A somber Plumas County Board of Supervisors listened as Supervisor Mimi Hall announced publicly that she received a threat on her cellphone voicemail.
“It was one word: Die,” she announced at the board’s Nov. 4 meeting.
Hall reported the Oct. 9 incident to the Plumas County Sheriff’s Office. Threatening an elected official is a violation of California Penal Code 76.
Plumas County Sheriff Chad Hermann said his office is conducting an ongoing criminal investigation. Officers have made contact with a potential suspect, he said. At issue is whether a manual call was made to Hall or whether it was a “robo-type call,” Hermann said.
Threatening an elected official can be charged as a felony depending on the intent, Hermann added.
From threat to opportunity
Hall said she had been struggling for weeks over whether to share the threat at a board meeting. She said she decided to speak publicly to use the incident as an opportunity to advocate for open and respectful public dialog. The basic principles of public service should never mean that it comes with any threat to serving the community, regardless of politics, she said.
“In the United States of America and Plumas County it is not OK to call any elected official and tell them they should die,” Hall said.
She said she welcomes “passionate public discussion” and differences of opinion. But the recent threat of violence “clearly, clearly crossed the line,” Hall said. It attempts to undermine respect for elected officials and for open public dialog, she said.
“I am asking any citizen and my colleagues here to not stand for that — to do nothing but show respect for productive conversation and a love for our country and our community.
“And we do that by showing respect for each other,” Hall said.
Supervisor Tom McGowan said he and others have also been verbally threatened. He called on other supervisors and the public to take appropriate action.
“It is up to us to report that and let law enforcement do their job. … It’s not acceptable. If you want to have a conversation, come here and let’s talk about it,” McGowan said.