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OFF PAGE ONE
East Oregonian
Wednesday, January 29, 2020
Trump shores up support for newest
Bill would add
GOP congressman in the Garden State penalties for
masked rioters
By JONATHAN LEMIRE
Associated Press
WILDWOOD, N.J. —
Moving on several fronts
toward shoring up support for
his re-election bid, President
Donald Trump capped off
a busy Tuesday by heaping
praise on the newest Republi-
can member of Congress and
savaging Democrats he said
are engaged in “demented
hoaxes” like his impeach-
ment trial.
On the day his legal team
wrapped up its opening argu-
ments on the Senate floor,
Trump spoke to an enthusi-
astic audience in New Jersey
in support of Rep. Jeff Van
Drew, who recently switched
from the Democratic Party to
the GOP after breaking ranks
over impeachment.
“While we are creating
jobs and killing terrorists,
the congressional Democrats
are obsessed with demented
hoaxes, crazy witch hunts and
deranged partisan crusades.
That’s all they know how to
do,” Trump said.
Trump’s visit to Demo-
cratic-leaning New Jersey
generated a boisterous audi-
ence that lined the streets to
greet him during a critical
moment in his presidency.
He called Van Drew on stage,
saying, “Jeff had the guts to
defy the left-wing fanatics in
his own party.”
Trump highlighted the
Legislation being introduced in
response to ‘alarming increase
of violent riots in Oregon’
By JAKE THOMAS
Oregon Capital Bureau
AP Photo/Mel Evans
President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally on Tuesday in Wildwood, N.J., as Rep. Jeff
Van Drew, R-N.J., listens.
economy during much of his
speech, noting that seven mil-
lion jobs have been created
since his election. He also
continued to boast of the U.S.
drone strike in Baghdad that
killed Iran’s most powerful
general, Qassem Soleimani,
on Jan. 3. He cited the strike
while attacking his political
rivals with language that was
incendiary even for a Trump
rally.
“We stopped him cold,
yet Washington Democrats
like crazy Bernie Sanders
and nervous Nancy Pelosi,
they opposed our actions to
save American lives. They
opposed it,” Trump asserted
to a roar of boos.
Pelosi and other Democrats
have questioned the strategy
behind Trump’s order to kill
Iran’s general, which was
made without prior approval
from Congress. They pointed
to potential consequences of
heightened tensions that could
endanger U.S. troops and lead
to war with Iran.
On Tuesday, Trump
sought to push past the ongo-
ing impeachment trial that
has cast a shadow over the
White House. Earlier in the
day, he released a Middle East
peace plan that was imme-
diately met with skepticism
that it would go anywhere
without Palestinian buy-in.
But Trump’s proposal was
about more than how the plan
would play out in the troubled
region. It was also an effort to
keep his promises to some of
his most ardent supporters at
home.
Trump’s strong pro-Is-
rael position has brought him
support from Zionist Jews
and evangelical Christians.
Trump enjoys robust support
from evangelicals, and his
first campaign event of 2020
was a speech to conservative
Christians in Miami.
SALEM — Rioters who
conceal their faces with
masks would face increased
penalties under a bill that’ll
be introduced in the upcom-
ing legislative session.
Sponsored by Rep. Sher-
rie Sprenger, R-Scio, the
bill is aimed at the “alarm-
ing increase of violent riots
in Oregon,” according to a
statement.
In recent years, Portland
has seen a rise in heated
political protests that have
erupted into street brawls
or riots. The confrontations
have typically involved right-
wing demonstrators squar-
ing off with anti-fascist
(commonly referred to as
“Antifa”) counter-protesters
who often wear masks.
“As a former Sheriff’s
Deputy, I know how import-
ant it is for law enforcement
to be able to accurately and
swiftly identify those who
are involved in inciting
these riots and committing
crimes,” said Sprenger in
a statement.
Noting the difficulty
law enforcement faces in
responding to these situa-
tions, the statement pointed
out that former Portland
Police Chief Danielle Outlaw
called for a similar policy last
summer.
According to the state-
ment, about 15 other states
and some local governments
across the country have sim-
ilar laws.
