By Jen Schumann | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice
Kristy Davis woke up to an email that made her stomach drop.
“Where you live, worthless c$#!? I have a sharp blade to stick in your worthless neck.”
Less than 24 hours earlier, El Paso County Democratic Party First Vice Chair Rob Rogers had posted online: “Being nice is overrated. Just find a good lawyer and choose violence.”
Davis, the El Paso County chapter president for Moms for Liberty (M4L), doesn’t believe it was a coincidence.
“While I cannot definitely tie the death threat to the vice chair, the timing is just really suspect,” Davis said.
The Colorado Springs Police Department provided Davis with a case number. But beyond that, no action has been taken.
“Law enforcement provided me with a case number and said if I get any more information to follow up. To me that means it’s kind of dead in its tracks — until I get more information, more threats, or a knife in my neck,” she said.
While she’s no stranger to controversy, Davis says the recent escalation is alarming.
“I will have personal protection on me. And when I go to certain events, I do have private security that I will bring with me if I find out there’s going to be a lot of opposition there. But no, I’m just going to keep going on like normal. I wish that law enforcement would do more,” she said.
Rogers, a self-proclaimed Satanist, has repeatedly targeted Moms for Liberty and other conservative activists online.
In a 2023 post, he wrote: “PUNISH HATE. PROMOTE LOVE. RESIST CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM.”
More recently, he linked multiple articles attacking Moms for Liberty, calling them an “astroturfed organization” that spreads “hate speech, misinformation and fear tactics.”
“I am the chapter chair of Moms for Liberty in El Paso County, and he strongly opposes our group. He has been vocal about that on Facebook. He has a very large following on social media, and he is very influential from his position as vice chair of the Democratic Party,” Davis said.
This is not an isolated incident.
“I believe this incident reflects a larger pattern of intimidation that conservative activists in Colorado have experienced,” Davis said.
She pointed to other cases of threats against outspoken conservatives, including former M4L co-chair Darcy Schoening, who has also been harassed.
The rise in political intimidation is becoming a growing concern for many.
“If you take somebody who is just a little mentally off and put these things in their head — and you have a person in power like Rob Rogers telling you to go ahead and do violence — it’s going to encourage people to take the next step, to become heroes within their small circles. And it’s not OK,” Davis said.
She believes accountability should start at the top.
“I think [Rob Rogers] should resign from his position as vice chair of the Democratic Party. Publicly visible people have a higher level of responsibility and need to be cognizant of the messaging they’re sending out or sharing on the internet,” she said.
The bigger question remains: Should political leaders be held accountable for the rhetoric they promote?
For Davis, the answer is clear.
“I don’t deserve to have to look over my shoulder when I’m with my kids out in public because I’m standing up for my parental rights and my children,” she said.