This is going to piss some of you off! But here it is anyway.
CO State Rep. Leslie Michaels Tarred and Feathered!
by Tom Buchanan
July 3, 2001, Denver
Colorado State Representative Leslie Lee Michaels was found Tuesday
morning bound and gagged at the base of the Civil War Memorial statue
on the west side of the Capital building. She was drenched from the top
of her head to her feet in molasses and covered with turkey feathers.
Around her neck was a large sign with bright red letters that stated,
"I VOTED AGAINST THE CONSTITUTION." In front of her were poster sized
copies of the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. It
was all she had to look at for the fourteen hours she was strapped to
the statue.
Ms. Michaels was found around 9:00 AM by a group of history students
who arrived for a tour of the Capital building. "We thought it was a
reenactment of a tar and feathering which was a popular deterrent
against tyranny during the Revolutionary period instituted by the Sons
of Liberty on tax collectors," said one student, "It was so realistic".
The group admired the display as Leslie tried to hide her shame. "It
was awesome!" declared another student. "We thought they put the
display on just for us because we are studying the American Revolution
in class."
When Representative Michaels was finally released from her bondage by a
State Capital guard at 9:45 AM, she sobbed uncontrollably and recounted
her ordeal. It appears that Ms. Michaels was working on yet another in
the series of 'reasonable gun control laws'. She was working late in
her office at the Capital, putting the final touches on her new
proposal to stop the 'Classified Ad' loop hole of gun sales. The new
legislation would be a defacto ban on the private sales of firearms. It
(HB 0666) requires all transactions be done at the business of a
Federal Firearms dealer. It requires a back ground check on both the
buyer and the seller of any firearm sold in Colorado.
Ms. Michaels stated that as she was walking toward her automobile at
6:30 PM on Monday night a group of people dressed in Revolutionary War
costumes quickly over came her, swept her off of her feet and gagged
her. They took her around to the West steps of the Capital which has
been a popular location for demonstrations throughout the years. When
they got there they relieved her of her outer garments and lashed her
to the base of the Civil War Memorial statue. "I was terrified!" she
recalled. "If I would have had a gun I may have been able to prevent
this horrible experience."
After she was bound to the bronze statue she was tormented by the men
and women for more than an hour. "They called me a traitor to freedom
and liberty," she said through her tears. "I have heard these types
crying out to stop these new laws for years, but I never really thought
they were serious." she said.