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| WELS Pastor Dave Wendt Facebook Page |
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WELS Lutheran pastor resigns after being linked to threatening email
A Lutheran pastor in La Crosse resigned on Tuesday, four days after a vulgar and virulent email threatening to gang rape a Milwaukee bloggerwho criticized police work was sent from his home email address, a spokesman for the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod said.
The Rev. David Wendt of First Evangelical Lutheran Church in La Crosse tendered his resignation to the church council, a day after blogger Claire Van Fossen posted the email on social media.
Synod spokesman Lee Hitter said he did not know whether Wendt admitted sending the email, and efforts to reach Wendt and church President Mick Schwedler were unsuccessful.
Hitter said Wendt told synod President Mark Schroeder earlier in the day that the email address in question was his, but he denied sending the threat.
"Obviously, the email was completely unacceptable," said Hitter.
Van Fossen, a liberal Milwaukee activist and blogger, said she was inundated with emails and telephone calls critical of a blog post in which she declared that police cause more harm than good. Much of the anger was directed at the timing of the post -- one day after State Trooper Trevor Casper , 21, was shot and killed by a bank robber in Fond du Lac.
The email was one of dozens of angry and sometimes vulgar responses that came after Van Fossen wrote onPurple Wisconsin, a collection of independent bloggers hosted on JSOnline, that police departments do "more harm than good" in society and envisioned "a more just, free, and equitable world" where they would not be needed.
"They threaten us with violence and incarceration and target the most oppressed and vulnerable people in our society. By blaming 'crime' and 'criminals' instead of systemic oppression for society's ills, the police exacerbate societal problems, harm citizens, and bar the people from liberation by maintaining the capitalist social order," Van Fossen wrote.
The post and associated comments have been removed from Purple Wisconsin.
"Purple Wisconsin is a site where community bloggers contribute to conversations about current issues and debates," said David D. Haynes, Journal Sentinel editorial page editor. "We do not direct or edit them in any fashion, but make it clear that this should be a safe space for thoughtful debate. Unfortunately, that surely did not happen in this case. When a post, reaction to a post or both don't meet that standard, our only option is to take it down.
"Claire and I discussed her post today and I made the decision to take it down. Some of the things people posted about her were vile and hateful. It was disgusting and not at all what we want for this feature."
Van Fossen said she'd been working on the essay for a few weeks and that its publication was in no way timed to the trooper's killing, which she called "an absolute tragedy."
The most extreme response to the post, Van Fossen said, was a screed dated March 27 from Wendt's home email address calling her "the dumbest (expletive) liberal (expletive) I've heard yet."
The email goes on to tell Van Fossen to "Get off the drugs, (expletive), and go check yourself into rehab. ... Or better yet, you're pretty hot. So how about if I come over and rape you with a few of my friends. WHEW! At least I won't have to worry about you calling the police."
Van Fossen traced the Internet Provider address to La Crosse and posted the email on Facebook.
Hitter said Wendt asked the Onalaska Police Department's cyber crimes unit to investigate.
Police Chief Jeff Trotnic said Wendt called his department on Monday and was invited to bring in his computer for analysis. But Trotnic said he had not done so by 5 p.m. Tuesday.
The blogger said she is afraid for her safety. She stood by her assertion that the institution of policing does more harm that good but said she didn't mean to disparage police officers, many of whom she believes are "good people."
"What does it say about our society ... if the thought that we could care about each other enough that we don't need police is so threatening that people threaten violence?" Van Fossen asked.