County commissioner Steve Davis talks about death threat from 25 years ago

LANCASTER − Elected officials at all levels are sometimes harmed or threatened with harm, as the failed assassination attempt Saturday of former President Donald Trump proved.

At Tuesday's Fairfield County commission meeting, commissioner Steve Davis said he dealt with a death threat 25 years ago when he was on city council.

"I got a call from the city prosecutor's office saying that a police officer was on their way to my office and was going to stand guard with me as a threat had been made against my life," Davis said. "I remember how I felt in that moment. A little bit of fear, probably."

As the police officer guarded him, Davis said he wondered where his children were. The officer told him there were extra patrols around his family.

Davis said the person who made the threats later died in jail.

"I mention that in the sense that I think there's a rush right not to say, 'Oh, it's the rhetoric. We all have to dial it back because this is a new thing or whatever,'" he said. "But not really. I remember when (Ronald) Reagan was shot, somebody tried to kill (Gerald) Ford, President Kennedy. I guess I just want to express my sincere thankfulness that President Trump survived that assassination attempt so the political contest to see who wins can go forward. And I can't wait to vote."

Commissioner Jeff Fix also spoke of the Trump assassination attempt.

"We talked a couple years ago at the State of the County about political discourse," he said. "And how we should be able to have vigorous debates with each other on policy and topics of importance. But there's a line there that you just can't cross. It shouldn't be personal and it should never be life threatening."

Fix said the commissioners "hate to see our country reduced to that kind of activity."

"But I hope that the leaders of both parties as they go through the rest of this presidential election will find a way to have those great debates about policy," he said. "Because there are some significant differences in how they see the world without there being personal attacks or anything violent."

jbarron@gannett.com

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Twitter/X: @JeffDBarron