2006.10.11: October 11, 2006: Headlines: Figures: COS - Brazil: Politics: State Government: cbs4denver.com: Pat Waak demands Apology Over Lawmaker's E-Mail
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2006.10.11: October 11, 2006: Headlines: Figures: COS - Brazil: Politics: State Government: cbs4denver.com: Pat Waak demands Apology Over Lawmaker's E-Mail
Pat Waak demands Apology Over Lawmaker's E-Mail
The head of the state Democratic Party is demanding an apology from a Colorado Springs Republican lawmaker who e-mailed a newspaper asking whether victims of a fatal car wreck were illegal immigrants. Party Chairwoman Pat Waak on Tuesday called state Rep. Dave Schultheis an "embarrassment to the Legislature" and said state Sen. Dave Owen, R-Greeley, should demand an apology on behalf of the Bustillos family. "No representative should display this type of insensitive and cruel behavior to a family that lost three children in a tragic accident," Waak said. Pat Waak, Chairman of the Democratic Party in Colorado, served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Brazil in the 1960's.
Pat Waak demands Apology Over Lawmaker's E-Mail
Critics Demand Apology Over Lawmaker's E-Mail
(AP) GREELEY, Colo. The head of the state Democratic Party is demanding an apology from a Colorado Springs Republican lawmaker who e-mailed a newspaper asking whether victims of a fatal car wreck were illegal immigrants.
Party Chairwoman Pat Waak on Tuesday called state Rep. Dave Schultheis an "embarrassment to the Legislature" and said state Sen. Dave Owen, R-Greeley, should demand an apology on behalf of the Bustillos family.
"No representative should display this type of insensitive and cruel behavior to a family that lost three children in a tragic accident," Waak said.
The three children died after an Oct. 2 accident in Weld County. Schultheis e-mailed the Greeley Tribune two days later and asked about the family's immigration status. His e-mail was sent the same day that one victim, a 3-month-old girl, died.
The newspaper posted the e-mail on its Web site, generating hundreds of comments, both positive and negative.
Schultheis, known for his outspoken opposition to illegal immigration and criticism of the federal government's actions on the issue, said he sent the e-mail after a constituent told him about the crash.
He later said he regretted the timing, adding that he did not know the accident had just occurred but blamed the newspaper for publishing the message. "I feel like I was blindsided maliciously," he said. "The Tribune is fomenting all of this stuff at the very time that the family is needing to grieve."
Tribune editor Randy Bangert said the e-mail was posted as a matter of routine, not in an effort to attack Schultheis.
"It's a classic case of `blame the messenger,"' Bangert said. "I think somebody in his position should realize that whatever they say and do can be newsworthy."
The accident occurred when driver Tania Bustillos, 17, drove through a stop sign north of Greeley and another vehicle broadsided hers, the Colorado State Patrol said.
Tania Bustillos was critically injured. Her 15-year-old brother, Enrique, died that evening and her 12-year-old brother, Miguel, died the following day. Her daughter, 3-month-old Destiny Musquiz, died Oct. 4.
In the message, Schultheis asked whether the driver was properly licensed, whether the vehicle was properly insured and whether the family was in the United States illegally.
"Why is it that the investigative reports we read in the papers and see on TV do not point out the fact that these accidents and the resulting cost to taxpayers (hospitalization, etc.) are a direct result of our lax immigration policies and enforcement?" Schultheis wrote.
Owen, who is running for a House seat, said the message and its timing were in bad taste, but he didn't plan to seek an apology.
"I'm not going to call him up specially, but if I see him I will tell him I think he was out of line sending it," Owen said. "But I think the Democrats are out of line by trying to even get me involved in it."
When this story was posted in October 2006, this was on the front page of PCOL:
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Story Source: cbs4denver.com
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Figures; COS - Brazil; Politics; State Government
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