Mass murder threatened against farm bureau over Sonoma Measure J

SONOMA, Calif. - Laid back Sonoma County is hardly a place one would expect local propositions to turn an idea into a potential bloodbath. But that's exactly why the Sonoma Sheriff's Office is looking deep into such a threat over Measure J. These days, even local politics can lead to threats of mass murder.         

The Sonoma County Farm Bureau, like all farm bureaus, provides valuable information, education, assistance and political representation in the halls of the lawmakers. The farm bureau here strongly opposes Sonoma Measure J, the brainchild of EndFactoryFarming.vote, to limit and lower the number of animals by acreage. 

"It's actually just limiting farms, just based solely on the number of animals you have without any merit or sustainability," said Sonoma County Farm Bureau Executive Director Dana Ghiardelli.

The bureau received a message sent to its website that was both bone chilling and hair-raising. 

"This person came out and literally said that they were going to bring a gun to out office and shoot us all in the head," said Ghiardelli. 

"Seeing that in writing and reading it out loud and processing it. You want to think, ‘oh, this is just an empty threat’," said Farm Bureau employee Samantha Piehoff.

"You know, the longer it sits with you and the more you kind of wonder the way the world is today, you really can just brush those things off. I feel it's unsettling, and it's uncomfortable," Piehoff continued.

"This is a direct threat on our viability here in Sonoma County and the way that we produce food here," said Ghiardelli.

Proponents of the Measure J campaign sent out a statement saying ‘The Yes on J campaign doesn't condone any threats of violence. We're trying to create a kinder world."

"The person, again, we don't believe is the organizer of the campaign or anything," said Judy James, a fourth-generation Sonoma County farmer.

"We're in the fight of our lives to protect our farmers and future generations. So this is something that we're passionate about, but we want to do it correctly and the right way. And it's in our own best interest to take the best care of our animals and to assume that they are not being taken care of is just wrong," said James.

Both the Democratic and Republican parties came together to recommend No on J in favor of the farmers. 

"The polling shows a great defeat in our favor," said Ghairdelli.

The person who threatened to do mass murder may well have left an electronic trail, a trail the leads directly to a long prison sentence.