Despite claims from two Rockland councilors that they have received threats in the wake of their anti-ICE votes, police say they have received no such complaints.
Two city councilors told a Rockland newspaper they’d been threatened after their recent vote not to cooperate with federal immigration-enforcement officials.
The allegations came from councilors Penelope York and Kaitlin Callahan.
“I am receiving threats to city email, by phone, on social media posts and via direct message,” York told the Midcoast Villager. “My friends who are on social media are also receiving threats.”
Callahan said her “Callahan for City Council” page has received numerous messages. She said the few she has read have called her obscene names and warned her to watch her back.
The councilors told the Midcoast Villager these included what they understood to be death threats.
But if they have indeed received threats, they apparently haven’t passed them on to the people who would investigate those allegedly behind them.
Rockland Police Chief Timothy Carroll told The Maine Wire he’s only aware of rumors about threats on social media.
“We have received information regarding the discussions being had on social and local media but we have not received any complaints regarding specific threats from councilors,” Carroll said.
The two councilors also told the local newspaper they believe these apparently unreported – to the police anyhow – threats intensified after one of their colleagues on the council, Nicole Kalloch, gave a comment to The Maine Wire indicating her opposition to the recent council vote not to cooperate with ICE.
“By giving interviews to alt right publications known for extremist rhetoric and misinformation, she (Kalloch) risks the safety of residents by deliberately inflaming the situation with inaccurate, fear-based statements. She knows the ordinance is legally sound, she knows it doesn’t hinder local law enforcement from doing their job, so feeding into this extremist narrative only makes the city of Rockland less safe for everyone, including her fellow councilors, but more importantly our children,” the Midcoast Villager quoted Callahan as saying.
Kalloch was stunned by the allegations and shared with The Maine Wire the comment she gave the Midcoast Villager earlier on Monday about them:
“I want to be very clear: I am not responsible for any threatening communications received by anyone. I do not condone threats or harassment in any form. Publicly suggesting that I am responsible because I participated in a media interview is both inappropriate and reckless. This is not the first time Kaitlin and Penny have made accusations of this nature without substantiation and repeating them only fuels misinformation,” she wrote.
“If there are legitimate threats, they should be handled by law enforcement, not speculated about in public or used to assign blame for political purposes. Continuing to make unsupported claims and encouraging press coverage around them only draws unnecessary and negative attention to Rockland and to those advancing the accusations. I will continue to speak openly and lawfully on issues affecting our community, and I expect the same standard of responsibility and evidence from others,” Kalloch added.
In different locations around the state in recent weeks, left-leaning advocates and even office-holders have been making public statements about being threatened but then failing to report the threats to law enforcement. The Maine Wire will continue to cover such instances.
