Staff: Sen. Thom Tillis won’t attend protests due to death threats
"Most folks and those who didn't vote for him don't wish any ill will on him. We don't condone any death threats to public officials or anyone for that matter."
WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Staff for Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) say the senator will not attend certain town hall meetings organized by protesters due to death threats the senator and his staff have received.
According to a memo written by a senior advisor to the senator, in late February Senator Tillis’ Greenville office received a handwritten, unsigned letter that was postmarked in Greensboro.
While the letter writer insisted “this should not be considered a threat,” they went on to declare that Senator Tillis’ staff members are “sacrificial lambs” who “signed up to be his shield” and implied they would soon be subject to the violence of angry mobs unless they resign.
The memo also notes that Tillis has been the subject of multiple death threats over the last few years.
The memo decries “the political discourse in our country” that has led to multiple assassination attempts of public figures in recent years, including two attempts on President Donald Trump’s life during the 2024 campaign. In 2017, a number of congressmen were shot while practicing for the Congressional Baseball Game. In 2022, a man was arrested outside of the home of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and in 2024, a man was sentenced to life in prison for attacking the husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in their San Francisco home.
We took the memo to Brunswick County Democratic Chair Shelley Allen to see what she had to say.
“Senator Tillis and Senator Budd, we’re also expecting to hear from them, especially with the many concerning things happening in the country right now. We’re their constituents. They were elected to represent us,” Allen said.
Allen says she didn’t know about the voicemails. However, she condemns all threats made towards Senator Tillis.
“Most folks and those who didn’t vote for him don’t wish any ill will on him. We don’t condone any death threats to public officials or anyone for that matter,” Allen said.
The full memo penned by Tillis’ senior advisor Daniel Keylin is listed below:
Our office has received inquiries about protests and so-called “town halls” that local Democratic parties and left-wing, anti-Trump activist groups are conveniently organizing and hosting for Senator Tillis and other Republican officials. Some reporters have asked if Senator Tillis will attend. I hope all members of the media will take a moment to read this memo, watch the included video, and read the included letter. After doing so, I imagine anyone with a modicum of sanity would understand what a silly question that is. You are free to use the letter and audio recording moving forward.
Democratic parties and established left-wing political groups protesting a Republican member of Congress is nothing new nor newsworthy. What is newsworthy is the volume of threats and harassment directed at members of Congress and their staff is the new normal and indicative of a much larger problem with the political discourse in our country. The current President of the United States was targeted for assassination not once but twice during the last campaign, and both attempts happened less than a year ago.
Senator Tillis, his staff, and even his family have long been subject to threats, harassment, attempted intimidation, and verbal abuse from unstable individuals who don’t agree with his political views.
In 2022, media outlets across the country reported on a Minnesota man who was charged and then pleaded guilty to threatening to shoot and murder a U.S. Senator because of bipartisan legislation they were working on, claiming he was driven to become a domestic terrorist. The U.S. Senator he threatened was Thom Tillis.
In 2023, an expatriate was arrested and charged by the DOJ upon his return to the U.S. after threatening to kill Senator Tillis and cut the hands off his staffers.
Flash forward to late February 2025. Only two weeks ago, Senator Tillis’ Greenville office received a handwritten, unsigned letter that was postmarked in Greensboro.
While the letter writer insisted “this should not be considered a threat,” they went on to declare that Senator Tillis’ staff members are “sacrificial lambs” who “signed up to be his shield” and implied they would soon be subject to the violence of angry mobs unless they resign.
“…When things get really bad, people are going to stop calling and writing. They’re going to start coming in, and they’re going to be coming in filled with rage that you’re [sic] boss took the food out of their kid’s mouths, or that he destroyed the ACA….And you signed up to be his shield. Resign, please resign, or find a Groupon for self defense class because America’s transition to oligarchy is going to be a wild ride for us peons.”
Two weeks later, local Democratic parties and the Indivisible Guilford County group organized a protest at Senator Tillis’ Greensboro office.
Senator Tillis’ office is part of a large indoor office complex located right next to a mental health care center and a number of other medical offices. That didn’t stop these left-wing activists from moving their protest indoors causing a loud disturbance for these vital medical providers. So, common decency towards fellow North Carolinians who have nothing to do with President Trump or Senator Tillis was already thrown out of the window.
Still, Senator Tillis’ staff allowed dozens of these protestors to come into the office in an orderly fashion to sign a guest book. It went fine until a group of about 50 angry individuals splintered off and remained after the others left. They angrily yanked and attempted to open the office’s locked door, yelling at Tillis’ staff to open it: “Come back, we see you! Open the door!” and reminding the staff they had no way to exit their office.
Out of an abundance of caution, law enforcement has since advised our staff to telework on days we expect protestors.
We will not make any apologies for prioritizing the safety and security of our staff.
For those who may not know: Senator Tillis’ staff in his offices across North Carolina are constituent caseworkers. They don’t work on policy issues. They don’t touch politics. They are professionals dedicated to helping North Carolinians facing issues with the federal government. These are the caseworkers who have helped more than 12,000 veterans resolve their issues with the VA. The same caseworkers who have helped more than 6,300 seniors fix their issues with their Social Security or Medicare benefits.
Much attention has also been given to the dramatic increase in calls that every member of Congress has received since President Trump was sworn in.
Listen to some of these voicemails and calls for yourself, but be warned the language is offensive.
CLICK HERE FOR THE UNCENSORED VERSION.
CLICK HERE FOR THE CENSORED VERSION.
Circling back to the events organized by Indivisible groups and local Democratic parties, possibly in coordination with the North Carolina Democratic Party. Indivisible is a far-left national group created by Democratic Congressional staffers and funded by left-wing billionaires. Indivisible proclaims its mission is to address the following:
“We face two fundamental problems: first, our democracy was rigged from the start in favor of the white and wealthy. Second, in the last few decades, an alliance of white nationalists and the ultra-rich have been actively working to further undermine democracy and cement their hold on power permanently. That’s how we ended up with Trump.”
To reporters in North Carolina: instead of asking a ridiculous question lacking self-awareness like why on earth a Republican senator wouldn’t attend a partisan political event hosted and organized by Democratic parties and left-wing groups, perhaps instead direct some questions to those groups themselves.
Are they doing their part to turn down increasingly divisive and even violent political rhetoric? Or are they instead fanning the flames for some unstable individuals who contact our office parroting their talking points and threatening our staff? Can they guarantee that individuals at their political events aren’t the same individuals who have sent those letters and made those calls?
