Wisconsin Lawmaker Says He Received Death Threats For Comments On Bill Blocking Pride Flags
Lawmaker claims he was told he needs to be 'Charlie Kirk'd' after comments.
Light shines through windows inside the Wisconsin State Capitol on Monday, July 14, 2025, in Madison, Wis. Angela Major/WPR
Wisconsin state Rep. Jerry O’Connor said he received several death threats over his comments in support of a bill that would block gay pride flags from being flown at state buildings.
O’Connor, a Republican from Fond du Lac, told WPR one of the threats said he needed to be “Charlie Kirk’d.”
The bill, which passed the Wisconsin Assembly on a party-line vote Sept. 11, would prohibit most flags from being flown on state buildings, aside from the U.S., Wisconsin and state agency flags. It would also exempt flags honoring veterans, tribal nations and flags of other states and nations flown for ceremonial purposes.
During his speech in support of the bill, O’Connor referenced the assassination of Charlie Kirk the day before and said that event, along with the deaths of Sept. 11, 2001, “have something in common: those that hate the standards and the principles and the founding institutions that we have in America.”
“So, you move from what’s too often political dialog that moves to political rhetoric, and there are those extreme cases where it leads to hatred and to murder,” O’Connor said.
Following his comments on the Assembly floor, O’Connor said a social media post claiming he said 9/11 and Kirk’s killing were caused by the pride flag garnered tens of thousands of views.
“But in addition to that, there were more than a dozen, I don’t know, two dozen death threats, which included phrases like: ‘This guy needs to be Charlie Kirk’d.’ ‘This guy needs a lethal injection.’ ‘We know where you live.’ ‘You need to be hung in the public square,’” O’Connor said. “So it was extreme rhetoric.”
O’Connor said he typically dismisses comments like that “as just partisan rancor,” but said it’s a “different world” following Kirk’s assassination. He said his wife and members of his Capitol office staff were most troubled by the threats.
“The shootings of legislators in Minnesota, not in the Capitol building, but in their homes, this assassination of Charlie Kirk, and we could go and list others in recent years,” O’Connor said. “People can be triggered by what shows up on the internet, and to that extent, once the death threat numbers increased, it was turned over to the Capitol Police.”
The threats, which were first reported by WISN-AM talk radio host Dan O’Donnell, led to the cancellation of a Wednesday public hearing on unrelated bills by the Assembly Committee on Ways and Means. O’Connor said the meeting was canceled in consultation with “some senior people within the building” and with Capitol Police.
The Wisconsin State Capitol Police did not respond to a request for comment from WPR.
O’Connor said he understands why some people might interpret his bill as a move against the LGBTQ+ community, but that’s not his intent.
“The role of government is to represent, officially, who we are as a people, and to that extent, we’re not trying to eliminate anybody’s voices,” O’Connor said. “It’s just not the role of government to fly the flag of your particular cause.”
In addition to the Capitol Police investigation, O’Connor said his local sheriff has added patrols near his home. He also said Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, is looking at added security options for lawmakers like “providing video cameras and monitoring of residences for the different legislators.”
Vos’ office did not respond to WPR’s request for comment. The speaker said earlier this year that he didn’t want to “fortify” the state Capitol.
Wisconsin GOP lawmaker says he received death threats after his comments on LGBTQ+ flag was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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So he “understands why some people might interpret his bill as a move against the LGBTQ+ community”, but he just doesn’t care?
Or, what values does he hold that are more important than the outcomes he “doesn’t intend”?