Activists call for investigation into lawmaker's threat against House Dems

Julia Conley
and
Common Dreams
28 November 2024
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The country's largest Muslim civil rights group on Thursday called for added protections for U.S. Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar after Florida state Sen. Randy Fine issued an apparent threat against the two Muslim lawmakers.

Fine, who has the endorsement of President-elect Donald Trump in his candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives, called himself the "Hebrew Hammer" in a post on X on Tuesday and suggested Reps. Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Omar (D-Minn.) should leave office for their own safety.

"Bombs away," he added.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, which has spoken out previously about anti-Palestinian and anti-Muslim statements by Fine (R-19), called the lawmaker an "unhinged anti-Muslim bigot."

His apparent threat of violence "must be investigated by state and federal law enforcement authorities and condemned by both Democratic and Republican Party leadership," said Edward Ahmed Mitchell, national deputy executive director of CAIR. "President-elect Donald Trump, in particular, should denounce Mr. Fine's remarks and the Florida Republican Party should expel him."

"We also call on U.S. Capitol Police to step up protection for Representatives Omar and Tlaib to ensure their safety as they come under increasing threats from anti-Muslim and pro-genocide bigots like Randy Fine," said Mitchell.

Fine was held in contempt of court in Florida earlier this year for making obscene gestures and mouthing curse words at a hearing. He is running in a special election set for April 1, 2025, due to Trump's appointment of Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.) to be national security adviser.

In 2021, the Florida chapter of CAIR filed an ethics complaint against Fine after he posted on social media calling Palestinian people "animals" and calling for their annihilation with the hashtag "#BlowThemUp."

Omar and Tlaib—the only Palestinian-American in Congress—have been vehement critics of the United States' support for Israel's assault on Gaza, and defenders of Palestinian rights.

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