Grijalva: "Horrific" Attack Means We Must Take Threats Seriously (updated)

[ProSense]

Grijalva: "Horrific" Attack Means We Must Take Threats Seriously

Brian Beutler

Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) represents a district in southern Arizona adjacent to the one served by Gabby Giffords. Because the city of Tucson straddles the line separating those districts, they work together on common issues, including solar energy, green jobs, and making sure the federal government sends resources to the University of Arizona.

<...>

"The first reaction honestly was It's overblown, lets wait," Grijalva said in an interview Saturday evening. He, too, has been the target of political threats and has learned that most of the time those threats are more nerve-wracking than dangerous.

<...>

"If I may, Brian, there's a lesson in this whole horror that we're going through -- it's about the tone and the tenor of the debate. None of us get into this business thinking that we're risking life," he said.

"But there's a tone of division hatred anger that's been part of the political dialogue for far too long. This might be an extremist, it might be an isolated case, but the fact that a person feels that an elected official is expendable because of a different set of views is not the American way. I hope there s a lesson people learn about that tone and tenor."

In July of last year, Grijalva's Arizona office was shot at, and in October he was sent toxic white powder.

more

Something is terribly wrong.

Updated to add this from Think Progress:

<...>

UPDATE Giffords' opponent in the recent election, Jesse Kelly, held a campaign event in June where participants were invited to shoot an automatic weapon with the candidate, which was advertised as a chance to "get on target for victory in November help remove Gabrielle Giffords from office":



<...>

[ProSense]

1. No comment? n/t