Jayapal Shares Threatening Voicemails Weeks After Stalking Incident

Rep. Pramila Jayapal on Thursday shared on social media several racist, misogynist, and violent messages she has received recently, two months after an armed man threatened to kill her at her home in Seattle.

On Twitter and Instagram, the Washington Democrat, who was born in India and immigrated to the U.S. at 16, said she chose to publicize the messages because “we cannot accept violence as our new norm.”

“Yeah, hi, Pramila,” one caller says in a message. “I just wanted to give you a little heads up. Get ready for the worst year of your life. It’s gonna be turmoil every day… You’re gonna get exactly what you deserve.”

Another caller tells Jayapal her “day is coming” before suggesting President Joe Biden is not the elected president of the United States.

“As soon as the president’s installed, like on November 4 or 5, we’re coming after all of you,” he says. “You’re gonna be scrubbing floors for the rest of your life.”

Jayapal shared the messages as The Washington Post published an article detailing her experience on July 9, when a man who lives just blocks from her in Seattle allegedly walked onto her property and yelled obscenities at the congresswoman, telling her to “go back to India” and saying, “I’m going to kill you.”

The suspect was arrested in July and charged with felony stalking, but investigators did not believe the incident was a hate crime. A hearing in the case shall take place on October 4.

Since July 9, Jayapal told The Post, she has altered how she gets around her neighborhood to avoid the home of Brett Forsell, the suspect.

“We felt threatened,” she told the newspaper. “We still do.”

According to an NBC News report last week, political extremism experts believe that in the wake of the FBI raid at Mar-a-Lago, former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate, “the political climate is increasingly volatile” ahead of the midterm elections.

Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) told NBC that she believes it’s too dangerous for her and her family to hold public events without law enforcement present, and Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) said last month that a man threatened to come to his office with an assault rifle.

The threats of violence against lawmakers and the federal government “are not isolated incidents,” said Jayapal. “From the Big Lie to January 6 to a man with a gun at my door, it is clear how much is at stake.”

Originally published at Commondreams.org.