Surprising absolutely no one in the Inland Northwest, two of the Patriot Front members crammed into the U-Haul this weekend are connected to a church helmed by former Rep Matt Shea. Who is that, you ask? *deep inhale* A thread:

Shea is a former Washington state representative who represented Spokane Valley. In that position, he took the time to travel to both the 2014 and 2016 armed standoffs helmed by the Bundys; invited Oath Keepers head Stewart Rhodes to discuss battle tactics over tacos…

Here’s a story I wrote about him in Rolling Stone four years ago, after local reporters had been covering him for ages. Time flies when you’re having … um:

Shea also took spiritual guidance from The Byrds , a couple who runs a “covenant community” called Marble, in NE WA. Barry is of the framers of Christian Identity, a racist belief system that had been preached at the Aryan Nations. More on that here:

In 2018, former Shea acolytes leaked a manifesto he wrote - and claimed credit for - called the “Biblical Basis for War,” which called for war if abortion and same sex marriages were not stopped: