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CT Capitol Police charge Tolland man with threatening a lawmaker

Republican state Rep. Tammy Nuccio was threatened because of a misplaced campaign sign, police said.
Republican state Rep. Tammy Nuccio was threatened because of a misplaced campaign sign, police said.

A threatening voicemail left for a Connecticut lawmaker over a misplaced lawn sign has resulted in an arrest by the State Capitol Police.

Justin Gagnon, 42, of Tolland was charged Monday with 2nd degree threatening, harassment and breach of peace and released to appear Sept. 21 in Hartford Superior Court, police said.

A caller left a message threatening to shoot state Rep. Tammy Nuccio, R-Tolland, after finding one of her campaign signs on his lawn, said Patrick O’Neil, a spokesman for the House Republican caucus.

The previous owner of the caller’s house had a requested the sign for their current home, but it was wrongly delivered to the old address. The angry voicemail was left over Labor Day weekend, O’Neil said.

Gagnon, who could not be reached for comment Tuesday, apologized when a House aide returned the call and informed him she would have to refer the voicemail to the police, O’Neil said.

Nuccio, who also serves on the Town Council in addition to representing Tolland, Ashford and Willington in the House, issued a statement expressing hope the incident will give people pause.

“Politics and public service need not be overly combative, or caustic and my hope is lessons can be learned from this unfortunate matter,” Nuccio said.

Nuccio, who long has been active in civic life, said the threat was a first.

“I hope the people who are becoming overly emotional can get the help they need or find a way to vent their frustrations without threats, words or actions of violence,” she said.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

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