Two women on the Rockland City Council say they’ve received death threats after voting to restrict city cooperation with federal immigration officials.
The Midcoast Villager reports councilor Penny York claims she’s received numerous threats and has been doxed by having details of her personal life published on what she calls a white supremacist-friendly website.
Councilor Kaitlin Callahan also says she’s received threats and said comments within the Facebook group ‘Maine Community X’ have encouraged the doxing and harassment of both her and York.
The City Council last week approved a local ordinance barring Rockland employees from assisting federal immigration agents unless there is a judicial order.
The Midcoast Villager reports Callahan said she’s received messages on her Callahan for City Council page calling her the “c” word, the “n” word and warned her to watch her back.
Councilor Nicole Kalloch cast the lone vote against the ordinance. Callahan said the problem is the intentional spreading of misinformation and pointed to an interview Kalloch gave the the conservative outlet Main Wire.
The Villager quoted Callahan as saying, “By giving interviews to alt right publications known for extremist rhetoric and misinformation, she (Kalloch) risks the safety of residents by deliberately inflaming the situation with inaccurate, fear-based statements. She knows the ordinance is legally sound, she knows it doesn’t hinder local law enforcement from doing their job, so feeding into this extremist narrative only makes the city of Rockland less safe for everyone, including her fellow councilors, but more importantly our children.”
Councilor Kalloch gave a statement to the Villager strongly disagreeing with Callahan. “I want to be very clear: I am not responsible for any threatening communications received by anyone,” said Kalloch. “I do not condone threats or harassment in any form. Publicly suggesting that I am responsible because I participated in a media interview is both inappropriate and reckless.
Kalloch went on to say statements by York and Callahan are unfounded and said “legitimate threats…should be handled by law enforcement, not speculated about in public.”
