Black GOP Official Resigns, Citing Arizona Tea Party Threats

corruptpolitics:

The sole black Republican Party district chairman in Arizona resigned from his post in the wake of Saturday’s shooting, citing threats from the Tea Party faction and concerns for his family’s safety, The Arizona Republic first reported.
Republican District 20 Chairman Anthony Miller was not the only party official to resign following the shooting that killed six and wounded 14 others, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) and a federal judge. But Miller had been an especially dedicated campaigner for the GOP, and said he only stepped down in the face of “constant verbal attacks” and other forms of intimidation.
“I wasn’t going to resign but decided to quit after what happened Saturday,” he said. “I love the Republican Party but I don’t want to take a bullet for anyone.”
Miller, 43, told HuffPost he decided to resign after his wife expressed concern for their safety. Miller had been the target of heavy criticism from Arizona Tea Partyers, in part because he worked on Sen. John McCain’s campaign last fall. (The Tea Partyers favored McCain’s opponent, J.D. Hayworth.)
But the attacks also took on a racial hue. One critic referred to him derogatorily as “McCain’s boy,” Miller said. Other language was even less ambiguous. At an event in Lake Havasu City, Ariz., Miller said someone called out, “There’s Anthony, get a rope.”
Yet Miller balks at crying racism.
“To say that anyone has been racially motivated, I can’t really draw a conclusion,” he said. “But a lot of people told me ‘You’re not a conservative, you’re a RINO.’ In my mind, that’s just as bad as being called a n——-, honestly. When you call someone a n——-, it’s saying they’re less than, and RINO is the same thing.”
Newly-elected district Secretary Sophia Johnson, First Vice Chairman Roger Dickinson, and former district spokesman Jeff Kolb are also stepping down, according to the Republic, although Dickinson contested the claim that they are all going willingly.
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