Trump impeachment: MLB umpire threatens to 'buy AR-15 for civil war' just before World Series game
Hours earlier, House Republicans had stormed a closed-door impeachment hearing as a political stunt to disrupt process
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Your support makes all the difference.A longtime umpire for Major League Baseball (MLB) has threatened to buy an AR-15 and take part in a civil war if Donald Trump is impeached, just as millions of fans in America prepared to watch the World Series.
The threat came in the form of a tweet from Rob Drake’s account, and was quickly deleted.
But, before Mr Drake was able to scrub the tweet from his account, an ESPN reporter noticed it, and jotted down its contents.
“I will be buying an AR-15 tomorrow, because if you impeach MY PRESIDENT this way, YOU WILL HAVE ANOTHER CIVAL (sic) WAR!!! #MAGA2020,” he tweeted, according to ESPN. “You can’t do an impeachment inquiry from the basement of Capital(sic) Hill without even a vote! What is going on in this country?”
The tweet preceded a highly anticipated game two of the World Series, the pinnacle of the baseball season, in which the Washington Nationals went on to dominate the Houston Astros with a 12-3 victory. They now lead the series 2-0.
In response to the tweet, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred told ESPN that the league was “looking into” the tweet. The umpire, for his part, has since deactivated his Twitter account.
The apparent threat of violence came just hours after roughly two dozen House Republicans — led by Trump ally, representative Matt Gaetz — stormed a closed-door deposition in a secure House Intelligence Committee room in the Capitol.
The political stunt disrupted a closed-door proceeding where committee members were planning to interview deputy assistant defence secretary Laura Cooper, as a part of the impeachment probe into the president.
While the point of the stunt was to draw attention to the closed door nature of the hearing, it is not uncommon for hearings to be held in private at this stage of the impeachment process. Right now, Democrats leading the probe are essentially conducting an investigation, and it is likely that open hearings would be conducted should articles of impeachment be formally introduced in the House.
Mr Drake's tweet marks the second major off-field scandal to pop up during the annual World Series, and follows after Astros assistant general manager Brandon Taubman was criticised for taunting a group of female reporters about a Houston pitcher who had been accused of domestic violence. The incident was later described by Sports Illustrated as "offensive and frightening".
Requests for comment sent Mr Gaetz and the MLB were not immediately returned.
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