(KRON) — U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) shared a screenshot Wednesday of what appeared to be a threatening direct message from an account belonging to ex-San Francisco 49er Bruce Miller.
“Almost time !!! Would you rather Guantanamo or just execution f–kin traitor,” read the message, which was sent from an account with the handle @BruceMillerIII.
“Who is this guy threatening to execute me? And how does he have so many followers?” Swalwell tweeted.
Although the account that sent the screenshot is unverified and the profile photo is blacked out, it’s followed by several prominent local sports and media figures, including ex-Niner Colin Kaepernick and SF Chronicle sports columnist, Ann Killion.
On Thursday, the Bruce Miller account responded to Swalwell making the tweet public in a tweet thread in which the account owner doubled down on what they’d said in the DM.
“Eric Swalwell I was content with trolling corrupt politicians in my dm’s, but since you want to make a story out of it then that’s what we’ll do. That was in no way a threat to you or you family,” the tweet thread read. “I missed when a harmless game of ‘would you rather’ Guantanamo or execution (which to my knowledge is the punishment) for the treason you’ve so aggressively participated in trying to frame the sitting president, who was disrupting the status quo of the parasitic us gov. You Eric, are a traitor to the country, to your state, and to your district.”
The Miller account goes on to say “I am not a threat to you or anyone else,” and attacks Swalwell for “sitting on an intelligence committee,” while the “Bay Area is in decay.” The account also rehashes a conspiracy about Swalwell allegedly having a relationship with a Chinese spy.
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Swalwell, an East Bay Democrat, was photographed with a woman named Christine Fang, who was suspected of being a Chinese intelligence operative. However, no concrete evidence linking the two romantically has ever been produced.
Miller, who was a fullback with the 49ers from 2011 to 2015, has had troubles in the past. In 2016, he was charged with attacking a 70-year-old man and his son at a San Francisco hotel. Hours before that alleged attack, Miller was thrown out of a San Francisco sandwich shop in an incident that was caught on video.
On Friday, Swalwell issued a statement on the incident, saying:
“My family and staff are deeply disturbed by the threat of execution made to me by former San Francisco 49er Bruce Miller earlier this week. More concerning is that Miller has a history of arrests and convictions for violence. As a lifelong 49ers fan, I also appreciate the team’s leadership in reaching out to share their concerns.
“Threats of political violence are unacceptable, but they will never silence me from defending democracy. My platform has always been to resolve our differences by voting, not by violence.
“I invite my Republican colleagues, who continually remain silent about the violent environment in which we govern, to join me in condemning political threats.”
