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Dear Group, If you had any doubts as to what the Republican Party, even the local Spokane County Republican Party, has become and what it stands for, look no further than the video links in the following article. By the time you read this some of these videos posted on youtube by NWGrassroots may have been pulled. I watched enough on youtube to make me very nearly physically ill. Cecily Wright of Green Bluff is not only the new chair (since this spring when Stephanie Cates resigned) of the Spokane County Republican Party, she is also the Cecily prominent on the NWGrassroots webpage (scroll to page bottom). It is worth your while to check out the videos. You’ll see Cecily praising and welcoming James Allsup. On the longer one you see Rod Higgins, Mayor of the City of Spokane Valley, (around 41:00) candidly and nastily discussing his grip on the City Council. The contrast between the bland public statements of Cecily Wright disavowing James Allsup’s politics and videoed praise of him should make you ill. That any Republican candidate allows themselves to be associated this party apparatus taints any respect I had left for them. Remember the years it took to rid the northwest of the Aryan Nations? It feels as though the Aryan Nations has been resuscitated in the form of the local Republican Party. Chad Sokol of the Spokesman posted an article Tuesday evening on this topic. After you watch the video you will find laughable Wright’s, Higgin’s, and Chase’s pleadings of innocence and/or ignorance of James Allsup’s history and racist rants. Read also Shawn Vestal. If you think you can stomach watching James Allsup’s self-congratulatory video documentation of his actions in Charlottesville it has been preserved here. He later deleted his post. Here’s the press release documenting all this:
#NoWhiteSupremacySpokaneCounty Spokane County Republican Leaders Host White Nationalist James Allsup. Local organizations are holding a rally to unite the Spokane community against white nationalism on Thursday at 5:30pm in front of the Spokane County Courthouse. Organizations uniting to respond include the Spokane Community Against Racism, Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane, the City of Spokane Human Rights Commission, Spokane NOW, Families Against Bigotry, Fuse Washington, Western States Center, Spokane Veterans for Peace, Raiz of Planned Parenthood, Greater Spokane Progress, and others. An online video (archived here) shows key GOP leaders in Spokane County hosting hate group organizer James Allsup at a July event. Allsup is a prominent member of the white nationalist group Identity Evropa and participated in the deadly August 2017 Charlottesville, VA hate rally. In June, Spokane County GOP Chairwoman Cecily Wright denied any affiliation with Allsup and stated that his “past statements, affiliations and actions are deeply out-of-step with the values of the Republican Party, as well as the values of the Spokane County GOP and our members.” However, the July 11th video shows Wright hosting — and praising — Allsup at a Northwest Grassroots gathering of conservative activists. City of Spokane Valley Mayor Rod Higgins and Spokane County Treasurer Rob Chase also participated in the event, as documented in this longer video (archived here). “We cannot take for granted the integrity of our public officials when they denounce white nationalism in the press, while privately endorsing their leaders and values. We can’t reasonably assume public officials will uphold our rights when they applaud those who would harm us,” said Pastor Walter Kendricks, spokesman and co-founder of Spokane Community Against Racism. “Our Spokane region has a strong track record of standing up against white nationalism. Together, we’ve defeated the Aryan Nations; we’ve defeated anti-immigrant, anti-gay, and anti-trans policies; and we’re committed to standing shoulder-to-shoulder with targeted communities to defeat this harmful ideology any time it tries to gain a foothold.” said Liz Moore, director of the Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane. # # # BACKGROUND ON ALLSUP AND KEY INFO FROM VIDEO HERE: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vEczsQMIBik0YwAheBTrjNyFb47TSLe9a-HJMigsUsw/edit?usp=sharing Liz Moore pronouns: she/her Director Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane 509-838-7870 | lmoore@pjals.org Sign up for PJALS Action Alerts Donation | Facebook | Group | Twitter | Instagram Everyday people building a just and nonviolent world See you at the rally. Keep to the high ground, Jerry |