WASHINGTON ― A Republican congresswoman from New York said she received an email threat just hours after Wednesday morning’s shooting at a baseball field that wounded GOP Majority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) and four others.
Rep. Claudia Tenney forwarded to several news outlets the email that began with the subject line: “One down, 216 to go…”
It read: “Do you NOT expect this? 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.”
When all of the House’s 435 seats are filled, whichever party holds at least 217 controls the chamber. The Republican House caucus currently numbers 239.
Syracuse.com reported that the email came from a constituent in Tenney’s central New York district, near Syracuse. Tenney, 56, was elected to the House last November after serving in the New York State Assemby.
Tenney’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Authorities are still unsure whether the assailant in Wednesday’s shooting intended to target Scalise, 51, who was one of several GOP lawmakers practicing at a field in Alexandria, Virginia, for Thursday’s annual congressional baseball game.
The suspected gunman, James Hodgkinson, 66, of Illinois was shot and killed by Capitol police officers who were part of Scalise’s security detail. The GOP leader was reported in critical condition after undergoing surgery. Also hit by the gunfire were a congressional staff member, a lobbyist and two Capitol police officers.
“We should be having robust debate, but this is beyond another realm,” she told Syracuse.com.
Tenney added that she has faced security concerns in her district.
“I always feel safe here at the Capitol,” she said. “But when I’m back home in the district, not always. People always recognize me. There is a lot of angst, and unfortunately the dialogue and the protesters and the Resist movement has gotten very aggressive.”
Tenney was elected in a race that Democrats had targeted as a potential pickup.
In recent weeks, Tenney faced protests from some constituents over her support of the House GOP bill repealing the Affordable Care Act. Constituents also criticized her for not holding in-person town halls.
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