Republican Rep. Tom Reed said authorities are investigating after a dead animal and a brick bearing the name of one of his family members was discovered at his home.
The New York congressman said that he and his family discovered the threatening display outside of his Corning, New York, home on Friday.
“The cowards used a dead animal and a brick with a family member’s name on it to try to intimidate us. We assure everyone such threats only energize us to stand stronger,” he said in a news release. “We thank the local police and federal authorities, who are already investigating this disgusting attack against my family.”
“Across the country, politics has taken a disturbing turn. We have to overcome this. I know that we can,” Reed added.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Reed’s office for further details about the incident.
Reed has represented New York’s 23rd Congressional District, which spans the southwest of the state, since 2010 and is facing cybersecurity expert Tracy Mitrano in this year’s election. According to the Evening Tribune, Mitrano called the Friday incident a “shocking report” but also condemned the tenor of Reed’s reelection campaign.
“The harsh visuals in his attack ads, the inflammatory language he uses to describe me, all contribute to an escalation of hostility that too often leads to incidents like the ones he reports today — or worse,” she said in a statement. “Politics is about persuasion, not intimidation. I condemn this kind of action and hope the authorities swiftly bring the perpetrator(s) to justice.”
This is not Reed’s first time facing Mitrano. She was also his Democratic challenger in 2018 when he bested her by an 8-point margin.
