Dan Frankel speaking at the 38th Annual Civic Commemoration of the Holocaust in Harrisburg. (Office of Governor Tom Wolf)
On Tuesday, WTAE reported that after state Rep. Dan Frankel, a Jewish Democrat in Pennsylvania, spoke out about GOP gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano's involvement with a social network infamous for anti-Semitism, posters on the site targeted him for threats.
"Gab is the site on which Robert Bowers, who is charged in the Tree of Life Synagogue mass shooting in Pittsburgh, was active. Bowers sent a message on Gab saying he was 'going in,' moments before the synagogue attack," reported Bob Mayo. "Frankel said he has repeatedly criticized Mastriano and Gab in recent weeks 'because what this hate speech does is, it dehumanizes groups of people for who they are. And it creates the environment for violence to take place.'"
According to the report, Gab users have responded with vicious and anti-Semitic attacks directed at Frankel.
"It's coming, [ethnic slur]. hold on to your yarmulke," said one user. Another said, "He knows what happens to people like him once it happens."
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"'We did meet with Pittsburgh police from Zone 4 here last Friday to make sure they were aware of this,' Frankel told Pittsburgh's Action News 4," said the report. "Shawn Brokos, the director of community security at Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh has been 'in conversations with local and federal law enforcement, yes, regarding these posts and regarding additional posts that we've seen.'"
Mastriano has close ties to Andrew Torba, the CEO of Gab. He has told him "thank God for what you've done" in an interview and his campaign has even paid the social network for consulting fees. Torba has claimed America has become a "Judeo-Bolshevik society," said he doesn't want Jewish people on his website, and has attended white supremacist conferences. Even some GOP officials, including the head of the Republican Jewish Coalition, have condemned Mastriano's association with Torba and Gab.