Dear Democrats,

Here’s an update regarding the incident at the Spokane County Democrats HQ yesterday. We can use your help.

Many of you may have seen the article in today’s Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/12/10/spokane-county-democrats-bomb-threat/

We remain utterly grateful that none of our volunteers were physically hurt, and are in close contact regarding their overall wellbeing, especially given the truly terrifying nature of the incident. Please hold them in your hearts for just a moment today.

We so appreciate them, and, of course for safety reasons will not disclose identities. Last night we also had a virtual gathering of over 50 members of the Spokane Dems Community that included Senate Majority Leader Andy Billig, Representatives Marcus Riccelli and Timm Ormsby, and Commerce Director and former State Senator Lisa Brown. It was the best of people coming together and I want to thank everyone who participated.

I want to especially acknowledge and lift up the amazing leadership of Spokane County Democrats Chair Nicole Bishop, Spokane Dems Operation Manager Angie Beem, and our own Spokane-based Washington State Democrats Vice Chair David Green. Thank you.

The bottom line is that the fire set by the perpetrator of the incident has resulted in a near total loss of the office and contents. The photos are heartbreaking and triggering for some and I will not share them here. 

If you can, the Spokane Democrats will need funds to replace, repair, reorganize, rebuild and restore lost personal items as well. Many aspects of “next steps” remain up in the air as we work with the police, insurance, building management and owners, and a myriad of steps to recovery.

Please help here with a donation: https://act.myngp.com/Forms/-986707872747354368 Any amount helps and every amount will make a difference.  Please use this link, as we can better handle PDC reporting on these donations at this time thru this link.

Also, if you can, take a moment to leave a message of support on the Spokane County Democrats FB page - let’s send our warmest (virtual) hugs here: https://www.facebook.com/spokanedemocrats

Finally, I want to recap what we do and don't know: 

• We do know that no one from our organization was physically hurt in the attack, thank goodness. We are in close contact with our volunteers as they recover from this terrifying event.
• We do know from the volunteer who spoke with the suspect that his manifesto mentioned "something" about Democrats and Republicans, but not what the content was beyond that.
  
• Accordingly, we believe that this was politically motivated, but we do not know this person's party affiliation or personal beliefs.
• At this time, we're not aware of when (if at all) the manifesto would be released to the public or effected parties, and we're not aware of the suspect's identity.
• The Spokane County Democrats Office has been devasted by fire, and we can use your support and donations as you are able.

As we did in our with the Spokane Dems yesterday, we're continuing to direct any inquiries beyond requests for instructions on how to support the Spokane Dems to the police.

If we get any further information, I'll be sure to reach out with an update.

Finally, this is a scary situation. And another reminder that It’s important that we all consider security as one of the top priorities in our organization - please do take that extra step today to asses any physical spaces for security threats or concerns.

Please reach out to us if you need to talk, or have any questions.

Thank you,

Tina

Tina Podlodowski, Chair, Washington State Democrats

(she|her|hers)