I’ve written a few times about Joshua Hosler, a failed primary candidate for Colorado’s House of Representatives, Facebook provocateur and Vice Chair of the El Paso County GOP. Mr. Hosler was endorsed by Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams.
Over the last week or so I have noted two instances of his friends making murderous threats on his wall. Hosler has responded by not doing anything or by not doing enough to push back. He has not banned them from commenting, unfriended them, or said anything that could be construed as a firm admonishment against eliminationist rhetoric.
This is keeping with a trend of violent rhetoric, including talk of “civil war”, that seems to be an increasingly pervasive component of Republican party discourse.
Here’s the first post:
Got that? Joshua Hosler’s friend wants to murder children if their parents brought them to the USA as kids.
Another example:
To his credit, Mr. Hosler and ex Vice Chair of the Colorado Republican party Derrick Wilburn did push back in this instance. Having said that, the push-back is very gentle. If someone seriously advocated the murder of people for exercising their 1st amendment rights on my Facebook wall, I would block/ban/report them immediately.
Given the vitriolic nature of Mr. Hosler’s Facebook posting, it’s easy to see how someone could think threats of murder and terrorism would be perceived as acceptable.
