The office US Representative Gwen Moore (D-Wisconsin) received threatening phone calls laced with racial epithets today from supporters of Roy Moore, who’s running to represent Alabama in the US Senate amid accusations that he sexually abused teenage girls in the 1970s.
“Another #RoyMoore supporter just called my office posing as an AP reporter,” Gwen Moore wrote on Twitter. “Once their cover was blown they started screaming & called me & my staff the n-word & other racial slurs. I won’t be intimidated. I won’t stop speaking out. You will not shut me down. Believe it.”
Another #RoyMoore supporter just called my office posing as an @AP reporter.
Once their cover was blown they started screaming & called me & my staff the n-word & other racial slurs.
I won’t be intimidated.
I won’t stop speaking out.
You will not shut me down.
Believe it.
— Rep. Gwen Moore (@RepGwenMoore) December 12, 2017
Gwen Moore spokesman Eric Harris confirmed to Madison365 that he received two calls from men purporting to be reporters who didn’t ask any real questions but quickly began using racial slurs, saying “stay out of our politics” and “you’ll burn in hell for what you’re doing to Roy Moore,” after Harris let them know he didn’t believe they were reporters.
Both called from blocked numbers, but both had heavy southern accents, Harris said. Neither used language typical of reporters, Harris added.
“These aren’t international jewel thieves,” he said.
The calls come a day after Gwen Moore wrote to the Senate Sergeant at Arms expressing concern for the safety of Senate pages, some of whom are as young as 16.
“The nature of life on Capitol Hill necessitates long hours in close proximity to lawmakers and staff that can create power dynamics of which young people are not fully aware,” Gwen Moore wrote Monday. “It would be unconscionable for Congress to not be vigilant and proactive in taking precautions to safeguard these children given the well sourced allegations against Roy Moore.”
Harris said Gwen Moore’s office regularly receives racially-tinged phone calls.
“Every time we come out against the President, every time we come out against Governor Walker,” the office receives phone calls that include racist language, Harris said. These are the first to pose as reporters, though.
“I think there’s a Project Veritas element to it,” Harris said, referring to the organization that regularly uses deception to attempt to trap public figures into admitting what they consider wrongdoing. Additionally, Harris speculated that the callers may have wanted to speak directly with Rep. Moore and “throw some hatred at her.”
Roy Moore, who was twice removed from the bench for violating federal court orders to remove religious symbols from his courtroom and who recently referred to Asian Americans and Native Americans as “yellows and reds,” has recently been endorsed by President Donald Trump and supported by funding from the Republican National Committee in his campaign against Democrat and former prosecutor Doug Jones. Polls show a tight race that will be decided tonight.
This story was updated to reflect Eric Harris’s comments to Madison365.
