The attacks on Republicans have taken on a lethal nature in the Democrat bastion of New Jersey, where a populist movement threatens to oust a long line of corrupt officials – this is what recent headlines appear to be shouting to the American public.

“Becoming more and more dangerous to be a conservative much less a Republican. If you have strong moral values you are a target, sad situation we are in,” one Twitter user remarked in response to the news of the Republican’s death.

Law enforcement has found no official ties between the deaths and their political affiliation, but the coincidence of their both being Republicans amidst the other political attacks on Republicans, which are being exposed in numerous committee hearings in Washington, D.C., has made many individuals suspicious.

Last week, it was reported that a young Black mother who had recently won an election as a Republican was fatally shot. And now there is a second death that looks to have certain parallels with the first.

“Two Republican city council members in New Jersey have been slain in the last week after one was shot to death in the community of Franklin on Wednesday,” Western Journal reported, adding:

Russell Heller, a 51-year-old GOP borough councilman in Milford, was shot to death in the parking lot of a building owned by the public utility provider PSE&G where he worked, NJ.com reported.

According to the article, police stated that the victim was targeted by a disgruntled former employee.

Gary Curtis, 58 years old, subsequently committed suicide while sitting in his vehicle in neighboring Bridgewater, New Jersey, according to authorities.

The Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office stated in a news release on Wednesday that the attack occurred shortly after 7:00 a.m. ET that day, and Heller was pronounced dead upon the arrival of first responders.

“Responding Officers encountered a deceased adult male suffering from a gunshot wound,” the release said. “Emergency Medical Personnel from an area Trauma Center responded to the scene where the male was pronounced deceased.”

The announcement stated that authorities were still seeking a possible motivation for the shooting.

NJ.com reported on Thursday that officials stated Heller’s murder had “no political links.”

The mayor of Milford issued a statement remembering Heller as “full of life.”

“The Milford Borough Council is deeply saddened by the loss and our hearts go out to his family,” Mayor Henri Schepens said in the statement, according to NJ.com. “He was so full of life, it’s just unbelievable that he’s gone. Something like this has never happened in borough history. We are very shaken by this.”

More on this story via The Republic Brief:

U.S. Rep. Tom Kean Jr., R-7th Dist., shared his condolences for the councilman in social media posts Wednesday evening. CONTINUE READING…