Darin Mano, Salt Lake City's first Asian American council member, was going door to door campaigning on Saturday when he knocked at the home of Utah Assistant Attorney General Steven Wuthrich. Apparently, Wuthrich was napping and was quite unhappy to be disturbed, so he emailed the following to his colleague:
"I will do everything in my power to see you never get elected to any office higher than dog catcher. I hate you. I hate your family. I hate your solicitors. I hate your contributors. I hate your sponsors. Kindly die and go to hell motherf—–!!!!"
Mano told NBC News that given the increase in anti-Asian crimes and and racism he felt that it was important to inform the public of the matter. Wuthrich has since apologized. From NBC News:
"Last Saturday I was awakened from a nap and reacted with undue anger based solely on the interruption to my tranquility," Wuthrich said in a statement. "Since then I have regretted the ferocity and language of that email. My words were uncivil and unprofessional."
In his initial email, Wuthrich said he had an "unwanted solicitation" sign on his door. Mano said he saw the sign, but clarified that "solicitation and campaigning are not the same thing."
"Our understanding of the law is that campaigning is protected under the First Amendment — that's why we were particularly shocked because one would think that the assistant attorney general would know the difference," he said.
