MORGANTOWN – A circuit judge has denied a Motion to Dismiss a lawsuit filed by a House of Delegates member regarding “violent, racist, hateful and intimidating” emails and social media posts aimed at her.
Danielle Walker, who is Black, originally filed her complaint February 15 in Kanawha Circuit Court against West Virginians For Life Inc. and Richard Demoske. Walker represents the 51st District, covering part of Monongalia County, and she is the only Black female lawmaker. The complaint was refiled September 7 in Monongalia Circuit Court after being dismissed in Kanawha County by Circuit Judge Duke Bloom based on venue.
On December 8, Monongalia Circuit Judge Phillip Gaujot dismissed similar Motions to Dismiss by both defendants, who had said the section of state code that protects lawmakers and other government employees from intimidation and harassment violates the First Amendment.
Toriseva
At the conclusion of the hour-long hearing, Gaujot asked both sides to submit findings of fact before he issues his final order regarding the motion.
“Delegate Danielle Walker was targeted because she was and is the only Black female lawmaker here,” Teresa Toriseva, one of the attorneys representing Walker, told The West Virginia Record following the December 8 hearing. “A specific statute in West Virginia prohibits this exact conduct, and the First Amendment doesn’t protect targeted hate speech.”
Walker also described the incident as the “modern-day equivalent of burning a cross in my front yard.”
“It is impossible to comprehend the astonishment that I felt when targeted with an image of a hooded Ku Klux Klansman throwing a Nazi salute directed at me,” Walker said in a press release at the time of the original filing. “The companion Facebook post presented the hate-mail for the entire world to see. These digital communications were and are designed by West Virginians for Life to harass, intimidate, and strike me with fear of violence if I continue my support of a woman’s right to choose.”
Toriseva, one of the attorneys representing Walker, said her client was “shaken” and “in fear for her life and for the safety of her family members.”
“We are a society of laws and this behavior must have consequences,” Toriseva told The Record at the time of the original filing. “It’s not ‘anything goes’ in politics. A threat is still illegal. A threat against a public official in the performance of her duties, even more so.”
On February 1, Walker received an email sent by Demoske, who was president of the Berkeley County chapter of West Virginians For Life. Walker says she was the only delegate to receive the email. The subject line of the email was “Your Plan.”
“A white-hooded Klansman throwing the Nazi salute directed at a Black female delegate in an attempt to intimidate the delegate to vote against or to stop sponsoring legislation the defendants want stopped is intimating, threatening, and harassing,” the complaint states. “There was also a companion Facebook post that ‘tagged’ Delegate Walker.”
The Facebook post included the same picture and a written message.
“Delegate Danielle Walker, West Virginia State Legislator for Monongalia County, 51 District the idiot featured in the picture below is an ally of yours and holds the same beliefs you do that the killing of children who look like you is a good thing!”
“As all social media users know, posts with memes are created and posted by the author to be reacted to, shared, and hopefully ‘go viral,’” the complaint states. “The use of a white-hooded Ku Klux Klansman directed at a Black female is an obvious attempt to hint that violence directed at her is coming next if she does not comply with WVFL’s views.”
A few days earlier, Walker and fellow Monongalia County delegate Evan Hansen introduced a bill to preserve a patient’s right to an abortion. Earlier in the session, Republican lawmakers introduced a bill that would make abortion illegal after 15 weeks unless there is a medical emergency or “severe fetal abnormality.”
In addition to abortion, West Virginia lawmakers also examined racial policies this session. The state's Black population is 3.7 percent, and the White population is 93.5 percent.
According to the complaint, Walker now wears protective body gear when she arrives to and leaves the state Capitol.
“Delegate Walker asked her mostly white colleagues in the House of Delegates if they’d received the email, Facebook post, or anything similar as she is not the only lawmaker backing legislation to repeal abortion restrictions,” the complaint states. “None of Delegate Walker’s colleagues has received anything similar.”
Walker says she has been a regular target of WVFL and its supporters. She has said publicly she has had three abortions and uses the personal experience to inform the public, but she says the WVFL and its supporters use that information to intimidate her.
“One day, Delegate Walker arrived at her state Legislature office to find three small baby ‘dolls’ left on her desk,” the complaint states. “This was clearly done to harass and intimidate her because she herself had three abortions.”
The complaint also details support she received from her legislative colleagues on both sides of the aisle.
On February 2, Demoske claimed responsibility for the email and Facebook post. He resigned from the position.
“In the letter, defendant Demoske apologized (but not directly to Delegate Walker), admitted the email and post were racist, and resigned indicating the conduct violated the by-laws of the organization,” the complaint states. “The electronic harassment, racist threats and intimidation were made directly to and only to Delegate Walker, but defendants’ letter claiming responsibility was addressed to entire world.”
Walker says she fears for her life and for her mother and son.
According to the complaint, the defendants’ conduct violates W. Va. Code § 61-6-21(a) which states, “All persons within the boundaries of the state of West Virginia have the right to be free from any violence, or intimidation by threat of violence, committed against their persons or property because of their race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, political affiliation or sex.”
Section (b) of that code says, “If any person does by force or threat of force, willfully injure, intimidate or interfere with, or attempt to injure, intimidate or interfere with, or oppress or threaten any other person in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him or her by the Constitution or laws of the state of West Virginia or by the Constitution or laws of the United States, because of such other person's race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, political affiliation or sex, he or she shall be guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction, shall be fined not more than five thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.”
The next section of that code also mentions fines if the defendants conspired to take part in the conduct.
“The intent of the defendants was to harass and intimidate Delegate Walker to impede her from performing her official duties,” the complaint states. “Specifically, the Defendants sought to intimidate Delegate Walker into changing her views support, and voting regarding the right of a woman to have control over her own body without restriction by the state government. …
“It was meant to strike fear in Delegate Walker, to make her believe the KKK was coming for her if she did not change her vote, to remind her that people still hate her simply because of the color of her skin, and to cause her so much fear for her personal safety that she would change the way she votes and supports matters that are important to the defendants.”
Walker accuses the defendants of violating state code by intimidating and retaliating against public officers and employees, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent infliction of emotional distress. She also seeks a temporary restraining order for the defendants to stop targeting Walker through any medium of communication.
Walker says she has suffered personal injuries and damages, including mental suffering and mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, humiliation, embarrassment, indignity, shame, economic damages, diminished earning capacity and future lost wages.
Demoske also has filed a separate motion to dismiss.
She is being represented by Toriseva, Joshua Miller and Michael Kuhn of Toriseva Law in Wheeling. West Virginians For Life is being represented by James A. Muldoon and Drannon L. Adkins of Pullin Fowler Flanagan Brown & Poe in Charleston. Demoske is being represented by James W. Marshall and Charles R. Bailey of Bailey & Wyant.
Monongalia Circuit Court case number 22-C-215
