Posted on 02/28/2008 7:45:03 AM PST by SmithL
Nagaraja Rao said he received nine threatening calls to his cell phone in November just days after the party's Central Committee voted to oppose a Feb. 5 recall of Pinole City Councilwoman Maria Alegria and Councilman Stephen Tilton.
Rao told the Pinole City Council on Nov. 20 that law enforcement authorities were investigating the calls as a hate crime. He told a reporter outside the council chamber that the callers included both men and women and that the first one had told him, "I'm watching you. You will be dead." He said other calls were similar in content.
Rao said it was "obvious" the calls were connected to his and his party's stand on the recall issue, although he conceded they contained no specific language establishing such a link.
Jeff Rubin, spokesman for recall sponsor Concerned Citizens of Pinole, has said he believes Rao made up the story of the death threats.
"To intentionally try to affect the outcome of an election -- and a nonpartisan election at that -- by coming to a city's council meeting and declaring to a television audience that the opposition's members made death threats against him is morally reprehensible," Rubin said.
Rao did not respond to e-mails Tuesday and Wednesday.
Reached by telephone Wednesday afternoon, Rao said, "I don't have time right now." Asked when he might be able to talk, Rao said, "Some other time. Not now."
Berkeley police led the investigation of Rao's allegations because he reported receiving the first four calls while he was in Berkeley on Nov. 17.
In December, police executed a search warrant at a Hercules residence. No one was arrested. Later that month, police said the phone calls Rao reported were not connected to any political activity.
Alameda County Assistant District Attorney Marty Brown said Tuesday that there is insufficient evidence to file charges against anyone.
"We can't prove what happened, in terms of the nature of the calls, what was said and who made them," Brown said, citing "a lack of corroboration."
Rubin said Rao is an embarrassment to the Democratic Party and that its leaders should demand his resignation as chairman and spokesman. If they don't, Rubin said, Democratic voters should oust Rao in the June Central Committee elections to reclaim their party's dignity.
Alegria and Tilton were recalled Feb. 5 by wide margins.
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