Wisconsin transgender activist calls on followers to 'kill your local Republican'

A Wisconsin transgender activist named Teha Delaruelle released a series of videos urging followers to "kill your local Republican," declaring what she called a "trans jihad" against MAGA and giving followers a one-month window to act. The footage, posted to X on July 1 by conservative commentator Dustin Grage, shows Delaruelle speaking on camera against backgrounds displaying the slogans "Smash MAGA" and "Left Wing Death Squads."

Delaruelle is not some anonymous internet troll. She has alleged ties to a Democratic congressional campaign in Wisconsin's 8th Congressional District, and years of involvement with the Outagamie County Democrats, the Daily Caller reported. The question now is whether any Democratic leader in the state will condemn the rhetoric, or pretend it doesn't exist.

What the videos show

In the first video, Delaruelle points to a background graphic reading "Kill Your Local Republican" and tells the camera:

"We're going to make this the moderate position for the state of Wisconsin."

Let that sink in. Not a fringe position. Not an extreme position. The "moderate" one.

A second video shows Delaruelle announcing, in her own words:

"We are doing trans jihad."

She followed that with another line: "No, this is their new reality." A third video reportedly featured the slogans "Smash MAGA" and "Left Wing Death Squads" displayed on screen. Grage posted the footage with a caption describing Delaruelle as a "Wisconsin Democrat staffer" calling on activists to target Republicans.

Delaruelle also maintains a Substack blog where she has called for an "anti-civilization revolution" and written that the public wants revenge against MAGA figures who, in her framing, strip away rights. The Daily Caller described the Substack as reflecting a "hardline outlook."

The campaign connection, and the silence

What makes this more than a social media spectacle is Delaruelle's reported connection to a Democratic congressional campaign. The Heartland Post, a local outlet cited by the Daily Caller, reported that Delaruelle works as a volunteer staffer for Katrina DeVille, a transgender musician running in the August 11 Democratic primary for Wisconsin's 8th Congressional District. DeVille is one of four Democrats seeking to unseat Republican Rep. Tony Wied.

The Daily Caller noted that the staffing claim "remains unverified." DeVille's campaign has not addressed it. No statement from the campaign about Delaruelle or the videos has surfaced.

That silence is itself a choice. When someone connected to your operation, even loosely, posts videos calling for the killing of political opponents, the bare minimum is a public disavowal. DeVille's campaign has not cleared that bar.

DeVille's platform includes a $22 minimum wage and what the Daily Caller described as "tax changes for churches." Whether voters in a district currently represented by a Republican will find that agenda appealing is one question. Whether they'll tolerate a campaign orbit that includes open calls for political violence is another.

No law enforcement response reported

Perhaps the most striking gap in this story is the absence of any reported law enforcement action. No arrests. No charges. No public statement from police or prosecutors. The Daily Caller's report contains no mention of any investigation into whether Delaruelle's videos constitute criminal threats or incitement.

That gap deserves scrutiny. Imagine the response if a Republican activist posted videos urging followers to "kill your local Democrat," declared a religious-sounding crusade against the opposing party, and displayed slogans referencing death squads. The FBI would likely be involved before the first news cycle ended. Political threats against leaders have been taken with deadly seriousness in recent years, as they should be.

Yet when the threat runs in the other direction, the institutional response is silence.

A pattern, not an outlier

Delaruelle's videos did not appear in a vacuum. The Democratic Party's activist base has grown increasingly comfortable with the language of confrontation and coercion. From socialist insurgents pressuring their own leadership to activists threatening Democratic leaders who don't fall in line, the party's left flank has shown a pattern of escalation that mainstream Democrats either cannot or will not control.

Delaruelle gave followers what the Daily Caller described as a one-month window to act. The August 11 primary looms. The timeline is not accidental. It links the violent rhetoric directly to the electoral calendar, a mobilization tool dressed in the language of revolution.

Grage, the conservative commentator who surfaced the footage, captured the tone in his X post: "Wisconsin Democrat staffer, Teha Delaruelle is calling on activists to 'K*LL YOUR LOCAL REPUBLICAN.' 'We're going to make this the moderate position for the state of Wisconsin.'" His post has drawn attention to a story that might otherwise have stayed buried in a corner of the internet.

The broader Democratic Party has spent years lecturing the country about the dangers of political violence. After the assassination attempt against President Trump, Democratic officials lined up to condemn threats against public officials. Those statements ring hollow when an activist with ties to a Democratic campaign openly calls for killing Republicans, and the party apparatus says nothing.

The accountability test

Several questions remain unanswered. Has Delaruelle made any public statement in response to the coverage? When were the videos originally recorded and first posted, before or after Grage reposted them on July 1? What specific role, if any, does Delaruelle hold with the DeVille campaign? And will any law enforcement agency investigate whether the videos cross the line from protected speech into criminal threat or incitement?

The DeVille campaign's silence is not sustainable. In a competitive primary, voters and opponents alike will want to know whether DeVille endorses, tolerates, or rejects the rhetoric of someone in her orbit. The Outagamie County Democrats, with whom Delaruelle has reportedly spent years, face the same question.

Some Democratic figures have shown a willingness to break with their party's excesses. Sen. John Fetterman admitted Democrats were wrong on the filibuster question. Others have faced voter rejection after overplaying their hand, as one Texas Democrat learned after branding school-choice supporters as "Christian nationalists."

But those examples are exceptions. The default Democratic response to extremism within its own ranks is to look the other way and hope the news cycle moves on.

Delaruelle told viewers she wanted to make calls for killing Republicans the "moderate position" in Wisconsin. If no one in the Democratic Party pushes back, voters will have to decide whether the silence means consent.