The "foul spirit" of those who threaten election officials

As a former elections official and county clerk in Denver, I was fortunate to have been in office at a time when fairness and impartial administrators of elections ruled the day in the latter 1980s and early 1990s. Shortly after I left, the Posse Comitatus raised its ugly head, threatening county clerks to erase tax liens and other tax negatives from their recorded documents. So violent were their threats that El Paso (Colorado Springs) had to have armed guards to protect her. Of course, she did not have the legal power to do what the terrorist demanded.. Those same kinds of violent attempts to terrorize public officials to go against their sworn duty to uphold the Constitution and the laws of their states, counties, and US government played out in Michigan. In 2020, a militia planned kidnapping their governor and their show of armed force at their statehouse. On January 6. 2021, a similar technique of domestic terror, to frighten lawmakers and the Vice President into not signing the certification of Biden's election. Colorado's Secretary of State Jena Griswold is the object of death threats as well. Amen to the opinion column in the Colorado Sun.. This threatens the very existence of democracy. https://coloradosun.com/.../election-jena-griswold.../...

As George W. Bush, president at the time of 9/11 so clearly said at Shanksville on the 20th anniversary of that 9/11 attack, in comparing the foreign terrorists who committed that act to the attackers at the capitol January 6, 2020: “There is little cultural overlap between violent extremists abroad and violent extremists at home.But in their disdain for pluralism, in their disregard for human life, in their determination to defile national symbols, they are children of the same foul spirit.” 

 Through public records and interviews, Reuters documented 102 threats of death or violence received by more than 40 election officials, workers, and their relatives in eight of the most contested battleground states in the 2020 presidential contest. Each was explicit enough to put a reasonable person in fear of bodily harm or death, the typical legal threshold for prosecution. Almost all of the 102 threats of violence appeared to be inspired by Trump’s debunked claims that the election was rigged against him. The messages often included highly personal, sometimes sexualized threats of violence or death, not only to the officials themselves but also to their family members and their children." Threatened U.S. election workers get little help from law enforcement (reuters.com)Threatened U.S. election workers get little help from law enforcement (reuters.com "

GOP-backed Arizona election review confirms Biden 2020 win | TheHill

A footnote:  Colorado Springs, CO has a history of the home of violent extremists: Spike Lee's movie was based on the KKK activities in the area. New Spike Lee movie focuses on Colorado detective who infiltrated Ku Klux Klan | News | coloradopolitics.com

Several of the January 6 rioters arrested and charged, and suspects are from the Colorado Springs area.Colorado's 9 accused insurrectionists | 9news.com

The Coloradans charged in connection with Jan 6. Capitol attack - Colorado Newsline

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