From Ruby Ridge to Matt Shea, eastern Washington struggles to shake far-right extremism

[TomSea]

This is a wild story, I don't know if anyone posted this and I am on guard as to whether this is as severe as the slew of stories say. I've just heard about this. Anyway, the stories all say this same kind of thing.

From Ruby Ridge to Matt Shea, eastern Washington struggles to shake far-right extremism
By Richard ReadSeattle Bureau Chief
Dec. 20, 2019
5:18 PM
SEATTLE —

Residents of eastern Washington and northern Idaho have long tried to rid the region of its reputation as a haven for white supremacists, dating from the Ruby Ridge standoff in 1992 and the breakup of the Aryan Nations in the early 2000s.

A foundation converted the site of Richard Butler’s Aryan Nations headquarters north of Hayden, Idaho, into a “peace park.” Around Spokane, Wash., religious leaders organize monthly vigils to oppose white supremacy and Christian dominionism, an ideology that seeks to impose biblical law.

But now the deeply conservative region’s ugly reputation has reared back into view, with the release of an investigative report Thursday on Matt Shea, a far-right Washington lawmaker with ties to white supremacist groups. The four-month investigation, commissioned by the state House, found that Shea had engaged in “domestic terrorism” as an organizer of the 2016 armed takeover of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon.

Read more at: https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2019-12-20/matt-shea-republican-domestic-terrorism-white-supremacy

[Smokin Joe]

As I recall, when the agents told Randy Weaver where to cut off the shotguns he was selling them, they came back and offered him a deal to spy on his neighbors or get arrested on weapons charges. He told them to stick it and that he wasn't spying on his neighbors. TO make a long story short, the LEOs spied on him, ended up shooting his kid, wife, friend, and him, and Bo Gritz finally got Weaver to surrender without weaver getting killed in the process.

Gerry Spence took Weaver's case pro bono against the Government, not because Gerry agreed with Weaver's personal beliefs, but because it was the right thing to do. It was a case of Government coercion and abuse of power.

As for what happened in Idaho, why is that relevant to the behaviour of a Washington State Representative?

Considering Shea is known for stirring up people who resist such abuses of power (Bundy Ranch), no wonder they want to get him out.

[mountaineer]

Compared to the leftist nuts in Seattle, sure, eastern Washington is "extremist." Compared to most of America, they're just plain folks.

[Smokin Joe]

Compared to the leftist nuts in Seattle, sure, eastern Washington is "extremist." Compared to most of America, they're just plain folks.

Exactly. It's a matter of where you stand how you see others.

[sneakypete]

Let me see if I understand this,ok? Black people,brown people,purple people,homosexual people,Satan Worshiping people,and communist people can get together and elect someone that represents THEIR POV,but it's evil and dangerous when white people do this?

When did the authorities in this country start wanting to arrest people for what they THINK?

[Smokin Joe]

Let me see if I understand this,ok? Black people,brown people,purple people,homosexual people,Satan Worshiping people,and communist people can get together and elect someone that represents THEIR POV,but it's evil and dangerous when white people do this?

When did the authorities in this country start wanting to arrest people for what they THINK?

For some of us, 1984was a horrorshow, for others, a dream.

[Wingnut]

As I recall, when the agents told Randy Weaver where to cut off the shotguns he was selling them, they came back and offered him a deal to spy on his neighbors or get arrested on weapons charges. He told them to stick it and that he wasn't spying on his neighbors. TO make a long story short, the LEOs spied on him, ended up shooting his kid, wife, friend, and him, and Bo Gritz finally got Weaver to surrender without weaver getting killed in the process.

Gerry Spence took Weaver's case pro bono against the Government, not because Gerry agreed with Weaver's personal beliefs, but because it was the right thing to do. It was a case of Government coercion and abuse of power.

.

When Randy Weaver failed to appear in court because he had lost his trust in the government we witnessed the fruit of our crime. The government indeed had no intent to protect his rights. The government had but one purpose, as it remains today, the disengagement of this citizen from society. Those who suffered and died in the Holocaust must have exquisitely understood such illicit motivations of power.

I have said that I was attracted to the case out of my own pain. Let me tell you the facts: a crack team of trained government marksmen sneaked on to Randy Weaver's small isolated acreage on a reconnaissance mission preparatory to a contemplated arrest. They wore camouflage suits and were heavily armed. They gave Randy no warning of their coming. They came without a warrant. They never identified themselves.

The Weavers owned 3 dogs, 2 small crossbred collie mutts and a yellow lab, a big pup a little over a year old whose most potent weapon was his tail with which he could beat a full grown man to death. The dog, Striker, was a close member of the Weaver family. Not only was he the companion of the children, but in winter he pulled the family sled to haul their water supply from the spring below. When the dogs discovered the intruders they raised a ruckus, and Randy his friend Kevin, and Randy's 14 year old son Sam, grabbed their guns and followed the dogs to investigate.

