Anna Paulina Luna complains of increased doxing, receives ‘very serious’ shooting threat

U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna is complaining of “an increasing number of threats and doxxing attacks,” including what she called a “very serious shooting threat” to her office Wednesday.

The St. Petersburg Republican has also complained to the St. Petersburg police about doxxing by a neighbor, linking these problems to the apparent assassination attempts recently against Donald Trump.

“I will not be threatened, intimidated, or bow down to those using violence as a means to push their agenda. We will win,” she wrote Wednesday morning.

Luna’s Communications Director, Melvin Soto-Vázquez, did not provide details about the alleged threat, offering instead a lengthy statement from Luna saying law enforcement was investigating and that the office would provide additional comment after the investigation is concluded. She echoed remarks about division stoking potential violence.

Luna is blaming her opponent, Democrat Whitney Fox, and “irresponsible rhetoric” from the “radical left.”

In a campaign statement, Fox responds: “Violence has no place in politics, period. Instead of making false accusations against my campaign, Luna should stand on her record, which includes supporting a national no-exceptions ban on abortion and ignoring the affordability crisis.”

In a statement Thursday, Luna said, “The left continues to push a radical agenda of hate and rhetoric that leads to violence.”

“Just hours before this threat to my office, we saw how there was a second assassination attempt on President Trump’s life … An online page was encouraging strangers to send threatening packages to my home,” and “This weekend, it escalated to a very serious shooting threat. … Law enforcement is actively investigating the matter.”

Police spokesperson Yolanda Fernandez said the threat originally went to St. Petersburg College Sunday, which passed it on to the St. Petersburg Police Department. The department then passed it on to the Capitol Police, which informed Luna’s office.

Fernandez said the threat did not name Luna or any other political figure or political party, but “contained information that relates to her.” She said she did not know why the threat went to the college.

Luna and Brandon McEntire, who is identified as her “security director,” filed a harassment complaint with the St. Petersburg Police on Sept. 13. It was based on a Facebook post by Luna’s neighbor saying she is “hiding,” but: “I know where she lives if anyone is interested in sending her a love letter or … something. She dwells right around the corner.”

“When you label people a threat to democracy and attempt to dehumanize/lie about them, violence occurs,” she wrote, adding that she is “a new mom” and a veteran, as well as “the first woman to be elected to hold FL-13 in Congress and the first Mexican American elected to Congress from Florida.”

“According to the left, I check all the right boxes, except for one — I am a Republican,” she wrote.

The police investigation report said no threats were made, but based on a request by Luna and McEntire, police interviewed and warned the neighbor, who the report said lives about a block from Luna. The report said he was told he could be liable for his actions if violence resulted, and he “agreed not to do it.”

An attempt to reach the neighbor at the phone number in the report was unsuccessful.

Luna blamed Fox for the threats because, she said, Fox had called her a “threat to democracy.”

She said Fox “allowed her supporters on her campaign social media to publicly dox, coordinate, and solicit individuals to send threatening packages to my home address.”

A representative for the Fox campaign said Fox hasn’t been contacted by law enforcement in the matter. Her campaign denied any affiliation with anyone threatening Luna. In a statement, Fox rejected any political violence.

“Violence has no place in politics, period,” she said. “Instead of making false accusations against my campaign, Luna should stand on her record, which includes supporting a national no-exceptions ban on abortion and ignoring the affordability crisis. The people of Pinellas deserve a leader who will put aside partisan politics and will put them first.”

Luna, in her Saturday post, claimed she was “one of the top targeted members of Congress for violence.”

The next day, Sunday, Luna again posted about “the radical left” causing political violence. That was the day former President Donald Trump was, for the second time this summer, the victim of an assassination attempt. He was not injured in the Sunday incident at his golf club in South Florida. The suspect was hiding in the bushes with an AK-47-style rifle pointing out from the shrubbery. He was later apprehended by law enforcement and remains in custody.

During her campaign for Congress in 2021, Luna successfully sought an injunction against a Republican Primary political opponent, William Braddock, after he appeared to threaten her life in a conversation secretly recorded by a right-wing activist.

In the recording, a voice attributed to Braddock by his accuser said he had access to a hit squad and billions of dollars.

The St. Petersburg police closed that case, declining to act against Braddock because he didn’t directly threaten Luna and couldn’t take the action he allegedly spoke of. However, according to news reports from the Philippines, he was later arrested after fleeing the country.

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Florida Politics reporters Janelle Irwin Tayor and Jacob Ogles contributed to this report.