Democratic Congressmen Accused of Sedition by Trump Report Death Threats

Democratic congressmen accused of sedition this week by US President Donald Trump for urging the military not to obey "illegal orders" emphasized this Sunday that the president's words are "very serious" and have resulted in death threats against them and their families.

Congressman Jason Crow of Colorado stated during CBS's 'Face the Nation' program that he is taking the death and bomb threats he and his family are receiving very seriously, following Trump's "disturbing" statements.

"When the President of the United States threatens to execute, hang, and arrest using this rhetoric, people listen," Crow lamented.

He was one of six Democratic legislators whom Trump urged to be arrested and tried for having appeared in a video this week urging members of the military to defend the Constitution and not obey illegal orders, without specifying which orders they were referring to.

Since his return to power in January, Trump has ordered the military to deploy in various cities across the country, mostly governed by Democrats, arguing to quell riots that in his view are out of control and backed by the "radical left"—a reasoning deemed invalid by various courts that have blocked these deployments.

In turn, the video coincides with the increased US military deployment in the Caribbean Sea, a maneuver to pressure Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and, according to the White House, to combat drug trafficking. This has led to the summary destruction of approximately twenty vessels that Washington claims were drug-trafficking boats and the deaths of 83 of their occupants.

Senator Elissa Slotkin, elected from Michigan, accused Trump on the same program of "using the Department of Justice as a weapon" and asserted that the president is trying to silence them because he does not want this issue discussed.

"Almost immediately, the situation changed for all of us... If the president says things like that, imagine what people do, the calls to our office," Slotkin stated.

Another one of those accused by Trump was Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, who lamented that the rhetoric used by the president is "very serious" and recalled that his words "carry enormous weight, more than anyone else's in the country."

Several Democratic legislators, including Crow, filed police reports last Friday concerning Trump's posts. While it is unlikely these will lead to legal action, they mark an escalation in tensions between Trump and Democrats in Congress.