Dem Rep. Bob Filner: "We Have Been Threatened"

Updated 11:30 p.m. ET

Rep. Bob Filner (D-Calif.) spoke with CBS News Congressional correspondent Nancy Cordes on Washington Unplugged about political discourse in the wake of the Tucson tragedy which left six dead and 14 others injured, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.).

Filner told Cordes that the heated political debates over health care, town-hall meetings and the 2010 midterm elections increased voter anger. "Like many of us across the country - including Gabby - we had, I'll just lump them together as Tea Party opponents, people who went really beyond the bounds of political discourse," he said, "They shouted us down in debates."

Filner went on to recount an incident during last year's elections in which he found himself a target of the Tea Party. "On election night in San Diego, about a 100 of supporters of my opponent surrounded me and I think would have physically beaten me up if the police had not intervened."

"We have been threatened," Filner said when asked if he felt concerned about his personal safety.

Cordes noted that many Tea Party leaders, including Tea Party Patriots co-founder Mark Meckler who appeared on Monday's Washington Unplugged, have stated there is no connection between the Tea Party and suspect Jared Lee Loughner.

Filner said that although Loughner is believed to have acted alone, there is a possibility that he found motivation from the heated political climate, "I will tell you that in a society we are not isolated, none of us is isolated. Yes, that guy may have acted alone but he's influenced, he's empowered, he's legitimized by those who are talking in this way."

"We all have to take responsibility for our remarks," he ended, speaking to both sides of the aisle, "I do, the Tea Party does, every elected official, every talk show person. These words have consequences and they especially have consequences on unstable people, like apparently this shooter was."

Watch the full interview above and watch Washington Unplugged and 12:30 PM ET tomorrow for continuing coverage of the Tragedy in Tucson.