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Teller County official slams posts by Colorado GOP chair Dave Williams, asks for resignation

By 06/12/2024 | updated 2 years ago

When the chair of the Colorado Republican Party Dave Williams posted a social media post excoriating the LGBTQ+ community and June as National Pride Month, the reaction was swift.

Among the posts signed by the chair: “Burn all the #Pride Flags this June,” and “God Hates Pride,” while labeling the community as “demonic.”

Teller County Commissioner Dan Williams, a Republican, responded publicly, asking for the removal of Dave Williams from his state post in a letter that was endorsed by several other elected officials in the county.

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“I need to get this off my conscience; I was a soldier for 30 years and swore an oath to protect this Constitution,” he said, speaking at the commissioners’ meeting June 6. “We have something called the First Amendment and the right to assemble.”

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Dan Williams, the commissioner, highlighted assemblies of the past weekend, law enforcement as well as a Gay Pride assembly in Memorial Park in Woodland Park.

Another Denver Republican rejects Colorado GOP’s endorsement over party’s anti-LGBTQ email

“The Pride event was the first in our history and it was well-attended,” Dan Williams said. “As Americans, we have the right of assembly and free speech; the right to free speech is in the Constitution.

To a message from the GOP chair asking all Republicans to burn Pride flags, Dan Williams balked.

“He is not my chair; he is a rogue,” he said. “We will not burn flags in Teller County; that’s not who we are.”

The commissioners’ meeting happened to be on the 80th anniversary of D-Day. What if the soldiers who fought for freedom on D-Day heard about the message of the GOP, Dan Williams said. “They would turn over in their graves,” he said. “The reason I had to get this off my conscience is because Dave Williams does not speak for Dan Williams.” (The two are not related.)

Colorado GOP calls for all pride flags to be burned

In reference to D-Day, Dan Williams held up a jar of sand he collected on a visit to Omaha Beach in Normandy in 1998. At the time, he had been promoted from captain to major. In his 30-year career, Williams was an Apache Pilot with combat deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait and Albania.

“We had some bad days in the military; a lot of people died, and you think it can’t get any worse,” he said. “I think it’s important that we commemorate and understand what happened 80 years ago. Because the world is on fire right now; the war in the Middle East is not getting any better, war in Europe and potential war in the Pacific.”

Dan Williams’ letter calling for Dave Williams’ resignation was endorsed by Bob Campbell, county commission chair; Erik Stone, county commissioner; Kellie Case, Woodland Park mayor; Annie Durham, Cripple Creek mayor; and Barbara Manning, Victor mayor.

Here is the text of a letter:

”We were recently made aware that the Colorado Republican Party issued a call to burn all Pride Flags. As elected officials of Teller County and our incorporated cities, we represent all of our constituents and have sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States and the Colorado Constitution. These documents afford and guarantee the right to assemble and free speech to all of us and will be fully protected in Teller County.

”Furthermore, property rights and personal property, including any flag flown on private property, will also be protected. We condemn any attempt to abridge the freedoms of any law-abiding group or individual in the State of Colorado and it will not be tolerated in Teller County.

”This call to burn pride flags was authorized and approved by the State Party Chairman and is not reflective of the Republican Party in Colorado and does not reflect the views of the Teller County elected officials of either party.

”We are calling for the immediate removal of Mr. David Williams, the Chair of the Colorado GOP, for continuing to incite hatred and further division in Colorado.”

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