Pat Dollard

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Fox News:

A gunshot was fired at the New Jersey home of CNN’s Lou Dobbs after a series of threatening phone calls earlier this month, the host told listeners on his nationally syndicated radio show.

Dobbs, a fervent proponent of U.S. border enforcement, told listeners of “The Lou Dobbs Show” on Monday that the incident is part of an ongoing assault against anyone who opposes amnesty or leniency toward illegal immigrants.

“They’ve created an atmosphere and they’ve been unrelenting in their propaganda,” Dobbs said in reference to pro-immigration groups like the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), the National Council of La Raza and America’s Voice. “Three weeks ago this morning, a shot was fired at my house where I live. My wife was standing out and that followed weeks and weeks of threatening phone calls.”

Dobbs continued, “But this shot was fired with my wife not, I don’t know, 15 feet away, and we had threatening phone calls that I decided not to report because I get threatening phone calls.”

Reached early Thursday at her home, Dobbs’ wife, Debi Lee Segura, told Foxnews.com that she was outside the house when the shot was fired in her direction. She declined to elaborate, referring calls to Dobbs, who could not be immediately reached for comment.
A spokeswoman for CNN declined to comment Thursday.

New Jersey State Police Sgt. Steve Jones said troopers were called to the Dobbs’ estate in rural Wantage, N.J., at about 10:30 a.m. on Oct. 5. The investigators who responded to the call were told that Dobbs and his wife were outside their home when they heard a gunshot, and a bullet struck their attic.

“It struck the siding and then fell to the ground,” Jones said.

A search of the vicinity was unsuccessful; the bullet was taken for analysis.

“It’s a shot fired that struck the house,” Jones continued. “We’re not sure what the intended target was. It’s still under investigation.”

No injuries were reported.

William Gheen, president of Americans for Legal Immigration (ALIPAC), said it’s very likely Dobbs’ outspokenness on illegal immigration led to the shooting.

“That shot, that attack on the Dobbs family is an attack on every American that values First Amendment rights,” Gheen told Foxnews.com. “The chances are greatest that it was political, because pro-amnesty groups have tried to dehumanize Lou Dobbs and lie about him.”

Dobbs, who claimed the “national liberal media” has in part created a hostile environment regarding immigration, said enduring such incidents has become a “way of life” for him.

“It’s become a way of life — the anger, the hate, the vitriol — but it’s taken a different tone where they’ve threatened my wife,” he said Monday. “They’ve now fired a shot at my house while my wife was standing next to the car.

“It’s become something else. And if anybody thinks we’re not engaged in a battle for the soul of this country right now, you’re sorely mistaken.”