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‘Choose violence’: Vice Chair of El Paso County Democratic Party speaks on his Facebook post

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) - "Being nice is overrated. Just find a good lawyer and choose violence," were the words posted to Facebook by Vice Chair of the El Paso County Democratic Party Rob Rogers on Jan. 24.

Viewers reached out to KRDO13 following the post announcing their concern, particularly over the choice of words, "choose violence." See the post below:

KRDO13 left Rogers a voicemail that week to ask if he'd like to provide any context as to why he posted the photo, as an official that is tied to the Democratic Party in El Paso County. Rogers eventually called back, calling the phrase "an idiom and slang".

The following Friday, January 31, Rogers posted a roughly 4-minute video to his Tik-Tok account with over 65,000 followers, which included the entire recording of KRDO13's voicemail to Rogers, asking for comment on the matter. He voiced his frustration over what he believed was a needless interest in his post.

"There's so many things going on in the world and this is what they [KRDO13] choose to spend their time trying to get information about," he said in the video, later adding that he wished KRDO13 had reached out to him for comments about national political issues, such as confirmations made for President Trump's cabinet.

KRDO13 reached back out to Rogers on Tuesday, to further clarify the situation. KRDO13 also asked the El Paso County GOP for their thoughts on what viewers originally expressed as a concern, which was the idea of public figures tied to political parties who appeal to voters, posting potentially charged messaging online.

Vice Chair for the El Paso County GOP Todd Watkins, explained that Rogers should have taken the photo down, and apologized for posting something that would imply the idea of violence with the Democratic Party tied to his name.

"We don't condone, nor do we inspire others to act violently against our own citizens. It's just not an American quality." explained Watkins.

He says that he stands by that principle regardless of party affiliation, citing how their county GOP, along with others in Colorado condemned State Party Chair Dave Williams after he posted online to burn pride flags, and tried to get him removed from his seat.

"We're saying this is the inappropriate way for a a the leader of a political party to to behave. And it's not a statement that you can make like that. It reflects on all of us as that does Mr. Rogers." Watkins added.

Upon speaking with KRDO13 on Tuesday, Rogers explained that he chose to post the "meme" to Facebook, after someone he was working with on a lawsuit involving a local school district, sent him the meme over Instagram, calling back to a conversation the two had earlier in the day.

"I had made the comment while I was reading it that this is like way too nice. You have a good lawyer. So, you know, just say what you mean to say."

Rogers says that he then posted the meme, with it using the popular Gen-Z term of "choose violence", typically used to describe someone or something as problematic or causing difficulty, in a playful way.

"It's been referred to in all kinds of like different contexts, but you can't really find any of those circumstances or contexts where it's been referred to with literal violence either," said Rogers.

He also emphasized he was not posting it in his capacity as Vice Chair of the El Paso County Democrats.

However, Watkins stated, that can never be the case when someone holds a position like they both do as Vice Chair.

"You're never actually speaking on your own, especially when you're out in public because you are the face and the voice of that organization." argued Watkins.

KRDO13 reached out to the State Colorado Democratic Party for a statement about the situation or the post in particular. They said they had no comment.

Rogers says that completely unrelated to the Facebook post, he will not be seeking re-election for his Vice Chair seat for El Paso County, which will change hands on Saturday. Watkins says the GOP will also be holding their re-selection event for all their positions on Saturday, along with other counties in Colorado.

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Tyler Cunnington

Tyler is a reporter for KRDO. Learn more about him here.

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