Chennai-born US Congresswoman becomes target of racial abuse, threat call goes viral

Congresswoman Pramila Jayapala, an Indian-American, alleged that she had been receiving threatening and hateful phone calls from a male caller who told her to return to India in a instance of racist abuse. The first-ever Indian-American congresswoman, 55-year-old Jayapal represents Seattle in the US House of Representatives. A woman who was born in Chennai used her Twitter account on Thursday to post a collection of five audio messages.

Typically, political figures don't show their vulnerability. I chose to do so here because we cannot accept violence as our new norm.

We also cannot accept the racism and sexism that underlies and propels so much of this violence. pic.twitter.com/DAuwwtWt7B

— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) September 8, 2022

All of these audio messages feature a male caller who threatens the woman with severe repercussions and tells her to return to India. Due to abusive material, several of these audio clips have had sections censored. Taking to Twitter, the Indian-American Congresswoman said, “Typically, political figures don't show their vulnerability. I chose to do so here because we cannot accept violence as our new norm. We also cannot accept the racism and sexism that underlies and propels so much of this violence."

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"A man full of racism and anger showed up at my home with a loaded gun. I'm sharing this because we can't be silent in the face of rising violence. These aren't isolated incidents. From the Big Lie to Jan 6 to an armed man at my door, too much is at stake," she further tweeted.

The Seattle home of the congresswoman was threatened by a man brandishing a gun. The individual, who the police eventually identified as Brett Forsell (49), was taken into custody. A week ago, another racial abuse attack on Indian man on Poland, telling him to “invader”. The Indian, who has not been named, was seen on camera in a video that has gone viral on social media.

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