A Justice Department task force has investigated 2,000 threats against election workers, more than half of which were reported by Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, since it was created in 2021.
Yet only one of those 1,140 “threats” to Griswold’s office has resulted in a conviction.
And even that one looks questionable as a legitimate threat, as opposed to a frustrated citizen with a big mouth expressing his First Amendment rights.
PeakNation™ will recall that Griswold demanded her own security team saying she lived in fear from the harassment and threats on her life.
The state legislature denied Griswold’s security request, which came months before the threatening phone call by 52-year-old Kirk Wertz of Littleton in June of 2022.
To review, Wertz served 286 days in jail before his conviction of retaliation against a public official — a low-level felony charge.
Only after his conviction was he given two years’ probation.
His phone call to Griswold’s office was not recorded, but the caller ID captured his number.
He reportedly said: “I’ve got a message for the Secretary and want you to pass it along: The angel of death is coming for her in the name of Jesus Christ.”
There’s a fine line between voters’ First Amendment rights to voice their opinions about the fairness or even legitimacy of the U.S. election system, and threatening harm to Election Day volunteers, paid staff, and even lawmakers.
The latter is illegal.
This isn’t the Wild Wild West anymore or even the 1980s. It’s not okay to spout off and threaten to kick everyone’s ass who pisses you off.
But just so we’re clear, thin-skinned elected officials like Griswold shouldn’t burden law enforcement to investigate the thousands of crank calls or nasty online comments about their person.
Elected officials should expect their constituents aren’t always going to agree with them, and as Americans are, can sometimes be quite annoying about it.
It’s critical that officials learn to tell the difference, for everyone’s safety.