Third Party Enters Spat Between Reps. Jackson Jr. and Lee Terry
A House floor spat between Reps. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) and Lee Terry (R-Neb.) has officially gotten out of hand. The FBI is now investigating a third party's involvement in the spat, which most likely has nothing to do with Jackson or Terry.
A man claiming to be a relative of Jackson walked into Terry's Omaha office last Friday and said he was "Jesse Jackson's (Jr.) hitman," a spokeswoman for Terry tells the Sleuth. The spokeswoman, Kristin Durbin, says the unidentified man told the receptionist "that he'd like to beat up Congressman Terry."
"These were inappropriate comments and the office contacted the Capitol Police after the man left," she said, adding, "The incident was referred to the FBI."
The man was described as five feet nine inches tall, white and in his early 50's, according to a local Omaha TV station.
The bizarre incident came just days after Jackson - a black belt in martial arts - and Terry - not a black belt - nearly came to blows on the House floor in the incredibly contentious final hours before Congress adjourned for August recess. The two of them never did "take it outside" as Jackson had suggested, and both later accused the other of cursing and instigating the argument.
Terry's District Manager, Tory Lucas, tells Omaha's Action 3 News, "Apparently the gentleman read the article about Congressman Terry's incident with Congressman Jackson. He referenced that article and said he'd like to fight Congressman Terry. He said he'd like to hit him and said he's Congressman Jackson's hit-man."
The man did not pull a weapon and left the building after about 10 minutes.
By Mary Ann Akers |
August 9, 2007; 11:44 AM ET
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Posted by: Erica | August 9, 2007 4:22 PM
Erica, however well intentioned you may be, you're still an idiot.
Posted by: r man | August 13, 2007 8:38 AM
Lets face it, there is too much anger and partisan BS for Congress to get anything done. Mean while the Voters swing in the air waiting for these dunderheads to actually do something. I think its time to clean house and even re-think the career politicians role in government. Why do we need "career politicians"?
Posted by: Gary 1 | August 13, 2007 10:08 AM
The comments to this entry are closed.
I am diappointed in these petty quarrels that have escalated into something FBI will investigate. We don't have time to end major global issues like poverty, but we have time to send out the FBI to investigate a small, potential crime? Poverty is a global crime and the United States, out of all the countries, has the resources to fight it.