Bennito L. Kelty
Audio By Carbonatix
United States Representative Jason Crow, who represents Colorado’s Sixth Congressional District in Aurora, is sticking to his message to the military to “refuse illegal orders,” despite President Donald Trump calling for his arrest and execution.
Crow appeared in a social media video on Tuesday, November 18, alongside other Democratic Congressmembers who served in the military or intelligence agencies, including Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, a former Navy captain, and Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin, a former CIA agent.
“This administration is pitting our uniformed military and intelligence community professionals against American citizens,” the Congressmembers said in the video. “You can refuse illegal orders. You must refuse illegal orders.”
The Congressmembers don’t mention any specific actions that they consider illegal. However, Trump has deployed the National Guard to Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and Chicago, not to mention the increased use of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement for arrests and deportations, all of which have faced forms of federal court injunctions or reversals.
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Trump thought the message was “really bad and dangerous to our country,” he wrote in a Truth Social post on Thursday morning, but the president then escalated it with a call for the members of Congress to be arrested and put on trial. A second message suggested a death penalty.
“SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” the second message read. He also reposted (or “re-truthed” as it’s called on the platform) a message reading “HANG THEM GEORGE WASHINGTON WOULD!”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt later denied that Trump was calling for their execution, saying that he only wanted them to be “held accountable.”
Crow responded shortly after in a video of his own, saying that Trump “threatened to have me arrested and executed simply for reminding service members of their oaths,” and then repeated a call made in the first video. “Don’t give up the ship,” he said, which is a motto from the War of 1812 that hangs above the U.S. Naval Academy.
In a statement Thursday, Colorado Democratic Party chair Shad Murib called Trump’s words “dangerous, unhinged and unworthy of the office of president.” He also called Trump a “five-time draft dodger.”
“We commend Congressman Crow for continuing to show unimpeachable and honorable courage, integrity and leadership,” Murib said. “No president should ever incite violence against Americans.”
In a joint statement on Thursday, Congressmembers targeted by Trump said “no threat, intimidation or call for violence will deter us from that sacred obligation,” adding that “what’s most telling is that the president considers it punishable by death for us to restate the law.”
Crow joined the military after 9/11 and did two tours of service in Afghanistan in 2003 and 2006 as a U.S. Army Ranger, a special operations force. He also served in Iraq in 2003 during the initial invasion as a platoon leader in the 82nd Airborne Division, for which he was awarded a Bronze Star for his leadership.
“It is a lifetime oath for me,” Crow said in his response video. “This moment requires moral clarity. Every American regardless of your background should unite and reject his calls for political violence.”
Crow is also suing the Trump administration after he was denied entry into the Aurora ICE facility in July, which he said violated a law he passed in 2019. Although he and other Colorado congressional Democratic have since gained access, the lawsuit is ongoing.
