Bomb threats target 2 Democratic lawmakers accused of sedition by Trump
President Donald Trump’s description of some Democrats’ behavior as “seditious” and “punishable by death” escalated on Friday, when law enforcement responded to reports of two bomb threats –– one at a lawmaker’s residence and the other at a district office. Trump doubled down on the characterization Saturday, reposting a clip of his deputy chief of staff saying the lawmakers are guilty of “insurrection.”
Bomb threats target two lawmakers
On Friday, Michigan State Police responded to reports of a bomb threat at the rural home of Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich. Slotkin was one of several Democratic lawmakers who participated in a video urging members of the military and the intelligence committee to resist potentially illegal orders.
“It’s called SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL,” Trump posted to Truth Social on Thursday, following the video’s publication. “Each one of these traitors to our Country should be ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL. Their words cannot be allowed to stand – We won’t have a Country anymore!!! An example MUST BE SET.”
The rhetoric was then amplified when Trump wrote, “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!”
According to a spokesperson posting on Slotkin’s official X account, the senator was not at the residence, located in the small village of Holly, at the time of the threat. Additionally, Michigan State Police conducted a sweep of the home and determined that “no one was in danger.”
Slotkin was issued 24-hour police protection following the partisan fallout from the video. The Michigan senator told NBC News earlier this week that she had received “hundreds and hundreds, if not … closer to 1,000 threats” since Trump accused her of sedition.
Meanwhile, on Friday, a bomb threat was also called into the district office of Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa. In a post to X, a spokesperson for Houlahan said that the representative and her staff were safe.
“We are grateful for our local law enforcement agencies who reacted quickly and are investigating,” the spokesperson wrote. “As Rep. Houlahan has said many times over, there is no place for threats and political violence in our nation or our political discourse.”
Sedition, treason and insurrection
Trump is wrong about the potential penalty for sedition. While treason is punishable by death, those found guilty of sedition face up to 20 years in prison.
The seditious conspiracy statute can be used to charge people who “conspire to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States, or to levy war against them, or to oppose by force the authority thereof, or by force to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States.”
Treason, on the other hand, applies to those who swore allegiance to the United States, then waged war against it or gave aid to its enemies.
Also not to be confused with sedition and treason is the legal concept of insurrection, which involves “revolt, rebellion, or resistance against civil authority or an established government.” The punishment for that is up to a decade in prison.
On Saturday, Trump invoked the insurrection characterization when he retruthed a clip of Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller on Fox News.
“It is insurrection — plainly, directly, without question,” Miller said. “It’s a general call for rebellion from the CIA and the armed services of the United States, by Democrat lawmakers… it shows what a dangerous moment we’re in.”
What was said in the video?
The original video featured several Democratic lawmakers –– all of whom are military veterans or have worked in national security and intelligence –– including Slotkin and Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., as well as Reps. Houlahan, Jason Crow, D-Colo., and Maggie Goodlander, D-N.H.
“Our laws are clear, you can refuse illegal orders,” the lawmakers say in the video. “No one has to carry out orders that violate the law or our Constitution.”
The exchange revives questions about how U.S. forces evaluate the legality of commands, from domestic deployments to overseas operations and what protections or penalties can follow. These issues are unfolding alongside disputes over the legality of recent strikes on suspected drug boats and the deployment of National Guard troops and Marines inside the United States.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
