Texas Congressman Al Green informed his constituents during a town hall meeting that he’s received death threats for demanding the impeachment of President Donald Trump.
This past Saturday, Green, D-Houston, shared some of the more graphic messages and threats that have come into his offices in Houston and Washington, including promises to hang Green, the Houston Chronicle reported.
“You ain’t going to impeach nobody. Try it and we will lynch all of you,” a caller said in one of several threatening recordings left on his office phone.
“You’ll be hanging from a tree,” the caller continued.
The calls use graphic racial slurs, some calling Green the n-word. “You are so disgusting,” one caller said. “You’re scum. You’re pathetic.”
Green said he wants his supporters to remain focused on taking steps toward the impeachment process in spite of the threats.
“You cannot allow hate to be hidden,” Green said. “You have to expose hate. Hate is a means by which people can be harmed. It’s an evil. The best way to deal with evil is to expose.”
Green was one of the more vocal legislators to call for Trump’s impeachment, using the firing of FBI Director James Comey as evidence of obstruction of justice. Comey was leading the investigation into possible ties between Trump’s campaign and Russia before he was terminated.
“The president fired the FBI director who was investigating him and said he did it because of the investigation,” Green said. “That’s pretty serious. That’s obstruction of justice. We believe no person is above the law, not even the president of the United States of America.”
Green’s sole objective for holding the meeting was to hear the electorate’s concerns about the president. Green encouraged those who want the president impeached to contact their local representatives and show up for town hall meetings.
“I’m expecting the people to stand up and make their voices heard, so that we in Congress will know what their desires are,” he said. “When the people express their will, I think it will impact the will of the Congress.”
The event had a heavy police presence at Fountain Life Center. Many expressed their support for Green, including Robin Paoli, who helped organize the Houston Women’s March in January.
“We stand with you,” Paoli said of Green. “We stand with your honorable action of holding the president accountable. I as a white woman stand by my brother and say we will not tolerate those kind of death threats and racial slurs that are being thrown at you.”
