Rachael Rollins says she receives racist death threats as she prepares to become US attorney

After a narrow Senate confirmation along party lines, Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollins is set to be the first Black woman in the role of U.S. attorney for the District of Massachusetts. She joined Jim Braude on Greater Boston to discuss her time as Suffolk County D.A., her goals once she is sworn in, GOP criticism of her positions, and the racist and sexist harassment she has received from some members of the public during the confirmation process.

“A lot of people don’t recognize as women and as women of color, and particularly as a Black woman, the level of racist, hate-filled death threats that we receive… My security team is fielding calls with people using the n-word and saying they want to put a bullet in my head and, you know, they know I have children,” she added. “Nobody signs up for that, Jim. Nobody deserves to be treated that way.”

Republicans in the Senate united to oppose Rollins’ confirmation, leading Vice President Kamala Harris to break the 50-50 vote, which Rollins says doesn’t faze her.

“We’ll prove them wrong,” she said about the lack of Republican votes. “It’s not worth a reaction. The numbers speak for themselves. Boston should be a gold standard for places like Arkansas and other places where the murder rate is skyrocketing right now.”

WATCH: Rachael Rollins, newly confirmed U.S. attorney for Massachusetts, on her priorities and GOP criticism

Rollins noted that Boston is one of the few major cities in the U.S. where violent crime is down.

“I believe we have a proof of concept here in Suffolk, and I believe it should be brought up to scale for the rest of the Commonwealth,” she said. “Why shouldn’t Lowell and Lawrence and Holyoke and Springfield and Worcester benefit from the excellent work that the Boston police, Mass. State Police, Transit, Winthrop, Chelsea and Revere police do with the Suffolk county D.A.’s office?“

Braude noted that as Suffolk D.A., Rollins had almost total autonomy to follow through on her plan to not prosecute low-level offenses. As U.S. attorney, she will report up to the attorney general and president.

“What I intend to do is use many of the great things we’ve done in Suffolk with respect to training and transparency, with respect to educating different communities about all the services we can provide as the federal government,” she said. “There is a huge reach both on the civil and criminal side that the U.S. attorney office has that district attorneys don’t.”

Braude asked Rollins if she would prosecute marijuana offenses, given that it is legalized in Massachusetts but not at the federal level.

“My intent is to look at significant distributors, massive drug kingpins, with respect to marijuana," she said. "We want to make sure we are focusing on the people who are trafficking [rather than individual users]."

Last month, criminal charges were dismissed against the leaders of the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home, the site of a large COVID-19 outbreak that lead to the death of nearly 80 residents. Rollins told Braude she was disappointed that the charges were dropped.

“Those soldiers deserve far better than they received by our commonwealth,” she said. “If that case is still pending — and I have not been briefed yet on all the cases that are currently pending at the U.S. attorney’s office — that is going to be a high priority for me.”