Jeff Cox, deputy attorney general for the state of Indiana, suggested via Twitter that riot police "use live ammunition" against demonstrators outside Wisconsin's capitol building on Saturday night, reports "Mother Jones."
Tweeting as JCCentCom, Cox was responding to a report tweeted by staffers of the political magazine regarding riot police possibly called to sweep out demonstrators (they weren't).
Taking issue with this response, "Mother Jones" staffer Adam Weinstein called out JCCentCom from his own Twitter account:
I confronted the user, JCCentCom. He tweeted back that the demonstrators were "political enemies" and "thugs" who were "physically threatening legally elected officials." In response to such behavior, he said, "You're damned right I advocate deadly force." He later called me a "typical leftist," adding, "liberals hate police." Only later did we realize that JCCentCom was a deputy attorney general for the state of Indiana.
According to Weinstein, "Mother Jones" sent an e-mail to Cox's work address to confirm whether Cox was the author of the tweets as well as the blogger behind Pro Cynic (now disabled), where he "evinces contempt for political opponents," and asked if Cox wished to provide context. Cox, who is one of 144 attorneys in that office, responded shortly after from a personal email address: "For 'context?' Or to silence me? All my comments on twitter & my blog are my own and no one else's. And I can defend them all."
Responding to msnbc.com's inquiry regarding the the "Mother Jones" piece, Bryan Corbin, spokesperson for Indiana Attorney General's office, provided this statement via e-mail:
An immediate review of this personnel matter is now under way to determine whether the assertions made in the "Mother Jones" article about an employee are accurate. When that review is complete, appropriate personnel action will be taken. The Indiana Attorney General's Office does not condone the inflammatory statements asserted in the "Mother Jones" article and we do not condone any comments that would threaten or imply violence or intimidation toward anyone. Civility and courtesy toward all constituents is very important to this agency. We take this matter very seriously. The reporter who wrote the "Mother Jones" article informs us that the offensive postings over the weekend were made using a personal Twitter account and personal email, not a state government email account. As public servants, state employees should strive to conduct themselves with professionalism and appropriate decorum in their interactions with the public. This is a serious matter that is being addressed.
Following the shooting of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords last month, an attack that left six people dead and a dozen others wounded, it's unsettling that someone in the public sector would call for violence. But this is era when political insiders share personal views freely and without filter, and Cox's unvarnished tweets may provide insight into coming battles in other states.
As "Mother Jones" points out, Cox's tweets seem "all the more troubling now that the public-sector union fight playing out in Wisconsin is now headed to other states — including Indiana, where GOP senators Tuesday passed a bill that would abolish collective bargaining for state teachers."
