Republic Raises Toast To ‘Just And Fair’ Decision
Republic residents reacted to news that a judge made Kevin Harris a free man by throwing a party Thursday night.
“There’ll be a lot of people here tonight, I’m sure,” Ron Tatlow said as decorations went up in his Hitch-in Post Restaurant and Lounge.
Tatlow employs some of Harris’ friends and relatives and supports Harris.
Like many, if not most, residents here, Tatlow judges the 29-year-old Harris by the life he’s lived since moving to Republic four years ago.
Harris worked his way up to a partnership in a machine shop and is known as a civic-minded businessman and devoted father.
Tatlow said he’s not sure what happened at Ruby Ridge, but he believes federal agents contributed heavily to the tragedy. Now, he said, it’s time “to let sleeping dogs lie.”
He thinks Harris was in white separatist Randy Weaver’s cabin more as a confused young man than as a hardened right-wing radical.
“He may have had some ideas along those lines five or six years ago, but I doubt he did even then,” said Tatlow, who gave Harris his first job in Republic and spent long hours building a golf course with him.
Harris, who refused to comment Thursday night, spent the day underground, doing contract work for the Echo Bay gold mine. Friends brought him word of the court ruling, but he kept working.
His wife, Danielle, was at work Thursday in the Hair Nook beauty salon she operates.
“I’m ecstatic,” she said. “Justice prevailed. I’m still shaking, surprised and excited. It just put an extra spring in my step.”
The possibility that the ruling will be appealed “is going to be in the back of our minds, but this is a big step right now,” she said.
Community members raised about $4,000 for Harris’ trial costs through a golf tournament, bake sales and selling T-shirts with his picture. Danielle Harris said she and her husband will donate the money to a civic project if Thursday’s court ruling stands.
“I think we all feel like this is probably the only just and fair thing that has come down the road in a long time,” said Dede Peters, one of Harris’ partners. “I am really proud of the judge who had enough guts in a political arena to do this.”
She also praised elected officials, including Ferry County Commissioner Jim Hall, who publicly supported Harris.
“The terms that are associated with Kevin - murderer, cop killer, white separatist - are not popular things,” Peters said. “Anyone who stands up to that has to have a lot of courage.”
Some residents have criticized Hall, Sheriff Pete Warner and Republic Mayor Burnett for statements they believe reflected badly on the community. Use of a public ambulance in a homecoming parade after Harris’ release from jail also came under fire.
, DataTimes