An alleged threat for a Republican gubernatorial candidate was all smoke and no fire according to local authorities. Police are now saying false social media posts like the one that started the incident make it harder to do their jobs.
Aberdeen business leader Toby Doeden, who considers himself a Trump-faction Republican, launched his campaign for governor late last month. He launched a statewide bus campaign tour Thursday.
But a post from embattled Rapid City TV anchor Shad Olson raised concerns about that tour. On Facebook, Olson claimed the launch of Doeden’s campaign, quote, “was nearly disrupted by an unhinged leftists repeated drive-by threats to firebomb and burn down the venue.”
However, according to Aberdeen PD Captain Tanner Jondahl, there is no truth in this claim.
“So, we had an officer go over to the event center just conducting follow-up on a welfare check, but it had nothing to do with the event itself," Jondahl said. "There were probably some inferences made or some exaggerations made as far as what led to us stopping by, but none of it came from law enforcement. Had there been threats, I think I saw the post of it being firebombed or something like that, had there been any type of concern like that, we would have been much more heavily involved and much more proactive.”
Jondahl said these types of situations do little to meaningfully inform the public as elections approach.
“It makes people want to panic, and it makes it look like our city and what happens here is a lot less safe," Jondahl said. "I’m not going to speculate on reasons why that happens, but it makes it more complicated, and we have to come back the next day and clean up – none of that was true, this is actually what we were doing.”
Doeden is one of three candidates to formally declare for the 2026 election, alongside fellow Republican Jon Hansen and Democrat Robert Arnold. Beyond that, there is still speculation connecting current Governor Larry Rhoden, AG Marty Jackley, and US House Rep. Dusty Johnson, all Republicans, for the role.