Residents of one Portland neighborhood woke up Sunday morning to a letter on their doorsteps. The letter commanded Senator Jeff Merkley to jump off a bridge.
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The note, which began “dear lord” and was signed “Hector,” was phrased as a prayer. It asked God to “help Jeff Merkley walk over the Fremont Bridge and jump in the Willamette River on Christmas Eve.”
The letter also called for a “grand feast” and read, “let toasts be made and laughter and hugs; and then please accept our humble prayer of thanks.” It ended, “we pray this in the name of Christ our Savior.”
Merkley is serving his third term as a Democratic Senator and has been a loud voice against Donald Trump, arguing against several of the president-elect’s cabinet appointments. Specifically, he has led the charge against Steve Bannon, the controversial former executive of Breitbart News, who was named Trump’s chief strategist. The Senator released a statement saying that with Bannon’s appointment, Trump “invited a white nationalist into the highest reaches of the government.”
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KOIN News in Portland spoke with residents who received the letter, and many were distressed. One resident stated, “It almost makes me cry…those are words from the Bible and they are using it in context of the demise of someone.”