FRIDAY • January 29, 2021 • Serving Central Oregon since 1903 • $1.50
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Oregon House Republicans reject party statement
BY GARY A. WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
Oregon House Republicans dis-
owned an official Oregon Republican
Party claim that the riot at the U.S.
Capitol was a “false flag” operation
by Democrats to politically damage
then-President Donald Trump.
A two-page screed featured a “res-
olution” calling 10 Republicans who
voted for the impeachment of Pres-
ident Trump “traitors.” It claimed
the mob of Trump supporters who
smashed their way into the U.S. Capi-
tol in a riot that left five dead and 140
police officers injured was a Demo-
cratic conspiracy to set-off the “sham”
impeachment. The episode was lik-
ened to the 1933 burning of the Ger-
man Reichstag in Berlin by Nazis,
who then blamed the fire on others.
They called for a “patriot network” to
advance their claims.
“Democrats and their enablers are
trying to falsely assign blame to the
peaceful protesters present that day,”
the state GOP said.
The hyperbolic language, embrace
of dark conspiracies, and invocation
of Nazism was an inflammatory brew
quickly picked up by the Washing-
ton Post, CNN, and Britain’s Guard-
ian newspaper. Twitter and Facebook
spread the story around the globe.
In an extraordinarily swift and
unanimous rebuke, the 23 mem-
bers of the House Republican caucus
signed a letter rejecting the Oregon
Republican Party’s official statement.
“There is no credible evidence to
support false flag claims,” the letter
said. “Oregon is in crisis. Vaccines are
not going to our most vulnerable, our
students are still not in a safe class-
room setting, main street businesses
are in a tailspin, our health data is a
mess and here we are, talking about a
political party resolution.”
It wasn’t the first time lawmakers
had to respond, dismiss or explain
some action of a state political party
whose decades-long political right-
turn had outpaced even its growingly
conservative state representatives. As
the party’s size and influence has de-
clined, the tension between those who
carry the GOP banner outside and
those inside the Capitol trying to in-
fluence policy has stretched nearer to
a breaking point.
The lawmakers’ letter didn’t men-
tion the House members or Trump’s
debunked claim that the election was
stolen by President Joe Biden.
See Republicans / A6
COVID-19
GRACEFUL GLIDING
Brown
redirects
vaccines to
Portland
BY GARY A. WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
Gov. Kate Brown on Thurs-
day ordered 32,000 doses of
COVID-19 vaccines redirected to
the Portland area instead of going
to other parts of the state.
The move came after news re-
ports that health care workers in
Multnomah, Washington and
Clackamas counties were un-
able to be vaccinated because of a
shortage of doses.
At the same time, other counties
were inoculating groups further
down the priority list because of
excess doses on hand.
“Health care workers and Phase
1a individuals across the state have
always been my top priority for
vaccination,” Brown said
The Portland area would receive
17,000 additional shots for health
care workers and 15,000 for teach-
ers and school staff.
See Redirected / A6
Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin
S
ara Foran, 15, a member of the Bend Ice Figure Skating Club, glides across the ice while spending the afternoon practicing
tricks during an open skate session at The Pavilion in Bend on Thursday. For more information about skate times, prices
and contact information for the local ice skating rinks, please see the Explore events calendar in today’s paper. » See B 2
Proposal aims
to keep police
mug shots
under wraps
BY GARRETT ANDREWS
The Bulletin
See Jail death / A6
See Mug shots / A6
Deschutes County jail death determined a suicide
Criminal investigation
into Baksis, 31, closed
BY GARRETT ANDREWS
The Bulletin
The law enforcement investigation
into an inmate’s death last month in
the Deschutes County jail has con-
cluded that Scott Douglas Baksis
took his own life.
An autopsy report for Baksis, 31,
has not yet been released and thus
there’s no formal cause of death yet.
TODAY’S
WEATHER
But on Thursday, Deschutes County
District Attorney John Hummel is-
sued a statement declaring the man-
ner of death a suicide and the crimi-
nal probe closed.
“Regardless of the cause of death,
this was a non-criminal incident,”
Hummel wrote.
Baksis, originally from Lake Os-
wego but living in Bend at the time
of his arrest, was pulled over Oct. 23
near downtown Bend and arrested
for allegedly driving with a blood-al-
cohol level twice the legal limit. Due
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to two prior DUII convictions and
his alleged high blood-alcohol level,
he was charged in circuit court with
felony DUII, as well as driving with a
suspended license.
Baksis attended an arraignment
hearing Dec. 1 and was remanded
into custody with his security set at
$20,000, meaning he needed to pay
$2,000 to be released.
Deputies approached him in the
courtroom, and he reportedly told
them he was suffering from a panic
attack. They saw him place a pill in
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DAILY
his mouth, telling them it was pre-
scription anti-anxiety medication,
Hummel wrote.
“One of the deputies noted that
Mr. Baksis expressed anxiety about
an upcoming job interview that
he did not want to miss,” Hummel
wrote.
When he was booked into the jail,
Baksis was asked questions about his
mental health, including if he had
thoughts of harming himself, as part
of the jail’s standard intake process.
Among a large slate of criminal
justice bills this year at the Capitol
is a proposal that would make po-
lice mug shots largely unavailable
to the public until a person is con-
victed of a crime.
The proposed bill, introduced
by Rep. Brad Witt, D-Clatskanie,
addresses the negative impacts
that can arise after the release of
an arrest booking photo, especially
people who were arrested but
never convicted of a crime.
The proposal, which is still be-
ing drafted, was briefly discussed
Monday in a video hearing of the
Subcommittee on Equitable Po-
licing.
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