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Critics of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker took to Twitter hours after he trounced his opponent in a recall election, threatening his life and catching the attention of authorities.

Several tweets explicitly called for the assassination of Walker, a Republican who angered public sector employees and labor unions by seeking to revamp the state's beleaguered pension system.

“Somebody gone kill Scott Walker man,” read one tweet posted by user @PureeSCRUB.

“Someone from the NRA should shoot Scott Walker in the head, GTA-style,” said another user referring to violent video game Grand theft Auto.

“Scott walker will die within the next week ive already payed for the hit,” boasted a twitter user with the handle @caleb_white

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The threats were strong enough for the Milwaukee Police Department and the state Department of Justice to launch investigations to determine how credible they were.

“All threats are handled seriously and can represent a criminal act. People cannot assume anonymity via social media while issuing a threat to another's safety or life,” Anne Schwartz, Public Relations Manager for the Milwaukee Police Department said in a written statement to FoxNews.com.

Walker’s office did not immediately return requests for comment.

Walker was the subject of a recall effort after taking on public sector unions as the state grappled with a $3 billion deficit. Specifically, he has  sought to have public employees contribute more for their health care and pension costs causing uproar among the state’s public sector.

The election Tuesday took on national significance as unions poured money into the effort to unseat Walker, with some seeing it as a test of the Democratic Party's labor coalition ahead of November's Presidential election.