House GOP Whip Cantor Reports Office Shot At, Chides DNC for "Fanning Flames"

House Minority Whip Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) is having none of the DNC's wolf-crying over alleged threats against Democratic politicians. Despite a shot being fired at his own Richmond, Virginia, district office, Cantor told the DNC to stop using reports of threats "as political weapons".


HOUSE GOP No. 2: Someone Shot At My Office

CNN reports that Rep. Eric Cantor, the number two Republican in the House of Representatives, said Thursday that a bullet had been shot through a window at his district office in Richmond, Virginia. He also said he had received threatening messages.

He said he would not publicly release the messages out of concern that doing so would only incite further violence.

He also accused Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine and Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland - a member of the Democratic House leadership - of "fanning the flames" of violence by using threats that have been made against Democratic members "as political weapons."

"Legitimate threats should be treated as security issues, and they should be dealt with by the appropriate law enforcement officials," Cantor told reporters on Capitol Hill. "It is reckless to use these incidents as media vehicles for political gain. ... Enough is enough. It has to stop."

Cantor, who is Jewish, said he had received numerous threats throughout his career both on account of his religion and his position in the GOP leadership.

More than 10 Democrats have reported trouble since the weekend health care vote, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland, told reporters on Wednesday.

Windows have been smashed at Democratic offices in at least three states, and federal agents are investigating whether a cut gas line at the home of a Virginia congressman's brother was related to the lawmaker's yes vote.

Democratic congressional leaders have demanded Republicans join them in condemning a spate of threats and vandalism that has followed Sunday's vote on a sweeping overhaul of the U.S. health care system.

Post by: The CNN Wire
Filed under: Health Care • Latest news • Politics

Meanwhile, Northeast Intelligence Network Director Doug Hagmann warns of the possibility of an American "Reichstag fire"-type situation brewing, with the FBI and DHS compiling "watch lists" of "tea-party" and other "right-wing" groups and individuals. (The 1933 fire at the German Reichstag parliament building, allegedly set by a Dutch communist, was used by the Nazis as an excuse to suspend civil liberties in Germany.)