After Alexandria Shooting, Ossoff Calls For 'Civility and Unity': ICYMI

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.

"This afternoon we had some suspicious packages delivered to our house and to our neighbors," Handel said in a statement. "The packages contained threatening letters and a suspicious substance. The police were quickly notified and street is now being blocked off. We will continue to coordinate with law enforcement as necessary.”

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

An executive at WAGA-TV, a Fox TV station in Atlanta, said tests on the white powder sent to their offices confirmed the substance as baking powder. The substance at Handel's home was confirmed to be non-hazardous, but analysts are running more tests to find out exactly what the substance is.

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