One Republican state senator from Indiana has received multiple violent threats in the wake of President Donald Trump's attacks on Hoosier State lawmakers.
Politico correspondent Adam Wren tweeted Thursday that Indiana state senator Kyle Walker (R) issued a statement that he had lately been receiving numerous threats, and that he had contacted police. He also called on his fellow elected officials to denounce political violence in the wake of the threats.
"Attempts have been made to intimidate me and threaten violence at my home," Walker stated. "I am grateful to local and state law enforcement personnel for their ongoing efforts to keep us safe, and for their work to identify and hold these criminals accountable."
"All state leaders should send the strongest message possible that not only are these violent threats and intimidation tactics against the law, they are also counter-effective," he added.
Walker is the fifth Indiana Republican senator to receive death threats, according to the Indiana Capital-Chronicle. The outlet reported that state senators Spencer Deery, Dan Dernulc, Greg Goode and Rick Niemeyer had also been victimized by death threats and "swatting," in which a 911 caller reports an emergency situation at an address requiring a SWAT team.
The threats have increased in frequency since Trump's public attacks on Indiana Republicans – particularly senate president pro tempore Rodric Bray — after Bray announced that he did not have the votes to pass the redistricting maps aimed at giving Republicans an advantage in the U.S. House of Representatives in next year's midterm elections. Trump called Bray "weak and pathetic" in a Truth Social post and promised to endorse a primary challenger against him and other Indiana senate Republicans opposed to the redistricting plan.
The Capital-Chronicle reported that Deery was an outspoken opponent of the new maps, though others like Niemeyer have not yet indicated how they would vote. The Indiana senate has a 40-member Republican majority out of 50 seats, meaning at least 16 Republicans are opposed to the mid-decade redistricting push.