Did six female Democrat lawmakers receive death threats just because they weren’t on the House floor when a bipartisan resolution was passed recognizing Police Week and Peace Officers’ Memorial Day.?
It sounds a bit like overkill — no pun intended — but the lawmakers certainly told House leadership they were being harassed and threatened for not being in the room at the same time.
Some in the media have reported the claim.
And the Democratic Women’s Caucus also says the elected officials were threatened, and they condemned the “careless and dangerous spread of misinformation by Republican colleagues, press and political pundits.”
Earlier this year, during another police memorial there were both D’s + R’s that missed the vote, were marked excused and did not receive threats, harassment, nor media attention. This virtol has no place in our democracy and especially not in our state. https://t.co/2cRlHtFWGN
— Rep. Jenny Willford (@JennyforCO) May 20, 2023
And yet when the Steffan Tubbs show sent a Colorado Open Records Act request to the law enforcement agency charged with protecting state lawmakers and investigating death threats against them, those claims could not be validated.
1/2 #BREAKING
Despite @COHouseDem allegations of “targeted, violent, racist emails, voicemails with specific threats of violence” and “death threats” against #TheColoradoSix – the Colorado State Patrol (per our CORA request) says it has NOT investigated ANY such threats. pic.twitter.com/Wfr9YhyS5o— 🇺🇸 The Steffan Tubbs Show🎙️🇺🇲 (@TubbsShow) May 17, 2023
It seems like the Democrat Party’s victim class is always being victimized or threatened with further victimization, and at some point it all starts to sound like someone is crying wolf.
We’re not saying these generic claims of threats based on sex and gender by Democrats against Republicans, the media, and police aren’t true just because such baseless threats are seemingly made every. single. day.
But it apparently wasn’t serious enough for the lawmakers or Democrat leadership to report the alleged death threats to the people charged with protecting them.
House leaders made a big deal over the alleged threats in floor speeches just days before the session ended.
Watch it here at the 18 minute mark:
But that wasn’t enough for the lawmakers who say their lives are being threatened.
More should be done to defend them, state Rep. Leslie Herod complained to Colorado Public Radio.
“We’re fighting for Black lives when we’re accused of walking out when we never did. And no one stands up for us to say that it didn’t happen,” said Herod.
In an editorial on the site ColoradoPolitics, former Republican attorney general candidate George Brauchler called out the three Black lawmakers by name, but not the other Democrats who missed the vote who are not Black. It’s not uncommon for some lawmakers to be off the floor for resolutions, which can be passed on a voice vote.
McCluskie did make a public statement defending those members in recent days, but some colleagues said they felt it was forced.
As she stood before the caucus Monday night, McCluskie said she was a bit overwhelmed by their concerns and unable to respond immediately with concrete next steps. But she said she’s ready, willing and eager to sit down and talk with Epps and others.
Interesting response.
Meanwhile, the Colorado Democratic Women’s Caucus has put us all on notice that the sharing of unverified information — also known as gossip, rumors, political criticism, free speech, and news reports — is a threat to democracy when its directed at any member of their special class of victims.