This story first appeared in a Colorado Community Media newspaper. Support CCM’s neighborhood news.
New details about the death threats sent to Littleton Public Schools Superintendent Brian Ewert and the board of education following controversy over a district-hosted COVID vaccine clinic convey days of anxiety, uncertainty and urgency for the district.
The threats began shortly after two videos surfaced showing a 15-year-old Littleton High School student and a 16-year-old homeschooled student lying to clinic staff at Heritage High School on Jan. 21 about age and parental consent as part of a deliberate attempt to shut down the clinic.
In a voicemail message left on Ewert’s phone at 9:05 a.m. on Jan. 25, a caller threatened to inject Ewert with a syringe of anthrax, a deadly bacteria.
“I heard you like to inject children with garbage and poison type of stuff without their parental consent … I have a syringe full of anthrax to inject into you,” the caller said in the voicemail message, which was shared with Colorado Community Media by Ewert.
The caller then went on to graphically describe how he believed Ewert would die from the injection.
A 48-year-old Thornton resident, Byron Clayton, is accused of making that call, according to Littleton Police Department Detective Sgt. Rob Eich.
The department issued a citation on Jan. 26 alleging that Clayton committed harassment by phone or computer, including threats, according to Eich.
On Jan. 26, investigators for the Littleton Police spoke with Clayton’s mother, who told the investigators that her son holds very conservative and anti-vax political views and follows Q-Anon, according to a police report. The police report lists Clayton’s previous criminal history as including indecent exposure, property damage and disturbing the peace.