All 25 Republican members of Ohio’s state Senate received packages full of what appeared to be human feces in the mail, a spokesperson for the state Senate Majority Caucus announced this week.
"I'm really angry about it," said spokesman John Fortney, according to News 5 Cleveland. "These are a bunch of little scared little cowards that wouldn't say s*** or a thing to you face to face, right? They would rather send it in the mail."
He also said, “we’re assuming human," when asked about whether the feces was human or animal.
The U.S. Postal Inspector was investigating the matter as a federal crime.
"The OHP has been notified, and as always, the safety of all 33 members of the Senate, their staff, and Statehouse employees remains a priority,” Fortney said.
He noted that the envelopes also included letters but said he didn’t know if they included threats against the lawmakers. According to News 5, some Republican lawmakers noted that the incident came around the same time that the Ohio Supreme Court declined to block a law banning abortions in the state after six weeks of pregnancy.
Republican state Sen. Kristina Roegner told the news outlet that "there are other things going on and I don't want to make myself seem like a victim. I understand that people are very passionate right now."
"This is a highly charged and emotional issue, there's passion on both sides," she continued. "But we need to engage in civil discourse."
Fortney told News 5 that the incident was a potential health hazard for both the legislators and the staff who work at the Ohio Statehouse where the packages were sent.
"You're talking about any type of biohazard, and also, what if this had been blood that was contaminated with hepatitis C or some other contaminant and people were exposed to it?" he said. "It was just uncalled for."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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