Rep. Tom Perriello released a statement Wednesday condemning acts of political violence against public officials and their families. Photo courtesy Office of Congressman Perriello.
The FBI and local authorities are investigating a severed propane gas line at the home of Bo Perriello, the older brother of Rep. Tom Perriello, D-Charlottesville. Officials have deemed the incident as a “deliberate act of vandalism,” which may have resulted as possible retribution for the representative’s vote in favor of health care reform, mistakenly targeted at his brother.
In addition to the severed line, Bo Perriello received a threatening piece of mail the same day.
The attacks are believed to have originated with an Internet post by a member of the conservative Tea Party group, a nationwide political organization. Tea Party member Nigel Coleman posted Bo Perriello’s address on his Facebook page after the passage of the health care initiative, stating that he was not “holding back anymore!!”
Though the party’s main support base tends to consist of older members of the population, many colleges such as the University of Missouri and Texas A&M University have chapters.
Perriello released a statement Wednesday asking for all congressmen to condemn reprisals toward politicians or their families.
“It is never OK to harm or threaten elected officials and their families with anything more than political retribution,” Perriello said. “Here in America, we settle our political differences at the ballot box.”
“[Health care] has definitely been the most contentious issue that this Congress has dealt with,” said Isaac Wood, assistant communications director for the Center of Politics and former Cavalier Daily opinion columnist. “I certainly hope that cooler heads have prevailed and that people have gotten the message that these sorts of acts are untenable and only hurt your cause.”
Several other instances of violence or intimidation attempts against congressional democrats have occurred since the legislation passed, including bricks thrown through the office windows of democratic leaders and racial slurs hurled at members of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Perriello spokesperson Jessica Barba said police officers had not uncovered any further leads as of this time and that Perriello would wait to see the outcome of the investigation before deciding whether to pursue legal action. Barba also said Perriello criticized Republicans on Capitol Hill for not strongly condemning violence, but praised those who did so.
Perriello gained office in 2008 by upsetting Republican incumbent Virgil Goode. The representative will be up for re-election this fall.
It’s interesting that this(substantiated?)incident becomes national news when other events are completely passed over by the so-called mainstream media. Has there been any coverage regarding a brick tossed through Eric Cantor’s office, Sarah Palin’s church firebombed (while children were inside), Black Panthers intimidating voters in Philadelphia during the last election, Bush-Cheney offices vandalized, and numerous movies and books promoting the assasination of George Bush? To accuse the opposition of violence is a way of taking the spotlight off this unpopular health care bill. Not only are they shifting the debate, they are also putting their opposition on the defensive.
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Hey Thomas- they reported on Palin too: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/14/sarah-palin-church-fire-p_n_150825.html
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“…and racial slurs hurled at members of the Congressional Black Caucus.”
There’s a $10,000 reward for video of the n-bomb. Multiple members of the black caucus had video cameras pointed at the tea party crowd. It’s an easy $10,000… if it actually happened.
http://bigjournalism.com/abreitbart/2010/03/25/2010-a-race-odyssey-disproving-a-negative-for-cash-prizes-or-how-the-civil-rights-movement-jumped-the-shark/
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If the police don’t have leads, why are we acting as if Republican did it? This seems like a ridiculously biased article.
“The attacks are believed to have originated with an Internet post by a member of the conservative Tea Party group”
Posting an address isn’t a crime. Vandalizing a house is. Why are we expected to think this is somehow the fault of a tea party blogger? The attacks actually originated with a person who cut a gas line and a person sho sent mail to this address.
According to this type of thinking, all Muslims are terrorists and Americans who don’t embrace Obama’s change are clinging to guns and religion.
I’m sorry to see such polarizing reporting.
Mollie Griffith
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Around my neighborhood young unemployed crackheads, er Democrats, steal grills and propane tanks from yards all the time. Unless Obama has inceased their share of the tax booty recently, common thieves must be considered.
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This was not vandalism it was TERRORISM aimed at a public figure! I love how republicans call this vandalism but had we know the attaker was a Muslim it would have been called Terrorism. WOW! Did you all forget about the Okalahoma bombings? We need to nip this in the bud right now before someone gets seriously hurt. Go to the polls or else just shut-up and sit down. Your out numbered and I know your mad but really this is too much!
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Ollie,
The one congressional office that has had a bullet fired into it recently was a republican’s office. The republican HQ in Albemarle county had bricks thrown through the windows a few days ago.
Can CNN and the Cavalier Daily really get you fired up this easily? Maybe you should begin the fight against partisan hysteria by refraining from partaking in it. Oh, and you may want to review the election results this and last year in NJ, VA, and MA regarding who is outnumbering who these days.
Do you think Mr. Perriello will get another 700 or so “surprise votes” in Charlottesville that appeared 2 days after the election like he did last time?
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The Cavalier Daily did the exact same thing, Stewart. No coverage whatsoever of attacks on republican offices right here in central VA. Just one front page story with a smiling Tom and flag. Totally biased reporting even went as far as to say racial slurs were hurled at black democrats in congress – yet no video or audio evidence of this anywhere to be found amidst all the camera’s rolling all day in front of the senate building.
This kind of partisan reporting and coverage propaganda from the Cav Daily is nothing new. This is UVA, after all.
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