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Eric Cantor reveals ‘a bullet was shot through the window of my campaign office.’ (Updated)

House Minority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) revealed moments ago that his Richmond, VA office was shot at, becoming one of the first Republicans to acknowledge being a victim of the harassment that has mostly targeted Democrats. “Just recently, I have been directly threatened,” he said. “A bullet was shot through the window of my campaign office in Richmond this week, and I’ve received threatening emails.” Cantor used the terror incident to attack Democrats who have raised alarms over the GOP leadership’s failure to tone down their rhetoric. “It is reckless to use these incidents as media vehicles for political gain,” Cantor said, standing before a media pool of reporters and cameras. Again failing to note the irony, Cantor used the press conference to express his concern that public discussion (“letters, statements, and press releases”) about these acts of violence “can very easily fan the flames.” Watch it:

Update:

In his press conference, Cantor claimed that DCCC Chair Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) was “dangerously fanning the flames by suggesting that these incidents be used as a political weapon.” Van Hollen spokesman Doug Thornell responded with the following statement:

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“Yesterday, Congressman Van Hollen called upon Republican leaders to condemn the harsh rhetoric that is fanning the flames of extremism around the country. Today, Mr. Cantor had the opportunity to join Mr. Van Hollen in calling for restraint. Instead, he chose to use his press conference to level false accusations. This is straight out of the Republicans’ political playbook of deflecting responsibility and distracting attention away from a serious issue.”

Update:

,The Richmond police report indicates that a bullet was fired up in the air and “struck the window in a downward direction.” The report adds, “The round struck with enough force to break the windowpane but did not penetrate the window blinds.”[updat