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"I am a 70-year-old, 5-foot-5-inch slightly overweight man who has lived in Ramsey for 40 years...not much of a threat," Richard DeLio told Daily Voice.
DeLio originally responded to failed mayoral challenger Richard Muti's suggestion that supporters during the campaign to "send an email directly to Mayor [Danielle] Dillon and the council members" to let them know what they think of them.
He said he typed out a lengthy email to Dillon and that raised several issues involving the incumbents.Dillon and members of the "Putting Ramsey First" team reacted strongly to a passage near the bottom, which read:
“Throughout my life, I have believed that ‘what goes around, comes around.’ Think of my words above, think of all the lies and improper, maybe even unlawful, actions in your lives. Think of them on the day one of your children wraps a car around a tree, or your spouse gets cancer, or you lose your job or you[r] assets. Think of my words ‘what goes around, comes around.’
“Maybe none of these horrible things will happen in your lifetime – frankly, I hope they don’t – but I know deep within me, that there is a special place in hell reserved for people like you because of what you have done and what you continue to do."
The incumbent trio, who were all re-elected Tuesday, said they were troubled by the "heinous letter fantasizing that we and our families be stricken by tragedy, including the death of our children.”
Dillon, in particular, requested added police protection.
SEE: Police Boost Patrols For Re-Elected Ramsey Mayor In Response To 'Karma' Letter
Police Chief Bryan Gurney said he immediately increased patrols and made all officers aware of the situation "as we would any resident who reports a direct or perceived threat."
DeLio, meanwhile, said the portion of the long email he sent to the three candidates referred to karma -- and didn't represent any kind of threat.
"My intention, apparently naively, was to write just to the 3 candidates to try to, hopefully, tweak their consciences about their lies, deceits and corruptions," he said Thursday.
"I knew that simply writing an e-mail with some accusations would get nowhere," DeLio told Daily Voice, "so I purposely provoked them with my 'what goes around, comes around' comments, essentially 'treat others as you would have them treat you,' in the hope that they would examine their consciences,
"The result was that the three candidates did not present my e-mail in full, blocked me on Facebook from even commenting on their selection of just the one provoking paragraph, and essentially did what I have always known about them - manipulated, he added, "The entire e-mail was quite long and detailed what I believed to be their lies and corruptions, but they only cared about using that one paragraph.
"To believe that I or anyone else in Ramsey would care that much about an election that is essentially meaningless in the grand scheme of life that the candidates need security proves my point that these are manipulative people."
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