Sen. Thom Tillis and his staff have been the subject of a slew of threats since President Trump’s inauguration, prompting his office to release some of the threatening messages they’ve received.
Threats against lawmakers have been on the rise in recent years. Republicans and Democrats alike have been on the receiving end of bomb threats, swatting calls and death threats.
Mr. Tillis, North Carolina Republican, is one of many lawmakers that has received threats throughout his career, but now his office says that the threats have reached a new level.
Protests and menacing messages threatening violence and death, to the lawmaker, his family and staff, have prompted his office to release a video with multiple threatening voicemails.
One was of a woman who said hearing the threatening messages brought her “joy.” Another was from a male caller who threatened to kill Mr. Tillis.
“I might drive to North Carolina and shoot him dead in the street like the dog he is,” the man said.
Daniel Keylin, a spokesperson for Mr. Tillis, told The Washington Times that the lawmakers’ staff has been subjected “to regular harassment.”
“Threats to our office have noticeably increased since Inauguration Day,” Mr. Keylin said. “It takes only one deranged person to cause harm, and we will continue to prioritize the safety of our staff.”
Since Mr. Trump’s return to the White House in January, protests at town halls and outside of GOP lawmakers’ offices have become commonplace, with Republican leaders in the House ordering members to stop holding in-person events.
The president shrugged off the protests in a post on social media earlier this month.
“Paid ‘troublemakers’ are attending Republican Town Hall Meetings,” Mr. Trump said. “It is all part of the game for the Democrats, but just like our big LANDSLIDE ELECTION, it’s not going to work for them!”
Most recently, Rep. Chuck Edwards, North Carolina Republican, was berated at a town hall forum last week.
Still, threats against lawmakers have steadily climbed over the past few years with noticeable bumps during election years, the U.S. Capitol Police said in a report on threat assessments against members of Congress released in February.
The police department’s latest annual report, which compiles the number of threats that the agency’s Threat Assessment Section investigates, found that in 2024 there were 9,474 threats against lawmakers, their families and their staff. That was a roughly 18% increase over the previous year.
Capitol Police told The Times that they could not share any potential investigations into other threats against lawmakers, but noted that they have been steadily increasing their force on the Hill to the tune of 350 more officers since 2021.
Mr. Tillis’ office in North Carolina last month received an anonymous handwritten letter claiming it was “in no way a threat” before threatening that “when things get really bad, people are going to stop calling and writing” and accusing the lawmaker’s staff of signing up “to be his shield.”
Later, a chapter of the progressive activist group Indivisible organized a protest outside of Mr. Tillis’ office that devolved into protesters trying to enter the locked office after dozens were allowed inside.
Mr. Tillis then opted to not attend a town hall forum organized by the group. Mr. Keylin said that safety concerns have not prompted further cancellations, and that “he wouldn’t have attended the Indivisible event either way, just as no Democratic officeholder would attend a MAGA event.”
The Washington Times reached out to Indivisible for comment.
