Colorado and New Mexico have a lot in common politically. Largely rural conservative states dominated by a big liberal city with a leftist mayor and a leftist governor. And those cities, namely Denver and Albuquerque are in a hot steaming race to the bottom in homelessness and crime. An Instagram account called Do Better Denver, which I would characterize as a cross between ABQRAW and Libs of TikTok, posts photos and videos that people take of homelessness, addiction and crime occurring in Denver to bring awareness, and hopefully the attention of the powers that be, to these critical issues. This has made Do Better Denver a target of the Denver Mayor.
I understand that not everyone wants to be identified online, and people have many reasons to stay anonymous. In fact, pseudonymity is a long-standing tradition in political discourse. The person, or persons, behind Do Better Denver have chosen to remain anonymous and I respect their decision. Many of the contributors to Do Better Denver also posted under their social media “handles,” and not necessarily their real names. With the fed-up citizens posting so much unflattering information about conditions around Denver, Mayor Mike Johnston decided to strike back.
It seems that city employees did a search of who was filing Colorado Open Records Act requests to zoom in on people who were researching quality of life issues in Denver. The Mayor’s office then fed the names to a Denver Post reporter, who wrote an article doxing three contributors to Do Better Denver. Mind you, these folks have no affiliation with the account itself, they just posted information on a thread.
This was a transparent attempt to chill public discourse that is embarrassing to the Mayor of Denver. An outrageous abuse of both government and media power. But their grip on power is becoming ever more tenuous. Citizen journalist accounts on social media are rapidly replacing legacy outlets like the Denver Post, because the public is seeking out the truth and the mainstream media is telling lies. Look no further than the NY Times being forced to retract its fake Gaza “starvation” photo of a poor child with a genetic condition.
The good news is in spite of the absolute worst intentions of the scurrilous Denver Post, the doxed individuals basically said “Yeah, it’s me, so what?” And in a twist of pure schadenfreude, the only person who ended up getting fired as a result of this incident was a homeless shelter employee who posted an unhinged video rant on TikTok calling for violence against whoever is behind the Do Better Denver account. Doesn’t it always seem like the only ones supporting the Homeless Industrial Complex are the ones getting paid?
Perhaps the most shocking reveal in this sordid tale of attempted institutional intimidation was the email response from the editor of the Denver Post to one of the doxees saying in not so many words: If you speak out against us, the Progressive Left, you’re fair game for our dirtball tactics. I’m not sure if threatening concerned citizens is a winning political strategy, just saying.
And for our side, this epic boomerang thrown by the Left that ended up taking down one of their own, is illustrative. The ones who contributed to Do Better Denver, concerned for their neighborhoods, their property and their families are the heroes. Don’t be afraid to speak out and stand up for your beliefs.
When we have unity, we have strength, and we have each other’s backs. We are winning the information war.
Robert Witsenhausen is a Santa Fe-based sound engineer and electrical contractor with an interest in politics and current events.
