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NY congressman gets threatening letter

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1 of 4. A police vehicle is parked outside the office of Representative Anthony Weiner, after the discovery of a letter which contained an unidentified white powder, in Queens, New York March 25, 2010.

Credit: Reuters/Chip East

NEW YORK | Thu Mar 25, 2010 7:22pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The office of Representative Anthony Weiner on Thursday received a threatening letter containing an unidentified white powder, his office said.

"Earlier today an envelope containing white powder and a threatening letter was delivered to my community office in Kew Gardens," the Democratic congressman said in a statement issued by his office.

"My first priority is the safety of my staff and neighbors, and the authorities are currently taking steps to investigate and resolve the situation," he said.

Weiner's office in Kew Gardens, part of the New York City borough of Queens, was closed for investigation.

Authorities were responding to the site, and no other details were immediately available, said FBI spokesman Richard Kolko.

The FBI and police are investigating attacks and threats against Democratic members of Congress who voted for healthcare reform, and a senior House of Representatives Democrat said on Wednesday his colleagues are at risk. Weiner voted in favor of the legislation.

Bricks were tossed through the windows of one member's office, another lawmaker was spat at by a protester on Capitol Hill and another was the target of a racial slur.

The House gave the healthcare measure -- President Barack Obama's top domestic priority -- final congressional approval on Sunday. Obama signed it into law on Tuesday.

Emotions ran high among opponents and supporters during the yearlong debate over the legislation.

(Reporting by Basil Katz; editing by Ellen Wulfhorst and Xavier Briand)
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Comments (8)
amarknyc wrote:
Horrible…and outrageous.

What’s truly shocking is that Fox News, whose business plan seems to be centered on fawning hatred and disrespect of anything that’s not white, Christian, and of their political ‘persuasion,’ is reporting these events much in the same way that they’d report a car bomb in Tel Aviv: they’ll mention it…with a smirk.

I realize that the Constitution prevents us from censuring this filth… But, left unabated, it looks like Murdoch will continue to re-invest his current profits in almost anything that expands Fox’ horrifying message.

What can we do about this?

Mar 25, 2010 5:47pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
hadenough2 wrote:
You can’t really expect much from people whose total concept of America is following the propaganda dictated to them by the ruling elite. These peoples concept of America is that you get to dress up in fancy costumes while espousing your hatred for your fellow man and anything goes as long as you don’t get your way. I’m sure most of them profess to be Christian, though I’m not aware of Christ ever having acted that way. Also, as far as the Constitution goes, I’m sure they’ve never read Jefferson or Adams or …. but you get the idea. They may have taken some quote out of context but that’d be about it. It really is sad to see the “party of no” egging the violence on; that would be the same party that put a claim on ‘morals’ and ‘family values’. Isn’t it interesting that the Democrats have members with differences of opinion but not one Republican disagrees with the other one…. hmmm, strange.

I’ll tell you this much, if the likes of Cheney, Bush, McCain and so many others are headed for heaven, I’ll gladly take the other route.

Mar 25, 2010 6:41pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
elizabette wrote:
It’s disingenuous of Boehner to call this behavior “unacceptable” after he and his party stirred up all this fear and hatred. Maybe this is what he meant when he predicted “Armageddon.”

Mar 25, 2010 6:58pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
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