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Colorado Democratic Party censures Gov. Jared Polis after he commutes Tina Peters’ sentence
The central committee of the Colorado Democratic Party on Wednesday voted 89.8% in favor of a measure to censure Gov. Jared Polis. A censure temporarily bars him from speaking or participating in party-sponsored events.
Polis said earlier that the petition by hundreds of Democrats that called for the action is politically motivated. The petition is in response to Polis’ decision to commute the sentence of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters. The judge gave her nearly 9 years for her role in tampering with election equipment to prove unsubstantiated claims of fraud.
Polis cut the sentence in half. Peters could be paroled as early as June 1.
“My goal is to make the right decision with the information I have and that’s exactly what I did in this case,” Polis said. “I think the fact this has seemingly become so partisan shows the problem with this case, frankly. No case should be viewed from a partisan lens. Each case is about an individual and the crime they committed.”
The governor says he looked at other cases of corruption by public officials and none of them had sentences as steep as Peters.
“In nearly every case we saw probation, we saw 6 months,” he said.
Peters’ sentence, he says, was based too much on what she said rather than what she did. The appellate court raised the same concern.
“Clearly, her free speech — however much we disagree with it — was used as a factor in that sentencing,” Polis said.
Mesa County District Attorney Dan Rubenstein disagrees.
“This was not just a one act. This was a months-long pattern of deception to try to violate every security protocol we had as the person we entrusted specifically for that,” he said.
Rubenstein says Peters could have received 20 years. He notes even Polis’s own clemency board recommended against commutation.
Polis says he considered input from thousands of Coloradans and made his decision based on what he thought was right.
“I approach all these decisions with great humility and a very objective way looking at the data, of course,” he said.
Rubenstein says Polis ignored the advice of everyone closely involved in the case.
“That’s not humility, that’s arrogance — to believe that your judgment should substitute those others because you think they’re wrong and you think you’re smarter than them.”
The Democrats who asked the Colorado Democratic Party to censure the governor say his conduct is inconsistent with the party’s mission, which includes leading the battle for democracy. Polis insists he is doing exactly that.
“It’s caught up in the zeitgeist of the partisan divide which is a horrific thing that rips my heart apart, this divide that’s facing this country and our state. And I really hope that doesn’t impugn each individual sense of justice, whether they’re Democrat, Republican, liberal, conservative. We need to make sure that you’re punished based on the crime regardless of your beliefs,” Polis said.
Rubenstein says he wouldn’t have protested a four-and-a-half year sentence for Peters had it come from the judge, who presided over years of litigation, is from Mesa County, and understands the impact Peters actions have had on the community.
The governor says he didn’t talk to Peters before making his decision, but he noted she apologized for her actions and took accountability in her clemency request.
Rubenstein wonders how long her remorse will hold up. He says she has until Friday to appeal her conviction to the Colorado Supreme Court.
The following statement was released by the Colorado Democratic Party after their vote. It expands upon a statement state party chair Shad Murib released after Polis’ announcement last Friday that he was commuting the sentence of Tina Peters.
Tina Peters was convicted by a jury of her peers and sentenced by a judge who said she would do it all over again if she could. The Republican district attorney who prosecuted her called any sentence reduction ‘a gross injustice.’ He’s right.
Reducing her sentence now, under pressure from Donald Trump, is not justice. It sends a message to future bad actors that election tampering has consequences, unless you’re friends with the president. That’s a dangerous and disappointing precedent to set.
Colorado has spent years building trust in our elections and proving they are secure. At a time when democracy and voting rights are under attack across the nation, weakening accountability for someone convicted of undermining that trust is a mistake.
There are real cases that deserve the Governor’s attention and action. This is not one of them.
The State Central Committee finds that Governor Jared Polis’s decision to grant clemency to Tina Peters materially harmed the Colorado Democratic Party’s institutional credibility and efforts to defend democratic institutions and election integrity.
The State Central Committee formally condemns Governor Jared Polis’s clemency decision regarding Tina Peters and formally censures Governor Jared Polis for conduct inconsistent with the Colorado Democratic Party’s commitment to democratic institutions, election integrity, and public accountability.
