A panel of Oregon Republican candidates for governor, including one currently facing federal criminal charges for assaulting police officers at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, uniformly insisted recently that the events of that January day were a righteous protest.
Reed Christensen, Brandon Merritt, Tim McCloud, Kerry McQuisten, Amber Richardson, Bill Sizemore and Marc Thielman made their comments at a private Republican forum in Baker City in late March.
Their remarks came to light Tuesday, when a conservative organization founded by an aide on Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign complained that video of the conversation had been removed from YouTube for violating the video platform’s policies on misinformation.
The group, Look Ahead America, has been leading rallies throughout the country against what it refers to as “political persecution” of people who participated in a violent riot aimed at preventing Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s election. Five people died, nearly 140 police officers and countless rioters were injured and more than 700 people are facing federal criminal charges.
Christensen, a former Intel employee from Hillsboro, is among those facing charges. He is scheduled to appear via video in a Washington, D.C., U.S. District Court on May 10, just a week before Oregon’s primary election.
According to court documents, Christensen struck or pushed several law enforcement officers and led a group that removed bike racks blocking people from moving...
A front-page article with the byline of veteran New York Times opinion writer Nicholas Kristof is the latest poisonous example of what I call the NGO “halo effect.” Headlined “The Silence That Mee...