ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - A northside alderman says he's afraid for his life after supporters of his challenger in the April 6 election chanted "bullet, bullet" at him.
Ward Three Alderman Brandon Bosley says it happened Saturday afternoon at Hyde Park, where he drove his car to the edge of a campaign rally by his opponent.
A video posted on his opponent's campaign Facebook page shows her speech and the moment when Bosley's car pulled up. You see his silver vehicle starting at the 28:00 mark in the video:
The crowd turns to Bosley's car and starts to chant, "Sellout, sellout, bullet, bullet, sellout, sellout, bullet, bullet.... one bullet."
Shaken by the encounter, Bosley says it crosses a line.
"This is insinuating that I'm the traitor and I need a bullet, and they directed their cameras toward me and said, hey, this is one traitor for one bullet," Bosley said.
During an interview about the chant Tuesday morning in his campaign office, there was a knock at the door.
Bosley got up and peeked through the shades, before opening the door.
It was a constituent, an older man with a hat on who wanted to talk with Bosley about a property. They agreed to meet later and shook hands.
After closing the door, Bosley sat down and said the chant has made him more watchful.
"I feel like my head definitely needs to be on a swivel," Bosley said, "I feel like I definitely need to pay attention to my surroundings a little bit more. You don't take any threats in the city lightly."
His opponent , Herdosia Kalambayi, says the phrase "bullet, bullet" is an old political slogan, going back to South Africa. She says it implies a symbolic, "political" bullet, not a real bullet.
"No, it doesn't imply violence at all," Kalambayi said in a phone interview , "And I don't promote horizontal violence, or violence of any kind of way, or anybody that supports me."
She says the chant implies that they want to remove him from power politically.
"You know, the people who have sold out the community--we have to politically run against them--and that is a political bullet to say that you are no longer going to loot our community," Kalambayi said.
Kalambayi is challenging Bosley to a debate before the election.
Bosley says he's talking with counsel and considering whether to take legal action because of the chant.
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