17 Comments
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Dale Berry's avatar

The days of “let’s keep national issues out of local races” is over. Now, it’s our state senate seat. Next up, it will be the mayor and school board. Anyone who silently remains on the sidelines without objecting to this kind of political intimidation is a coward and an accomplice.

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Noemi's avatar

School boards have already been subjects of attack from the far right, not physically, but by those who want to take over and severely restrict the education of our children. "slavery was good for the Black people" anyone?

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Dale Berry's avatar

Now that school board races can be partisan in Indiana, it’s going to get uglier. In a heavily contested district, the only way to compete will be to raise money from a party or donor by declaring your party affiliation. Non-partisan candidates will be left behind pushing the boards inevitably to the fringes.

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Zachary Baiel's avatar

Wild. Sad. Disappointing. Why not engage Senator Deery in a discussion and debate about the topic of redistricting? If you think you have a solid case to make, do so publicly.

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A Person's avatar

Discussion and debate is not how authoritarian cults operate, especially when the cult leader pardons those who commit violence on his behalf

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A Person's avatar

"It goes against the very principles we value in America" says a candidate who is an ardent fan of the guy who fomented the political violence of January 6 and then pardoned those who committed that violence on his behalf.

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C. Eberts's avatar

Just because the President and his billionaire buddies are unstable, uncivil people, doesn't mean the rest of us have the right to sin and break the law. As a Democrat, I am deeply sorry Mr. Deery and his family had to endure such trauma. I hope law enforcement locates the people who committed this UnAmeican action against a duly elected public official. We can't let an unstable demented leader destroy our country. Community matters, decency matters, kindness matters.

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A Person's avatar

Given the well-known right of police to kill on the basis of momentary judgments swatting should be prosecuted as a form of attempted reckless or negligent homicide and investigated with that level of seriousness

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Devon Roddel's avatar

It’s cowardly, and it’s dangerous especially after what happened in Minnesota.

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Noemi's avatar

"State Sen. Spencer Deery’s family was victim of a “swatting” incident Thursday morning, ..." Of course. MAGA has no good ideas, nor cogent arguments for doing what president felon wants, so they attack. I hope people are paying attention.

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J-Me's avatar

These people are really going to FO so much that I, a 'commie snowflake liberal', am going to have no choice but to campaign for a Senator I generally disagree with on most things... none of the other issues matter if we don't have a 'fair and free' representative democracy. Senator Deery is on the right side of history here...(sadly, and much to my surprise, Senator Alting is not.)

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Phthor Quiddity's avatar

Rodric, Goode, Dernulc -- what is up with these Republicans and their vowels?

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Chris Hegarty's avatar

I hope Senator Deery and his family and staff are well. It's unfortunate that things like this happen, but it's good that people are making plans to proactively deal with the possibility of this happening.

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David Sanders's avatar

The swatting episode to which the Deery family has been subjected is disgusting. And all over the antidemocratic procedure of gerrymandering!

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Devon Roddel's avatar

I wouldn’t be harsh and suggest there are a lot of cowards in our community, but there is a connection between saying nothing and how comfy you are financially and/or socially. Lots of people complain to me in private and say jack shit when it actually would matter.

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Townie's avatar

While I'd prefer different representation in this seat because of various policy choices the Senator prefers, these attempts at intimidation are inexcusable and intolerable. I hope the police and the prosecutor have some tools at their disposal to track down the offenders.

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Phthor Quiddity's avatar

It's tough, they could be anywhere in the world.

WLPD did a great job here, just by making a plan with the Deery family and communicating it effectively to their officers.

I'm sure they wish they had the ability to track those calls. WLPD has recently handled multiple bomb/gun treats at the high school. You can't share a code word with everyone in the school building.

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