The Colorado Democratic Party further clarifies that the clemency decision does not reflect the values, institutional positions, or democratic commitments of the Colorado Democratic Party.
The Colorado Democratic Party reaffirms its unwavering commitment to election workers, free and fair elections, and the rejection of election denialism and disinformation in all forms.
The State Central Committee recognizes the hundreds of Democrats who swiftly organized and raised their voices in defense of democracy and public trust in Colorado’s election system following the commutation decision.
Until further action by the State Central Committee or Executive Committee, Governor Jared Polis shall not participate as an honored guest, featured speaker, or officially recognized representative of the Colorado Democratic Party at Party-sponsored events and functions, including but not limited to the Obama Gala and DemFest.
Case 1:03-cr-20685-DPG Document 8 Entered on FLSD Docket 04/29/2026 Page 18 of 26
did willfully and unlawfully, with malice aforethought, kill P.M., a human being, with premeditation and during the perpetration of, and attempt to perpetrate, sabotage, that is, the destruction of an aircraft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 32(a).
In violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1111(a), 3238 and 2.
1.
COUNT 6 Murder
18 U.S.C. §§ 1111(a), 3238 and 2
Paragraphs 1 through 34 of the General Allegations section and paragraphs 4
through 31 of the Overt Acts section of Count 1 are incorporated herein by reference.
2.
On or about February 24, 1996, in the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction
of the United States, the defendants,
RAUL MODESTO CASTRO RUZ
and
LORENZO ALBERTO PEREZ-PEREZ,
did willfully and unlawfully, with malice aforethought, kill Md.1.P, a human being, with premeditation and during the perpetration of, and attempt to perpetrate, sabotage, that is, the destruction of an aircraft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 32(a).
In violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1111(a), 3238 and 2.
1.
COUNT 7 Murder
18 U.S.C. §§ 1111(a), 3238 and 2
Paragraphs 1 through 34 of the General Allegations section and paragraphs 4 through 31 of the Overt Acts section of Count 1 are incorporated herein by reference.
2.
On or about February 24, 1996, in the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction
of the United States, the defendants,
18
From left to right, Mansour Kaziha, Amin Abdullah and Nadir Awad.
The Islamic Center of San Diego
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The Islamic Center of San Diego
Mansour Kaziha was the mosque’s shopkeeper known for letting children take candy for free. Nadir Awad was funny, cheerful and regularly went to the mosque to pray. And Amin Abdullah was a dedicated security guard who greeted people with a bright smile and the occasional sage life advice.
Until recently, all three men were best known for small, everyday interactions at the Islamic Center of San Diego.
But after the harrowing attack on Monday, they are now remembered for their larger-than-life acts of courage, which cost them their lives but prevented two gunmen from coming into contact with the some hundred children and staff who were inside the mosque.
“At no point [were they] hiding or running away from what’s happening,” Ghouse Mohammed, the center’s head of security, told NPR. “All three of them were heroes.”
In the aftermath, community members have united in grief and gratitude for Abdullah, Kaziha and Awad — as well as brewing frustration over how factors like anti-Muslim rhetoric both online and among elected officials led to Monday’s act of violence.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Mark Remily, special agent in charge of the FBI’s San Diego field office, described the two shooting suspects as teenagers who shared a “broad hatred” toward different races and religious groups.
“We are thoroughly investigating this case to learn everything we can and will not stop until we get to the bottom of what happened and why,” Remily said. “But we also want to learn how this happened and what we can do to stop future acts of violence.”
What we know about the victims
Last week, when Amin Abdullah’s daughter Hawaa earned her teaching credential, she said her father couldn’t make it because he was at work.
Hawaa didn’t hold it against the father of eight. Instead, she shared this anecdote at a news press conference on Tuesday as one example of how seriously her father took his job as a security guard. Other times, she said Abdullah would forego meals in order to stay at his post.
“ He wanted to save his food till after he left the job because he was afraid that if he went on his break, something bad would happen,” she said. “ He would be so vigilant in protecting the masjid, protecting the children.”
In part, Abdullah, 51, was protective by nature. But he was also shaken by the mass shooting at a New Zealand mosque in 2019, which killed 51 people, according to Ismahan Abdullahi, who grew up attending the San Diego mosque.
“ The fact that so many lives were saved because of him is not a surprise to us because that’s who he was,” she told NPR. “ He was courageous, he was sincere, he was loving, and he always put other people first, and it cost him his life.”
Mansour Kaziha had been a fixture at the Islamic Center of San Diego since the 1980s, according to Mohammed, the head of the mosque’s security. From then on, Kaziha continued to be the mosque’s handyman. The 78-year-old also managed the center’s store, often striking up conversations with customers.
“ Every child who grew in the San Diego community since the ’80s know him as uncle,” Mohammed said.
Kaziha was also known for feeding hundreds during iftar when worshippers would break their first fast during Ramadan. His lentil soup was a crowd favorite, according to Noor Abdi, a youth leader at Huda Community Center in San Diego, who grew up eating Kaziha’s cooking during Ramadan.
“ He has done so much. I can’t name the amount of things that he has his fingerprints on, and we have lost a pillar of this center,” Abdi said.
Nadir Awad, 57, lived across the street and his wife is a teacher at the school inside the center. Mohammed described him as having a “very charming personality, always smiling, always laughing.”
Although Awad didn’t have an official role at the mosque, he responded without hesitation on Monday, Mohammed said.
“ When he heard the first rounds, he just ran towards the Islamic Center to check on what’s going on and how he’s able to help,” the security chief said.
Mosque saw growing number of threats
According to Mohammed — who has overseen security at the mosque for 13 years — threats toward the mosque have increased since the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 and Israel’s war in Gaza. In response to Monday’s shooting, Mohammed said he hopes to see increased patrols and greater police presence at all houses of worship.
“Because we all are vulnerable,” he said. “ And we don’t want … this to happen anywhere, to any community, any faith-based organizations.”
Mohammed said the Islamic Center increased its security and began arming its officers after the 2019 attack in New Zealand. Abdullah was among the new guards who joined afterwards.
Mohammed added that the mosque has practiced active shooter drills before, but mainly in the case of a single gunman, not two.
As he grieves losing Abdullah, who he described as a close friend and colleague, Mohammed said he reviewed the surveillance footage from the shooting and that Abdullah responded exactly how he was trained.
“We did our best with protecting this place,” he said.
A Tennessee school board member who hugged a teenage girl and called her “hot” at a public meeting last month has been charged with assault, court records show.
The charge of assault — physical contact stems from an incident on April 2, when Keith Ervin put his arm around the girl, a student member of the board, hugged her from the side and told her, “God, you’re hot,” after she had just wrapped up asking questions about career and technical education.
A lawyer who could speak on Ervin’s behalf was not listed in Washington County court records, and Ervin did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Tuesday night.
During the public comment part of a May 7 meeting, the student called the adult members of the school board “cowards” for what she characterized as their “failure to act.”
“To begin, I want to address Ervin’s actions, which were not only unwelcome, but sexist and derogatory,” she said, standing at a podium in front of the members, including Ervin, who sat with his arms crossed as she spoke. “I know this because he has not behaved this way with any of our male members, nor do I believe that he ever would.”
Following public outcry, Ervin apologized for his actions. At an April 8 meeting, he said his calling the girl “hot” was intended to mean “she was on a roll” and had nothing to do with her appearance.
The board censured Ervin, a member since 2006, at that meeting. In a statement Tuesday to NBC affiliate WCYB of Bristol, it said that because Tennessee law dictates school board members are independently elected officials, it does not have the authority to remove them, including Ervin.
“The Board reiterates that Mr. Ervin’s actions do not reflect the standards, policies, or values of the school district,” the statement said. “The Board will defer to law enforcement and the judicial system for the resolution of these charges.”
In her public comments, the teen told the board members that she does not accept “your fake apologies used to protect yourselves. I do not believe that you deserve that peace of mind.”
The members did not respond to her and moved on to other meeting agenda items.
Ervin’s first court appearance is scheduled for August.
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