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HomeMy WebLinkAbout051 86 ~,,::!.~.~~!.~ t<o~,-, <!.Ð. It ..Jefferson County BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS Port Townsend, Washington 98368 . Phone (206) 385·2016 LARRY W. DENNISON. DISTr~ICT 1 B.G. BROWN, DISTRICT 2 JOHN l. PITTS. DISTRICT 3 RESOLUTION NO. 51-86 WHEREAS, the Declaration of Independence states in part that "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that amoung these are life, liberty, and the pur- suit of happiness." WHEREAS, the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution states that, Hall persons born of naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, with- out due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. ìl WHEREAS, Article I, Section 2, of the Washington Constitution states that, "Absolute freedom of conscience in all matters of religious sentiment, belief, and worship, shall be guaranteed to every individual, and no one shall be molested or distrubed in person Or property on account of religion...." THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board of County Commissioners, Jefferson County, State of Washington, supports these great principles. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board of County Commissioners, Jefferson County, State of Washington, supports the concept that all of its citizens be treated equally and fairly without regard to race, color, or religious conviction. I ~ti¡ay of June, 1986. JEFFERSON COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS Y~L/~· ohn L. Pitts, Chairman ~ ~:;04t~~ Larry . Dennison, Member 12 r~·r:- n ~ ..'~' 2103 Kootenai County Task ForGe On J.luman Relations Committed to the e}iminution of ethnic. mciu} und reliqious uio}ence und intinlidotion May 23, 1986 Dear County Commissioners: We are writing you regarding a situation which will command your immediate attention. As you know, Coeur d'Alene, Hayden Lake, and Kootenai County in North Idaho have been targeted by the media as the center of the Aryan Nations' Neo-Nazi activity in the Northwest. Recently, however, it has become evident that this activity is a problem not only to us here in Kootenai County, but for all of the Northwest. The Neo-Nazis and the Klu Klux Klan have stated the Northwest, specifically the states of Washington, Oregon, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, is an area that will welcome them, or at least not actively oppose their activities. We believe they are relying on local government neutrality and passivity to accomplish this. Robert Miles, head of the Mountain Church of Jesus Christ the Savior, a leading exponent of the Identity Church Movement, and a convicted felon, jailed for six years for blowing up ten school buses in Michigan, claims that the Northwest is the place to create a separate nation made up exclusively of whites. He is moving to the Northwest and, allegedly, encouraging his congregation and 1,500 prison inmates to move to the Northwest as well. A separate white nation to be created out of the Northwest is also a stated goal of the Aryan Nations. In the past, local governments in the Northwest have largely ignored the organized racists growing in our midst. Please remember, however, the violent manifestations of these Neo-Nazi and Klu Klux Klan beliefs that have occurred in just two short years. Members of The Order were responsible for two armed car robberies in North Seattle in the spring of 1984. Walter West, a white supremacist, was beaten and killed in Idaho by a member of The Order in May of 1984. Alan Berg, a talk-show host, was murdered in Denver, Colorado by a machine gun wielding member of The Order in June of 1984. Robert J. Mathews, a member of The Order, died on Wbidbey Island, Washington during a shoot-out with SWAT teams and FBI agents in December, 1984. RO. I)ox ð50 Coeut d' Rlene. Idaho. ð3ð14 ,"" $0 Eugene Kinerk, an Aryan Nations member, committed suicide in a Boise, Idaho prison on February 22, 1986. Earlier he had robbed a bank in Grey's Harbor County, Washington. David Tate, a member of The Order and former Aryan Nations member, shot and killed a Missouri state Tropper, and seriously wounded another trooper in April, 1986. David Louis Wright, associated with the Duck Club, an ultraconservative tax protest organization, has been charged with murdering four members of the Charles Go1dmark family of Seattle, Washington, in December of 1985, allegedly believing that he was killing Communists and Jews - the Goldmarks were neither. (Information concerning the crimes enumerated above came from a Seattle Times copyrighted story dated April 20, 1986.) Other activities by the Neo-Nazis and the Klu Klux Klan and other hate groups continue in the Northwest despite the reduction in the ranks of The Order. We are writing to cities and counties throughout the Northwest because we are presented with a unique opportunity. The Aryan Nations is holding its annual convention on the 12th and 13th of July in Kootenai County, Idaho. We believe if each of you enact a resolution similar to the one attached, the Northwest will be sending a message of absolute clarity to the Aryan Nations, the Klu Klux Klan, Neo-Nazis, and other hate groups that their racist, supremist and prejudicial beliefs are contrary to those embraced by the Northwest and their local governments. We need your resolution prior to July 4, stating your support for the federal and state constitutions as these documents apply to racial equality and religious freedom. Let's join together in this opportunity to publically express our support of the rights and equality of all the citizens of the Northwest. If you have any questions, please call (208) 667-9574 and ask for Norman Gissel. ,", / ......'''......-) / ,,/, C.__~\- ?~¿. ,,/Mayor, City of Coeur d'Alene L ~~ ,\\, l~~./\~ ~ Chairman Pro-Tem, Kootenai County Commissioners ~. W~ W~~ Chairman, Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations