Report blasting Shea casts shadow
A Washington state legislative report labeling Spokane Valley Rep. Matt Shea a terrorist has prompted a review of an Idaho House legislator from Blanchard for her role.
The report, commissioned by the Washington State House of Representatives and released Thursday, summarizes a four-month investigation that found Shea proactively helped plan an armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge by militia members, including Ammon Bundy. Bundy headed a January 2016 occupation of the refuge that lasted 24 days and led to the shooting death of occupier Robert Finicum.
Shea was known to publicly support Bundy’s group, going as far as to visit the occupiers on location. But Thursday’s report claims the Spokane Valley lawmaker — who frequently keynotes addresses to conservative rallies and events in Idaho such as Coeur d’Alene’s John Birch Society, anti-gun control rallies and Redoubt Movement gatherings — published a call to gather in Harney County, not far from the federal wildlife refuge. The report says Shea transmitted military-style operation plans to members of a group he chaired at the time called the Coalition Of Western States under the guise of “Operation Cold Reality,” bent on supporting militia members during the occupation.
The legislative report further charges that Heather Scott, who was not a focus of the investigation, is also a member of the Coalition Of Western States and served in a leadership capacity in the months leading up to the January 2016 standoff.
The report details a document describing strategies and goals of a plan Shea dubbed “Operation Armed Deployment,” which investigators say was an armed operation in August 2015 to defend the Second Amendment rights of a veteran about to be stripped of his firearms by the Veterans Administration after the man suffered a stroke. Shea posted on Facebook that day a call to arms that included Scott.
“The federal government is going to attempt the gun confiscation of a Vietnam War Veteran,” investigators claim the post read on Shea’s Facebook site. “The VA is going to conduct a check for and confiscate his guns based on nothing more than a stroke which has left him with some mild physical impairment. After evaluating VA claims and letters and getting information from the head of the American Legion Auxiliary in Bonner County, it is clear this is not warranted. WE CANNOT LET THIS STAND. THE SEIZURE OF THE GUNS OF ONE OF US… IS THE SEIZURE OF THE GUNS OF ALL OF US. PLEASE ATTEND IF AT ALL POSSIBLE. RIGHT NOW WE HAVE LEGISLATORS AND CITIZENS FROM WASHINGTON AND IDAHO HEADED TO THE LOCATION. REP. Heather Scott HAS ASKED US ALL FOR HELP SINCE THIS IS HER DISTRICT AND I WILL STAND BY HER. In Freedom, Matt Shea.”
Reports indicate approximately 100 individuals showed up Aug. 6 to defend the veteran, many of whom were armed. The gathering caused a brief stand-off between the armed crowd and a VA employee. The investigation — conducted by The Rampart Group out of Seattle — uncovered a document outlining goals and strategies. That document was allegedly initialed by Shea associates including members of Washington militia The Three Percenters.
One of the people who signed off on the plan, according to investigators, wrote “Rep. H Scott.”
“Based on evidence obtained in this investigation,” The Rampart report concludes, “it is more probably than not that Representative Shea is likely to plan, direct and engage in additional future conflicts that could carry with them significant risk of bloodshed and loss of life. It is the professional opinion of the investigators, that on a more probably than not basis, Representative Shea presents a present and growing threat of risk to others through political violence.”
Neither Scott nor Shea responded to multiple Press requests for interviews. The Washington House Republican Caucus voted to remove Shea as its chair in April after learning Shea took an active role in a series of online conversations threatening violence against liberal dissenters. The report detailed those online chats, as well, stating the Spokane Valley lawmaker volunteered to spy on American citizens.
On Friday, all mentions of Shea were removed from the Republican Caucus website. Olympia lawmakers from both Republican and Democrat caucuses have called for Shea to resign. In a Facebook post, he has defiantly refused.
Hailee Johnson-Waskow, communications director for the Idaho House and Senate Joint Democrat Caucus, said Friday afternoon that Democratic lawmakers are reviewing Scott’s alleged involvement.
“The Idaho House and Senate Democrats are currently reviewing the Report of Investigation regarding Representative Matt Shea,” she said. “It is our priority to ascertain the seriousness of the allegations against Representative Scott and the level of her involvement with Representative Shea. We value the rule of law and if anyone is violating the rule of law then we will encourage the appropriate entities in Idaho to take further action. No one is above the law, including state representatives.”