Threats are being made online against Mayor Dave Bronson.
Among the worst of the threats came from a Twitter thread of comments started by Olivia Garrett, who was a legislative aide for Sen. Scott Kawasaki in 2017 and was at the center of a “me too” scandal that took out the career of Democrat Rep. Dean Westlake. She later was a organizer with the Alaskans for Bernie Sanders and was a 2016 delegate to the Democratic National Convention.
Garrett wrote that the mayor of Anchorage needs to be dragged from his house.
“My grandpa did not spend the last weeks of his life alone, scared, and begging the nurse for his wife over and over just so we can do anything less than drag this man from his house,” Garrett said, commenting on an Anchorage Daily News story about Mayor Bronson and his stance against universal masking of Anchorage residents.
Others chimed in. One associate of Garrett’s said that Garrett should delete the message because it advocates violence. She retorted that she’ll cyberbully anyone she wants. There was an F-bomb involved in her retort.
Another man said dragging Bronson from his house was not enough.
Yet another Twitter user said, “I may disagree with Mayor Bronson, but I will fight to the death to defend his right to be dragged from his home by 1000 Kriner’s diners, and left to die, panicked and gasping, of COVID-19 without hospital care b/c of the fucking health hazard he just let run unchecked”
Even the @JamieRecall Twitter account got in on the act.
An account run by CeciliaB.Demented wrote, “Nope. This man is willfully killing people. Straight up. He is using his power, position, and money to kill people. Dragging him out and running his out of town on a rail is getting close to being the only option.”
“it’s fine to say you want to see mayor bronson sodomized to death with a bayonet like gaddafi,” one Twitter user offered.
An account run by Mark Springer, formerly chair of the Marijuana Control Board who is s running for reelection to City Council in Bethel, wrote “His [Bronson] is a face of pure, unadulterated evil.”
The eighth floor of City Hall has also been subject to threats and Municipal Manager Amy Demboski said security measures are now being taken and upgraded, although she declined to elaborate. But there have been incursions from people trying to barge into the mayor’s office. Once, she had to use her body to block a man at the mayor’s conference room door.
The mainstream media has focused its attention on protesters of the proposed Anchorage universal mask law, after they wore yellow stars to protest fascism, which they feel begins with things like Anchorage Ordinance 2021-91, which gets people to report to authorities on those who disobey the mask law. The media has ignored the actual threats of violence against the mayor, however.
Helpfully, reporter Sam Davenport had a suggestion for the violence frenzy, telling people the best thing for their mental health was to not watch the Assembly meeting:
Journalists Dave Hulen of the Anchorage Daily News, and Daniella Rivera, formerly of Alaska’s News Source, focused on the protesters and how tough this all is on journalists, with a dog-whistle to the Twitter mob:
