Colorado

Colorado GOP ousts reporter from event, claiming ‘unfair’ coverage

Published

3 months ago

April 9, 2024

Colorado GOP ousts reporter from event, claiming ‘unfair’ coverage

As a veteran journalist in Colorado, it wasn’t Sandra Fish’s first time reporting on the state GOP assembly. But it was her first time getting kicked out.

The Colorado Republican Party expelled Fish from its event in Pueblo, Colo., on Saturday after she was told the party chairman finds her reporting “very unfair.”

A sheriff’s deputy escorted the longtime reporter out, drawing backlash from lawmakers from both sides of the aisle and fellow journalists who criticized the move as an affront to democracy.

“It’s unfair to do this,” Fish said Monday. “It concerns me that people only want the information they agree with presented, and if they disagree with something, they want it concealed from the public. And that’s not how democracy works, no matter who’s in charge.”

Colorado GOP Chairman Dave Williams, a Donald Trump supporter who is running for a seat in the U.S. House, said he stands by the ejection.

“We make no apologies for kicking out a fake journalist,” Williams said in a text message Monday, echoing Trump’s oft-used epithet of “fake news.” Williams added that the Colorado Sun, a nonprofit news outlet founded in 2018, “is just an extension of the Democrat Party’s PR efforts.”

Williams declined to say what has been unfair about Fish’s reporting.

Colorado Sun editor Larry Ryckman said it’s “a sad day when politicians get to decide who can and cannot report for the American people,” according to the paper. He defended Fish’s reporting, calling her an “experienced, accomplished journalist,” the Sun reported.

Fish, 66, has been a reporter since 1982; she has covered Colorado’s Democratic and Republican parties for the past two decades. Some of her recent reporting details how the Colorado GOP, under Williams’s leadership, paid for mailers that criticized one of Williams’s congressional primary opponents and a newspaper in Colorado Springs. Last year, Fish reported on the state GOP’s fundraising woes.

Colorado has voted for Democratic candidates in the past four presidential elections; Williams has led the state Republican Party since March 2023.

On Saturday, Fish planned to cover the GOP assembly — an election-year meeting to nominate representatives to the Republican National Committee and adopt a party platform.

Early that morning, a party representative told Fish that she would not be permitted at the event.

“The state party has made the decision that today’s assembly is not an ‘open’ press event. This is to inform you that your name is not included in my final press credentials list currently being typed up,” Eric Grossman said in a 3:45 a.m. text message to Fish. “The state chairman believes current reporting to be very unfair.”

Fish decided to go anyway. Around 8:30 a.m., she walked into the gathering at the Colorado State Fairgrounds with a press credential in hand, she said.

“They gave me a press pass,” Fish said. “The assembly was about to start, and some of the security staff at the event came up and said I needed to leave.”

A security worker said the event organizers didn’t want Fish to be there, the reporter recalled.

Grossman, who had texted Fish early Saturday morning, approached her and reiterated that she must leave.

“I tried to ask him what was unfair about my reporting and other questions. And he was like, Get out of here,” Fish said.

She stayed. Then law enforcement arrived.

Video from the stands shows an official with the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office tell Fish that she wasn’t allowed to be there, and an event staffer said she was given a press pass “erroneously.”

Finally, Fish was escorted out.

“Political parties are private organizations that, I would argue, are doing public business, in terms of nominating candidates on behalf of their party,” Fish said.

The Colorado chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists said the move “represents a hostile disregard for the fundamental standards of transparency, accountability and press freedom.”

“Interfering with and attempting to suppress journalists from covering matters of civic engagement is an offense to democracy,” the group said on its website.

On social media, Republican state Rep. Matt Soper said political parties “shouldn’t be ejecting reporters from meetings” regardless of disagreements.

Democratic state Sen. Nick Hinrichsen said the incident was an “egregious abuse of power and violation of trust.”

Former Colorado GOP chairwoman Kristi Burton Brown called the action “dangerous” and said “transparency is necessary for our nation.”

The state Republican Party has publicly defended the move, criticizing journalists and state lawmakers who pushed back on Fish’s removal, including members of its own party. That bipartisan criticism of the ejection may have influenced a primary endorsement: The Colorado GOP announced Monday on X that it was endorsing Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) in the state’s 4th Congressional District after opponent Deborah Flora called Fish’s removal a “violation of the First Amendment.”

In a post responding to Flora’s criticism, the state party accused her of “boot licking fake journalists who only help Democrats.”

Fish said she is undeterred by her ejection.

“I’m going to cover the contests that I’m assigned, and I’m going to show up for debates and other activities,” she said. “I’m just going to show up.”

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Colorado

Northbound crash on I-25 and Fillmore slows traffic in Colorado Springs Monday morning | KRDO

Published

2 hours ago

July 8, 2024

Press Room

Northbound crash on I-25 and Fillmore slows traffic in Colorado Springs Monday morning | KRDO

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — A crash along I-25 slows down drivers traveling north during the Monday morning commute.

According to our KRDO photographer on scene, it looks like the crash is between two different vehicles going northbound on I-25 just past the Fillmore exit. Backups extend to the Nevada/Tejon exit.

One driver was checked out by the Colorado Springs Fire Department but wasn’t taken to the hospital, according to those on scene. One northbound lane is closed as the crash gets cleaned up.

At this time, add an extra 15-30 minutes to your drive if you are planning on traveling I-25 north of downtown Colorado Springs.

