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May 24, 2013 09:44 AM UTC

What to Make of Peter Boyles' Violent Meltdown?

  • 19 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols
Peter Boyles.
Peter Boyles.

9NEWS reports in the aftermath of Tom Tancredo's announcement yesterday that he will run for governor in 2014, which took place on the KHOW 630AM talk show hosted by longtime Denver radio personality Peter Boyles:

Peter Boyles, a well-known and sometimes-controversial radio host in Denver for 630 KHOW, will be off the air Friday after a heated physical exchange with one of his producers, multiple sources connected to the station confirm to 9NEWS.

Employees observed red marks on producer Greg Hollenback's neck within the minutes of the argument, which happened during Thursday morning's broadcast of the Peter Boyles Show.

The sources wished to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to speak on the matter.

"Everyone here is disappointed and devastated," one employee told 9NEWS.

That's about all that's been said publicly about yesterday's incident. We don't know what Boyles and his producer were arguing about, or how it apparently escalated to Boyles attacking the man–described by other sources as a "throttling." What we do know is these two men have worked together for some 20 years, and that the incident happened just after Tancredo's gubernatorial campaign announcement yesterday. 9NEWS was reportedly still at the station to cover that announcement when this happened.

There was a time when Peter Boyles was considered a respectable commentator among the many qualitatively varying personalities who have inhabited Denver AM radio over the years. Sometimes known for astute criticism of local government, such as during the murder investigation of JonBenet Ramsey, more recently Boyles has descended into "birther" conspiracy theories about President Barack Obama, and strident anti-immigrant posturing most endearing to the pro-Tancredo set. Another recent controversy involving Boyles was his repeated reference to Rep. Diana DeGette by the name of "Vagina DeGette," presumably for elementary school giggles.

Yesterday, Boyles freaked out and choked his producer. And today he's off the air. What set him off, folks?

If this is the end of his long and tumultuous career, we'd kind of like to know.

Comments

19 thoughts on “What to Make of Peter Boyles’ Violent Meltdown?

  1. Maybe some kids just wouldn't get off his damn lawn, and Hollenback thought it was funny.

    Maybe Hollenback made fun of Congressman Tancredo's candidacy.

    Maybe Hollenback asked a little too sarcastically if Boyes and the Congressman use the same hair dye.

    I mean, seriously, it could any of a zillion things.  What we can be sure of is if it's even the least bit interesting but not felonious, then one day soon Peter will do a whole thing about it.

  2. Another rightie who wants unlimited magaizine capacity and whose passion makes him do stuff? I can hear it now.  What's next, libs, you want to outlaw hands?

  3. A youth sports coach once told me that many individuals do not like professional athletes because they often act like jerks. He went on to say that some of the traits that make them successful on the field or court, particularly the ability to "close out" an opponent, often translate into their demeanor off the field or court. And often that demeanor isn't pretty.

    Similar deal with talk show hosts – think Rush, Sirota and Boyles. The skills that make them successful on the air don't translate well once the mike is off. And, like we saw yesterday, this isn't pretty either.

        1. I wonder if the "going crazy because of the Dems" excuse for physical violence works when they're smacking around their wives, or their kids?  I mean, you know, you can't blame them in some ways, right? 

    1. So tell me anbout the Dems who have been throttling people, sending threatening racist e-mails and leaving threatening racist messages for the legislators with whom they disagree.  There's no comparison between what you call going crazy,  passing legislation that majorities support after being elected by majorities,  and actually going crazy.  You righties are the  only ones who seem to have a serious problem controlling your passions in that way.

      1. So…….. let's go back in the Way-Back Machine,

        Tell me about the throttling Democrats who vandalized their own headquarters in Denver because they felt so passionate about discrediting the Republicans. So passionate that they wanted to hang the broken windows they broke themselves on those crazy right-wing nuts.

  4. Poor Pete Boyles. He has become a pantomime of the old, grumpy guy shaking his wrinkled fist at time in rage because it won't stop for him.

    Nothing graceful about old age for Pete … retreat into the embrace of the extreme, conspiratorial rightwing because it gives him an audience of fans who will pat him on the back and remind him that he is a 'man'; become a motorcyle riding gray-hair because it reminds him of his reckless youth; advocate for guns, guns, guns because it reminds him that once upon a time he was physcially stronger; rail against illegal immigrants because in the old days he and his cohort were on top.

    Boyles should have retired when Barack Obama became President and he could have gone out with a fairly decent reputation … now he'll only be remembered for the fleeting 15 minutes of national fame he enjoyed during the Ramsey interlude … and lately for his over-the-top 'birther-bigotry'.

    Part of wisdom is knowing when to hold 'em and knowing when to fold 'em. Pete Boyles in this latest incident has only demonstrated how foolishness often accompanies old age. It is all kind of sad.

  5. That's an excellent analysis, IP. I couldn't have said it better. But if you know Boyles' history as far back as I do, it's even sadder than that.

    I first heard Peter as the adoring sidekick and new best friend of Alan Berg, back in the '80's. Both were doing fine work, until Alan's career ended far too quickly. Boyles was a capable sucessor, blessed with the Irish gift of gab, well-read and original. But for the past decade or more, he's turned into a cheerleader for the far right wing, feeding the worst kind of angry white male fantasies.

    I'm certain that if Berg's assassins, David Lane and Bruce Pierce among them, were still alive and near a radio, Boyles would be their favorite talk show host. Someone should write a play about this tragic dramatic arc– it's of Shakespearean  quality. Drawn by his own ambition, the most promising young talent follows his increasingly radicalized audience into the pit, becoming just the kind of paranoid, over-agressive nut who murdered his best friend….

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