In recent months, several local elected officials in the Bay Area have endured threats of violence, and now some leaders are pushing back.
In November, Hayward City Councilmember Aisha Wahab received threats via voicemail while she was running for California State Senate, District 10.
Last month, Oakland City Councilmember Carroll Fife tweeted out a voicemail she received in which a woman called for her rape and murder.
On Monday, some of those East Bay lawmakers rallied on the steps of Oakland City Hall to speak out against such threats.
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
"If we stay quiet to this type of abuse, the effort to discredit the work of women of color leaders will persist," Wahab said.
As more politicians across the country are receiving threats, the Anti-Defamation League and Princeton's Bridging Divides Initiative have started tracking them and have found that they present a "significant challenge to American democracy."
Local
Those national agencies have found women officials have been targeted 3.4 times more than men, and death and gun violence are the most common threats.
The Oakland Progressive Alliance, which is a housing and labor coalition, has set up a petition to get people to condemn the ongoing attacks against local Black community leaders.
Several leaders also are raising concerns following the attack on Rep. Nancy Pelosi's husband, who was attacked with a hammer by an intruder inside his home.
"We will not be silenced," Fife said. "We will continue to do the transformative work that it takes to change society."
