JIm Moran confronted the protesters, prompting staff to step between them. Staff held Moran back from protesters

Tea party activists nearly messed with the wrong congressman when they got into it with Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) in his Capitol office Sunday.

Moran, a thickly built Virginian with a temper that runs hot on occasion, was summoned from his inner office by the noise of angry protesters interacting with his staff, according to the congressman's account.


He confronted the protesters, prompting staff to step between them and the activists to ask whether Moran needed "bodyguards" to protect him.

"We're not protecting him from you, we're protecting you from him," a staffer explained, according to Moran.

Moran once threatened to punch his predecessor, Stan Parris, and has been known to lose his temper at other times.

He said the activists were attempting to intimidate him and his aides.

The incident, while humorous in its own way, is part of a pattern of confrontations between opponents of the new health care law and lawmakers that has included epithets referring to race and sexual orientation, death threats and vandalism.

Federal and Capitol law enforcement officers briefed Democratic House members on threats at a caucus meeting Wednesday.

This article tagged under: Tea Party

Jim Moran