Molotov cocktail thrown in Cleaver’s office

A Molotov cocktail was thrown through the window of Rep. Emanuel Cleaver’s (D-Mo.) district office at around 3 a.m. Thursday morning. 

The Kansas City Police and Kansas City Bomb and Arson Squad responded to the scene and completed an initial survey. No one was in the office when the object or objects were thrown. The cocktail did not explode, according to local reports. 

{mosads}Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) asked for a speedy investigation and said the people responsible need to be punished to the “fullest extent of the law.”

“The Congressional Black Caucus strongly condemns this type of vandalism targeted at Congressman Cleaver, and denounces any act of violence towards Members of Congress,” she said in a statement. “This type of abhorrent behavior is the most ineffective means of voicing discontent or disagreement.”

Cleaver is currently in Washington and all of his offices are open Thursday, including the Kansas City office where the incident took place. 

His chief of staff said this is the second such incident in the last six years. 

A Molotov cocktail is usually composed of a glass bottle filled with flammable liquid with cloth used as a wick.

There is no indication the incident has anything to do with last month’s unrest in Ferguson, Mo., which is about 240 miles away from Cleaver’s district office. The congressman’s office said it does not believe there is any connection.

Cleaver, among other lawmakers, was a vocal critic of police tactics there following the police killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown. The protests were marked by clashes with heavily armored police and some reports of protesters using Molotov cocktails.

Cleaver advocated for calm as the protests escalated.

The congressman said he is not dwelling on the incident at his district office.

“Today, our thoughts should not dwell on a small incident that happened and hurt no one,” he said. “Our thoughts and prayers should be with the families and friends of those killed on September 11, 2001, and all those who suffered in its aftermath.”