Death threats to Bay Area senator catch eye of Giffords investigators

[ck4829]

The investigation into the shooting of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona has led detectives to state Sen. Leland Yee, who also received death threats for criticizing Sarah Palin, but officials are not saying whether they have uncovered any link between the two.

The chief of staff for Yee, a Democrat representing northern San Mateo County and western San Francisco, said he was briefly questioned by a Pima County, Ariz., sheriff's detective who called him Monday. The Tucson-area detectives are investigating the shooting that killed six people and injured Giffords, who is also a Democrat.

The Yee staffer, Adam Keigwin, said the detective told him investigators wanted to know about the death threats Yee received after he ruffled the feathers of Palin supporters by trying to uncover the details of the former GOP vice presidential candidate's speaking contract with a state university. Yee's office was flooded with graphic voice mails and faxes during the ordeal last spring, but he never faced a physical confrontation.

"(The Arizona detective) said, 'In our situation we're seeing very similar faxes and wanted to follow up on the status of your investigation,' " Keigwin said Thursday.

http://www.mercurynews.com/san-mateo-county/ci_17092623?nclick_check=1

[DeschutesRiver]

1. Lots of politicians get threats- if they are following up on Palin supporter threats to a Rep, then

I'm assuming it can only be because they have definitively established that Lougher was following that pattern. Otherwise, why bother? So much for the right wing hope that this was not political in nature.

That last line "in our situation we're seeing very smilar faxes..." makes me think that there is a honking big right wing political/Palin rhetoric connection.

[shraby]

2. Can they trace the source of the faxes?

Maybe many are coming from the same place.

[bluestate10]

3. Faxes can be traced to a phone number.

They are phoneline transmissions. Phone companies would have records of the transmissions. But the transmission can't be tracked to a single person unless it was done from a single person home or office, or unless coworkers notice that a coworker loves the right and it's worldview.

[kestrel91316]

4. Yee is a Democrat. No one will ever be arrested or prosecuted for this. IOKIYAR.

[EC]

5. Sounds to me that the Justice Department was given

orders to start taking the threats more seriously...until recently all they've been doing is "warning" people after interviewing...maybe now the bar has been lowered and they'll start prosecuting threats.

[RagAss]

6. Hmm...Maybe they know something about the Arizona shooting that is not public.

[thecrow]

7. Thanks to a DUer who posted this last week

but I find it true and repeatable especially in this instance:

"Palin's Hate speech is protected. Criticizing Palin's hate speech is Un-american, and Dangerous"