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Colorado

Who was Jesse Hamric? Colorado teen dies after jumping into electrified Virginia lake during 4th of July celebrations

Published

9 hours ago

July 8, 2024

Press Room

Who was Jesse Hamric? Colorado teen dies after jumping into electrified Virginia lake during 4th of July celebrations

A Colorado teen died after jumping into an electrified lake during 4th of July celebrations. Friends of 18-year-old Jesse Hamric realised something was wrong as soon as he dove into the water at Smith Mountain Lake outside Roanoke, Virginia.

Colorado teen Jesse Hamric dies after jumping into electrified Virginia lake during 4th of July celebrations (TikTok)

Hamric’s friends jumped into the water after him, and immediately felt themselves getting shocked. They sustained injuries themselves, but managed to pull Hamric out, WDBJ reported. One of the friends called for help, while another began CPR on Hamric.

Hamric was eventually rushed to a hospital by a rescue crew. He later died. Two of his friends sustained minor injuries.

Fire crews investigated the incident and an official with the Smith Mountain Lake Marine Volunteer Fire Rescue Dive Team confirmed that there were electrical currents in the water where Hamric died, caused by stray voltage spreading from a dock at a private residence located nearby. No foul play is suspected in Hamric’s death, according to ABC13.

Who was Jesse Hamric?

Hamric was a Steamboat Springs native. At the time of the incident, he was visiting friends with his family. Hamric excelled on the football and baseball teams in Steamboat Springs High School in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, and had just graduated in May.

“Ever since I first met that kid, I mean, he’s like one of a kind,” Hamric’s friend Alex Schwab told KDVR. “You see him and you just, like, he always has a smile on his face.”

“Still can’t even like process it. I’m so upset by it,” he added.

Hamric was the son of Jay Hamric, the school’s principal, according to Independent. “We are deeply saddened by the passing of a recent Steamboat Springs High School graduate,” the school said in a statement. “Please take a moment to care for yourself, lean into those around you for support, and care for each other. Our thoughts are with all of you.”

A GoFundMe has been launched to “support the family and to fund a “Jesse Cyrus Hamric Foundation for Courage and Love”.” “Jesse was a dearly loved friend, bringing light and positivity everywhere he went, and he will be missed everyday,” the page reads.

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Colorado

Colorado businesswoman found guilty of defrauding government of nearly half million dollars

Published

17 hours ago

July 7, 2024

Press Room

Colorado businesswoman found guilty of defrauding government of nearly half million dollars

A woman accused of filing false documents for federal COVID support for her online businesses — and of receiving almost a half million dollars before federal authorities cut her off — was recently convicted on all charges by a Denver jury.

Shambrica Washington, 39, was found guilty on all 31 counts of wire fraud, bank fraud, money laundering, and false claims.

The jury reached its verdict on June 28, the fourth day of what was scheduled to be a five-day trial in federal court.

Former Colorado data company executive convicted of mail and wire fraud, sold data on millions of people

According to federal prosecutors, Washington was the owner of Tiny Toes and Tiaras, an online luxury baby apparel boutique, and TrueLove’s Daughters, a non-profit focused on female empowerment. Between March and July 2020, Washington obtained loans from the Small Business Administration for two Economic Injury Disaster Loans and from JPMorgan Chase for two PPP loans for a total of $485,749.00. The applications for the loans contained false information about how many people were employed by her businesses and the businesses’ wages, revenues, and costs of operation, according to prosecutors.

Additionally, prosecutors claimed Washington used the illegally obtained money to purchase a car and a custom-built home, pay for elective surgery, and pay credit card debt and other bills.

Washington also applied for millions of dollars in additional loans, grants, and tax credits which were not granted, according to prosecutors. These included a $6 million SBA grant intended for shuttered concert venues.

Shambrica Washington in a profile photo on several of her social media accounts, left, and her booking photo following her arrest in 2019 for identity theft.

LinkedIn and YouTube/El Paso County Sheriff’s Office

Washington and her husband Jean Victor Damus lived in Fountain at the time of the infractions. They moved to Allen, Texas, in the fall of 2020. There, prosecutors claimed, Washington continued to file false information for federal COVID relief funds on behalf of at least one other company also based on high-end children’s fashion.

The couple sold their Fountain home for $420,000 but only needed a loan of less than $24,000 to complete the purchase of the $1,140,000 (assessed value) home in Texas, according to a search of online public records.

RELATED Small businesses got more than $200 billion in potentially fraudulent COVID loans, report says

A federal indictment was first filed against the couple in June 2022. Victor Damus reached a plea deal with prosecutors a year later and was sentenced last November on a single count of False Claims to the Internal Revenue Service. He received a sentence of three years of supervised probation.

Washington, meanwhile, fought the accusations. Very publicly, in some cases. In the lead-up to the trial, an X account operated by a Shaye Damus of Colorado Springs railed on local, state and federal authorities: “KKK country N Colorado. Corruption stemming from local law enforcement N El Paso County all the way 2 the DOJ N FBI. When will it end,” was posted on March 7, 2023. “When will black people be free in this country?”

RELATED U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado indicts Denver hotel owner on COVID fraud

Federal authorities claimed Washington failed to list her criminal record on at least one application for federal funds. Washington pleaded guilty to identity theft in El Paso County court in June 2020 – during the time she was allegedly filling out falsified federal applications. She was given a two-year deferred sentence in the county case along with 100 hours of community service. That county case has since been re-opened, however. Washington is scheduled to appear in a review hearing Thursday.

She faces a judge for the federal fraud sentencing in late September.

IRS Criminal Investigation and the FBI Denver Field Office conducted the federal investigation.

Logan Smith

Logan Smith is an assignment desk editor at CBS Colorado in Denver with more than 30 years of journalism experience in digital, television and print media.

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