President (To Win Colorado) See Full Big Line

(D) Joe Biden*

(R) Donald Trump

80%

20%↓

CO-01 (Denver) See Full Big Line

(D) Diana DeGette*

90%

CO-02 (Boulder-ish) See Full Big Line

(D) Joe Neguse*

90%

CO-03 (West & Southern CO) See Full Big Line

(D) Adam Frisch

(R) Jeff Hurd

(R) Ron Hanks

40%

30%

20%

CO-04 (Northeast-ish Colorado) See Full Big Line

(R) Lauren Boebert

(R) J. Sonnenberg

(R) Ted Harvey

20%↑

15%↑

10%

CO-05 (Colorado Springs) See Full Big Line

(R) Dave Williams

(R) Jeff Crank

(R) Doug Bruce

20%

20%

20%

CO-06 (Aurora) See Full Big Line

(D) Jason Crow*

90%

CO-07 (Jefferson County) See Full Big Line

(D) Brittany Pettersen

85%↑

 

CO-08 (Northern Colo.) See Full Big Line

(D) Yadira Caraveo

(R) Gabe Evans

(R) Janak Joshi

60%↑

40%↑

20%↑

State Senate Majority See Full Big Line

DEMOCRATS

REPUBLICANS

80%

20%

State House Majority See Full Big Line

DEMOCRATS

REPUBLICANS

95%

5%

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors
August 07, 2015 10:35 AM UTC

Enough: Stop Terrorizing Colorado, Cory Gardner

  • 16 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

UPDATE: The Fort Collins Coloradoan’s Jason Pohl reports some additional details today that both shed some light on the story and raise more questions–and either way, don’t make Cory Gardner’s hair-raising speculation via press release any more justifiable:

A woman called Fort Collins Police Services on May 24 to report “two unknown Middle Eastern males” had approached her in a parking lot “inquiring about her husband, who was in the military,” Sgt. Dean Cunningham told the Coloradoan…

Fort Collins police then forwarded the information to the FBI “for informational purposes only,” Cunningham said. On July 2, the department received a bulletin from the FBI that specifically referenced the May incident.

…Denver’s CBS4 first published the report in a Tuesday broadcast, but the station did not address how it acquired the document, how it had been vetted or how seriously law enforcement agencies were treating the alert. [Pols emphasis]

As you can read below, the Denver Division of the FBI, to whom the bulletin is attributed, told the Greeley Tribune they didn’t release any such alert at all–so we’re not exactly sure how to reconcile these two reports. But even if it’s authentic, the alleged FBI alert was over a month old when first reported by CBS4 this week–and the FBI’s statement yesterday that they have found no credible threat to military members or their families in Colorado and Wyoming is unequivocal.

It remains a fact that Sen. Cory Gardner had any number of official channels to turn to to verify the details of the story before issuing a statement, and instead relied on this unconfirmed CBS4 news report. There’s every reason to believe that the FBI would have debunked or at least allayed his concerns if he had asked, as they did for reporters seeking to verify the story yesterday. But he didn’t ask.

Because scaring first and asking questions later is better for Gardner politically.

—-

Sen. Cory Gardner (R).
Sen. Cory Gardner (R).

The story late Tuesday night from CBS4 Denver was alarming to say the least:

An alert has been issued by the FBI to all law enforcement agencies in Colorado and Wyoming involving U.S. military families and concerns about who may be watching them.

The alert says Middle Eastern men are approaching families of U.S. military members at their homes in Colorado and Wyoming. It mentions Greeley, Colorado, and Cheyenne, Wyoming, as the specific areas.

In one case last May the wife of a military member was approached in front of her home by two Middle Eastern males. The men stated that she was the wife of a U.S. interrogator. When she denied their claims the men laughed. The two men left the area in a dark-colored, four-door sedan with two other Middle Eastern males in the vehicle.

The next morning, Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner expressed great concern in a press statement, seemingly validating that this CBS4 news report was accurate:

“I am alarmed by reports out of Denver that military members’ families have been harassed outside their homes and may be under surveillance,” Gardner said. “This news comes less than two weeks after FBI Director James Comey, speaking in Denver, warned of the heightened threat from the Islamic State that Colorado specifically faces. The FBI has now alerted all Colorado law enforcement agencies, and my office is in contact with the appropriate officials. I will continue to closely monitor the situation, and I encourage Coloradans to report suspicious behavior to the FBI.”

In his statement, Sen. Gardner claims that in addition to seeing the news report on CBS4, he was “in contact with the appropriate officials.” But this morning, it looks as though if Gardner actually had been in contact with the FBI, they might have had very different information for him. As the Greeley Tribune now reports:

The Denver office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced it has found no credible threats to military personnel or their family members in Colorado or Wyoming, according to a statement released late Thursday afternoon…

The statement was issued in response to reports Wednesday by a variety of Colorado news outlets that military families in Greeley and Cheyenne, Wyo., had been harassed or intimidated by men of Middle Eastern descent. Those reports were based off of an activity alert that was supposedly first released to law enforcement in May and then again on July 2.

