Before lawmaker opened door for armed protesters at Oregon Capitol, he coached constituents about it

[TexasTowelie]

Just days before Rep. Mike Nearman helped armed protesters enter the closed Oregon Capitol building in December, endangering fellow lawmakers and Capitol employees, prosecutors say, he coached constituents on the exact steps to take to get his help breaking in.

A video shows Nearman, a Republican from outside Independence, walking constituents through the step-by-step process of where to stand, how to text him and what help he would provide that would allow them to break the rules and get into the Capitol during a Dec. 21 special legislative session.

He does so with a wink and a nod, interspersing the instructions with disclaimers that he’s not giving out a real cell phone number (he is and it’s his number), that he knows nothing about the planned “Operation Hall Pass” and that nothing like that will actually happen.

In fact, exactly what he described did occur, prosecutors and investigators say. Protesters gathered outside the Capitol’s west entrance in obvious protest of the closure; Nearman left the House chambers where lawmakers were gathered doing state business; and he walked out a Capitol entrance, leaving the open door hanging long enough for angry citizens to grab it and enter.

Read more: https://www.pennlive.com/nation-world/2021/06/before-lawmaker-opened-door-for-armed-protesters-at-oregon-capitol-he-coached-constituents-about-it-video.html

[Midnight Writer]

1. Every article about a crazed Republican in office should include a list of his top donors.

This guy is in office because some monied interests want him there.

These donors should be tied to these guys tighter than Nike is to sports stars.

[PurgedVoter]

3. Great idea!

Always follow the money and make the money source responsible.

[MerryHolidays]

6. Already done!

This traitor was speaking at the office of the Freedom Foundation when on December 16, 2020 when this video was taken:

The session during which he coached constituents was livestreamed on Dec. 16 and is posted to YouTube under the account of “The Black Conservative Preacher.” Nearman said he was speaking from the office of the Freedom Foundation, a group tied to conservative billionaires that pays Nearman to serve as a senior fellow.

https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2021/06/days-before-rep-mike-nearman-helped-protesters-breach-capitol-he-coached-constituents-just-how-hed-help-them-do-it.html

When you click on the link in this passage, it takes you to an LA Times article that lists several wealthy donors to the Freedom Foundation:

Led by a former executive of the Building Industry Assn. of Washington lobbying group, the Freedom Foundation reported a 2016 budget of $4 million. Its current assault on unions is modeled on past efforts that targeted home health aides, who in 2014 were given the option of not paying fees, and other government workers, who had a choice of paying full dues or smaller representation fees.

Nelsen declined to identify any of the group’s donors, which he said include businesses, foundations and individuals “from all different walks of life.” All donations are “made by those who believe in our mission,” he said.

However, tax filings reveal a who’s-who of wealthy conservative groups.

Among them are the Sarah Scaife Foundation, backed by the estate of right-wing billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife; Donors Trust, which has gotten millions of dollars from a charity backed by conservative billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch; from the Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation, backed by the family of U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos; and the State Policy Network, which has received funding from Donors Trust and is chaired by a vice president of the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation.

Meredith Turney, a spokeswoman for the State Policy Network, along with Lawson Bader, chief executive and president of Donors Trust, and Liz Hill, a spokeswoman for the Department of Education, all declined to comment on fundraising or donations. Scaife and Koch representatives didn’t immediately return requests for comment.

https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-freedom-foundation-20180628-story.html

Nearman himself is a "Senior Fellow" of the Freedom Foundation: https://www.freedomfoundation.com/author/mnearman/

[captain queeg]

2. He oughta be arrested

[spudspud]

4. He's clearly a moron. /nt

[Grokenstein]

5. Aw, the seditionist thinks he's being "cute."

“We’re talking about setting up Operation Hall Pass, which I don’t know anything about and if you accuse me of knowing something about, I’ll deny it. But there would be some person’s cell phone which might be” and he recites a phone number beginning with 971.

“But,” he continues, “that was just random numbers that I screened up. That’s not anybody’s actual cell phone. And if you say ‘I am at the west entrance’ during a session in text to that number there, that somebody might exit that door while you’re standing there.

This sort of shit should earn, at bare minimum, immediate removal from office. It's fucking insane that they're destroying the nation and treating it as a larf, while we're supposed to "take the high road" which apparently means "do nothing."

[mahatmakanejeeves]

7. Before violent Oregon Capitol breach, GOP lawmaker coached people on how to slip in, video shows

From the WaPo:

National

Before violent Oregon Capitol breach, GOP lawmaker coached people on how to slip in, video shows

By Hannah Knowles
June 5, 2021 at 10:35 p.m. EDT

The presentation begins as an innocuous primer on keeping up with state politics. Speaking in front of a projected computer screen, Oregon state Rep. Mike Nearman encourages his audience to get engaged and says you can “take as big a bite or as small a bite as you want.”

The Oregon Capitol is closed amid the coronavirus pandemic, “so you can’t come in,” the Republican legislator from rural Polk County acknowledges in a newly publicized video of a meeting that apparently took place mid-December. But then he drops hints about something called “Operation Hall Pass.” ... “Which I don’t know anything about, and if you accuse me of knowing something about it, I’ll deny it,” he says in the video. ... He gives a phone number — “just random numbers that I spewed out” — and says that if people were to text it with their location, somebody might exit through the right door at the right moment. On Dec. 21, according to previously released surveillance video, Nearman did just that.

Nearman was charged in that incident with “knowingly” letting far-right rioters breach the Oregon Capitol as lawmakers met to consider coronavirus legislation — weeks before Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol and after armed protests outside statehouses across the country had raised concerns about lawmaker safety. Some capitols became sites of violent conflict and targets for extremists as alarm grew over threats and highly personal attacks on public officials because of coronavirus restrictions and the results of the November presidential election.

The meeting video, which Oregon Public Broadcasting surfaced this week and that apparently was recorded the week before the Dec. 21 breach, sheds new light on Nearman’s earlier discussions before he walked out of a special session and opened the door for maskless demonstrators who rushed inside and clashed with police. Dozens eventually entered the building that day, some attacking officers and damaging property, video shows. Police arrested at least five people on charges including trespassing and assault. ... Nearman, 57, is charged with misdemeanor counts of first-degree official misconduct and second-degree criminal trespass. Online court records do not show a plea, and he and his lawyer did not immediately respond to requests for comment Saturday.

{snip}

{snip}

Katie Shepherd and Lateshia Beachum contributed to this report.

By Hannah Knowles
Hannah Knowles is a reporter on the General Assignment team who joined The Washington Post in June 2019. Twitter https://twitter.com/KnowlesHannah

[UpInArms]

8. I tried to find the "recommend this post" button

So I’ll just clip and bold and repeat after you

The meeting video, which Oregon Public Broadcasting surfaced this week and that apparently was recorded the week before the Dec. 21 breach, sheds new light on Nearman’s earlier discussions before he walked out of a special session and opened the door for maskless demonstrators who rushed inside and clashed with police. Dozens eventually entered the building that day, some attacking officers and damaging property, video shows.