Following reports of multiple attacks on the offices of Democrats who voted for healthcare reform over the weekend, Republican House whip Eric Cantor held an angry press conference on Thursday claiming that his office had been attacked by gunshot and accusing Democrats of "dangerously fanning the flames". But on closer examination the "attack" on Cantor's office turns out to be ambiguous at the least.



On Thursday, Cantor said:

"Just recently I have been directly threatened. A bullet was shot through the window of my campaign office in Richmond this week, and I've received threatening emails. But I will not release them, because I believe such actions will only encourage more to be sent."

He went on to say: "It is reckless to use these incidents as media vehicles for political gain. That is why I have deep concerns that some [senior Democrats] are dangerously fanning the flames by suggesting that these incidents be used as a political weapon."

So what happened at Cantor's office in the Virginia district he represents? Let's read yesterday's official press release from the local police:

Richmond Police Investigate Cantor Building Vandalism

The Richmond Police Department is investigating an act of vandalism at the Reagan Building, 25 East Main St, Richmond, Virginia. A first floor window was struck by a bullet at approximately 1am on Tuesday, March 23. The building, which has several tenants including an office used by Congressman Eric Cantor, was unoccupied at the time. A Richmond Police detective was assigned to the case. A preliminary investigation shows that a bullet was fired into the air and struck the window in a downward direction, landing on the floor about a foot from the window. The round struck with enough force to break the windowpane but did not penetrate the window blinds. There was no other damage to the room, which is used occasionally for meetings by the congressman.

So let's see: the police describe it "vandalism", and say a "bullet was fired in the air" and broke the window on its way down but so weakly that it couldn't even make it through the window blinds. Was Cantor's office the object of the attack? Today the Richmond police are describing the event as "an act of random gunfire," which seems more accurate.

Of course, other facts may come to light. Until they do, while Cantor's claim is true in a strict sense – a bullet was fired and it did go through the window of his office – it would seem he's making more of this than the incident deserves. And since the office is in Virginia – a state where "open carry" of firearms is legal and a hotspot of gun ownership – the occasional bullet is going be found.

Certainly, it doesn't compare to the unambiguous attack on the Democratic party office in Rochester, New York, in the form of a brick with a note attached reading: "Exremism [sic] in the defense of liberty is no vice" – a phrase coined by Republican presidential candidate and conservative icon Barry Goldwater.

Cantor, like other US politicians, has certainly received threats over the years: Fox News's report on the vandalism noted: "Cantor is the highest-elected Jewish official in the country and the only Jewish Republican in the House." Several leading Republicans have condemned the attacks, including House minority leader John Boehner, who said yesterday: "Violence and threats are unacceptable. They have no place in a political debate. We need to take that anger and channel it into what I would describe as positive change."