WATCH: Video Emerges After Josh Hawley Says ‘Antifa Scumbags’ Pounded at His Door and Threatened Family

Ken MeyerJan 5th, 2021, 10:29 am
 

Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) called out “Antifa scumbags” whom he said threatened his family during a protest over his plan to object when Congress certifies Joe Biden’s 2020 victory.

“Tonight while I was in Missouri, Antifa scumbags came to our place in DC and threatened my wife and newborn daughter, who can’t travel,” Hawley tweeted. “They screamed threats, vandalized, and tried to pound open our door. Let me be clear: My family & I will not be intimidated by leftwing violence.”

The protest was held by ShutDownDC, an organization that touts itself as a platform for “strategic direct action to advance justice and hold officials accountable.” Their website describes the event as an “hour-long vigil” by a dozen protesters demanding Hawley “drop his baseless contestation of the 2020 presidential election results.”

“We came to let Hawley know that his actions are undemocratic and unacceptable,” ShutDownDC activist Patrick Young said. “Voters decided who they wanted to be president and now Hawley is trying to silence their voices, even after Republican election officials certified the vote counts. And let’s not forget that the bulk of the votes they would throw out come from Black and brown voters. This is an attempted coup waged by silencing the voices of people of color.”

The website includes live-streamed footage of the protest where demonstrators lit candles, held up signs in front of his house, wrote chalk messages on the sidewalk, and led chants with megaphones against Trump and his allies trying to undermine the election. The crowd drew complaints from the neighbors and a woman emerged from Hawley’s house at one point to admonish them.

At one point, four of the protesters walked up and knocked Hawley’s door. According to ShutDownDC, they left a copy of the Constitution on his doorstep. Police approached the group later on and told them it was illegal to protest in front of Hawley’s private residence, but the situation remained orderly throughout the exchange.

Following his initial tweet, Hawley released another one rejecting the protest’s description as a “vigil” while claiming the group was “vandalizing property, pounding on the doors of homes and terrorizing innocent people and children.”

ShutDownDC defended the conduct of the protest from Hawley:

Hawley responded by calling those claims “outright lies from the Antifa group who now describe themselves as sweet angels.”

“You screamed through bullhorns, shouted down my wife when she asked you to leave, vandalized property, pounded on our door, and terrorized neighbors,” he said. “You’re scum. And we won’t be intimidated”

While no overt threats or vandalism are evident in the video filmed by the group, Hawley’s family clearly had grounds to feel threatened.

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