An anonymous letter mailed to House Speaker Mitzi Johnson on Oct. 4 called for her arrest because of “criminal neglect and unfaithfulness” for “refusing to accept input on public matters from the private citizen (sic) of the state.”
The letter-writer accused Johnson of unspecified “Un-American Activities.” No direct physical threat was made in the printed letter, which was mailed to at least six other Vermont lawmakers and was later posted as an image on Facebook by a member of the General Assembly.
The Capitol Police Department is investigating the source of the anonymous missive, according to Chief Matthew Romei, because of its similarity to calls by right-wing activists for a “trial” of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for violating the Constitution when she took emergency action to shut down the economy to stem the coronavirus pandemic.
Whitmer, who lost a court battle over the emergency orders on Oct. 3, was at the center of a militia kidnapping plot foiled by the FBI last week. Six men have been arrested for the conspiracy; seven others were charged under Michigan’s anti-terrorism laws, according to The Associated Press.
Romei said there is no imminent threat to members of the Legislature. “They called for the arrest of people, and it’s language we’ve seen before, but given current events it was worth us taking a gander into,” he said.
“They called for the arrest and trial on state and federal charges of certain people for violating the Constitution and, because of the connection with the Michigan case, that checks a big, hairy box for us,” he said. “We read this [the letter] and we go, ‘Crap.’ There’s nowhere in the U.S. that is free from this mentality right now.”
An attempt to reach Johnson and House majority leader Jill Krowinski were unsuccessful. A request for information from the House Speaker’s office was referred to Romei.
Rep. Leland Morgan, a Republican from Johnson’s district, Grand Isle-Chittenden, decried the letter in a post on Facebook.
“The Vermont Capital Police have warned us about this type of thing,” Morgan wrote with an image of the letter. “This is totally unacceptable! No one should have to feel threatened!” An attempt to reach Morgan by phone was unsuccessful.
The Vermont Democratic Party issued a statement Saturday condemning the “hateful messages” sent to lawmakers.
“These anonymous threats to Speaker Mitzi Johnson and others in the Vermont Legislature are a clear threat by those who would undermine our democracy,” Bruce Olsson, the chair of the party, wrote.
Romei said the Vermont Democratic Party did not contact his office before the statement was issued. “Calling it a threat is a bit premature,” he said.
The Capitol Police are working with the state Department of Public Safety, the postal inspector and the FBI on a probe of the letter.
Rebecca Kelley, spokesperson for Gov. Phil Scott, said lawmakers have been asked to report incidents of this nature and the threats cited by the Vermont Democratic Party had not been reported to state law enforcement “to the very best of our knowledge.”
“The Governor takes all allegations of threats to public officials seriously and has consistently condemned acts or threats of violence of any kind,” Kelley wrote in an email. “After learning about this based on your outreach and the press release you shared, he directed the commissioner of Public Safety to contact the Speaker and review the alleged threats, as well as the protocol for reporting and investigating them through official public safety channels. That contact has been made and additional discussions will occur this week.”
The Vermont Intelligence Center monitors online activity for threats and “we are not aware of any credible threats at this time,” she added.
‘We deal with this a lot’
There has been an escalation of aggressive language directed at lawmakers, Romei said. “We deal with this a lot,” he said. “We deal with more of these type of events than anyone would feel comfortable knowing.”
Last week a man was cited for threatening to blow up the Statehouse while lawmakers are in session, Romei said.
He wasn’t charged with domestic terrorism, Romei said, because it wasn’t a situation where he was “ready and able” to do it. “It was like shouting in a theater,” he said.
Romei says the Capitol Police try to balance constitutional rights with the law. “We facilitate people talking to their representatives and coming to petition of government for redress of grievances,” he said. “We are right there making sure that’s happening safely. There has to be a line somewhere where that conduct [aggression] is not acceptable.”
The police department is also preparing for the Women’s March on Oct. 17, the general election on Nov. 3 and the opening of the legislative session.
Romei has four full-time officers and four part-time officers and says his department hasn’t grown since 1999, when it was founded. Meanwhile, calls for service have continued to increase, he says.
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 2:05 p.m. with quotes from Rebecca Kelley.
