OLYMPIA, Wash. A Thurston County Republican group's weekly luncheon was canceled after the restaurant set to host it received threatening calls over the scheduled speaker, Let's Go Washington founder Brian Heywood, according to the Nisqually Valley News.
The Thurston County Mainstream Republicans had planned to meet in Olympia on Wednesday, Oct. 21. Group president Erik Smith said the reason for the cancellation was "threats of violent protest" tied to Heywood's appearance.
Heywood is the sponsor of three initiatives on the November general election ballot. On Oct. 6, the City of Olympia passed resolutions formally opposing two of them: IL26-001, concerning parental rights relating to children in public school, and IL26-638, concerning participation in athletics at K-12 schools. The Nisqually Valley News reported that everyone who testified at the city's public hearings supported the resolutions.
Smith said the restaurant that regularly hosts the group called Wednesday to report "several threatening calls" and to say its employees did not feel safe. The group has not named the restaurant and could not find another venue on short notice, so it scrapped the meeting.
"The bullies who made these threats may think they have scored a victory by preventing him from appearing in Olympia," Smith said in a news release. "What they have really done is expose their hatred and intolerance, and they have shown us how dangerous they are." He added that silencing political speech is "a display of contempt for our nation's founding principles" and called the episode "a warning sign" of a breakdown in political consensus.
The cancellation comes during a contentious local election cycle in Thurston County. County commissioner candidate Nic Dunning, a moderate Democrat challenging incumbent Emily Clouse, has reported repeated vandalism of his campaign signs. In the most recent incident, on Oct. 6, surveillance footage captured someone cutting one of his signs with a boxcutter. Dunning filed a police report, but no suspect had been identified as of Oct. 22. Dunning has blamed Clouse supporters, which she denies, and both campaigns have accused the other of harassment at debates and forums.
Separately, Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders, an Independent running against Democrat Kevin Burton-Crow, told the Thurston Chronicle that a small faction within the Democratic Party has been causing "drama" around his race. "Republicans never treated me like this," Sanders said, while acknowledging the behavior comes from "a very small faction" and noting he has received strong support from many party members.