INorthwest Officials Denounce Racism

14 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

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  OrangeTV on August 21 at 3:00 p.m.

  I wonder what she’s saying.

  “Origami. Orangutan. Old Oklahoma. Obama”

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  BayviewBob on August 21 at 3:08 p.m.

  She should stand up when she giving a press conference. :)

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  Sisyphus on August 21 at 3:08 p.m.

  Down boy, you don’t wanna go there. ;-)

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  misc on August 21 at 3:35 p.m.

  Stand by to stand by?

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  97Jack on August 21 at 3:42 p.m.

  The responses of law enforcement and Mayor Vernor are appropriate and responsible. We should have such responses from other institutions as well, such as school officials, churches, civic groups, and business groups. This evil must be confronted to keep it from doing further damage to our community.

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  Missin on August 21 at 6:07 p.m.

  The problem with a reaction like this is that it steps all over a persons 1st amendment rights. Until an actual law is broken nothing should be done. You may not like what is said in the brochures, but it is a persons right to express themselves.
  To allow these rights to be taken from anyone, even someone we find offensive, is the beginning of a dictatorship where none of us are safe to say anything about anything.

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  ShoshoneConservative on August 21 at 7:04 p.m.

  While I certainly agree that hate and racism should be condemned, I think the officials here are over-reacting a bit. I am sure in some trailer park somewhere there are 3 Richard Butler wannabes rolling on the floor laughing at how they got the who’s-who of Spokane and Kootenai Counties to hold a large press conference, simply by throwing their nonsense literature in a few yards.

  The wannabes wanted attention, and they got it.

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  DaleL on August 21 at 7:14 p.m.

  As he always does, Tony Stewart said it best: “We believe that where there’s hate speech, good speech is essential and it wins out in the end,” said Stewart, task force secretary. “…I think it comforts the people in the neighborhoods. They know we are speaking out.”

  He and the Task Force along with law enforcement reflect the responses of many in our communities.

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  christiewood on August 21 at 8:07 p.m.

  The press conference today was very well attended by Mayors, Chiefs , Sheriff’s and Prosecutor’s from Spokane to Sandpoint and all of the cities in between. Tony Stewart and the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations (I am also a Board member) worked diligently to pull all of these leaders together in 2 days time. Many of them cancelled appointments and personal plans in order to attend and speak out against hate.
  Law Enforcement officials denounced violence and vowed to arrest anyone involved in racially motivated attacks. (There have been two such cases in the the past couple of weeks in Cda.)
  I have heard the argument of “do not give them any media attention because it is what they want”. Folks, they have already had plenty of media attention in the past 2 months including national attention in the Washington Post. The only people not receiving media attention are the good people in our communities who stand up against hate. It was time for their voices to be heard. No one is suggesting supressing free speech. I challenge DFO’s readers to educate themselves on the history of the Task Force on Human Relations. Free speech was never the issue. It was the violence that accompanied the speech including a series of bombings that occurred in Cda in 1986. I am sending the history document to DFO. He can choose to provide a link to it if he wants.
  Please take the time to visit the “Peace Park” (former Aryan compound) and reflect on how far we have come as a community by being strong enough to speak out.

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  Rifleman_Dodd on August 21 at 8:48 p.m.

  One of the few real organized local hate groups is headed by the woman in the picture above.

  Do we see any hand pumps? and What about Carl Thompson?

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  Whippersnapper on August 21 at 10:03 p.m.

  Lay off, Dodd. You’re way over the line. It’s not a perfect world, but Olsen was tried and Thompson has been charged with the appropriate crime. He may get off, too, but Chief Kirkpatrick seems like a straight shooter and not sweeping stuff under the rug.

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  Gophersnot on August 21 at 11:22 p.m.

  While not popular, the Aryans have 1st Amendment rights. Their rights are the same as any other groups’. If this were a group of African American or Native Americans forming a group would this draw a press conference?
  Let’s be fair about it.

• 

  westside on August 22 at 9:25 a.m.

  So, the press conference set up is the tool to battle the hate groups? NOW..they are going to be bold? What does that mean? Before they didn’t pay any attention to racial mailings? And now they are? Bunch of feel good warm and fuzzy get together.. So the citizens feel better…lol

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  beckola on August 22 at 12:07 p.m.

  I’m with Westside. It’s a farce, and Kirkpatrick’s rant is nothing but hot air. Consider the fact that Spokane’s black community comprises about 2% of our population, but 20% of our jailed inmates. Are black people really 10 times more criminal than white folks? Or could there be a bit of racism going on in our own police force? After all, it is easier to track blacks when they are so few and so easy to see in our all-white population. The Spokane anti-gang force focuses almost exclusively on black gangs, but the all-white Hell’s Angels is the biggest and baddest gang in the Northwest, and bring in all the drugs, meth in particular, and I don’t see any busts on them in the news.

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