MADISON – Milwaukee County prosecutors are charging a Democratic state lawmaker with disorderly conduct over interactions with colleagues tied to the drafting of a resolution honoring Hispanic Heritage Month last year.
State Rep. Sylvia Ortiz-Velez, who represents portions of Milwaukee in the state Assembly, was charged Feb. 25 with misdemeanor disorderly conduct.
According to the criminal complaint, prosecutors allege Ortiz-Velez violated state law when she threatened to tell journalists “negative things” about Democratic state Rep. Priscilla Prado, also a Milwaukee Democrat, if Prado did not rescind a resolution she drafted recognizing Hispanic heritage.
Prosecutors allege Ortiz-Velez told another Democratic colleague, “they are going to do what I want them to do, or I’m going to x, y, and z.” When the fellow lawmaker asked what “x, y, and z” were, Ortiz-Velez allegedly made comments about Prado’s personal life.
“These were personal attacks regarding (Prado) that were outside the bounds of political response. The statements were indecent and tended to disrupt the good public order,” prosecutors alleged in the complaint.
Tensions among Ortiz-Velez and some of her Democratic colleagues over the resolution and other issues spilled into public view last fall, culminating in an exchange that led to the lawmaker briefly having her Capitol keycard access revoked — a decision a spokesman for Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said at the time was made “in error.”
At the time, Ortiz-Velez said she believed she was intentionally mistreated by her fellow Democrats because she sometimes broke from the caucus to vote with Republicans. She has since left the Democratic caucus, though she is still a Democrat.
When Ortiz-Velez’s keycard access was revoked, Democratic legislative leaders, including Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer, D-Racine, said the lawmaker had “made a comment about shooting three members of our caucus who she has had personal disagreements with.”
Ortiz-Velez at the time said she “did not make a threat” and that her comment “was a poorly worded hyperbole.”
Those comments are not referenced in the criminal complaint.
Ismael Luna, a Milwaukee Democrat challenging Ortiz-Velez, said the allegations show voters “cannot reasonably expect her to focus on the residents and needs of our community.”
“Public servants must be held to a higher standard,” Luna said in a statement.
Ortiz-Velez did not immediately return a call from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Reporter Vanessa Swales contributed to this article.
Molly Beck and Jessie Opoien can be reached at molly.beck@jrn.com. and jessie.opoien@jrn.com.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Rep. Sylvia Ortiz-Velez of Milwaukee charged with disorderly conduct
Reporting by Molly Beck and Jessie Opoien, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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