The statement notes that
the bill would not outlaw
masks, but would increase
penalties if someone con-
ceals their face with the intent
to riot. Rioting is currently a
Class C felony and the bill
would bump the offense up
to a Class B felony if some-
one wears a mask to conceal
their identity while commit-
ting the crime.
In Oregon, a Class B fel-
ony is punishable by up to 10
years in prison and a Class C
by 5 years.
The upcoming legisla-
tive session, which begins
in February, will last for 35
days and is expected to be
dominated by a greenhouse
gas-reduction bill.
Composer: ‘Cultivate the ability to read and understand music’
Continued from Page A1
creating a symphony cele-
brating the Malheur National
Wildlife Refuge. In 2016,
militants protested federal
public lands regulations by
squatting for 41 days inside
the headquarters of the bird
refuge. Thomas was hired
by the Central Oregon Sym-
phony to write an orchestral
work that would highlight
not the armed occupation,
but rather the area’s natu-
ral beauty, wildlife diversity
and rich cultural heritage.
Thomas told the young
musicians that he real-
ized quite early that he
wanted to write music. He
recalls coming home and
telling his father, Randy
Thomas, about this light
bulb moment. Randy bought
his son a blank scoring book
and eventually Chris fig-
ured out how to transfer the
music running around in his
head onto paper.
Even then, “I knew every
day for the rest of my life, I’d
be writing music,” he said.
“I’m 37 and that’s still all I
want to do with my life.”
He remembers listening
to a lot of Bach and Vivaldi
as a boy and being bothered
by the fact that all his favor-
ite composers were dead.
When he discovered “The
Nightmare Before Christ-
mas,” by modern composer
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Composer Chris Thomas talks about his life to members of the Oregon East Symphony Youth Orchestra during a recent re-
hearsal.
Tim Burton, he got excited.
Banks asked Thomas
to give advice to aspiring
composers.
“Cultivate the ability to
read and understand music.
Learn the piano. Develop
your ear,” he said. “Embrace
every kind of music you
possibly can. There’s noth-
ing you shouldn’t listen to.”
He admitted that some
music teachers are prone to
thinking “that everything
after Chopin is garbage,” but
he disagrees.
“You have to know what
is relevant in your time,” he
said.
One of Thomas’ favor-
ite musical genres is Bali-
nese gamelans, a percus-
sion-heavy style of music
traditional in Indonesia. Lis-
tening to it brings Thomas
to his happy place and also
spurs his creativity.
“It’s like a catalyst,” he
said. “My own music pours
out after listening to it.”
Thomas earned a grad-
uate degree in scoring for
motion pictures and tele-
vision from University of
Southern California where
his instructors were Holly-
wood A-listers. His televi-
sion work includes work for
“Lost,” “House,” “Vice” and
“CSI:NY.” He wrote music
for a documentary film
called “Woman Rebel,” that
was shortlisted for an Acad-
emy Award.
Thomas composes music
for theme parks, such as
Knott’s Berry Farm and the
Evermore Adventure Park,
and loves writing scary
music.
As Thomas finished and
Banks thanked him for
coming, Thomas’ father
Randy leaned over in the
back row and shared a baby-
hood moment that might
have foreshadowed his son’s
successful career.
For a photo of Chris
taken shortly after birth,
Randy said, “We put him
in a paper bowtie and put a
baton in his hand. The hos-
pital used it in a brochure.”
At the time, no one realized
how accurate this portrayal
of Chris, done in jest, would
become.
Music was likely already
playing inside his head look-
ing for a way out.
Graffiti: 118 hate crimes reported in 2018
Walkouts: No job for no-shows
Continued from Page A1
Continued from Page A1
“We don’t have any bona
fide skinheads here, at least
none that are currently on
our radar,” he said.
Typically, Roberts said,
police may see an occa-
sional swastika or other
hateful image that is
likely the work of a juve-
nile who is unaware of its
connotation.
