Brad Miller

Apparent Threat Against Dem Congressman Miller Won't Be Prosecuted

Eric Kleefeld | August 18, 2009, 6:24PM

The apparent death threat that was made against Rep. Brad Miller (D-NC), regarding his support for the health care bill, will not be prosecuted, Greg Sargent reports.

Miller's office said that the Capitol Police told them it will not be pursued, though no reason was given.

Miller himself had said last week that the phrasing of the phone call to his office -- that his support for the bill could cost him his life, and there are a lot of angry people out there -- was equivocal enough that it would avoid prosecution.

Brad Miller

Brad Miller: Death Threat Probably Won't Be Prosecuted

Eric Kleefeld | August 10, 2009, 3:31PM

Rep. Brad Miller (D-NC) appeared on MSNBC this afternoon, and talked about the death threat that we'd reported his office received last week over the health care bill. He expressed doubt that it would result in prosecution -- and said that other members of Congress have gotten similar calls:

We've gotten a lot of calls, and I think what I got is not different from what a lot of members of Congress have gotten. A caller said that if I voted for the health care plan, that it -- it could cost me my life. And my staff member was taken aback by that and asked him to repeat it, and he did. And then my staff member asked him point blank, 'is that a threat?' And the guy said, 'There are a lot of angry people out here.' And that's probably equivocal enough that it's not gonna result in a criminal prosecution. And I think a lot of members of Congress have gotten calls that are that creepy and that menacing. And sometimes it's gone beyond that -- the Longworth House Office Building was shut down for several hours a couple weeks ago, because of a bomb threat.

Brad Miller

Tea Party Rage -- Rage Against The Dying Of The Right

Eric Kleefeld | August 10, 2009, 11:11AM

North Carolina Tea Party Revolution has posted videos from their big protest outside Rep. Brad Miller's (D-NC) office on Friday, which they claim had 695 attendees -- and the videos sure to tell you a lot about the nature of right-wing anger right now.

Miller has not been holding town halls, but instead scheduled a meeting at his Raleigh office with a small group of constituents who were also conservative activists. The Tea Party then gathered outside:

These people really do see America as a place that has now been taken over by an illegitimate regime -- note the signs like "Liberal Government + Liberal Media = Tyranny," and "United Socialist States of America." Plus there's a defiance of the home-made shirts of a cracked ACORN logo, with the name spelled backwards to make a new acronym: "Not Really 4 Obama's Communist America." If the government isn't conservative, it's tyrannical.

And just look at this example, of a man saying that our children have been "enslaved" by a $115 trillion debt -- complete with baby dolls in striped prisoner outfits and chains:

"And we're tired of the government's saying that we're paid and that we're organized. We are not. We're everyday citizens," the man explained "We get together on Internet Web sites to figure out where things are going on, and what's going on -- just like the other side does. And we're sick and tired of this, we gotta take back America now."

Brad Miller

Limbaugh Claims Brad Miller Death Threat Story Is "All B.S."

Eric Kleefeld | August 6, 2009, 5:54PM

On his show today, Rush Limbaugh claimed that the story about Rep. Brad Miller (D-NC) receiving a death threat over the health care bill is in fact a lie. Just get a load of Limbaugh's mocking tone:

The fun thing is that if you pay close attention, Limbaugh is almost exactly quoting our post from when we broke the story yesterday. Rush Limbaugh -- or an intern/assistant of his, at least -- apparently reads TPM!

Brad Miller

Teabaggers Lay Ambush For Miller; Schedule Constituent Meeting, Announce It As Town Hall

Eric Kleefeld | August 6, 2009, 4:09PM

Rep. Brad Miller isn't holding any town hall meetings -- but that's not stopping the Tea Party crowd from protesting him.

As we reported yesterday, Miller is meeting one-on-one with constituents at his Raleigh district office. He wants to avoid the big, organized crowds of hostile people that have plagued other members. This decision was made especially easy after he received a death threat over the health care bill.

As it turns out, however, Miller agreed several days ago to hold a meeting with some conservative activists back home. So now a local Tea Party has been promoting it as a town hall -- which it is not -- and urging people to show up outside:

"A large demonstration is going to be staged outside of his office during the meeting! We want an ENORMOUS turn out! With our "representatives" on recess, we have a golden opportunity to show them what we think!"

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Brad Miller

Dem Congressman's Office: His Life Has Been Threatened Over Health Care Bill

Eric Kleefeld | August 5, 2009, 5:54PM

Rep. Brad Miller (D-NC) will not be hosting any town hall events this August -- instead, he's making himself available to constituents for one-on-one meetings about health care reform -- and at least part of the reason is this: His offices have received threatening phone calls, including at least one direct threat against his life.

"We had no town hall events scheduled for the August recess anyway, but in light of everything that's happened -- we have received a threatening phone call in the D.C. office, there have been calls to the Raleigh office," said Miller communications director LuAnn Canipe, in an interview with TPM. The threatening call in question happened earlier this week.

"The call to the D.C. office was, 'Miller could lose his life over this,'" said Canipe. "Our staffer took it so seriously, he confirmed what the guy was saying. He said, 'Sir is that a threat?' and at that time our staffer was getting the phone number off caller ID and turning it over to the Capitol Police."

They haven't heard anything back from the police yet, but they did get the caller's number. So this could develop into something soon enough.

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