For Immediate Release
Contact: Molly Woon
press [at] dpo [dot] org
Republicans in Deschutes County to host right-wing, Islamophobic conspiracy theorist at meeting tomorrow
DPO calls on Deschutes County GOP to cancel event and for leading Rs to denounce the visit
February 19, 2018
PORTLAND — State and local Democrats are calling on Republican gubernatorial candidates to intervene and demand that Deschutes County Republicans cancel a scheduled appearance tomorrow night by John Guandolo, a right wing extremist, anti-Muslim, disgraced FBI agent and well-known conspiracy theorist.
Guandolo has been invited to speak about the "jihadi threat" to America at the Deschutes Central Committee meeting. Even by conservative standards, Guandolo is considered by many a radical islamophobe and conspiracy theorist.
“Deschutes County Democrats celebrate diversity of opinion, but inviting speakers like Mr. Guandolo who blatantly discriminate and even put lives in danger clearly crosses the line,” said Jason Burge, Chair of the Deschutes County Democrats. “The Deschutes Republicans should cancel this event before more damage is done. They have invited a man with a long record of hate speech who takes pride in promoting racial profiling and pushing conspiracy theories about any detractors to his cause. Even by the decaying moral standards of the Republican party, John Guandolo’s rhetoric is offensive and dangerous.”
Jeanne Atkins, chair of the Democratic Party of Oregon, called on Republican candidates to denounce the visit and pressure the Deschutes Republicans to cancel the visit.
“I am shocked that Republican candidates have been silent on this event,” said Atkins. “I call on Knute Buehler, Sam Carpenter, and Greg Wooldridge to condemn this event and pressure the Deschutes GOP to rescind their invitation to John Guandolo. Representative Walden should also be deeply concerned about this event, which is being hosted in the heart of his congressional district.”
A brief survey of Guandolo’s background includes:
- Guandolo bills himself as an esteemed former FBI agent, but he in fact resigned from the Bureau before he could be fired and launched a career as an anti-Islam activist.
- One of his first big "hits" was his claim that CIA director John Brennan was a secret Muslim convert. This claim originated with Guandolo but was quickly spread by other anti-Islam activists and eventually become so widespread that Brennan's supposed conversion is now treated as an established fact by many on the Right.
- Guandolo has repeatedly said that mosques don't deserve the same rights as churches, that members of Muslim groups should be arrested if they tried to lobby on Capitol Hill, and called for Obama and members of his administration to bearrested and tried for treason.
- Guandolo sees nefarious Islamic infiltration everywhere and this is presumably the sort of ridiculous information he is providing during his "training sessions" for law enforcement. He has also claimed that the Las Vegas Shooting was an Islamic attack.
- Recently, Guandolo has branched out a bit and started declaring that the special counsel investigation on the Trump administration is treason and that those responsible for it, including the media, should be executed and the government purged.
Guandolo is scheduled to speak to the Deschutes Republican Party on Tuesday, February 20th, at 6PM at the Bend Senior Center. The event is billed as “Understanding the Jihadi Threat to America.”
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