Law Enforcement Found No “Legitimate Threat” to Rep. Ruth Buffalo

Tonight reporter Kim Hyatt published a story about “threats” against state Rep. Ruth Buffalo.

“Although leery for her safety after receiving threats this week for showing support for U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, North Dakota Rep. Ruth Buffalo said she’s continuing her work on policies rather than focusing on polarization,” she wrote in the lead paragraph, but while the article quoted both Buffalo and her political allies at the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition, there was scant information about the threat itself.

According to information from law enforcement there was apparently just one threat reported by Rep. Buffalo and after an investigation they didn’t find that one “legitimate.”

You can read the full report below, but the “threat” in question was posted on Facebook by a Minot woman named Terpsehore Pete Mars Lindeman who has made headlines of late due to a legal scuffle with the the Attorney General’s office (a matter in which she, ironically enough, is being represented by former Democratic Attorney General candidate David Thompson).

Here’s what Lindeman posted, as captured and re-posted on Facebook by Rep. Buffalo herself:

Per the report below, redacted by the NDHP to remove personal information, Rep. Buffalo reached out to both the North Dakota Highway Patrol and the Minot Police Department about the comment. The MPD told her the NDHP needed to handle the situation, and they did sending Trooper Christopher Pulver to Lindeman’s home where he interviewed her after which he concluded there was no “legitimate” threat to Buffalo.

Here’s his summary:

To me it seems the investigation was entirely appropriate. Lindeman’s comment was confusing, at best, and it’s reasonable to construe it as a possible threat. I’m glad it was checked out.

Nobody deserves to be threatened. Nobody deserves to be made to feel unsafe. Perhaps Rep. Buffalo could keep that in mind as she endorses and defends hateful comments made by her Democratic colleague Rep. Ilhan Omar.

I reached out to Rep. Buffalo for comment but didn’t immediately receive a response.

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