This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

DENVER — Legislative aide Andrew Knarr was fired Thursday following the revelation of inappropriate social media posts involving sexual harassment

In a Snapchat, Knarr said “Mandatory 2 hour sexual harassment training. And they aren’t even gonna show me the proper way to grab a woman’s ***.”

Once the Snapchat became public, Knarr was quickly fired by his boss — Senator Jim Smallwood of Douglas County.

“Today, screenshots from my legislative aide’s Snapchat account were showed to me for the first time, and within minutes, I made the decision to dismiss Andrew Knarr. Andrew’s actions were unacceptable and unbecoming of an employee of the Colorado State Senate,” Smallwood said in a statement.

This episode underscores the ongoing scandal involving sexual harassment at the State Capitol.

In early March, Rep. Steve Lebsock was expelled for sexual harassment allegations.

Two State senators, Randy Baumgardner and Jack Tate, remain in office following investigations that found the victim’s harassment account to be credible.

State Senator Lucía Guzmán announced she was stepping down from her Democratic leadership post Thursday over frustration with Republican leadership and their handling of the harassment scandal.

“My moral compass says that is a breaking point for me,” Guzman told FOX 31 political reporter Joe St. George in an interview.

Guzman also expressed frustration following reports that one of her colleagues had a harassment complaint filed against him for his use of the women’s restroom.

Republicans filed the complaint earlier this week; questioning Senator Daniel Kagen’s judgement for using the facility, raising questions as to his motives.

Kagen has denied any wrongdoing.

Republican leadership stayed quiet Thursday — not commenting on the Smallwood firing or the Guzman decision.

FOX31 reached out to Knarr several times on social media but we have not heard back. Knarr told ColoradoPolitics.com his firing was the result of Democratic retaliation.

 

 

Suggest a Correction