Embattled Shea a guest speaker at 2nd Amendment rally in Cd'A

Amid a flurry of calls from Olympia for the Spokane Valley legislator to resign, Republican Rep. Matt Shea will speak at a Jan. 20 Second Amendment rally in Coeur d’Alene, standing in support of a sister event the same day in Virginia.

The rally is intended to show solidarity with pro-2nd Amendment protesters in Virginia who are battling gun control legislation in Richmond. The Coeur d’Alene event is being organized by Charlene Baron, who has organized a pair of conservative rallies and get-togethers since moving to the area from Virginia in July.

“[We’re holding this] because of history,” Baron said. “We cannot have the government disarm the people. The government needs to respect the Second Amendment. I don’t think guns kill people; liberal policies do.”

Tim Kastning, who is temporarily filling Rep. John Green’s seat as the latter fights federal charges in Texas, agreed with Baron’s wide-view take, saying history always tries to repeat itself.

“… Anywhere in the 50 states where there’s a movement to disallow the Constitution, it ought to be a concern to any Idaho resident,” Kastning said Tuesday from Boise. “Idaho’s a very strong Second Amendment state. It’s important to ensure our Constitutional and natural, God-given right to protect ourselves. And history doesn’t [bode well]: Whenever there’s been strict gun control or gun confiscation by a government, the results have been detrimental to its people.”

Kastning will also speak at the Jan. 20 rally, which will begin with signs at the clock tower in front of The Coeur d’Alene Resort at 11 a.m. before moving to the Avista Pavilion at McEuen Park at noon. Baron said the pavilion portion of the event will focus on displays of patriotism, prayer for Virginia and speakers, including Shea, Kastning, one-time Sheriff candidate Rick Whitehad, and Danielle Ahrens and Cornel Rasor, both of Bonner County.

Washington state legislators — Republicans and Democrats alike — are calling on Shea to resign after a report stemming from a four-month Congressional investigation accused the Spokane Valley lawmaker of not only taking part in online chats that graphically promoted violence against liberals and asking for a list of names he would reference to conduct surveillence, but also participating in — and, in at least one case, helping plan in advance — three armed standoffs, including the armed takeover of the 2016 Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

The report — now known as the Rampart Report — declared Shea “is more probable than not … likely to plan, direct and engage in additional future conflicts that could carry with them significant risk of bloodshed and loss of life.” It called the legislator a “present and growing threat of risk to others through political violence” and labeled him a domestic terrorist. The day after the report was released, Shea’s digital presence was wiped from the Washington House Republican Caucus. He has been called on by members of both parties to resign.

Shea did not respond to request for comment, but in a Facebook post, he vowed to fight the accusations against him and defy any calls for resignation.

Kastning wouldn’t comment on Shea’s presence at the upcoming rally, but Baron said Shea’s inclusion is based on his longheld support of the Constitutional right to bear arms.

“What’s happened with him is exactly what’s happening to President Trump, and that’s a darn shame …” Baron said. “It appears clear to me [Shea] didn’t do anything wrong, but he’s just getting the same treatment the president is. I just look at a person for who he or she is and what he or she stands for. And what [Shea] is accused of has nothing to do with the content of the rally.”

Shea has often spoken at rallies and events across North Idaho. This upcoming rally, Baron said, is about showing solidarity with the people of Virginia. Its governor, Ralph Northam, has called for gun legislation in the wake of a May 31, 2019, shooting at a Virginia Beach municipal building that left 12 people dead. Northam called a July special session, though no legislation passed or came up for debate.

Since then, a slew of “sanctuary cities” have cropped up in Virginia — including Virginia Beach — with declarations promising to ignore any legislation that curtails Second Amendment rights. Kastning said that maintaining Second Amendment freedom requires, first and foremost, vigilance.

“I do not see [losing our Second Amendment rights] in the near future in Idaho,” he said. “But that does not mean we don’t pay attention and be diligent.”

More than a hundred people showed up for an October pro-President Trump rally Baron organized on the corner of Ironwood and Northwest Boulevard, with three protesters showing in response.