BELLEVUE, Washington — About 20 people were shouting outside the home of U.S. Congressman Adam Smith early Saturday morning as part of a protest.

Bellevue Police received calls from several residents about an incident in progress around 5:35 a.m. in the Cougar Mountain neighborhood. NORCOM said there were about 20 people screaming as they stood outside the congressman’s home.

Officers said protesters were using five-gallon buckets and whistles, but left shortly after police arrived and informed them they were violating the city’s noise ordinance.

When KOMO 4 News spoke with Congressman Smith about the incident, he said it’s a growing problem in the country where people are using threat-oriented tactics, intimidation and intimidation of elected officials.

“It’s not so much about the issue they’re protesting about, but rather the normalization of threats and mob domination to get what you want in the political system, which is a direct threat to democracy policy,” said Congressman Smith.

Congressman Smith said his family and neighborhood were terrorized for more than an hour as people stood outside banging buckets, screaming and blowing whistles.

“The fact is that people want to terrorize others into giving way to them, and that’s when the angry mobs appear and that’s a recipe for chaos and violence, just like what happened on January 6th and in Seattle in those years,” Congressman Smith said.

KOMO 4 News asked Congressman Smith how this would affect him in the future, and he responded, “It’s not going to change me. I will continue to serve and run and work hard for my community.”