The NRCC sent 'moving boxes' to Democrats and told them to 'Get packing.' It prompted a police investigation
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The NRCC sent 'moving boxes' to Democrats and told them to 'Get packing.' It prompted a police investigation
Savannah Behrmann, USA TODAY, USA TODAY 1 hour 8 minutes ago WASHINGTON – The National Republican Congressional Committee sent packing boxes to several House Democrats who represent battleground states to signify they'll need them as "moving boxes" next November, prompting Capitol Hill police to investigate them as suspicious packages.
The boxes were delivered outside the offices of Reps. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., Jennifer Wexton, D-Va., Conor Lamb, D-Pa., and others to indicate they will not be in office much longer because of their participation into the impeachment investigation of President Donald Trump.
The sealed boxes were adorned with bows and a message that read “Get packing!”
Most of the Democrats who received packages flipped GOP districts in 2018 and will face competitive races next year to keep them.
Here are 4 takeaways: NSA adviser Timothy Morrison testified on the Donald Trump impeachment inquiry.
“We know Democrats love investigations but why are they looking a gift horse in the mouth? These boxes will be useful next November!” the NRCC tweeted.
Following the stunt, Democrats announced that they will be using the boxes to fill with food for those in need during the holidays, writing, “We’d be happy to use those boxes so that our staff can run a Thanksgiving food drive and turn your hilarious prank into a force for good.”
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesperson Cole Leiter reiterated that whether the Republicans take them “up on our offer to put those boxes to good use, or not, we’ll be holding a canned food drive within our staff to serve local Washingtonians in need.”
The last word: Rep. Katie Hill says she's leaving due to 'double standard' in farewell Congress speech
Reports emerged from journalists on Twitter that Hill police questioned a few NRCC staffers about the incident.
“I cannot figure out why anyone would think it's funny to leave suspicious packages for Members of Congress," Wexton tweeted. "Thank you to the Capitol Police for keeping us safe, and sorry your time was wasted on such an irresponsible and reckless stunt.”
Spanberger called it a “ridiculous stunt” that resulted in “diverting and wasting law enforcement resources.”
After an investigation by police, U.S. Capitol Police spokeswoman Eva Malecki said, “The incident has been cleared.” Congressional staffers are trained to contact police regarding suspicious packages.
The stunt followed the House adopting rules Thursday for how Democrats will conduct the public phase of the impeachment investigation of Trump, a process Republicans have argued has been secretive and unfair to this point.
The resolution received zero Republican votes in its first full House vote, though former Republican Justin Amash, who is now an Independent, did vote for it. Only two Democrats – Reps. Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey and Collin Peterson of Minnesota – voted against the measure.
'Vote them out in 2020': Collin Peterson, Jeff Van Drew, the only two Democrats who voted against a Trump impeachment inquiry
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NRCC sent Democrats in battleground states 'moving boxes'
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That's funny, and a good turn right back at the NRCC. IMO if you can't laugh at both sides in this story you're too tightly wound up in this and are in for a very rough next couple of months.
Nothing to laugh at when law enforcement and possible bomb experts get involved. Unless you think " swatting " is also funny.
No it's not funny.
Remember this guy?
I hope he's enjoying prison.
Good one! That's actually kinda funny.
Not quite accurate. Obviously somebody in one of these Democratic offices is the one who did the prompting of police. There's very little suspicious about an empty box accompanied by what is obviously a bit of political satire. (Ironically, these are probably some of the same people who tend to characterize gun owners as irrationally paranoid).
Ha! Also well played.
OK, good recovery. Not funny, and a possibly a little sanctimonious, but still not bad.
So your posit is that they should have opened the boxes to check the contents before they notified the Capitol Police despite protocol?
That comment should come with a WARNING LABEL: Don't follow that practice!
Instead:
Don't touch the fucking box!
Back away from the fucking box!
Call authorities from a safe distance from the fucking box!
No kidding. I would have called the appropriate authorities too.
This is the level republicans have sunk to.
Should make them pick up the tab from this so called prank.
There's a protocol that says boxes from the NRCC should be presumed to be dangerous? I hadn't heard of that protocol. I take it all back.
The intelligence level within the gop has plummeted.
Oh my bad, I forgot that there are still idiots working in government buildings that would read a hand written sharpie message on a package and take that as a green light to open it.
There's a protocol that says packages with hand writing on them should be presumed dangerous? That must keep the cops extremely busy.
I guess I'll continue to wait for the protocol regarding packages from the NRCC.
Actually, there is. If you're actually curious about it, which I doubt, you could look it up on the DHS website. Hell, even our school has such a protocol and they sent a notice out to parents so even grade school kids know better.
Don't waste your time trying to explain facts or policies. I imagine you'll just receive another copy and paste job. It's a sad state of affairs when you have to explain that since civility no longer exists the level of security precautions had to be raised. No one can be trusted, not staffers or lawmakers.
What a christian thing to say.........
"room temperature IQ of the Democrat party"
It's that high! Who knew?
