The following letter was published in the Arizona Daily Sun this week. We agree.
Arizona has gained a worldwide reputation for having the nuttiest state Legislature in the U.S. We in LD6 have two of the wackiest legislators of all: Sen. Wendy Rogers and Rep. Walt Blackman. They are cartoonish figures and would be laughable except for one thing. They have tremendous power and pose a serious threat to our democracy.
Rogers is a current card-carrying member of the Oath Keepers, a far-right, anti-government militia group. To date, 20 Oath Keepers have been charged with crimes related to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Rogers — with no evidence — has blamed Antifa (a decentralized collection of individuals) for the attack. The FBI has repeatedly refuted this conspiracy theory, and no one associated with Antifa has been arrested in connection with the coup attempt.
Like Rogers, Blackman also holds extreme views. He has even praised the Proud Boys, a neo-fascist, exclusively male hate group. So far, 19 Proud Boys have been indicted for events related to Jan. 6. On Sept. 25, Blackman was the only elected official who spoke at a “Justice for J6” rally, a crusade in defense of the Jan. 6 rioters. Of the few dozen people who attended the Phoenix rally, most were Proud Boys. Speaking to the crowd, Blackman said, “The Proud Boys came to one of my events. and that was one of the proudest moments of my life.”
Rogers and Blackman are far too radical and dangerous for Arizona. We must ensure that they never again hold political office.
KARYN RIEDELL
FLAGSTAFF
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