Rep. Swalwell Responds to Death Threats Against Him: This Proves We Need More Gun Control

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) said the recent death threats against him and other Democratic lawmakers are proof that he has the right idea by running for president on a gun control platform.

A South Florida man was arrested and charged Friday by federal authorities after he allegedly threatened to kill Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and others in messages to Swalwell, his fellow 2020 candidate Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI).

MSNBC’s Chris Jansing asked Swalwell about the threats — from a supporter of President Donald Trump who took issue with Swalwell’s gun control platform — and the congressman condemned the threats while praising law enforcement officials for keeping him safe.

“I’m running for president because I want to have a conversation in this country about changing our gun laws. This threat is a tactic to have Congress and our lawmakers do nothing. There should be space to have a respectful debate, but making a threat like this is the lowest form of communication, there’s no space for that.”

Swalwell concluded by saying that someone making threats like this in response to a lawmaker proposing a debate on guns is “proving why we need to have more restrictions on firearm possession in America.”

The threats against Swalwell were gravitated around the pro-gun control agenda at the center of his campaign for the presidency. The caller allegedly made a number of provocative threats to other congresspeople as well, many of which included racially-charged and horrific language.

Watch above, via MSNBC.