[Press Release] Douglas County Sheriff Collaborating with Northern Nevada Militias to Intimidate, Harass Peaceful Protesters, Prevent the Right to Assemble against RACIST Sheriff
“The Black Lives Matter movement openly calls all law enforcement corrupt and racist on their website… . To support this movement is to support violence and to openly ask for it to happen in Douglas County.” — Sheriff Daniel J. Coverly
Location: Judicial Law Enforcement Center, 1038 Buckeye Road, Minden, NV 89423
Time: 11 AM, Saturday, August 8, 2020
Reno, NV: On Wednesday, a group of enthusiastic militia members (including white supremacists) met with a representative of the Douglas County Sheriff’s office to collaborate in response to a proposed protest of his office on Saturday. Recently, Sheriff Coverly threatened to withhold services from the county library because they were considering a simple diversity statement that he opposed in a plagiarized letter that has been covered by several national news outlets. These (armed) men intend to present themselves in “defense” of the Sheriff who claimed his “office was under attack by Black Lives Matter.” In preparation of the non-violent, peaceful demonstration proposed by activists in Carson City, including a Black woman who grew up in the Douglas area, the Sheriff’s office irresponsibly, and possibly illegally, created a press release to “prepare” for the protest and specifically frame “Black Lives Matters” chapters as a threat.
The Sheriff’s office has been planning for over a week to diminish the impact and the ability of citizens and residents to exercise their constitutional right to assemble and express their vehement denunciation of a public official threatening to discriminate against the people he is sworn to protect.
As Black activists and organizers, we are reminded of the astoundingly deep history of conspiracy and collaboration between white supremacists, fascists, and violent militias and extra-judicial groups in a centuries-long, ongoing preoccupation with the repression and subjugation of Black Americans, other people of color, and marginalized communities.
That Sheriff Crowley, a man who settled a lawsuit out of court for choking a civilian as he lifted and carried him off the ground, feels empowered to threaten citizens who provide his salary and to violate the protections of all Nevadans to peacefully assemble and exist demonstrates he is not fit to serve as chief law-enforcement officer in any place where the rule of law is supposed to matter.
Sheriff Crowley, who serves under the authority of the Douglas County Commission, and under the Nevada Attorney General, has designated peaceful activists and residents as an enemy that must be suppressed and repelled. Coverly follows the path of prejudiced, political law enforcement officials such as former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover and his shadow COINTELPRO projects that destabilized movements for freedom in the past by stoking incendiary flames of racial hostility and emboldening the heavy-handed, frightening tactics of “domination” under the guise of “law-and-order” practiced by police departments nationwide.
As is evident from social media posts, including white militia groups, county residents are planning to rally behind the Sheriff and actively intimidate and harass righteous protesters. Before the legalization of marijuana in 2016, Black residents of Douglas County were 21.9x more likely to be arrested for possession in 2018, in just one chilling example of disparate, racist treatment by law enforcement and the reality of a community hostile to diversity.
Because of these risks, we encourage potential attendees to exercise EXTREME caution. Though we are in solidarity with BLM organizers and sympathetic residents of Douglas County we feel responsible to raise the alarm of an already volatile, dangerous scenario. We look forward to building together in the near future.
-Mass Liberation Northern Nevada-
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