- The Washington Times - Friday, June 29, 2018

Rep. Maxine Waters said she was forced to cancel two events this weekend in Alabama and Texas due to “very serious threats” she’s received since President Trump called her out for advocating harassment against administration officials.

The California Democrat canceled her scheduled appearances after saying she got “hostile mail” at her office and “one very serious death threat” from someone in Texas, CNN reported.

“There was one very serious death threat made against me on Monday from an individual in Texas which is why my planned speaking engagements in Texas and Alabama were cancelled [sic] this weekend,” she said in a statement. “This is just one in several very serious threats the United States Capitol Police are investigating in which individuals threatened to shoot, lynch, or cause me serious bodily harm.”

Ms. Waters was widely condemned earlier this week after she called for the harassment of Trump administration officials, telling supporters, “If you see anybody from that Cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd. And you push back on them. And you tell them they’re not welcome anymore, anywhere.”

During a rally Wednesday in North Dakota, Mr. Trump claimed that Ms. Waters had “practically” called on protesters to “assault” administration officials. On Twitter, he warned the Democrat to be careful what she wished for.

In her statement Thursday, Ms. Waters denied ever calling for violence.

“As the President has continued to lie and falsely claim that I encouraged people to assault his supporters, while also offering a veiled threat that I should ’be careful’, even more individuals are leaving [threatening] messages and sending hostile mail to my office,” she said.

• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.

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