Thursday, August 18, 2011

Kennewick (WA) candidate who advocates death penalty for illegal immigrants advances

 

One in four voters in Tuesday's primary race for a seat on the Kennewick City Council have supported candidate Loren Nichols, whose unabashed views about illegal immigrants include ordering them out of Kennewick and subjecting them to the death penalty if they refuse. Nichols garnered enough votes to move on to the general election.

By Lornet Turnbull
Seattle Times

A Kennewick City Council candidate who advocates the death penalty for illegal immigrants as well as making Kennewick an English-language-only community won enough votes in Tuesday's primary to advance to the November general election.

Loren Nichols won 26 percent of 1,512 votes cast for a seat on the City Council, knocking off opponent William Miller, who had declined to discuss his position on any issues publicly until after the primary.

On Nov. 8, Nichols will face incumbent Steve Young, the city's current mayor, who won the support of 62 percent of voters.

Nichols, 56, a former Navy linguistics expert who has put his yard and lawn service on hiatus, said he had no idea what to expect in Tuesday's primary, but now feels confident going forward.

"As extreme as my position is, one in four voters agreed with me," he said. "It shows that people are truly fed up. You just have to live here to understand."

Nichols said he's not affiliated with any political party. He first shared his controversial views about executing illegal immigrants on a radio program last week.

In an area of the state known for its conservatism and a love-hate relationship with undocumented immigrants, the comments drew wide attention and a range of response, including an editorial in the Tri-City Herald denouncing Nichols' remarks as having "the mentality of a bumper sticker" and urging voters to reject him.

Nichols repeated his remarks in an interview Wednesday, saying those crossing the border illegally — a misdemeanor offense — should be shot on sight.

As a member of the City Council, he would push to see that illegal immigrants are granted 30 days' notice to leave the city, he said, and those who refuse should be subject to the death penalty.

Nichols also said he would seek to make Kennewick an English-language-only city for all public discourse….

[Thanks to reader-researcher W.]

1 comment:

Hirsch said...

Nick, unrelated, but here is an email I fired off to Mr. Wise.

Message bodyI recently read your "Open letter to the white right" and was struck by the following passage:

"We don’t play those games. We’re not into the whole “Second Amendment remedies, militia, armed resistance” bullshit that your side fetishizes, cuz, see, we don’t have to be. We don’t need guns."

I hear you loud and clear, man. You recently posted on your website "Timwise.org" a brief entry expressing your gratitude to the rapper David Banner for his including a sample of you speaking at Boston College as a prelude to his song "Swag." You should check out this other song by David Banner, entitled "9mm" (as in nine milimeter). Here is a brief snippet of some of Mr. Banner's lyrics:

[David Banner]
"If I got nine slugs nine bullets gone fly
If I got a red beam nine people gone die
Nine mamas gone cry nine spirits in the sky
Nine preachers preaching nine sermons telling nine lies
Cause each and every one of ya'll
Nine niggaz wasn't shit
I would have rather kept the nine
Rugers in the ruger clip
The index finger slipped the nine let nine spit
I lick em all like eighteen tits on nine chicks
I'ma suicide risk nine slits on each wrist
If I die nine times the next go-arounds a bitch
And if I come back I'll throw 99 shows
And shove nine inches of dick in 99 hoes"

Those pesky right-winger, racist gun-owners are so vile, clinging to the Second Amendment, and their desire to use guns for hunting and home defense. If only they would take their moral cues from you, Mr. Wise, and the moral company you keep.

Please keep fighting the good fight, and those hypocritcal white racists