Former U.S. Rep. Harry Mitchell used to hold town meetings similar to the one in Tucson were 19 people were shot Saturday. But on the advice of his staff he stopped after the phone calls to his office became more threatening during the debate over federal health care reform in 2009.
One threat, in particular, was from a woman who said Mitchell should watch his back and that she hoped someone would bomb his Scottsdale office.
Mitchell began holding telephonic town halls instead.
"Then, of course, politics sets in," he said in a phone interview Saturday, " (and) you get accused of hiding and not wanting to meet with constituents"...
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/01/08/20110108arizona-gabrielle-giffords-harry-mitchell-meetings.html