Welcome to the start of another week, and is there a better way to start by taking a look back at recent cases of political extremism? Of course not. As part of the Colorado Times Recorder‘s weekly review of reporting on extremism, we offer Erik Maulbetsch’s recent article looking into a scheduled event where Douglas County Clerk Sheri Davis was slated to speak alongside election conspiracists. Following an inquiry, Davis appears to have backed out. David Flomberg’s latest column examines the similarities between RFK Jr.’s autism database and the registry put together during the German Third Reich, tracking people with similar conditions. Steve Rabey of Baptist News Global gives an update on the defamation case brought by Dominion Voting Systems against right-wing news outlet Newsmax. Finally, we recommend a commentary from Colorado Newsline’s Quentin Young on the Trump administration’s attempt to target public officials, which it sees as impeding its agenda.
Douglas County Clerk Cancels Appearance With Election Deniers Following CTR Inquiry
Douglas County Clerk Sheri Davis was initially slated to speak alongside known election conspiracists at a May 7 meeting of Parker Conservatives. Featured at the Parker event are Shawn Smith and Mark Cook, conservative activists with ties to the January 6th Capitol riots, who have a history of spreading conspiracy theories, with Smith calling for the hanging of Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold. According to organizers of the event, Cook, Smith, and Davis were to discuss elections and election security. Following an inquiry from CTR, Davis backed out of the meeting but declined to comment.
RFK Jr.’s Autism Registry Evokes Nazi Child ‘Euthasia’ Program
Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. raised eyebrows recently when he announced a plan to create a centralized database monitoring people with autism in America. Fueled by vaccine skepticism, Kennedy’s project, according to columnist David Flomberg, bears an unsettling similarity to programs from Nazi-era Germany. In particular, in the lead-up to the infamous organized murder of those living with what the government classified as mental illness, German public health officials compiled a registry of these people. Children in this category would soon be under state custody, where they, and adults in similar circumstances, were systemically murdered.
Defamation Case Against Conservative Newsmax, Which Spread 2020 Election Conspiracies, is Now Delayed
Newsmax is a conservative news outlet that is in the middle of a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit brought against it by Dominion Voting Systems, the Colorado election software firm that became the target of right-wing conspiracies following the 2020 election. The trial has been delayed due to scheduling conflicts, and a new date has yet to be set. The outlet has pushed falsehoods claiming that the firm’s machines stole the election from Donald Trump, were receiving government kickbacks, and had ties to Venezuela.
Colorado Newsline: Threat against local public officials, including in Colorado, follows authoritarian playbook
This commentary from Colorado Newsline’s Quentin Young looks at an executive order recently signed by President Trump targeting elected officials, claiming they are “violating” federal criminal laws and impeding law enforcement, engaging in “a lawless insurrection”. Young writes: “There’s every reason to take the executive order seriously. The administration has undertaken its immigration enforcement with evident contempt for constitutional limits, and its efforts have landed hundreds of people — who were afforded minimal or no due process, including U.S. citizens and permanent residents — in detention.”
