Twitter users have urged the FBI to visit a senior member of the Texas Republican Party, after he hinted that Senator Mitt Romney should be executed for opposing a plan to block the certification of the 2020 election results.
Terry Harper, a district chairman of the State Republican Executive Committee, the governing board of the GOP in Texas, lashed out at the Utah lawmaker and former presidential candidate after he argued that the Republican “ploy” to challenge the certification process on January 6 “dangerously threatens our Democratic Republic.”
“Romney should be introduced to our friend Mr Guillotine,” Harper wrote in a Facebook reply.
State Republican Executive Committee @TexasGOP member Terry Harper reacts to Sen Romney, saying he “should be introduced to our friend Mr Guillotine” #txlegepic.twitter.com/Qh6CMi5NXT
The incendiary remark was screengrabbed by a local journalist. The threatening comment appears to have been wiped from Harper’s social media account, but that didn’t stop internet users from crying foul over the provocative post.
Numerous commenters urged the FBI to intervene, arguing that the Facebook message was a clear death threat. Local authorities should not get involved, however, one observer said, predicting that the cops would “shrug and laugh and then maybe ‘like’ his post.”
I’d expect threatening a US Senator gets you a visit from @FBI
Others theorized that Harper could also be charged with sedition for encouraging violence against the government.
That’s not just a death threat but potentially advocating the use of violence to over throw the government, a federal felony punishable by 20 years in prison.
If President Biden and VP Kamala Harris do not act on these seditionists and according to our Constitution imprisoned and fined, removed from their positions the I will be sorry I voted at all. Our nation will rot away unless justice is served and send a stern message to others!
The extreme language was seen as ironic by some, who pointed out that one thing that unites the right and left is their penchant for threatening to chop off heads. It appears that Harper has an affinity for the French execution hardware. Last month, he posted a meme that urged Americans to use their $600 stimulus checks to build their own guillotine, although he didn’t specify how it should be used.
pic.twitter.com/24b3T1Da6Q
Washington Post political reporter Dave Weigel took issue with Harper’s grammar, noting that guillotine is a feminine noun in French, and therefore should be referred to as “Mrs. Guillotine.”
“We rate this murder threat PANTS ON FIRE,” he joked.
The Texas GOP released a statement on Saturday in which it expressed support for Republican lawmakers in Congress who have vowed to oppose the electors of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, citing alleged voting system irregularities and violations of election laws. The legislative showdown will coincide with a “Stop the Steal” march in Washington, DC, which President Donald Trump has been promoting on Twitter.
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