There has been an increase in election related threats across the state over the past several weeks.
The shocking type of right-wing political violence against Paul Pelosi, husband of Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, may have made its way to Pennsylvania’s Fayette County on Monday.
Richard Ringer, the Democratic State House candidate for Pennsylvania’s 51st District, observed and then confronted an individual in his backyard before sunrise Monday morning. The still unidentified individual proceeded to beat him, leaving him bloody and unconscious, reported the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
The attack is the third frightening episode Ringer has experienced within approximately three weeks.
Graffiti containing the words “race” and “dead” were spray painted on the candidate’s garage door and a brick was thrown through a storm door window. While it is still unclear whether the attack was politically motivated, given the string of events Ringer believes it just may be.
“My neighborhood is safe,’ Ringer told WTAE. “It’s calm, and there’s no crime whatsoever. If you just try to connect the dots, maybe. But I can’t say definitively.”
All three incidents have been reported to the Pennsylvania State Police and Ringer believes the assault and property damage to be politically motivated.
As the midterm elections draw near, threats of violence across the nation and in Pennsylvania have escalated.
The Department of Homeland Security issued warnings in June saying “calls for violence by domestic violent extremists directed at democratic institutions, political candidates, party offices, election events, and election workers will likely increase.”
On Monday, Pennsylvania’s Acting Secretary of State Leigh Chapman indicated an increase in election-related threats over the past several weeks.
Chapman said that both “the FBI and DHS have visited various counties throughout the state and completed security assessments that counties have since responded to,” reported TribLive.