I could, but it's not my claim. It's yours.
Don't worry. He hasn't cited any policies.
Oh so you need me to give you a link because you're so curious that you can't look it up for yourself?
When I make a claim you demand a link - which I supply and you then ignore. When you make a claim, you tell me to go look it up. Amazing.
You don't have to provide a link. The article mentions what the protocol is.
I'm merely trying to motivate you and your fellow travelers to get out of you bubble and do some research for yourself. But hey, you need hand holding so here you go:
That is only ONE of the many links from DHS and other government agencies that WARN people NOT to touch a fucking package.
Is that what is when you ask for a link? You want someone to hold your hand? How sweet.
Meanwhile, unlike you, I will actually follow your link, examine it's content and see if it supports the claims or points you have been making.
To review, you wrote:
So you're claiming some kind of protocol applies in this situation. I have had to guess at what that protocol might be and asked for the protocol you were referring to. I suspect you hadn't seen any protocol before you Googled it yourself. In any event, you supplied this link. Let's see what it says and if it applies.
The worst I think you can say about this package is that - because it was hand delivered - it lacks postage. I suppose one could argue it lacks a return address also, but I think it would be more accurate to say the return address is not complete. The sender is certainly clear enough.
None of the other qualities is present. So does this mean a police investigation was required? Or could a person just pick up a phone, call the NRCC (since that information was available), and just ask them if they dropped off the boxes? Seems to me like the latter option would have been less hysterical and a lot simpler.
The protocol doesn't say that packages from the NRCC or packages hand written in Sharpie should be considered suspicious.
No, the article implies that a protocol exists. It doesn't say what it is, where it comes from, how this particular package was identified as being suspicious, or why it was necessary to call the police.
So... If I wanted to mail a bomb to Lindsey Graham it would be as easy as putting NRCC for the return address? You're saying that he'd open it without having it checked out?
Do you read the comments? I did not say open it without checking it out. I said call the NRCC.
OK. Now, since I'm not with the NRCC they won't know anything about it. Maybe Lindsey should have a lackey open it instead of doing it himself.
Actually, after thinking about it, I think that anything coming from the NRCC should be considered suspect.
A package shows up, police are called to investigate, police advise the media that the staffers are trained how to handle these type of situations.
Most individuals would be able to connect the dots without requiring to see the actual occupancy emergency plan.
Then you intentionally IGNORED over half of the content of the PDF:
"CHECKLIST OF ACTIONS TO TAKE"
Leave the mail piece or substance where it was found. Do not disturb. Do not try to clean up the substance.
Clear the immediate area of all persons and keep others away.
Instruct people in the immediate area to wash hands and other exposed skin with soap and water.
Direct these people to a designated area away from the substance to await further instruction.
List the names of the persons in the immediate area of the mail piece or substance.
Cordon off the immediate area.
Shut down all equipment in the immediate area and HVAC systems (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning).
Contact and pass information to the appropriate agency. A list of Contacts in Case of Emergency is provided at right.
Take actions and make appropriate notifications as directed or as published in your local emergency plan.
So yes, Tacos!, unlike me, you cherry pick from the PDF that which you think supports your ideology and ignore that which oppose it.
Yes because the fundamental issue was whether or not it was worth treating it as suspicious. I maintain it was not. If you don't reach the point where it's suspicious, all that other stuff is irrelevant.
Scroll up and read. The issue was not claims you were making about what to do in the event of a suspicious package. You were claiming it was clearly suspicious. You said it was suspicious because the address was hand written with a Sharpie. That quality is not one of the defining characteristics of a suspicious package according to your link.
So clearly, you did not have knowledge of the protocols as you claimed. Or as the cool kids say, you were full of shit.
omg you are just consumed with politics, aren't you? Do you see everything through the lens of partisan politics? There is no "ideology" in play here. We're talking about a package, not policy.
Actually, my wife was a Supervisor for DHS/TSA @ Midway Airport. She studied for weeks prior to testing for the position and we spoke quite a bit of the crazy rules and protocols they follow.
Now the question is, why didn't YOU Google it YOURSELF?
Scroll up and read, I never used the term 'suspicious'.
Secondly, I said that the link I provided was one of MANY Here's another one:
Wherein it states:
So while I'm sure that whoever called in the package knew that the NRCC exists, it could and SHOULD be viewed as a threat until cleared.
Oh yes, by all means. Keep hunting through Google for protocols you've never seen before. Maybe one will finally approximate the claims you made based on protocols you claimed to know about and everyone will just conveniently ignore that you clearly had no particular knowledge on the topic at all.
No postage
Handwritten addresses or labels from companies are improper.
Handwritten notes
Hand delivered or dropped off
What is really disgusting is after 9/11 and the "ricin" envelope scare, the anthrax that killed someone and anthrax scare, these GOP "representatives" actually know better which makes it despicable beyond words. Not to mention the rabid Trump supporter who sent bombs to Democrats and news organizations. Enough already with the threats and intimidation. Democrats did not do anything like this when Clinton went through the impeachment process.