Police say protest outside Hawley's home was peaceful; 'We didn’t think it was that big of a deal'

WASHINGTON D.C. (KMOV.com/AP) -- Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley says his family was threatened at their Washington D.C. area home Monday night.

In a tweet, the Republican senator said protesters pounded on their door and hurled threats at his family while he was away in Missouri.

“Tonight, while I was in Missouri, Antifa scumbags came to our place in D.C. and threatened my wife and newborn daughter, who can't travel. They screamed threats, vandalized, and tried to pound open our door. Let me be clear: My family and I will not be intimidated by left-wing violence,”

The group outside of Hawley’s home was not Antifa but a group of protesters called Shutdown DC.

Shutdown DC posted a 51-minute video of what they called a candlelight vigil outside his Virginia home. Video shows the group standing outside for about 30 minutes.

“We visited Senator Hawley's house for around 30 minutes. We sang songs, chanted and shared our stories. A small group of people delivered a copy of the constitution to his door (with Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution dog eared for easy reference),” they tweeted.

Police officers from the Vienna Police department who responded to the scene found that the “people were peaceful,” said Master Police Officer Juan Vazquez, a spokesman for the Town of Vienna Police Department.

Vazquez said the protesters had been violating several laws, including a Virginia code about picketing in front of a house, a town ordinance about making noise in front of a home and a littering code. But he said the officers explained the violations and “everyone just left.”

“There were no issues, no arrests,” he said. “We didn’t think it was that big of a deal.”

Protesters said they don't agree with Hawley’s decision to contest Wednesday's electoral college vote. In a series of tweets, the organization responded back to Hawley.

We've gotten some media inquiries about Senator Josh Hawley's tweets about us... 1. We are absolutely and unapologetically anti-fascists. We are perplexed that someone would use that in the pejorative and we certainly would hope that Senator Hawley also opposes fascism. https://t.co/qtCvM05sdx

— ShutDownDC (@ShutDown_DC) January 5, 2021