Michigan GOP cancels election watch party, reports threat

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The Michigan Republican Party said it canceled a Tuesday evening primary watch party in Lansing after a man came to the party’s headquarters and threatened to shoot up the building and burn it down.

Lansing police said officers went to the building Tuesday morning in response to a complaint about a threat, but that the person who allegedly made the threat was not still there. Officers will pay special attention to that area, said police spokeswoman Jordan Gulkis.

Police released no other information, including any details about the threat and whether they were investigating or seeking a suspect.

Michigan GOP spokesman Gustavo Portela told The Associated Press that the man also yelled at a female staffer, telling her that he “wanted to enslave women.”

The headquarters received several threats throughout the week that were deemed insignificant, Portela said, but the party considered the Tuesday morning encounter to be more serious. He said the Michigan GOP still planned to hold a Republican Unity event on Wednesday with increased security.

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Joey Cappelletti is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

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