A Town on Edge: Inside the Erie Mail Threats That Resulted in No Charges

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice

In early October, residents across Erie and in Virginia, began opening their mailboxes to find sympathy cards inside plain envelopes. The message referenced the assassination of Charlie Kirk, accompanied by an empty packet of Gushers candy taped to the card, glitter and a loose powdery substance that spilled when handled. Twenty residents in total received the cards. Many were former candidates, business owners, volunteers, and known conservatives within the community.

One envelope opened in Virginia triggered a full hazmat activation. Loudoun County Fire & Rescue’s official report shows responders in Tychem suits isolating the scene, testing the substance, and alerting federal authorities. Their lab equipment detected plastics and ephedrine. The Erie Police report later acknowledged that “at least one incident had prompted a hazmat response.”

Investigators located a suspect by tracing the cards to purchases made at Walmart-using the numbers on the cards. When the FBI and Erie Police visited the home of 46-year-old Erie resident Skylar Weitzel, he admitted to mailing them. Weitzel repeated that admission under oath at a PPO hearing. Yet…despite the confession, the evidence, and the multi-state response, prosecutors at both the federal and local levels declined to file charges.

A Small Town Divided by a National Tragedy

Erie’s political rift began long before the letters arrived. The town sits directly between Boulder County and Weld County—two of the most ideologically opposite regions in the state. “Our town is like split almost down the middle between Boulder and Weld,” said resident Dan Maloit, one of the recipients. “So the most liberal and the most conservative counties in the state by voting demographic.”

Tensions spiked after Kirk’s death. Local publication, Yellow Scene Magazine, poured fuel on the fire when its editor posted antagonistic commentary about Kirk. Advertiser backlash and a boycott took shape almost overnight. What played out on social media after that grew personal fast and often drifted into outright hostility.

Weitzel was already known as a combative presence online. Erie Mayor Pro Tem Brandon Bell described him as someone who had “been kind of known for being kind of a online internet… troll,” noting he had been removed from the main Erie Facebook group but continued monitoring conversations through friends.

A Public Record of Escalating Hostility

Weeks before the threatening letters were mailed, Weitzel published a sharply worded Letter to the Editor in Yellow Scene Magazine titled “Erie Deserves Better Than Toxic Male Fragility.”

In that letter, Weitzel attacked the same ideological group he later admitted targeting with the mailed threats. He wrote that Erie was “being held hostage by the tantrums of a weak, ego-driven man” and described conservative leaders as “shameful, reprehensible, and… deplorable.” He went further, arguing that “there’s a thin line between today’s MAGA Republican and the actual Nazis.” Addressing council testimony on foreign conflict, he dismissed their comments as “crocodile tears for the poor Israelis who are murdering Palestinians.”

These statements reveal strong animus toward conservatives in Erie, consistent with what he later told investigators when he explained why he selected the victims. Under oath and during interviews, Weitzel said he targeted people he considered “the biggest racists in town” and “the biggest MAGA people.” 

The Moment Suspicion Turned Into Certainty

Brandon Bell was contacted the moment the first envelope was opened. “I immediately suspected that it might be him,” Bell said. He recognized the tone and the targeting pattern. “Some of the people are people who are either former members of the Erie board of trustees or were people who tried to run for office… but they’re all kind of known as being more right-leaning.”

“Obviously, at the time the letters went out, nobody knew for certain who it was,” Bell said. But many already believed they did.

When Dan Opened His Envelope, Everything Changed

Maloit’s letter arrived on October 7. “I got mine on October seven,” he said. “I was expecting one because I’d run for office twice.” Because he already knew of the Virginia hazmat activation, he opened his letter cautiously and contacted the FBI.

He remembered the Virginia test results clearly. “The one in Virginia tested positive for plastics and ephedrine,” he said. “He put it in all of them, as far as we understand.”

The emotional impact was significant. “I don’t work out at my garage door open anymore,” he said. The unpredictability worried him most. “How do I know this guy’s not gonna pull around a corner one block away… and take a shot at my kids? I don’t know that.”

A Confession—And a Clear Trail of Crimes

According to the Erie Police report, the FBI confronted Weitzel at his home in mid-October. He confessed immediately. He acknowledged mailing the letters, purchasing the cards, and selecting victims based on political hostility. He repeated these admissions under oath.

Despite this, officials determined “no statutes were broken.” That conclusion is at odds with both federal and state law.

Under federal law, it is a felony to send through the mail any substance intended to cause fear or prompt emergency response. The statute governing hoax threats involving hazardous materials, 18 U.S.C. § 1038, prohibits conveying any item or information that may reasonably cause another person to believe a chemical, biological, or harmful substance is present. The law does not require the substance to be dangerous—only that a reasonable person would fear it.

Colorado law also criminalizes knowingly placing another person in fear of imminent serious bodily injury. The state’s menacing statute, C.R.S. § 18-3-206, applies when conduct intentionally causes someone to believe they are at risk of serious harm. Mailed powder while referencing a violent assassination should that definition.

Harassment was only one possible charge. The acts Weitzel confessed to fall squarely within statutes governing mailed threats and knowingly causing fear.

Fear Doesn’t End When the Mail Stops

Even after the letters were collected, recipients remained fearful. Maloit explained how the threats disrupted daily routines. “I’ve been much more wary… whenever I have to take my kids out in public.” He secured a permanent protection order. Others, including an elderly woman too sick to attend her hearing, were left unprotected.

Problems with the investigation also surfaced. Despite being banned from local Facebook groups, Weitzel had access to screenshots he should not have seen. He admitted under oath that Chelsea Campbell was feeding him information. Campbell had posted a public rant after the Charlie Kirk assassination, which ended with “stop supporting loud mouth losers who promote racism, homophobia, and hate.”

Maloit believes there were likely others. Yet investigators never sought warrants for Weitzel’s digital records or attempted to identify people who may have provided him screenshots and context that helped select his victims. Detective Burch determined that “probable cause does not exist to support a criminal violation of state statute”. He further explains that prosecutors from Weld and Boulder County DA Offices, as well as the Town of Erie prosecutor conclude “the subject’s actions do not constitute a chargeable offense.”

“They appear not to have done that because he apologized,” Maloit said. “He said, ‘I’m so sorry, I won’t do it again.’ …Why’d you do it in the first place?”

When Admissions Met a Prosecutorial Dead End

Bell said the FBI checked with a federal prosecutor, who chose not to move the case forward. Local prosecutors followed suit. “The people that received the cards are extremely frustrated that that didn’t happen,” he said.

Maloit was told that because Weitzel only sent one letter to each victim, the conduct did not meet the harassment threshold. But neither federal nor Colorado law requires multiple incidents when the act involves mailed powders, threat symbolism, or conduct intended to cause fear of bodily harm.

“It very clearly is criminal—he admits to it,” Maloit said. “And they’re just washing their hands of it.”

A Dangerous Precedent for Colorado

Conservative Erie residents now face the reality that a coordinated, politically motivated mailing involving powder and assassination imagery can result in no accountability. With no criminal charges filed—no accountability—the decision sends a message that similar acts may go unpunished.

Maloit made a broader point. “Let’s do the counter-factual. You’re a conservative who emailed these exact same letters… would the police really not prosecute that? They say, ‘Oh you’re just a knucklehead’? That’s not how that would go. We all know that’s not how that would go.”

One unanswered question still remains…If this isn’t a crime, then what is?