Thread: Barletta has long dealt with threats

Barletta has long dealt with threats

January 12, 2011

BY BORYS KRAWCZENIUK (STAFF WRITER)


U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta knows well the threats an elected official sometimes faces.

After the former Hazleton mayor took up fighting illegal immigration on a local level, a pair of threats concerned him enough that he began wearing a bulletproof vest.

He said he bought a rifle and a handgun to protect himself, his family and his home, and got a permit to carry a concealed weapon.

The day he resigned as mayor, Dec. 14, he was the subject of another threat, but he does not worry about threats too much, he said.

"It's more worrisome for my family, my girls ... (wife) Mary Grace," he said.

He has not allowed and will not the threats to substantially alter his routine in the wake of the near-fatal shooting of fellow Rep. Gabrielle Giffords on Saturday in Tucson, Ariz. He still plans to hold regular town-hall meetings.

"This is a sad case. I just think it was a disturbed young man, and I'm not going to let it affect me," he said. "If it's going to affect you, then this is probably not the right occupation."

Mr. Barletta, a Republican, turned the emotionally charged issue of immigration on its ear in 2006 when he backed city ordinances that penalize landlords who rent to illegal immigrants and business owners who hire them. Federal courts later ruled the ordinances unconstitutional, but long before that, the laws sparked a furious response.

As the controversy raged, Mr. Barletta said he answered a telephone call one night at his home in 2007 that his caller ID said Los Angeles. The voice was obviously fed through a computer to mask its identity and threatened "bodily injury," he said, declining to be specific.

Another threatening caller, this one from New Orleans, later left a recorded telephone message in the middle of the night at City Hall, he said.

"The second one talked about me burning in hell ... my 15 minutes of fame is over, and now it's time to burn in hell," he said.

The mayor reported the threat last month to the Capitol Police.

Mr. Barletta said he wore the bulletproof vest at parades and other events when a lot of people were present, but stopped when the media noticed him wearing it. He declined to say if he carries the gun when he's home, but acknowledged he is barred by law from carrying it across state lines.

"I've learned to be more cognizant of my surroundings," he said. "Things that I never thought of doing before. I look who's behind me, I look in my (rearview) mirrors often. When I'm going to my car ... I just look around."

The other night, a car was parked on "a side street from my home, and when I pulled out, the car pulled out," he said.

"When I got behind the car, the car took off," he said. "Whether or not it had anything to do with anything, I don't know, but I've just become more aware and more careful. I've accepted that as part of the way it is and going to be."

http://thetimes-tribune.com

I respect Barletta a lot and it is horrible that he gets threats because wants lawbreakers to be dealt with.

I wish these kinds of articles would mention states, I guess they figure they don't need to since its a local paper. So what state is this U.S. rep from? I can't remember what state the town of Hazleton is in, sounds familiar but I'm blanking, and sometimes several states have towns with same name.

Pa. is the State Hazelton is in

Originally Posted by builditnow

I wish these kinds of articles would mention states, I guess they figure they don't need to since its a local paper. So what state is this U.S. rep from? I can't remember what state the town of Hazleton is in, sounds familiar but I'm blanking, and sometimes several states have towns with same name.

it in Pa it call Hazleton Pa . it not far from Pittston . or wilkes Barra Pa wish is bad very town is bad & every city Is bad . we ar efull with the Illegal Immigrants get them the hell Out. nyc is also Very bad they sound like chicks this is american Not Mex


No Amnesty