White supremacist graf-
fiti has had potentially
serious consequences for
its juvenile perpetrators
recently. In December, a
17-year-old male from West
Seneca, New York, was
charged with a hate crime
for drawing swastikas and
writing hateful messages
in a community center and
library bathroom.
Roberts said this is one
of the first instances relat-
ing to bias or hate crimes
he’s seen since police broke
up a white supremacist
gang that was operating in
Pendleton five years ago.
In 2015, Pendleton
WHAT IS A HATE
CRIME?
The FBI defines a hate
crime as a “criminal
offense against a person
or property motivated
in whole or in part by an
offender’s bias against a
race, religion, disability,
sexual orientation, eth-
nicity, gender, or gender
identity.”
police arrested a number
of people connected to an
all-white gang known as
the United Aryan Empire,
which was responsible for
a series of fights, stabbings
and shootings in the city
throughout 2014.
The Umatilla County
District Attorney’s Office
eventually convicted four
of the group’s core mem-
bers on a variety of charges,
including
racketeering,
conspiracy to commit mur-
der and assault.
All four remain in
prison, though Steven
Grangood, 27, may be
released as early as Feb. 12
after serving five years for
two counts of conspiracy to
commit murder.
According to Roberts,
the United Aryan Empire
utilized violence rather
than property vandalism
or graffiti while they were
active.
While Roberts and
Pendleton police have seen
a drop in hate crimes, per-
sonal attacks motivated
by bias or prejudice in
the U.S. were the highest
they’d been in 16 years,
according to the FBI’s 2018
hate crime statistics. How-
ever, the annual report also
showed a 19% drop in 2018
of property-based hate
crimes.
Overall, the FBI report
shows 118 hate crimes
were reported in Ore-
gon in 2018. Of those 118,
none were reported from
Umatilla County and one
was reported in Morrow
County.
“It’s always a heavy lift to
go for a constitutional amend-
ment,” said Burdick, but she
suggested there could be dis-
cussion about “fines or some
kinds of consequences.”
Baessler said any legis-
lative action aimed at curb-
ing walkouts could just trig-
ger another absence by
GOP lawmakers, who have
refused to rule out taking that
option again.
A memo from a Califor-
nia polling firm that con-
ducted research for the
unions claims that about
two-thirds of likely general
election voters are at least
inclined to support a mea-
sure that would oust legisla-
tors who had at least 10 unex-
cused absences. The poll
also shows 59% somewhat
or strongly opposed to last
year’s “repeated walkouts”
by Senate Republicans.
Senate Minority Leader
Herman
Baertschigar,
R-Grants Pass, said he didn’t
know whether voters would
support a ballot measure
cracking down on unexcused
absences. But he questioned
how much it would really
accomplish.
Even if such a measure
passed, Baertschigar said,
“in districts like mine, they’ll
(toss out a legislator) and
people will just re-elect you
again. I think it’s just a usual
thing of Democrats figuring
out another way to gain more
power.”
He also suggested that
Democrats should be careful
what they do, because they
could someday find them-
selves in the minority.
For Sen Bill Hansell,
R-Athena, the idea of limit-
ing unexcused absences is a
sticky one in the aftermath of
the two walkouts he partici-
pated in last session.
“Those who supported the
reason we walked are saying
we represented our constit-
uents in what they elected
us to do,” he said. “Those
who didn’t support it say we
neglected our jobs.”
He compared the act of
limiting unexcused absences
to opening Pandora’s Box,
since approval for absences
is determined in this case by
Democratic leadership.
“If you have a rule like
this, all the party in power
would have to do is not
approve the absences,” he
said. “You open up a possible
venue for real abuse.”
Hansell also questioned
the seriousness of the unions
behind the proposed initia-
tive. He said possible refer-
endums popping up before a
session weren’t uncommon.
“I try to do what I believe
is best for the citizens of my
district and not be intimi-
dated by outside interests’
threats of a possible referen-
dum,” he told the East Ore-
gonian in an email.
Other local lawmakers
Greg Smith, R-Heppner, and
Greg Barreto, R-Cove, did
not respond to a request for
comment before publication.
———
East Oregonian reporter
Jessica Pollard contributed
to this report.