Some top Deschutes County officials are planning to participate in or support two far right, anti-COVID restriction events in coming months.
Deschutes County Sheriff Shane Nelson is scheduled to speak to a People’s Rights meeting Jan. 18. The group was founded by Ammon Bundy, who led the 2016 armed standoff at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. People’s Rights is a network of groups formed in 2020 centered around Bundy’s anti-government ideology and resisting public health mandates.
Then in April, County Commissioner Patti Adair plans to attend a “Reawaken America” rally headlined by disgraced former U.S. Army general Michael Flynn.
Flynn was President Trump’s first National Security Advisor for 22 days in 2017 before resigning because he lied to FBI agents about a secret phone call he had held with then-Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak. He twice pleaded guilty to lying to the F.B.I., but was pardoned by the former president in 2020.
Local organizer Troy Smith courted the event’s national promoters by assuring that two Republican Deschutes County commissioners were supportive of the cause, and that Oregon’s mask mandate would not be enforced. When contacted, those commissioners said Smith mischaracterized their conversations.
The Reawaken America event is planned at the Deschutes County Expo Center in Redmond.
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