In the aftermath of Rep. Joaquin Castro’s (D-TX) decision to post the private information of Trump donors in his Congressional district who donated the maximum amount to President Trump’s reelection campaign, he has pushed back on claims from his Republican critics who said the list puts people in danger of harassment and violence:
No one was targeted or harassed in my post. You know that. All that info is routinely published.
You’re trying to distract from the racism that has overtaken the GOP and the fact that President Trump spends donor money on thousands of ads about Hispanics “invading” America. 1/2 https://t.co/TwUDC4m5tO
— Joaquin Castro (@JoaquinCastrotx) August 7, 2019
In spite of Castro saying his list wasn’t intended to put anyone in danger, he and his supporters have continued to try and class Twitter up by equating Trump backers to mass murderers:
.@JoaquinCastrotx and his supporters still keepin' it classy. #CensureCastro pic.twitter.com/XXjSBLubSG
— Sister Toldjah 😁 (@sistertoldjah) August 9, 2019
Fortunately, some are weathering the storm. But as even a 5-year-old could have predicted, the harassing phone calls and threats have started to roll in for some of Castro’s donor targets.
Listen to the vicious, threatening voice mail left for one woman who was on Castro’s list:
A woman,who was on the Donald Trump donor list that Joaquin Castro tweeted out, received a vicious voicemail calling her a racist and threatening to post her number and extension all over the internet.
This is now the left operates. We must stand strong
⚠️ graphic language pic.twitter.com/NvLRLX53VH— Priscilla ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (@Priscillas_View) August 8, 2019
Per the New York Times, the owner of Precision Pipe Rentals has also been harassed:
For many businesses, a sudden deluge of phone calls might signal an influx of new customers. But most of the 25 calls Justin Herricks received before noon on Thursday were from people who wanted to tell him he was a white supremacist for donating money to President Trump.
“I’ve had people say, ‘Hey, we were going to use you for business, but we found out you’re a racist,’” Mr. Herricks, the owner of Precision Pipe Rentals, an oil and gas services company in San Antonio, said in an interview. “‘We hope that you burn in hell and your business will go with you.’”
And another man who was wrongly outed has had to advise his family members to “stay close to home”:
Harper Huddleston said on “Fox & Friends” that his name appeared on Castro’s list instead of the name of his retired father, who contributed to the Trump campaign. He said the mix-up was because they share the same first name, but have different middle names, though his father does not go by the name Harper.
Huddleston said he supports Trump and has contributed in the past to the mayoral campaign of Castro’s brother, Julian, who is now running for president. He said he was glad to have received the negative attention instead of his father, but explained that he was forced to go over emergency plans with his wife and three children.
“We convened together as a family and talked about situational awareness, exit strategy, avoiding and exiting conflict, talked about staying low and close to home and just being at our very highest senses,” said Huddleston.
Castro, who is the chairman of his brother Julián’s presidential campaign, absurdly told MSNBC earlier this week that his intention was not for any harm to come to anyone who was on the list:
“Congressman, as you look at this list — and you even put their addresses out there. It’s easy to find them,” [co-host Willie] Geist said. “These people are undoubtedly already being harassed online or perhaps face to face in some cases, they could be.”
“What do you say to those people this morning when you say, ‘I made a campaign donation and now I’m going to be harassed? I’m going to have people protesting outside my business or perhaps even my home?’ What do you say to them? Do you want them to repent for their support of President Trump or what do you want from them?”
Castro said he does not want anyone “harassed or targeted” over the donations, but Geist quickly said “they will be because you put their names in public.”
“That was not my intention,” Castro replied. “These things are public. No, what I want is for people to think twice about supporting a guy who is fueling hate in this country.”
He can deny it all he wants to, but he knows exactly what he’s doing. In fact, after his stunt on Monday, it was revealed that some of the people on the list had previously donated to past political campaigns of both Castro brothers, suggesting Joaquin Castro had a revenge motivation for publishing the list.
Castro’s despicable doxxing tactics have inspired liberals in other parts of the country to do their part as well, including in Michigan and here in North Carolina. Unfortunately, this isn’t going to be over anytime soon.
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— Based in North Carolina, Sister Toldjah is a former liberal and a 15+ year veteran of blogging with an emphasis on media bias, social issues, and the culture wars. Read her Red State archives here. Connect with her on Twitter. –
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