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Registrant tells Dane County committees he has received violent threats after board-related disputes
Summary
A registrant at the May 22 meeting told supervisors he has received death threats and online harassment tied to disputes involving board members and a county contractor; the committees received the comment during the public-comment period.
Sean Burke, a registrant who addressed the joint Policy, Public Safety & Justice and Health and Human Needs committees during public comment on May 22, said he has received violent threats and sustained online harassment that he attributed to actions by some board members and supporters of a county contractor.
Burke told the committees that after one board-related action he received a phone call in which the caller told him, “they'd like to put a bullet in my head,” and that he has been the target of repeated online attacks, slurs and threats. “I've had people contact me telling me, calling me a racist ******. I've had people say that they'd like to see the life drain from my eyes,” Burke said. He told the committees the harassment has affected his ability to move about safely and that he has documented materials he says would show what precipitated the dispute.
Burke offered to share documents with supervisors and suggested a special session if members wished to review the material. The chairs accepted his comments during the public-comment period; no committee action or formal response was recorded on the transcript.
The comment was made during the public-comment portion of the meeting and was not part of the commission presentation that preceded it.
