Josh Hawley says ‘Antifa scumbags’ threatened wife and newborn daughter at home

Sen. Josh Hawley said a group of “Antifa scumbags” threatened his wife and newborn daughter at their home in the Washington, D.C., area Monday night.

The Missouri Republican, who has made headlines for declaring his intent to contest the Electoral College results this week, announced the encounter on Twitter.

“Tonight while I was in Missouri, Antifa scumbags came to our place in DC and threatened my wife and newborn daughter, who can’t travel. They screamed threats, vandalized, and tried to pound open our door. Let me be clear: My family & I will not be intimidated by leftwing violence,” he said.

A group named ShutDownDC, which says on its website that it “uses strategic direct action to advance justice and hold officials accountable,” took credit for the late-night house visit in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, noting the police arrived on the scene.

“We came to let Hawley know that his actions are undemocratic and unacceptable,” ShutDownDC activist Patrick Young said in a post online. “Voters decided who they wanted to be president and now Hawley is trying to silence their voices, even after Republican election officials certified the vote counts. And let’s not forget that the bulk of the votes they would throw out come from Black and brown voters. This is an attempted coup waged by silencing the voices of people of color.”

The group said the visit was an hourlong “vigil” with about a dozen activists, a description with which the senator took umbrage.

“Now ‘vigil’ means screaming threats through bullhorns, vandalizing property, pounding on the doors of homes and terrorizing innocent people and children,” he tweeted.

A video posted to ShutDownDC’s website shows the demonstrators, some with bullhorns, traveling to a house where they did chants, and at one point, a few of them knocked on the door. It also showed them being approached by upset neighbors and the police. The demonstrators left signs with messages about the election and candles at a tree in front of the property.

Hawley appeared on Fox News earlier in the evening and said his decision to object during the Electoral College certification process on Wednesday is about responding to the “major concerns” of his constituents about the integrity of the presidential election, which was won by President-elect Joe Biden.

Pro-Trump demonstrations are expected in the district that same day. Washington’s mayor, Muriel Bowser, activated the National Guard to assist law enforcement in deadline with the protests and asked residents to avoid the downtown area in the coming days.

Hawley, who was elected to office in 2018, announced in November that he and his wife, Erin Hawley, had their first daughter. They have two other children.