Rep. Matt Shea on latest controversy: ‘I will not back down’

State Rep. Matt Shea responded to recent allegations regarding an online conversation among Spokane-area residents that promoted violence and surveillance of people with opposing viewpoints — mainly liberals.

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In the conversation — first reported by The Guardian — Shea was said not to have promoted violence himself in the four-person chat, but did not object to the hostile rhetoric, and further asked for a list of names, hoping to perform background checks on local liberals.

The Republican representative took to his personal Facebook page Monday night to respond, claiming that the author of the The Guardian report has a “long record linking him to violent Marxist revolutionaries.”

“The Guardian article is an extremely misleading hit-piece,” Shea’s statement begins, encouraging his supporters to continue “keeping up the fight despite the false accusations.”

He goes on to note that both his life and the lives of his family have been threatened, and that he’s done background checks to “protect my family and my community.”

“I will not back down. I will not quit. I will not give in. Ever,” he continues.

Rep. Shea addresses Gov. Jay Inslee directly, accusing him of “routinely fail[ing] to condemn Antifa acts of terrorism in this state, and the barbaric rhetoric aimed at our President … while supporting the systematic murder of babies in the womb.”

He closed by calling on the governor to join him in the “mission field in the future bringing peace and the Gospel of Jesus Christ to Ukraine, Argentina, and parts of Ethiopia,” a trip Shea says he made last November.

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Inslee had condemned Shea’s latest controversy in a statement issued Monday, while Washington Democrats issued an open letter calling on state Republicans in the Legislature to “completely oust” him.

The Democrats’ letter further notes Shea’s personal actions that are “equally disturbing,” including: Pulling a loaded gun on a driver during a road rage incident; being sued for defamation; posting threatening pictures of himself outside his political opponent’s home in 2012; calling reporters “dirty, godless, hateful” people; and facing accusations of domestic violence.

House Republican leader J.T. Wilcox responded Monday as well.

“The statements made by others in a text conversation with Representative Matt Shea were wrong and deeply upsetting. I take these statements seriously and condemn them with no reservation,” said Wilcox. “My conversations with Matt and Leadership will continue.”

Representative Shea was removed from state GOP leadership positions last year following another controversy over a “manifesto” he authored. That document detailed how to wage a war on opposition, in accordance to the Bible. The document discussed how “all males” should be killed if an enemy does not give up abortions, same-sex marriages, and communism.

You can read Shea’s statement on this latest controversy in full below.

KEEPING UP THE FIGHT DESPITE THE FALSE ACCUSATIONS:

The Guardian article is an extremely misleading hit-piece from an author with a long record linking him to violent Marxist revolutionaries. My life and the lives of my family have been, and continue to be, threatened routinely (see examples below). One individual who threatened us was later convicted of triple homicide. Of course I have done background checks to protect my family and my community, but that was only in response to threats already coming from the left. I will continue to fight to protect the Constitution, my family, and my community. I will not back down. I will not quit. I will not give in. Ever. To Governor Inslee, I do not take seriously an admonition against violence from someone who routinely fails to condemn Antifa acts of terrorism in this state and the barbaric rhetoric aimed at our President on the one hand while supporting the systematic murder of babies in the womb on the other. Instead, I call on the Governor to join me on the mission field in the future bringing peace and the Gospel of Jesus Christ to Ukraine, Argentina, and parts of Ethiopia as I did in November. I look forward to working with everyone else for lower taxes, less government, and more freedom.

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