The spokesmen for Weld County’s two largest law enforcement agencies said Wednesday they had not received the alert and were unaware of any cases of harassment against military members or their families. [Pols emphasis]

Another Greeley Tribune report from late Wednesday suggests the “FBI alert” in question may have been a fake:

Special Agent Amy Sanders, spokeswoman for the FBI Denver Bureau, said the office did not release any such alert [Pols emphasis] and that it had not confirmed the document’s authenticity as of Wednesday afternoon.

So what happened here? The answer may be pretty straightforward.

Back in April, we took note of social media posts from Rep. Ken Buck declaratively stating that there are training camps operated by the self-proclaimed Islamic State just over the Mexican border from El Paso, Texas. Those reports were proven false as quickly as mainstream media outlets were able to make the relevant phone calls, but Buck’s enthusiastic spreading of these totally unconfirmed reports lent them credibility they did not deserve. As a federal lawmaker who can easily obtain confirmation via official channels to verify or disprove such reports, Buck has a higher obligation to make sure what he says is accurate.

On the campaign trail last year, now-Sen. Cory Gardner repeatedly invoked dubious unconfirmed news reports to play up his “concern” for the fears of voters on a variety of subjects. The best example was Gardner’s shameless co-opting of unfounded fears about the Ebola virus outbreak in west Africa to attack his opponent. Politifact later declared Ebola fearmongering during the 2014 campaign to be the “Lie of the Year,” but at the time Gardner exploited the “Ebola issue” to positive effect in his campaign.

Inciting panic over what turns out to be a baseless–and possibly bogus–news report is an objectionable thing for an AM radio talk show host to do. For a sitting U.S. Senator, it’s really quite unacceptable.

And in Cory Gardner, now we have the makings of a pattern.

Comments

16 thoughts on “Enough: Stop Terrorizing Colorado, Cory Gardner

  1. This has real consequences for real people in Weld County. There are many African and Middle Eastern men and women. People with accents, brown skin, dressed in traditional clothing, face  prejudice and fear every day walking down the streets, shopping, taking the bus.

    It's beyond irresponsible that CBS published a threat without verifying it, that Gardner and Buck spread it further.

  2. Gardener is encouraging the militia types to take the the streets with their AR-15s and xenophobia on full display. 

    Dispicable. These clowns are agitating a self fulfilling prophesy – goading people to come and attack. 

    1. Funny, when I read Gardner's statement I swear it only says to contact the FBI. Where is he "goading people" to attack anyone? Where is he asking anyone to take to the streets with their guns?

      For people who accuse others of exaggeration, you sure know how…

      1. Moderatus, your hero Gardner broadcast a FAKE THREAT. The FBI alerted NO ONE. CBS broadcast a fake threat. All anybody had to do anytime was call the freaking FBI and ask, "Did you alert anybody?" Nobody did that. That's the point.

        1. Forget it . Modster's gone already and won't ever know the facts no matter how often we respond with them or how widely they are made available. He just does drive by inanity.

      2. I thought in the eyes of you guys, the FBI – like the IRS, EPA, EEOC, NTSB, ICC and every other agency (except maybe the SBA) – is the enemy.

      3. Mod – this is part and parcel to the right's insistence on the right to carry, open carry and now, keep guard at military recruiting centers and now … just about anywhere because "the muslims are comin'"

        It's in the vein of Frank Gaffney and his side kick – can't remember her name at the moment, but you know who I am talking about.

        They held a cartoon contest in Garland, TX and sure enough they goaded people into attacking. 

        This is dangerous stuff – not the thing of U.S. Senators. Gardner, now elected and free to show his true colors, is doing that – he's just another foot soldier of the far right, willing to do whatever the team asks of him … including voting to defund PP and I am sure when the time comes to vote for Federal personhood. 

    1. Moderatus … I think what you really mean is that "eternal fearmongering is the road to political success."

      Gardner isn’t preserving liberty – he is seizing news cycles. Keeping his constituents focused on fear and loathing (so you won’t notice or ask questions about how he actually votes in Congress, or his weekend get togethers with mega doners).

       

Leave a Comment

Recent Comments


Posts about

Donald Trump
SEE MORE

Posts about

Rep. Lauren Boebert
SEE MORE

Posts about

Rep. Yadira Caraveo
SEE MORE

Posts about

Colorado House
SEE MORE

Posts about

Colorado Senate
SEE MORE

71 readers online now

Newsletter

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter to stay in the loop with regular updates!