Gas Line Cut at Rep. Perriello’s Brother’s Home, FBI Investigating Incident

On Monday, two Virginia Tea Baggers posted what they believed to be the home address of Rep. Tom Perriello (R-VA) online. The only problem is that the address that was posted was that of Rep. Perriello’s brother Bo.

The result, according to the Charlottesville Daily Progress:

Federal and local authorities are investigating a severed gas line at the home of U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello’s brother, discovered the day after Tea Party activists posted the address online so opponents could “drop by” and “express their thanks” for Perriello’s vote in favor of health care reform.

I guess this was the next logical step for teabaggers after they hurled racist and homophobic slurs at Democratic lawmakers (and even some spit) at rallies to protest health care reform this weekend, right? NOT!

This sort of behavior should not be tolerated by anyone, regardless of political affiliation. So how did Republican lawmakers respond to these despicable acts this past weekend?

Rep. David Nunes (R-CA) had the following to say on C-Span this past Sunday:

Yeah, well I think that when you use totalitarian tactics, people, you know, begin to act crazy. I think, you know, there’s people that have every right to say what they want. If they want to smear someone, they can do it…Of course. I think the left loves to play a couple of incidents here or there.

So, you have Republican lawmakers like Nunes actually justifying these despicable acts. The only purpose this serves is to fire up the lunatics in the movement and cause them to act out in even more extreme ways.

On Monday, teabaggers decided to raise the stakes by posting what they believed to be the home address of Rep. Tom Perriello, but later realized was later the address of a house that belonged to his brother Bo.

As the Charlottesville Daily Progress further reported:

Danville Tea Party leader Nigel Coleman was one of the two activists who posted Bo Perriello’s address online Monday.

“This is Rep. Thomas Stuart Price Perriello’s home address,” Coleman wrote Monday. “… I ain’t holding back anymore!!”

According to the Politico Web site, when Coleman learned that the address actually belonged to the congressman’s brother, he responded on a blog: “Do you mean I posted his brother’s address on my Facebook? Oh well, collateral damage.”

The result of this over-the-top rhetoric was an incident at Rep. Perriello’s brother’s house where a propane line to a gas-powered grill was cut. Also it is now being reported that his brother also received what is being described as a “threatening” letter in the mail on the same day. The letter was purported to read along the lines of “You’ll have to answer for this [(health care reform)] on judgment day.”

Rep. Perriello issued the following statement this afternoon:

My number one priority right now is ensuring the safety of my brother’s family, and I am grateful to law enforcement for their excellent work. While it is too early to say anything definitive regarding political motivations behind this act, it’s never too early for political leaders to condemn threats of violence, particularly as threats to other Members of Congress and their children escalate. And so I ask every member of House and Senate leadership to state unequivocally tonight that it is never OK to harm or threaten elected officials and their families with anything more than political retribution. Here in America, we settle our political differences at the ballot box.

It’s time for lawmakers like Rep. Nunes to stop trying to justify the behavior of teabaggers and unequivocally condone these despicable acts. This may be all fun and games for Republicans, until someone actually ends up getting seriously injured.

How about House minority leader John Boehner (R-OH) stand up to these nuts by telling them, “Hell no, you can’t!”

You can read more about the threats against lawmakers here.