A Colorado political aide punished for putting up portrait of Putin in the capitol building
Katie March, assistant to Colorado House Speaker Crisanta Duran helped carry a portrait of Russian President Vladimir Putin into the state capitol. Duran told the Associated Press on Sunday, August 19 that March was subjected to disciplinary action for it.
March was chastised by the State Patrol and the House Representative’s office. She also lost the privilege of entering the Colorado Capitol building without passing security control.
In late July, March used her security badge to allow a member of the Colorado branch of the social organization ProgressNow to enter the building. They carried a portrait of Putin to the capitol and put it up on a wall near portraits of Barack Obama and other former US presidents.
Katie March issued an apology, saying that she considered the incident to be a "harmless prank" and didn’t expect that it would cause such a public resonance. ProgressNow Colorado executive director Ian Silverii explained that the aim of the joke was to draw people’s attention to the "dangerous Russian influence on US President Donald Trump," AP news agency reports.
The Putin portrait appeared after reports that Republicans had not raised the $10,000 needed to purchase a Trump portrait, which was to be placed in the Colorado Capitol next to the portraits of past Presidents. At present, this amount has already been raised.