Two people were captured on video early Monday morning vandalizing the office of a Republican state legislator in Washington.
On Ring footage posted by Washington House Minority Leader J.T. Wilcox, the vandals can be seen approaching the office before one smashes a window with a hammer, then the other throws a lit flare into the office.
“Early this morning a window was smashed and a lit flare was tossed into the office of my seatmate, Andrew Barkis. The building also houses the office of the House Republican election campaign. Fortunately the flare landed on a masonry floor and the building survived,” Wilcox tweeted.
Early this morning a window was smashed and a lit flare was tossed into the office of my seatmate, Andrew Barkis. The building also houses the office of the House Republican election campaign. Fortunately the flare landed on a masonry floor and the building survived. pic.twitter.com/pkdc7g0uiV
— Rep. JT Wilcox (@jtwilcox111) June 13, 2022
Barkis’ Olympia office is housed in the same building as the Washington Republican House campaign headquarters, according to The Olympian. The Washington State Patrol and the Olympia Police Department were informed of the incident.
“Two out of 41 people having a felony committed in front of them or their property seems a little odd for five days,” Wilcox said in an email, warning his fellow lawmakers to be on guard for unusual activity, The Olympian reported.
Washington has 57 Democrats and 41 Republicans in the House of Representatives.
On Friday, Representative Peter Abbarno (R-Centralia) heard shooting outside his home in Centralia, but it does not appear to have been related to the representative, reported The Chronicle.
“I heard three shots, just ‘boom, boom, boom’ and then [a car] just tore off,” Abbarno said, pointing to increased crime in the area.
“What’s scary is that I spent the last two years as a legislator looking at this and arguing with them and now I am experiencing it firsthand and that is devastating,” the lawmaker said.
Following Monday’s incident, Washington Republican Chairman Caleb Heimlich asked Democratic Governor Jay Inslee and Democrats to speak out against the act.
I have consistently condemned political violence. Now I am waiting to see if @GovInslee @Tinapo @DrKimSchrier @PattyMurray and other Washington Democrats will condemn this heinous act of political terrorism committed this morning. https://t.co/dKF12FT7Tu
— Caleb Heimlich (@CalebHeimlich) June 13, 2022
Inslee later shared the video of the vandals, calling the situation “abhorrent.”
”We’re thankful no one was hurt. Hopefully law enforcement is able to identify these individuals before they inflict any more harm,” the Democratic governor said.
Such attempts at violence are abhorrent. We're thankful no one was hurt. Hopefully law enforcement is able to identify these individuals before they inflict any more harm. https://t.co/cW3uhUdAAO
— Governor Jay Inslee (@GovInslee) June 14, 2022
Source: Dailywire
