PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia City Commissioner Al Schmidt shared some of the terrifying threats he received in the wake of the 2020 election, at a U.S. Senate hearing Tuesday in Washington.
Schmidt testified at a hearing on emerging threats to election administration.
“For doing my job, counting votes, I’d like to quickly share with you some of the messages sent to me and my family," he said.
"'Tell the truth or your three kids will be fatally shot.' It included their names, it included our address, it included a picture of our home.”
Schmidt is the only Republican on the City Commission, and losing presidential candidate Donald Trump singled him out by name in his false attacks on the election’s integrity, which was reflected in some of the threats.
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“‘Heads on spikes, treasonous Schmidts.’ ‘you betrayed your country.’ ‘you lied.’ ‘You’re a traitor.’ ‘Perhaps cops and bullets will soon arrive at’...provides my address, names my children...‘RINO’s steal elections; we steal lives,’” Schmidt said, quoting those threats.
Schmidt said he isn’t alone, that other city commissioners and staff received similar threats, as have election officials across the country.
“The threats rise in frequency and intensity each time bad faith political actors spread disinformation about the 2020 election.”
Schmidt called the threats, “domestic terrorism."
“The whole point is to terrorize, to intimidate and to coerce and to prevent our democracy from functioning as it should," Schmidt said.
"In my case, this happened in the city where our democracy first began.”
Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota), who chaired the hearings, said his testimony was “unbelievably disturbing” and said she was sorry.
Watch the full Senate hearing below.