DON BOLLES

A Phoenix policeman investigates June 2,1976 a bombing which critically injured Arizona Republic Investigative reporter Don Bolles. The reporter was lying beside his exploded car when paramedics arrived and told them he was "working on a Mafia story," they said. (AP Photo)

(ASSOCIATED PRESS)

"YOU'RE DEAD. WATCH YOUR BACK."

"WE WILL BURN YOU DOWN."

"YOU SHOULD BE PUT IN FRONT OF A FIRING SQUAD AS A TRAITOR."

Those are just a few of the many threatening emails and phone messages the Arizona Republic has received since its editorial board's endorsement of Hillary Clinton, the first time the paper has ever backed a Democrat for president. In its endorsement, the editorial board lambasted Republican nominee Donald Trump, insisting he's shown "a stunning lack of human decency, empathy and respect."

If the readers who called in and emailed threats thought they could intimidate Arizona's largest newspaper, they don't know Mi-Ai Parrish. In a powerful essay, the president of the Arizona Republic told readers over the weekend about her mother, who "grew up under an occupying dictatorship, with no right to an education, no free press, no freedom of religion, no freedom to assemble peaceably, no right to vote. No right to free speech. She raised a journalist who understood not to take these rights for granted."

How vile are these people who are threatening the Republic? One caller mentioned Don Bolles, the Republic investigative reporter who was killed by a car bomb in 1976 while investigating public corruption and land fraud. This anonymous caller did not praise Bolles' courageous work. Instead, Parrish wrote, the person "threatened that more of our reporters would be blown up because of the endorsement."

In her post, Parrish highlighted not this hate but instead focused on her staff, who carry on without complaint because they know "free speech requires an open debate."

She noted that the paper's journalists will continue to proudly go to work every day no matter how many threats come in. "When they do," Parrish wrote, "they pass by an inscription that fills an entire wall, floor to ceiling," in the newspaper's lobby. "It is 45 words long. It is an idea that is in my thoughts a lot these days. It is the First Amendment."

* Read Parrish's post.

-- Douglas Perry