May 12th 2020

By David Neiwert

Daily Kos

One of the threatening emails, sent to a Seattle-area construction worker, was titled “Lowlife scumbag whistle-blower snitches,” and it read: “All you cowards who reported businesses as being open ... guess what ... social media is about to reign fire on you.” Another man left a voice message at the home of an Arlington woman: “You got 48 hours to get the [expletive] out of Washington, or I am coming for you and your loved ones.”

Dozens of people received ugly anonymous emails and phone calls in Washington state last week along these lines, all of them participants in a state program for reporting businesses that were violating Washington’s ongoing COVID-19-related lockdown through an official state website. Their names, as it turned out, had all been collected through a public-records request that was then circulated broadly on Facebook by some of the same organizers of the state’s anti-pandemic protests, particularly the “Patriot”/militia 3% of Washington outfit.

All told, thousands of people who reported lockdown violations were named in the “Snitch List” published last week on 3% of Washington’s Facebook page, along with their email addresses and phone numbers. The post read: “Want to snitch on your neighbor? Don’t expect to hide behind you (sic) computer screen.” Attached was a link to a spreadsheet containing each case reported to the state website, including the names and contact information of each person reporting.

Others posted the material too, including a Facebook group called Reopen Washington State. “Here you go Washingtonians: 25,000+ ‘violations’ your neighbors reported on you through the Governor’s gestapo line, maintained by the state military department,” read the group’s post featuring the spreadsheets.

In short order, the threats began rolling in.

One left a voice message with an informant: “You called on March 30th at 9:15 p.m. to report a nonessential business ... massage parlor. When you did that, you triggered a chain of events which made it known that you were the kind of person who would stomp on the rights of people who are trying to run a business, and that you believe yourself to be superior to them.”

The caller then added an ominous note, urging the informant to somehow change his mind: “If not, have fun with the, you know, what’s going to happen next,” he said.

Another informant received a voice message from a woman telling her: “I hope you choke on the [expletive] virus.”

The email to the construction worker ranted: “How can you live with yourself when the REAL DOCTORS have already come out and stated that social distancing is making matters worse? Every one of you slimeballs must only get your news from CNN.”

The primary source for the spreadsheet appears to have been right-wing activist Glen Morgan, who published it in both PDF and Excel versions for public consumption on his website We the Governed. In his post there, Morgan described the state’s program for reporting violations as “a way to reduce the workload of the 911 call center who were being inundated with panic calls from citizens who spent their days cooped up at home with the only entertainment (in between Netflix binging) to spying on their neighbor and report all potential ‘violations’ to the police.”

He explained:

Washington State Governor Inslee decided to create a state wide “Inslee Ministry of Covid Compliance” (a truth tag we added for clarity) hotline/website (see here) where bored citizens could also report the businesses they felt were not obeying Inslee and those who were not properly subordinate to whatever whimsical proclamation Governor Inslee kicked out next.  This produced a bonanza of complaints, and thanks to Washington State’s public records act (RCW 42.56), this is the first installment of the list of Inslee’s informant army.  ... Note, there appear to be over 7,000 entries. Most people who filed complaints also included their email and phone number, which is now part of this public record (a fact Inslee conveniently left out and probably did not communicate to the complainers).

While some of the entries in the database might appear questionable, most of the entries, in fact, described mundane situations in which employers were forcing workers into untenable situations with insufficient protection against infection. A large number of them were massage parlors.

Morgan expressed no concern that the list might be used to threaten complainants, nor did he urge his audience not to indulge in such behavior. Meanwhile, the recipients of the threats were outraged that the state made their private information public.

“Of course I would never have submitted a complaint with the state had I known my personal information would be given to people who would use it to attack me. I was just trying to be a good citizen,” one of the recipients of the threats told The Seattle Times, adding that she has been in contact with the FBI.

She added: “I’m disappointed the state did not do a better job of protecting our privacy and for not making it clear that our private information will become public if we submit a report.”

Chelsea Hodgson, spokeswoman for the Washington Joint Information Center, said the state has taken steps to make clear on the web form that complaints are subject to public release. “Individuals may also submit a complaint anonymously,” she added.

However, she also acknowledged to The News-Tribune that state officials had failed to make filing the reports anonymously an option on the website until March 31.

Gov. Jay Inslee called the publication of the names and the ensuing harassment “really unfortunate.” He added: “That kind of harassment and intimidation just won’t stand. I don’t think it’ll work, either. I think Washingtonians are a little too stalwart for that.”

Facebook removed 3% of Washington’s page over the weekend. However, its leader, Matt Marshall of Eatonville, still has an active page on the website. He complained there about a supposed “double standard” at work.

“Interesting to watch the outrage in the media over public records,” Marshall wrote, “yet media is silent when pictures of my home and employer are posted by the same King County Democrats now crying foul. I guess it's OK for leftists to actively work to get me fired and intimidate me online ... but when an organization I lead shares a PUBLIC RECORD you get The Seattle Times involved?”

“How about you hold us all to the same standard?” he added. “Doxing is not OK, no matter who you are.”

Marshall rationalized publicizing the names of the informants as a necessity: “They need to know that their neighbors have the right to face their accusers,” he told The Los Angeles Times.

Reopen Washington State’s Facebook page remained up, but the original post containing the list was deleted. However, at several of the page’s posts complaining about media coverage, the comments openly celebrated the harassment. “Snitches belong in ditches,” one man wrote.

“Oh this got famous fast, and people getting death threats a bit harsh, but I’ll bet they don’t do it again!” another commented. One commenter added: “Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.”

Lindsay Schubiner of the Western States Center—which monitors extremist groups like 3% of Washington—warned that publicizing citizens’ names and addresses is “an intimidation tactic.” “Posting this public information incites and encourages harassment and even possible violence,” she said.

Peter Simi, a professor of sociology at Chapman University, told the Times that pandemics like the current one are ripe for allowing  Western nations to experience a similar situation. “This crisis could strain the political system,” Simi said. “You have people who are experiencing heightened levels of emotion, resources being utilized in different ways and people who are being stretched thin. As a result, it does create more opportunity for extremists to mobilize around.”

Posted with permission