Black Dem gets flood of racist messages after info is leaked

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (Mo.) says he has received a torrent of racist emails and phone calls since a hacker leaked contact information for House Democrats.

“When somebody puts your address on the internet, there are people who aren’t as mentally healthy as we hope they should be and they could do something,” he said Thursday, according to McClatchy.

{mosads}“It was a lot of cowardly comments. These are probably people who wouldn’t have done it sitting in front of me. They may have been thinking it, but they wouldn’t have said it.”

Cleaver said dozens of callers harassed him with profanity and “the N word” starting on Aug. 12.

The former Kansas City, Mo., mayor said some offenders also called him “a baby killer” or insulted his Methodist faith.

Cleaver added other attacks came via email, with one even appearing to originate from a Ku Klux Klan (KKK) representative.

“Whenever I’m talking about how horrible the phone calls were, I have to remind myself that the first phone call was a classy gentleman who was very nice and helpful,” he said, referencing a man from Raytown, Mo., who warned him his information was compromised.

“He said, ‘Look, I need to let you know your phone number has been put on the internet along with your email, along with your address and along with your wife’s name.’ I said, ‘How did that happen?’ He said, ‘Whoever hacked your information put it online.’”

McClatchy said the menacing messages prompted Cleaver to change his phone numbers and request additional security around his Kansas City home.

Cleaver said he is particularly cautious about threats after an attempted firebombing of his office in September 2014.

McClatchy said Eric King was sentenced last June to 10 years in federal prison for breaking a window at Cleaver’s district office and throwing Molotov cocktails inside. No one was occupying the office during the incident.

The hacker known as Guccifer 2.0 dumped the personal contact info of House Democrats on his website on Aug. 12.

The document, which originated with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, is part of a widespread breach of Democratic groups.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said last weekend she has also received “obscene and sick calls” after the leak.