GOP group is forced to cancel Kristi Noem fundraiser after receiving death ... trends now
A fundraiser featuring South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem has been cancelled after organizers were sent death threats about her puppy slaughter.
Noem wrote in her upcoming memoir that she shot her 14-month-old puppy named Cricket dead in her family's gravel pit after it killed chickens.
Her admission created a firestorm that likely torpedoed her chances of being Donald Trump's running mate and had her mocked by other Republicans.
Noem was supposed to be the keynote speaker at the Jefferson County, Colorado, Republicans' annual fundraiser, but it was called off over safety fears.
A fundraiser featuring South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem has been cancelled after organizers were sent death threats about her puppy murder
Jefferson County Republican Party Chair Nancy Pallozzi said her group, Noem, her staff, and the venue got 'numerous threats and/or death threats'.
'After a conversation with the governor's office late Wednesday, we mutually decided that safety was the most important concern for everyone involved,' she said.
'The Denver West Marriott also received alarming comments and shared with us their deep concern over the safety and security for those attending our event, other guests, and their staff.'
Pallozzi said cancelling the event was 'not taking a position on the public outcry on the governor's book', merely accounting for safety.
She said Noem 'has, and continues, to stand up for our constitutional rights, our freedom, and less government, which is the platform of the Republican Party'.
The organization will refund everyone who bought the pricey tickets for the event, and eat the thousands of dollars in costs it can't claw back.
The controversy, which has gotten even her fellow conservatives riled up and angry at her on social media, forced Noem to do damage control.
She moaned that the outrage was 'fake news' stirred up by 'the media' - prompting another surge of criticism from readers who highlighted that the press was only reporting Noem's own published words.
'I can understand why some people are upset about a 20 year old story of Cricket, one of the working dogs at our ranch,' she wrote on Twitter.
'The fact is, South Dakota law states that dogs who attack and kill livestock can be put down. Given that Cricket had shown aggressive behavior toward people by biting them, I decided what I did.
Noem is photographed with a different dog that she owned, Hazel, a Vizsla
'As I explained in the book, it wasn't easy. But often the easy way isn't the right way.'
Noem later told Fox News that Cricket 'massacred' a neighbor's livestock the day it was killed.
'It had come to us from a family who had found her way too aggressive,' she claimed.
The book, titled No Going Back: The Truth on What's Wrong with
