Jon Ossoff: I Have Received 'A Number Of Threats'

EAST COBB, GA — As the nation grapples with the tenuous fate of a congressman who was shot in Virginia at a congressional baseball practice, Georgia's 6th District House of Representatives race has not gone unaffected.

Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff told Patch late Thursday that he has added a security detail in the wake of heightened political rhetoric and threats against him. (To get notified of more local news like this, click here to sign up for the East Cobb Patch. Or find your Atlanta-area town here. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the free Patch app.)

“Our campaign has received a number of threats, some of which have intensified in recent days, and we have reported them to local police as well as taken prudent precautions," Ossoff said in a statement to Patch.

His Republican opponent, Karen Handel, was the recipient Thursday of a package of suspicious white powder, as Patch reported. Several of Handel's neighbors as well as the local Fox TV affiliate were sent similar packages, which were being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

"These recent events speak to the need for a redoubled commitment to civility and unity," Ossoff said. "The overwhelming majority of Americans want decent and civil political dialogue, and candidates for office and elected leaders must continue to call for calm and unity, even when there are intense differences of opinion.”

Handel received the threatening letter and powder at her home, leading law enforcement authorities to block off Roxbugh Drive off Old Alabama Road east of Ga. 400 in north Fulton County.

On her Facebook page, Handel said that she was disturbed that her neighbors had been pulled into the chaos.

"It is frustrating that my neighbors have been affected in this way. Steve and I know that running for public office often brings these kinds of challenges, but our neighbors did not sign up for this. For someone to bring them into this race in this way is despicable.

"At the end of the day, however, we are grateful. We have great neighbors who extended many acts of kindness. Our first responders are awesome. Even in this highly charged environment, Steve and I feel safe."

An executive at WAGA-TV, a Fox TV station in Atlanta, said tests on the white powder sent to its offices confirmed the substance as baking powder. Testing on the substance at Handel's home has come back negative for toxins but officials will conduct further examinations to be sure, the said Friday afternoon.

Read more: Alexandria gunman made 'vile comments' on social media about me, Handel says

On Wednesday, House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, two police officers and two others were shot at a baseball practice at a park in Alexandria, Virginia. The gunman, identified as 66-year-old James T. Hodgkinson, an Illinois businessman, was killed in a shootout with authorities.

Image via Joe Raedle / Getty News Images Staff