You'd think that they would have learned their lesson after Dr. George Tiller was killed. And they did learn a lesson: a lesson in killing.
And why? Because I told the truth: the truth that by stalling on unemployment insurance, right-wingers revealed themselves to be heartless, selfish wretches, who have been taking food out of the mouths of children.
Am I the only one who has noticed this? Because if you're with me on this, I'd like your support. I need your support.
First threatened assault. Then threatened murder. Do you see how they ratchet up the bullying, and try to cow us?
In his poem "The Second Coming," the Irish poet William Butler Yeats described a time like ours as the "widening gyre." A time when "the centre cannot hold."
A time when "anarchy is loosed upon the world."
A time when "the best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity." Up to, and including, death threats on Members of Congress.
But we have to stand up, and we have to fight back. Because what is at stake is . . . everything.
Please, support our campaign. Stand with me. Fight back.
Truth,
Congressman Alan Grayson
TURNING and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.William Butler Yeats, "The Second Coming"