DENVER — In the wake of the shootings of two Minnesota lawmakers, elected leaders in Colorado are thinking about their own safety.
To get more insight into elected officials' concerns, Denver7 spoke with Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, who has received thousands of threats in the last few years, and asked her what she thinks needs to be done to increase safety for elected officials.
"Political violence does not have any room in this country, or at least it shouldn't have,” Griswold said. “Just last year, I received 1,800 death threats or physical threats.”
Last month, a federal judge sentenced Teak Ty Brockbank, a Cortez man, to three years in prison for making threats against Griswold and other public officials. According to the federal complaint, Brockbank said in a social media post that Griswold needed to “hang by the neck till she is dead dead dead.”
“He was actually arrested when I was in the hospital giving birth to our baby boy,” said Griswold.
In March, a Florida dentist was also sentenced to federal prison for threatening Griswold and other officials.
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As an elected official, Griswold must stay engaged with the public, but she said that presents its challenges when it comes to her and her family's safety.
“When I'm walking into a crowd or at a rally… it is something that you constantly think about,” said Griswold. “When I'm out with my husband and baby, I want constituents to come up to me, but I also want to make sure that my baby's safe.”
Surveys like those conducted by the Bridging Divides Initiative at Princeton University show that women serving as elected leaders, regardless of their party, face more hostility than their male counterparts. It’s not just in America. Global surveys show women leaders in other countries also face similar hostility.
Griswold said women elected officials receive more threats and hostility because of misogyny and sexism.
In an op-ed in the Denver Post, State Sen. Julie Gonzales said she believed the Minnesota shootings were meant to invoke fear in elected officials. Griswold said Colorado and the country must do more to keep all elected officials safe.
“I do think we need to increase security when elected officials are receiving threats, and when they are someone who continuously receives threats, make sure that they have everything that they need to be able to do our jobs,” Griswold said.
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Griswold said in the wake of the Minnesota shootings, she decided to suspend access to a state campaign finance website to allow time for elected officials to request that their personal information, such as their home addresses, be removed from the site. She said it’s one way to provide more security to public servants.
“We are seeing just the rhetoric and the dehumanization of elected officials be at an all-time high,” said Griswold. “I do think the state of Colorado needs to sufficiently protect elected officials who are receiving the types of threats that I receive because we deserve to serve in office without being in fear for the safety of our families or ourselves.”
