A bill pushed by Washington’s attorney general would criminalize free speech and lead to an Orwellian “Ministry of Truth” under the guise of preventing domestic terrorism, according to a regional think tank.
“This bill will create a two-tiered justice system where some people have free speech and others don’t, and that is a dangerous path for us to be set upon,” Liv Finne, director for education at the Washington Policy Center, told Fox News.
A report from the Washington attorney general pushing for the formation of a domestic violent extremism commission mentions the Jan. 6, 2021, riots multiple times. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s office released a 31-page report last year with recommendations on preventing domestic extremism. Now, a bill establishing a commission tasked with building upon the report and creating a first-of-its-kind public health approach to proactively fighting misinformation and early signs of radicalization is making its way through the state legislature.
Specifics on how the state might prevent radicalization and extremism are scarce in both the bill and the attorney general’s report.
“We want to figure out how to prevent it before it happens because once the violence happens, everybody’s gonna suffer the consequences,” Rep. Bill Ramos, who introduced SHB 1333 with the support of nearly two dozen democrats, told KING 5.
While SHB 1333 itself would not criminalize any speech or association, Finne said that is the natural next step of the commission, which is supposed to identify existing legal options and potentially new legislation for addressing extremism.
The attorney general’s report singles out online disinformation, anti-government ideologies and the “general spread of extreme white supremacism” as examples of domestic violent extremism.
At the same time, the report cautions against implementing any laws that could be “disproportionately used against BIPOC” communities or other marginalized groups.
“It’s obvious that this is targeting certain groups in our society without basis,” Finne said. “Speech is not violence. Violence is violence. To equate the two is outrageous and wrong.”
Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson looks on during a news conference in Seattle on Dec. 17, 2019. A report from Ferguson’s office directs legislators to create a “public health approach” to…
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