Some members of the Wethersfield Town Council and staff have received death threats since voting to reject a request to fly the thin blue line flag on the day of Trooper First Class Aaron Pelletier's funeral last week.
Those that voted against flying the flag cited the town's flag policy, which requires a request be made 30 days in advance.
Matthew Forrest, deputy mayor of Wethersfield, who voted no also read the Wikipedia definition of the flag during a Town Council meeting last week, which said the flag has become emblematic of white nationalist, neo-Nazi, and alt-right movements in the United States.
Those who wanted the flag raised at Town Hall said the flag represents nothing more than a show of support for law enforcement.
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According to Wethersfield Town Manager Fred Presley, council members and staff have received hundreds of emails, texts, and phone messages since the vote. Many of the messages originated outside of Connecticut, he said.
Presley described a large number of messages as disturbing and vulgar, and some threaten physical harm or death to council members and staff. Some target individual council members and their families, he said.
Those messages have been reported to police and they are under investigation, according to Presley.
