Threatening someone over political differences, shouting ethnic slurs and then boasting about it isn’t patriotism. It’s thuggery. Nothing more, nothing less.
The two men who confronted and threatened Gov. Steve Sisolak and his wife, Kathy, on Sunday at a Las Vegas restaurant referred to themselves as patriots, but their actions were an insult to the term. Yes, American patriots are passionate about their right to dissent, but they also know there are appropriate times, places and ways to criticize a public official or anyone else.
Yelling threats of physical violence and death, racist terms and profane insults in a restaurant where a couple have gone for a peaceful family meal checks none of those boxes.
It’s yet another manifestation of an alarming trend in America of extremists accosting and intimidating public officials. We’ve seen it in Las Vegas and other cities where protesters surrounded the homes of elected leaders, and on Sunday we saw it with the abhorrent verbal assault of the Sisolaks.
The governor and first lady used good judgment in handling the situation — they quickly left the restaurant versus getting into a confrontation that could have put everyone in the establishment at risk.
But imagine being in the Sisolaks’ shoes, or being a diner or staff member who witnessed what happened. At a time when public confrontations all too often lead to deadly violence, such as the horrifying shooting early Saturday at a local hookah bar that left one person dead and 13 wounded, the situation must have been frightening. No one deserved to be subjected to this.
The two men — including little-known right-wing podcaster and failed amateur MMA fighter Justin Andersch, who video recorded his harassment of the governor and proudly posted it online — are under police investigation for their actions, which is appropriate. This wasn’t simply a case of sticks and stones — one told Sisolak that “We should string you up on a lamp post right now.”
In his other social media posts, Andersch gloatingly implies that he was involved in surrounding election officials’ homes during the pandemic and has engaged in ambush harassment of Sisolak in the past.
This type of bullying and intimidation have no place in a civilized society.
There are plenty of ways to criticize Sisolak or any other public official peacefully and without striking fear into those individuals or anyone around them. Appropriate avenues include calling the official’s office, sending comments via email or web comment page, showing up at a government building with a picket sign, organizing a peaceful march whose target isn’t a private residence, or, perhaps the best way, running for office and beating them. All Americans are adept at protesting peacefully and without encouraging physical violence against public figures.
But personally threatening and intimidating a public figure is out of bounds. And keep in mind, that message goes to anyone across the political spectrum. The Sun has condemned shows of intimidation from both the left and right, including situations involving harassment of former White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Sen. Ted Cruz, Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson.
Here’s what we wrote in 2018 shortly after Huckabee Sanders and other Trump administration staffers were unfairly denied service at a restaurant solely for their political persuasion: “In these tense times, it’s critical for Americans to remember that regardless of how fiercely or fundamentally we disagree with each other, we’re countrymen with an abundance of shared self-interests and the right to freely discuss our differences. Dissenting is one thing, including through a boycott or some other civil act, but building walls of disrespect and intolerance is quite another.”
That’s just as true today as it was then.
But unfortunately some leaders, notably many from the far right, continue to embolden reprehensible behavior among their followers by demonizing moderates and the left, who they portray as an existential threat to those on the right.
These two speeches from last week’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) leap to mind:
• Cruz called for Americans to be “unruly” and “uncontrollable” to defeat leftists such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who, according to Cruz, “want to control you, your assets, your savings, your speech, your life, your children, every decision.”
• Florida Sen. Rick Scott described “the militant left” as a greater threat to America than virtually every nation we’ve fought in armed combat. “We survived the War of 1812, the Civil War, World War I and World War II, Korea, Vietnam and the Cold War. But today we face the greatest danger we have ever faced. The militant left wing in our country has become the enemy within,” he said.
While the decision to threaten the Sisolaks lies solely with Andersch and his fellow thug, who as of this writing hadn’t been publicly identified, the rhetoric from Republican leadership is only fanning hatred that erupts in such displays. Talk about ugly and uncontrollable — that’s exactly what broke out at the restaurant.
This needs to stop. Leadership in both parties have a responsibility to help maintain the peace, and therefore must disavow acts of aggression by their followers and quit goading them into seeking out confrontations.
People need to understand that while it was Sisolak and his family physically hounded this week, next week it could be a Republican candidate threatened. We have to stop the savagery. We are only a few years removed from a mentally ill supporter of Bernie Sanders opening fire on a GOP congressional baseball game, grievously injuring Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La. Sanders, of course, never asked for violence and immediately disavowed the shooter and urged his followers to never commit such acts. But on the GOP side we’ve reached the point where some leaders call Jan. 6 — with all the deaths associated — a typical tourist day.
None of this is OK.
It would be a welcome thing if the purveyors of street-level bullying like Andersch publicly apologize and begin to advocate for an end of such behavior. That’s a story we’re eager to write at the Sun, but we aren’t holding our breath.
Meanwhile, Americans can and should address the problem by voting against extremists and condemning incendiary rhetoric. Nothing constructive can come from comments like those of Nevada GOP gubernatorial candidate Michele Fiore, who, in reaction to the threats against the Sisolaks, said the governor was “lucky it was just words” and that “pitchforks will be next.” Joey Gilbert, another Republican candidate in the crowded field, was no better, writing this on Facebook: “Hell no I do not condemn it. You earned it Steve. You absolutely earned it.”
We suggest Fiore and Gilbert take the time to call their fellow Republican, Scalise, and ask him about where this stuff eventually leads. Both candidates should hang their heads in shame for reveling in threatened violence.
The nation needs voices of reason and rationality — like Javier Barajas, the owner of Lindo Michoacan restaurant, where the incident occurred. Barajas put it very well in explaining why he ejected the men from the establishment – the first time he’s had to do so in his 32 years in business in Las Vegas.
“Regardless of your political stance, I believe everyone should be treated with respect,” Barajas said. “People are allowed to disagree. With everything going on in the world right now, we should all strive to be better Nevadans and respect one another.”
Exactly. Voicing a difference of opinion is an American right, and long may it live. But there are right ways to express discontent and criticism, and threatening people isn’t close to being one of them.