WASHINGTON — He challenged President Trump in Jamestown, holding three searing protest signs as the chief executive commemorated the 400th anniversary of representative democracy in America.
“Mr. President, you can’t send us back,” exclaimed Del. Ibraheem S. Samirah (D-Fairfax) during the ceremony. “Virginia is our home, Mr. President, you cannot send us back.”
The visceral response was swift – with cheers on Twitter, jeers on GOP fundraising emails, and threats sent to Mr. Samirah’s email and social media accounts.
The extent of the virtual vitriol became clear Thursday, when the delegate said he would enlist Virginia Capitol Police to investigate threats directed against him.
“A lot of emails that I've got, telling me to go back home, and all sorts of snide remarks, insinuating a deep level of violence,” Mr. Samirah said in an interview. “We do have, we do have screen shots of people, threatening death, yes.”
The Herndon delegate held signs in full view of the press gathered at Jamestown, reading, “go back to your corrupted home,” “deport hate,” and, “reunite my family and all shattered by systemic discrimination.”
State police escorted Mr. Samirah out of the event venue, as Republicans booed and began chanting, “Trump, Trump, Trump.”
“There was no room for me to sit down,” the first-term Democratic delegate said. “I couldn't let anybody cover up for systemic discriminations of any kind.”