DENVER — When the last time you practiced your penmanship?
How about the last time you wrote something longer than a text or a tweet?
State lawmakers were responsible for three letters today. And they were actual letters.
Thursday morning, State Rep. Dave Williams (R-Colorado Springs) started with a letter to President Donald Trump and Attorney General William Barr requesting federal law enforcement to come to Denver.
Thursday afternoon, House and Senate Democrats wrote to U.S. Attorney Jason Dunn, letting him know that "the deployment of federal forces in Colorado would not be welcome absent an invitation from the state's leaders."
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Shortly after that, House Republicans, including Williams, signed a letter sent to Gov. Jared Polis (D-Colorado), requesting the National Guard be used to protect state-owned property, including the State Capitol and Liberty Park across the street. A deadly shooting happened in the homeless camp in Liberty Park about an hour after the letter was sent to the governor.
"My goal was to make sure that the change we are trying to ask for was literally under the governor's control," said Rep. Hugh McKean (R-Loveland) prior to the shooting.
His letter asks the state to keep the Capitol and other state buildings from being vandalized. The cleanup of the Capitol will cost more than $1 million. Power washing began earlier this week, but vandals returned and added more graffiti, despite a fence being erected around the building.
He does not feel federal law enforcement are needed, like Williams asked for in his letter.
"The opinions and the desires of other members of our caucus sometimes just aren't discussed among the caucus, and those are the individual's rights to have," McKean said. "Short of not being able to handle it in the state, I would prefer for it to stay here before we go asking elsewhere for help."
"I don't view it as a contradiction in any way,” Williams said. “What it is is two different avenues. I just have no faith or confidence that the governor will actually do that."
Would the governor be willing to deploy the National Guard as requested by House Republicans?
"The Governor has previously deployed the guard to protect state buildings during protests at the request of the Denver mayor and would consider it again if needed. At this time, the state is working with State Patrol and local law enforcement on this challenging matter," Polis said in a statement to Next with Kyle Clark.
Williams' letter to the president asked for federal help, while his Republican caucus as a whole asked for state help. Does this mean he's speaking as a member of the minority of the minority party?
"Our constituents, our base of our party is demanding action,” Williams said. “It's come high time that we do something about it, and I'm not going to be silenced by the Mitt Romneys of our party.”
Williams agreed that he, generally, wants less government interference, but still wants federal involvement in a state issue.
"It's got to a point where the governor has refused to do what is necessary to restore law and order," Williams said. "If nothing else, if it serves to light a fire under the governor, to actually get things under control in the way that they should be, then I will call it a success."
In his letter to the president, Williams also referenced the pro-police rally last weekend in downtown Denver, which was outnumbered by anti-police protesters.
"What was especially appalling about this incident was that the Denver Police Department was given orders to not protect the innocent from the mob," he wrote.
"I just urge Rep. Williams to put away the gasoline and come with a bucket of water," said Denver Manager of Safety Murphy Robinson.
Williams isn't the only to reference the police rally to a larger audience. House Minority Leader Rep. Patrick Neville (R-Castle Rock) appeared on Fox News on Wednesday night and talked about the lack of police assistance.
"It's really concerning because I think the order came up to stand down. We have the police union chief out there actually saying there was a ‘stand down’ order. I don't know if that came from the mayor or even the governor," Neville said on Fox News.
"Absolutely not. Chief (Paul) Pazen, myself, the mayor, the governor, I've heard that rumor, were not a part of that operation," Murphy said. "It is not out of the norm for the commanders on the ground, and the commander in the operation center, to dialogue about what they think the appropriate actions are."
Regarding Neville's comment about the police union chief saying there was a "stand down" order, Next with Kyle Clark reached out to union president Nick Rogers. He did not want to discuss the rally.
"I'm done with what happened Sunday. Said my peace. It's in the past where it belongs," Rogers wrote in a text.
"It would be out of the character, out of the Denver Police Department, to allow an assault to happen right in front of them without intervening. I can say with good authority that I don’t believe that story is true," Robinson said.
On Thursday morning, Robinson signed off on a special limited authority for Colorado State Patrol troopers to issue citations for multiple city violations such as trespass, assault, destruction of property, possession of graffiti materials and curfews for the following locations:
• State Capitol property
• Veteran's/Lincoln Park
• Governor's Mansion
"Just three months ago, people, the community, were asking our police officers to stand down and not act during peaceful protests, during times there may have been a little contention between them and other groups. Fast forward, a couple of months later, the opposite is being asked of us. 'Please step in. Please protect us in a way that you didn't protect others,'" Robinson said.
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