When the government agents were confronted with the barking dog, they did what men who have been taught to kill do. They shot Striker. The boy, barely larger than a 10 year old child, heard the dog's yelp, saw the dog fall dead. and as a 14 year old might, he returned the fire. Then the government agents shot the child in the arm. He turned and ran. the arm flopping, and when he did, the officers, still unidentified as such, shot the child in the back and killed him.

Kevin Harris witnessed the shooting of the dog. Then he saw Sam being shot as the boy turned and ran. To Kevin there was no alternative. He knew if he ran these intruders, whoever they were, would kill him as well. In defense of himself he raised his rifle and shot in the direction of the officer who had shot and killed the boy. Then while the agents were in disarray, Kevin retreated to the Weaver cabin.

In the meantime Randy Weaver had been off in another direction and had only heard the shooting, the dog's yelp and the gunfire that followed. Randy hollered for his son and shot his shotgun into the air to attract the boy.

"Come on home Sam, Come home."

Over and over he called.

Finally he heard the boy call back "I'm comin' Dad". Those were the last words he ever heard from his son.

Later that same day, Randy, Kevin, and Vicki Weaver, Randy's wife went down to where the boy lay and carried his body back to an outbuilding near the cabin. There they removed the child's clothing and bathed his wounds and prepared the body. The next evening Weaver's oldest daughter, Sarah, sixteen, Kevin, and Randy went back to the shed to have a last look at Sam. When they did, government snipers opened fire. Randy was hit in the shoulder. The three turned and ran for the house where Vicki, with her 10 month old baby in her arms stood holding the door open. As the 3 entered the house Vicki was shot and slowly fell to her knees, her head resting on the floor like one kneeling in prayer. Randy ran up and took the baby that she clutched, and then he lifted his wife's head. Half her face was blown away.

Kevin was also hit. Huge areas of muscle in his arm were blown out, and his lung was punctured in several places. Randy and his 16 year old daughter stretched the dead mother on the floor of the cabin and covered he with a blanket where she remained for over 8 days as the siege progressed.

By this time there were officers by the score, troops, armored personnel carriers, helicopters, radios, televisions, robots, and untold armaments surrounding the little house. I will not burden you with the misery and horror the family suffered in this stand-off. I will tell you that finally Bo Gritz, Randy's former commander in the special forces, came to help in the negotiations. Gritz told Randy that if he would surrender, Gritz would guarantee him a fair trial, and before the negotiations were ended, Randy came to the belief that I would represent him. Although Gritz had contacted me before I had spoke to Randy, I had only agreed to talk to Randy. But the accuracy of what was said between Gritz and me and what was hard by Randy somehow got lost in the horror, and Randy's belief that I would represent him if he surrendered was in part, his motivation for finally submitting to arrest.

https://www.famous-trials.com/rubyridge/1143-spenceletter

[mountaineer]

This is why eastern Washingtonians don't want to be like Seattle:

How social justice is making homelessness worse in Seattle
Jason Rantz, 5 days ago

Seattle has a prolific homeless offenders problem—one made worse by a light on crime approach championed by progressive activists in elected office. The consequences have been dire: Innocent residents and visitors being physically assaulted by criminals with lengthy rap sheets, while the homeless, many dealing with addiction or mental health problems, remain on the streets. ...

Right before Thanksgiving, a homeless man with a lengthy criminal record randomly assaulted a defence attorney outside the King County Courthouse in downtown Seattle. The suspect is Frank Hypolite and he has been arrested on the same block five other times.

As a consequence, presiding judge James Rogers issued an emergency declaration to close the entrance where these assaults keep occurring. After negotiations with the Seattle Police Department, the entrance was reopened this week. The police chief promised increased patrols. But this won’t make a dent in the problem. ...

Seattle’s activist city attorney, Pete Holmes, and the county’s prosecutor, Dan Satterberg, refuse to prosecute many crimes allegedly committed by the homeless. They say it lacks compassion to throw someone in jail if they’re dealing with untreated mental illness or addiction.  ...

More at The PostMillennial

[sneakypete]

https://www.famous-trials.com/rubyridge/1143-spenceletter

That is something that should be posted on every political web site in the nation on Independence Day every year.

How soon we forget!

[sneakypete]

This is why eastern Washingtonians don't want to be like Seattle:More at The PostMillennial

@mountaineer

Creating chaos in order to ferment revolution is at the heart of communism. Always been that way and will always be that way because it works unless the citizens stand up and stop it by voting the bastards out of office.