November 17, 2008

More on Death Threats to Gloria Nieto

Nice Bunch at MormonApologetics, What With the Not-So-Veiled Death Threats and All
November 13, 2008

Yeah, We Catch Your “Drift” — It’s Pretty Hard to Mistake a Death Threat for Anything Else
November 16, 2008

South Bay No on Prop 8 leader
receives death threats

A South Bay woman who led the local effort against the anti-gay marriage amendment Proposition 8 received anonymous death threats via e-mail the Saturday following the election.

Gloria Nieto, the volunteer political director for San Jose’s Billy DeFrank LGBT Community Center, reported the electronic harassment to the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department last week.

“I had death threats over the weekend from someone named USA USA,” Nieto told the Bay Area Reporter last Thursday. “It was because of my work on Prop 8. I didn’t even go through all of them. Most had headlines like ‘Gloria must die.’ One was pretty specific about putting a bullet in my head.”

The sheriff’s department has classified the threats as a hate crime and has an open investigation under way. Lieutenant Edward Wise, a spokesman for the department, said there is no known suspect in the case and it could take weeks, if not longer, to track down the source of the e-mails. … “It takes a little bit of legwork but we take it seriously.”

Nieto, who married her partner of 19 years, Jo Kenny, in August, coordinated the No on Prop 8 efforts in the South Bay through the DeFrank center. The e-mails came to her center account, which is publicly available online, Saturday, November 8.

The next day Nieto led a discussion at the center on why Prop 8 passed and what the community should do next. Last Monday, November 10, she printed out copies of the threatening e-mails and gave them to the sheriff’s department. …

Nieto is president of the Silicon Valley LGBT Democratic Club. She is the second South Bay gay political leader to receive threats due to their work against Prop 8. Openly gay Campbell City Councilman Evan Low received several phone calls from people threatening to recall him from office if he did not stop working to defeat Prop 8.

See: Yes On Prop 8 Thugs Try to Blackmail Campbell City Councilmember Evan Low With Recall Threat, November 1, 2008