Republican Congressional Candidate Called for Executing Rep. Ilhan Omar in Fundraising Email

Image via Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images.

George Buck, a Florida Republican running for Rep. Charlie Crist’s (D) Congressional seat, sent out a fundraising blast last week calling for the execution of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) — an email that he denied writing but then doubled down on.

In an email obtained by the Tampa Bay Times, Buck’s campaign promoted an unfounded, crackpot theory claiming Omar is a secret agent for Qatar and included the message, “We should hang these traitors where they stand.” Other Democratic congresswomen of color, Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY), Rashida Tlaib (MI), and Ayanna Pressley (MA), were also mentioned in the violent email soliciting donations from Buck’s supporters. Buck insisted to the Tampa Bay Times that he did not author the fundraising letter, saying, “That was not me. I did not see that. I would never talk like that,” but the GOP candidate proceeded to defend his campaign’s call for hanging Omar.

After pointing to a line in the Constitution that states the consequences for treason — “death … or [imprisonment] not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000″ — Buck appeared to suggest that Omar is guilty of such a charge, writing, “Anyone who commits treason against the United States should be tried to the full extent of the law.”

Danielle Stella, GOP candidate running for Omar’s seat in Minnesota, pushed similar threats last week, tweeting that the Somali-born freshman Democrat “should be tried for #treason and hanged.” The post resulted in Stella being banned from Twitter.

Since her election, Omar has received numerous serious death threats. Most recently, the FBI’s Minneapolis field office announced that they and other law enforcement officials are investigating an anonymous assassination threat posted about Omar, in which the author said a trained gunman was looking to kill the congresswoman at the Minnesota State Fair. Additionally, in the spring of this year, a New York man was arrested for threatening to murder Omar during a phone call he made to her congressional staff.

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