According to an internal memo from his office, Sen. Thom Tillis and his family were the targets of death threats and harassment.
The voicemails received by Tillis and his team, filled with profanity, anger, and discontent with Donald Trump, reveal a new, frightening reality. Daniel Keylin said that “the level of harassment and threats directed towards members of Congress, and their staff, is now the norm.”
Thom Tillis: “Yeah. Are you afraid of death threats?” said one caller in a voicemail, “Get the f— out of office.”
Keylin stated that Tillis’ Greenville office in North Carolina received an unsigned handwritten letter posted in Greensboro last month, calling Tillis’ staff “sacrificial sheeps” and insisting “they signed up to be [his] shield.” While confirming that “in no manner is this a warning,” the anonymous author said, “people are going to come in full of rage.”
Tillis’ office released voicemails that expressed outrage at Trump’s policy and included violent threats against Tillis and staff.
One woman told Tillis, “You’re not going to ruin my country.” One caller said that Tillis was “no longer one of the good guys” and told him to “get out of the government”.
“When things really get bad, the people will stop writing and calling. You signed up for him to use you as a shield. They will start to come in and be angry. The anonymous letter to Tillis reads: “Resign. Please resign. Or find a Groupon to take a self-defense class because America’s transformation to an oligarchy will be a wild experience for us peons.”
Anonymous writer refers to “America’s Transition to Oligarchy,” which is a term used by leftists to describe the supposed rise of billionaire power.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has attracted thousands of supporters for his “Fighting Oligarchy” rallies held across the nation, including stops this weekend in Michigan and Wisconsin. These events will be an opportunity to “discuss how we tackle the greed of billionaires and create a federal government that is working for everyone and not only the few.”
Democrats are outraged that Trump invited billionaires such as Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos to sit in front of him during his inauguration at the U.S. Capitol. In his farewell speech to the country, former president Joe Biden used the word “oligarchy”.
Biden said to Americans, “Today, an oligarchy of extreme wealth and power is taking form in America, which literally threatens the entire democracy and our rights and freedoms. It also poses a threat to our democratic system, as well as our fundamental liberties and rights, including ensuring everyone has a chance at success.”
Indivisible Guilford County, the local affiliate of a progressive political group, organized a demonstration at Tillis Greensboro’s office two weeks after Tillis received it. The protest press release called for peaceful protests and solidarity, but Keylin claimed that the protesters tried to enter Tillis’s Greensboro office.
They yanked the door and tried to open it, shouting at Tillis staff: “Come back! We see you!” Keylin wrote in the memo that the employees were told to “Open the door!” and reminded them they could not leave their offices.
Keylin stated that Tillis’s office had received multiple media queries asking if Tillis was going to attend protests and town halls in Republican districts. Keylin outlined the years of targeted threats that have only increased since Trump’s return to office. “I think anyone with even a modicum of sanity will understand how silly that question is.”
In the memo, it is stated that the law enforcement agency has instructed the Senator’s Office to “out of a sense of caution” work at home on the days when protests will be held.
Keylin stated, “We will never apologize for prioritizing our employees’ safety and security.”
In the memo, two additional instances are cited in which the North Carolina Senator received death threats.
Keylin stated that “unstable individuals” who disagree with Senator Tillis’ political views have been threatening, harassing, attempting intimidation, and verbally abusing him, his staff, and his family for years.
The memo confirms that a U.S. resident living abroad in 2023 was arrested after threatening Tillis’s staff with death and cutting off their hands. In 2022, a Minnesotan man was charged for the same crime.
In the last two months, protests shut down local town halls and disrupted legislative offices, and Republicans chose tele-town halls over in-person meetings. Democrats accuse Republicans of not attending in-person Town Halls and ignoring the concerns of their constituents.
Gov. Tim Walz will hold town halls in Republican districts of Iowa and Nebraska on Friday “to give a voice to the people.” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez of New York has also reportedly begun planning rallies for Republican districts.
MoveOn.org, which has accepted millions of dollars from billionaire George Soros and his Open Society Policy Center, announced in a press release last month that it was mobilizing resources as part of a “Congress Works for Us, Not Musk” initiative “aimed at pressuring lawmakers to fight back against the Trump-Musk agenda.” The group planned protests at congressional-led town halls and congressional offices.
