After town hall threats, lawmakers still wait for answers from police

Several lawmakers are still waiting for answers from police about the threats made toward them at last summer’s town hall meetings.

Rep. Brian Baird (D-Wash.) wants to know who threatened him with a truck full of explosives. Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.) still wants to know who painted a swastika on his district office.

Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) wants to know who falsely labeled him as a “birther,” someone who thinks President Barack Obama was not born a U.S. citizen.

Months after the heated town hall events, the healthcare debate has moved on. Both the House and Senate have approved legislation, and lawmakers are set to begin work on a conference committee.

But some members are still waiting for a sense of resolution from law enforcement authorities on threats or false accusations made during the summer heat of the debate.
 
Baird, who since the summer has announced his retirement, still does not know anything about the culprit who left a threatening message for him over the summer. The voicemail referenced Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh and implied that a bomb could be directed toward Baird if he didn’t change his stance on the healthcare measure.
 
“I’ve never gotten fully debriefed on that; I would like to actually,” Baird said in an interview. “It’d be nice to know if they talked to the man and judged him not to be a threat or they talked to the man and he’s on their most-wanted list and here’s what he looks like.”
 
A Capitol Police spokeswoman did not discuss the details of the case, other than to say that the FBI had taken the lead. A spokesman with the national FBI office in Washington said the agenc could not comment on any investigation but directed questions to the Washington field office instead, which then directed questions back to the D.C. office.
 
Baird said he was surprised he hadn’t heard anything about it because authorities had a golden clue.
 
“In the message the guy actually says his name, and we’ve got his voice on tape. It was garbled and I couldn’t make out the name, but these guys with their technology, they can get it.”
 
The caller’s remarks came four days after Baird appeared on a cable news show saying that the constant public disruptions in congressional town hall meetings over the summer reminded him of the atmosphere that led to the Oklahoma City bombing.
 
Baird, who later apologized for his remarks, said he’s tried to keep an open mind about the man’s motives and that he wasn’t sure whether he would press charges if authorities arrested the suspect.
 
“[Maybe law enforcement officials] met with the guy, and he was just blowing off steam. OK, yeah I get that, you know, people do things like that. It’s not a very funny joke, but I get it.”
 
“He referenced that a Ryder truck was headed my way. It’s not like he said, ‘Baird, I am going to kill you.’ So the question is to what extent could you or would you want to go through the hassle to make it stick.”
 
Baird was also sent a menacing fax that depicted Obama in makeup resembling the Joker in "The Dark Knight." Baird has not received any update from law enforcement officials on that matter either, he said.
 
Scott has no resolution on the swastika that was painted one morning on the side of his district office in Smyrna, Ga. He also received several letters berating he and Obama as socialists.

“So far I haven’t heard anything from them,” he said in an interview. “I guess it’s still going on.”
 
U.S. Capitol Police, the FBI, the local police department, and the Secret Service were all involved in the investigation, according to Scott, who said that he wasn’t concerned for his life. He said he’s got enough on his plate and that his religious views keep him safe.
 
“I’ve got my mind on trying to do something with this foreclosure [bill] and joblessness and Afghanistan, so I focus right on that,” he said. “I ask the Lord everyday for his protection and when you’ve got the good man on your side, what more protection can you ask for?”
 
The Capitol Police directed questions to the Smyrna Police Department, which it said had taken the lead. But when contacted, a spokesman for the Smyrna police said that it had closed its investigation, having obtained no significant leads. Smyrna police directed all other questions to Capitol Police.
 
Rep. John Salazar (D-Colo.), another subject of a threat made at a town hall meeting, is the exception in that he did get a resolution.

He said he believes police think a man who threatened his life over the summer in Grand Junction, Colo., was just in a “yelling match” and did not represent a real threat to the lawmaker.
 
“I think the Grand Junction Police and the FBI and everybody else that was involved eventually figured that it was just a yelling match between protesters and so they couldn’t substantiate that it was a real threat,” he said in an interview.
 
“I never took it that seriously. I know that my staff was very concerned. It was really the Grand Junction Police that brought it to the attention of my Grand Junction staff.”
 
In a somewhat less threatening instance, Lewis asked the Capitol Police to look into an e-mail that a hacker sent from his account, but which was not authorized by the veteran lawmaker.
 
The e-mail sent over the summer painted Lewis as a "birther." Lewis has not been a supporter of the theory that Obama was born outside of the United States and therefore not allowed to be president.
 
“The Capitol Police followed a number of leads but were unable to identify the source of the hoax e-mail,” said Jim Specht, a spokesman for Lewis, in an e-mail.
 

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