Over a dozen Indiana lawmakers targeted with threats, intimidation
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Over a dozen members of the Indiana General Assembly have been the subject of swatting attempts or other threats over the last month as the fight over redrawing the state's congressional map has heated up.
State of play: Statehouse leaders and law enforcement have denounced the unprecedented threats of violence.
- "The threats, swatting attempts and other criminal activity being directed at our colleagues in the Senate are abhorrent and completely unacceptable," House Speaker Todd Huston and Minority Leader Phil GiaQuinta said in a joint statement released last week. "This is no way to express political disagreement, and it must stop."
Yes, but: It hasn't.
Driving the news: Rep. Ben Smaltz, the Auburn Republican carrying the redistricting bill, said Tuesday that he received a threat that his family would be killed in front of him before he was killed.
- He's at least the 13th member to say they've received some kind of threat, and the intimidation has reached lawmakers on both sides of the issue.
- Gov. Mike Braun said he's also been targeted. So has Indiana Republican Party Chair Lana Keesling.
The big picture: This year has been one of increasing political violence across the country.
- Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband were assassinated earlier this year, as was political activist Charlie Kirk.
- President Trump and figures on the right and left have leaned more heavily on inflammatory language to attack opponents' policies and viewpoints as the nation's politics grow increasingly polarized.
Zoom in: Rep. Ed Clere (R-New Albany), one of the first Republicans to come out against redistricting, said he hasn't received any threats but said he's aware of what a dangerous time it's become.
- That's why he was upset when Rep. Mitch Gore (D-Indianapolis) listed five Republicans who could break the House quorum by joining Democrats to block the legislation from moving forward.
- "At a time of increasing political violence, it is shameful for a legislator with a law enforcement background to create a target list," Clere told Axios.
The other side: "Threats against any lawmaker are unacceptable — full stop," Gore, a captain with the Marion County Sheriff's Office, told Axios. "But let's be clear: nothing I said created a 'target list.'"
- "The only people responsible for these threats are the extremists making them and the leaders who have spent weeks winding them up. This situation wasn't created by Democrats asking colleagues to use legitimate parliamentary tools; it was created by a President, a Governor, and a Speaker who invited the most volatile elements of their base into this fight."
What we're watching: Ron Galaviz, captain with the state police, told Axios that they are "aware of these incidents and are adjusting their security measures."