Rep. Thomas Garrett Receives 'Credible' Death Threats

Rep. Thomas Garrett's town hall meeting in Moneta, Va., on Tuesday was heavily guarded with law enforcement officers after Garrett received "credible" death threats against his family, Politico reports.

Garrett, a Republican, said U.S. Capitol Police, Virginia State Police and intelligence officials "have deemed [the threats] to be credible and real."

One message read, "This is how we're going to kill your wife," Garrett told Politico. Other threats targeted him, his family and even his dog.

Tensions ran high at Garrett's meeting as constituents demanded to know why the congressman voted for the GOP healthcare bill to replace Obamacare. Some interrupted Garrett and one woman was escorted out after she wouldn't stop shouting.

Garrett said he didn't mind protestors.

"I don't have any problem with anybody who reaches a different policy conclusion based on the information they amalgamate and process," he told Politico. "That dissent is American — praise God, we need that. That's what made us who we are.

"But when it's, 'I'm going to kill you this way. Then, I'm going to kill your wife. This is what I'm going to do to your daughters.' ... Then you get a circumstance where there's an awful lot of security."

• GOP Congressman: Don't Think 'Any Individual' Read All of Obamacare Replacement Bill
• Newsmax Exposes Group Behind Chaos at GOP Town Hall Meetings