Kshama Sawant calls for city to investigate threatening messages sent from city email address

SEATTLE - Seattle City Council member Kshama Sawant says she's received multiple threatening emails from a Seattle Fire Department's city email address. 

In a letter sent to city officials, the socialist and often controversial councilwoman says the emails began in December 2020 with a message telling her to leave town. 

From there, the messages became more sinister, Sawant says, with the "most ominous" message sent Jan. 18.

SEATTLE, WA - Seattle City Council member Kshama Sawant speaks at a rally held outside the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. (Photo by Karen Ducey/Getty Images)

A Seattle Fire Department spokeperson says they are investigating and police have been notified.

An administrator reportedly told Sawant in late December that the employee in question denies sending the emails, but Sawant says she has received two more threatening emails since then.

"If the employee is to be believed that he did not send the threatening emails, has there been no effort by the department to secure his account?" Sawant asks in her letter. "Has the employee not so much as been asked to change his password? I hope that in fact real action has been taken, but these facts begin to strain credulity."

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Sawant's letter calling for an investigation comes roughly six months after Mayor Jenny Durkan wrote her own letter calling for the council to investigate - and potentially expel - Sawant. 

Durkan has accused Sawant of leading a protest to the mayor's home, knowing that Durkan's address is protected by a state program due to threats related her time as a U.S. Attorney. 

The mayor's letter also accuses Sawant of allowing hundreds of protesters into City Hall after hours during Black Lives Matter protests - without following social distancing or masking protocols, prompting safety complaints from janitorial staff.

A judge agreed with Durkan's assessments, ruling in September that a recall petition filed against Sawant can move forward.