Ugly social media rhetoric, sniping bursts out among CT lawmakers. It comes after death threats

Hartford Courant – Friday, August 22, 2025
By Livi Stanford

Democratic and Republican leaders in the House are asking lawmakers to tamp down negative rhetoric on social media after Rep. Corey Paris received death threats following a message he recently posted on Instagram reminding people to look out for one another after he was made aware of Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in his district.

“As leaders of the Connecticut House of Representatives, we encourage an environment free of personal attacks and certainly free of any risk of violence and we expect our colleagues to keep these recent violent attacks on public officials in mind when posting to social media,” said House Speaker Matt Ritter, House Majority Leader Jason Rojas and House Republican Leader Vincent Candelora in a joint statement.

Paris’ message was reposted by a far-right troll site Libs of TikTok, which has 4 million followers and has been known to inspire harassment, doxxing and bomb threats, That group’s post accused the state legislator of “doxxing ICE’s live location and warning illegals to stay ‘vigilant.” The official ICE account then reposted Libs of TikTok’s post, which said “Charge him,” and tagged the Department of Justice.

Paris also received a disturbing phone call, laced with racial slurs, threatening him and his family as a result of the social media post.

The legislative leaders’ joint statement followed a post by state Rep. Craig Fishbein, R-Wallingford, who stated in response to ICE’s post concerning Paris on Aug. 16 that “quite obviously he hates America.”

In another post following a press briefing Wednesday at the state Capitol in support of Paris, Fishbein reposted Libs of TikTok’s post of the press briefing, which stated “Connecticut state Rep. Eleni Kavros (D) claims that we only exposed Rep. Corey Paris for doxxing ICE’s location because he’s “a black man in this country.”

And Fishbein added his own comments to the post stating: “For years now, lawful citizens of our state have tried to bring attention to Connecticut’s mental health crisis. Quite obviously it continues to go on unaddressed.”

Fishbein could not be reached for comment Thursday.

State and federal leaders including Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz said Wednesday that Paris did not dox federal agents or do anything to put federal agents at risk. Numerous social media posts claim that Paris’ actions in warning people about ICE are illegal though he did not give a location or identifying information about ICE. The posts have included threats to Paris and calls for him to be prosecuted.

Other Republican legislators reportedly also retweeted the Libs of TikTok post calling for Paris’ prosecution.

The FBI, Capitol police and the Stamford Police Department were working together on the case.

The incident has resulted in an increase in tensions across the aisle in the legislature concerning immigration. Democratic and Republican leaders assert that lawmakers work well together but on social media, behaviors can sometimes change.

Candelora said when it comes to free speech, legislators should lead by example by avoiding negative speech.

Asked about accountability for Fishbein’s posts, he said that individuals are exercising their free speech.

“I am not in a position to tell them not to do that and I won’t,” he said. “I think it is one thing to hold someone accountable who is committing a crime and another to hold someone accountable for their speech that they are willing to stand by. It is a very fine line.”

Kavros Degraw told the Courant Thursday that Fishbein’s posts were disgusting. She referred to Paris as a true patriot of the country and said he often speaks about how much he loves the country and state. She also raised additional concerns about Fishbein’s message.

“It is one thing for Libs of TikTok, which has a national audience, to say hateful vile things about us,” she said. “But when you have someone in the state who is legitimizing what Libs of TikTok is saying and is local, that not only puts Rep. Paris and I in danger, it endangers any of the Democrats serving in the House and the Senate because it emboldens the people that actually want to do harm against us.”

In a text message Thursday, Paris said that he loves America unconditionally through its “triumphs and its trials.

“My commitment is rooted in the belief in this republic’s promise that freedom, fairness and justice can be realized for all who call this country home,” he said. “Standing for dignity and safety is not a rejection of America. It is how we help it live up to its ideals.”

Fear of normalizing behavior

Rojas told the Courant that inflammatory posts could pose a danger and he fears that the behavior is becoming normalized.

“It continues to perpetuate a very toxic situation to the point where it could result in someone out there choosing to act in a way that I don’t think anybody wants somebody to act,” he said. “I don’t think my Republican colleagues want any harm to Rep. Paris. I truly believe that when public officials who are deemed to have credibility in the public sphere are actually perpetuating behavior, it validates it in a way that we shouldn’t be doing.”

Rojas added: “In this situation it is about the safety of Corey Paris given what we already know and the threats that have been made but it is also about protecting the integrity of our institutions too.”

Candelora shared similar sentiments.

“We should really refrain generally and try to take the temperature down,” he said. “Right now we see that social media has sort of dehumanized public officials and it could be dangerous. Everybody should step away from the keyboard.”

Rep. Greg Howard, R-Stonington, expressed support for Paris.

“No legislator or any person should be subject to racial comments or vile threats,” he said. “As much as I disagree with my Democratic colleagues on this issue, far more than that I absolutely despise the cowardice of criminals who threaten people over the internet like that. Republicans are going to condemn me for standing up for Corey and Democrats are going to condemn me for disagreeing with his post but that is where I am at. I don’t think his post is a crime by the way.”

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