Commissioner Wesen’s statements on Capitol insurrection

Last Wednesday afternoon County Commissioner Ron Wesen posted a statement on the County’s website that “I condemn in the strongest terms the violence that took place in Washington, D.C. last week. The insurrection was shocking to witness.” Wesen was clarifying his statement to reporter Brandon Stone in that morning’s Skagit Valley Herald. Stone’s summary: “County Commissioner Ron Wesen strongly condemned the violence and destruction of federal property, but said he did not know who exactly was responsible. He said he supported the right to ask questions about who is responsible, saying freedom to do so is an American principle.”

‘A lot of this will be clearer as time goes on,’ he added.”

Wesen did not state clearly to Stone that Joe Biden was elected president, either

The County website post stated that the Herald “misconstrued the statements given to a reporter by Commissioner Wesen.” Yet Wesen never named who he thought was responsible for the insurrection.

In an email Tuesday the Weekly News asked Wesen “who is responsible for inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection?” He did not answer, replying instead “the people who broke into the Capital are responsible for the actions they took. Personal violence and property damage is never acceptable.”

Asked do “you agree with Bruch or if you hold President Trump responsible?” Wesen did not answer directly. Instead he repeated “the people who broke into the Capital are responsible for the actions they took” and his second line.

Wesen emphasized “I did not use the word “Fraud” in any of my comments” to Stone, that “Fraud would require legal conviction, I am not aware of any at this time.” In his website statement, Wesen is “clear that President-Elect Biden was elected in a free election.”

For this article, Wesen declined to name President Trump as inciting the Jan. 6 violence.

The Skagit County Republican Party Chair, Bill Bruch is certain. He shared his belief with Stone that “Antifa (left-wing, anti-fascist) sympathizers masqueraded as Trump supporters in order to instigate violence to distract from the process of verifying the electoral college that would have dealt with what he believes was ‘massive, massive voter fraud.’”

Stone’s article, headlined “County GOP shares right-wing theories on Capitol violence,” examined that organization’s website and Facebook page, with their “posting articles from right wing media sites that point fingers at the left..”

About the Jan. 6 Capitol Building insurrection, Stone reports Bruch “believes violence still may have happened without the interference of 30 to 50 Antifa sympathizers, but said Trump supporters got swept up in the moment.”

Toward the end of the article Stone writes “Bruch said he is disappointed in mainstream media organizations and Fox News for not defending Trump supporters in the wake of the violence at the Capitol and said that he and other conservatives have had to go to these alternative outlets to find posts that they agree with.”

Wesen ended his statement on the County’s website: “I have spoken with the Herald and asked them to correct my statements. I appreciate their work and cooperation correcting this unfortunate misunderstanding.”