Turns out that the “death threat” against U.S. Rep. John Salazar, D-CO, was about as serious as the “death threat” against Raleigh’s U.S. Rep. Brad Miller. Not very:

Grand Junction police say the report of a death threat against U.S. Rep. John Salazar turned out to be “unfounded.”

The threat reportedly had been made outside Salazar’s Grand Junction office Aug. 24 as health care reform opponents and supporters squared off.

“People who witnessed the interaction between the man who made the complaint and the suspect confirmed they never heard any direct threats made regarding Congressman Salazar,” said Kate Porras, spokeswoman for the Grand Junction police.

Brad Miller’s allegation of a death threat allowed the media to use the phrase “and at least one congressman has received a death threat” in almost every subsequent story to demonize Tea Party protesters. It was evident from the start that neither Miller nor his staff really thought they had received a death threat, but, well, it helped the cause, didn’t it?

This was the latest in a series of “hate crimes” against Democrats, including the fake vandalism against Denver Democratic headquarters, and the questionable swastika “hate crime” against a black Georgia congressman who had only the week before been through a rough town hall experience.

In the words of Glenn Reynolds, who provided the link to the Salazar story:

It’s almost as if someone’s trying to stage events to make the Tea Party crowd look bad.

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