How extremists are taking over small town governments: Bedrock USA

ends with a Trump. But what about the extremist power grabs happening in our own backyards. Right wing extremists have been quietly and successfully building power at the local level, zeroing in on institutions like local school boards and small towns. And while many of us are paying attention to national issues, it's happening right under our noses. I am the host of bed Rock USA, which is a new podcast from Bloomberg City Lab and I Heart Radio UH, and I'm

also a reporter on staff at Bloombook Say Lab. In her podcast better Rock USA, reporter Laura Bliss uncovers how the far right is making in roads and local government. So how did you become someone who covers the way that things like extremist ideology and conspiracy theories can really impact small town life. Yeah. So I came into this from a somewhat sideways path. I have been covering cities and kind of local communities for most of my journalism career.

Uh And so because I report on that local level and on issues like housing and transportation and kind of you know, local policy issues, I really couldn't ignore the way things like Q and On and other forms of kind of anti democratic rhetoric we're starting to creep into my beat. Um. And this became especially true, you know, during the pandemic, and I think really became hard to ignore, if possible ignore to ignore after January six them and

the capital instruction. I think we've all seen this at this point, this explosion in stories about school board battles waged by q and On believers, bath keepers running for city councils, uh and and kind of the bread and butter issues that local governments work on, you know, stuff like you know, the development proposals for newshousing projects or light rail stations, like even even issues like these started to become not every case, but but in a sort

of surprising number of communities that was reporting and kind of tinged by are just hyperpartisan and kind of increasingly

extreme political environment. UM. And so this podcast bed Rock USA, which is really about how you fall ideologies are reshaping local governments and kind of what local communities are doing about it, really came out of that, um but also all to but I think it's just really fascinating to look at the local level, or or to sort of use the local level as a lens into the broader issues that you're talking about. Because you know, when you are reporting to a small town, you're you're talking to

people who are really neighbors with each other, um. You know, and if and if you're kind of like a anti government conspiracy theorist in a small town, and you know, you just profoundly mistrust the person who is on your city council, or you're you know, railing against the school board member. I mean not can mean going against your own neighbor or just sort of believing that your own

neighbors fundamentally unworthy of your trust. Um. And so that just provides some really interesting kind of human drama that I I'm attracted to as a reporter, and I guess someone who likes to tell stories. Um. And finally too, I mean this kind of like hyperpartisanship that we're talking about, and you know, ideologies that are infused with misinformation and conspiracy theories. Uh, it's just really a sharp contrast with

the way local government theoretically is supposed to work. Normally, we think of local government as the you know, institution that takes care of our least partisan issues, right. I mean, these are supposed to be the people working on keeping our streets paved and making sure the trash gets picked up, and you know, just the sort of bread and better

issues that you think would be immune to. Uh, you know, ideologies like Q and on and so just all of these kind of uh dynamics at play just really drew me into this story. Think about the mundane, everyday issues that come up in your community, where the bus stops are, how schools are funded, what resources are available for what. Now imagine that a well organized coalition of extremists could hijack the conversation around those issues and signing any meaningful

progress on them. While reporting for Better Rock USA, Laura found that the issues that you might have once thought about as not really that polarizing would become hotbeds of extremist conspiracy theory. Yeah, I'm wondering in your reporting, have you seen that we're reaching a place for these resources and these things in local government that you would think

of as being nonpartisan are just also deeply politicized. Yes. Absolutely, And I mean I think that's really one of the most interesting things about reporting on these issues in a local kind of government context is that we're seeing issues that are traditionally not partisan at all, or at least not partisan in the kind of traditional left versus right sids really become politically charged by politicians or political groups and taking on you know, really kind of high political

stakes in ways that we write not previously expect and so like, for example, one of the stories that we reported on in the Bedrock USA podcast, um, which I really hope people listening to this show check out, is a story of how a proposal to build an opioid addiction treatment clinic in a small town called Squid, which is in Washington State, really drove the town apart into two camps. And one side was opposed and the other

side was more supportive. And you know, it's not totally unexpected that something like an opioid addiction treatment clinic would be controversial or have supporters or opponents. But what was really unusual is that, especially after the pandemic hit one Facebook group in particular, it was against the clinic very quickly aligned. It solved in support of various far right ideologies around stuff like masking and vaccines, as well as

lies around the election results. Um And So I think what's so fascinating and scary about that dynamic is that it not only reflects kind of a broader or political landscape where everything is partisan, everything is kind of a left versus right, you know, cultural issue, but also that this particular local opposition group on Facebook actually became a

pathway for radicalizing some people. There were people in this town who were initially drawn into this group to discuss the local clinic issue and discuss, you know, why they were so opposed to it, But then that virtue of being in this online space were exposed to more kind of radical ideas. Um. And I'm not just talking about masking in that scenes. So that's definitely worthy of you know,

our conversation. But you know, I was looking at this Facebook group and seeing people you know, post in support of stuff like we're posting in support of sovereign citizen groups. Uh, which sovereign citizen it's kind of a ideology that fansy promotes the idea that people living in the United States can be exempt from US law. Uh And and this is kind of the movement that's been linked over many

decades to numerous acts of political violence. You know, you mentioned that someone being opposed to an opioid treatment clinic in their small town. That's not terribly surprising. I can imagine that somebody having that kind of response, but then on an online platform like Facebook, that kind of gets mixed in with anti mask stuff, you know, maybe q and on stuff, election denying stuff. I guess my question would be, how do these things all get kind of

wrapped up? You would think that these things would be very disparate, but they all sort of travel in circles, and so like anyone conspiracy theory kind of comes along with multiple harmful conspiracy theories. It seems like, Yeah, I mean, I think a big just part of the dynamic you're you're kind of asking me about is you know, just boils down to the people who are posting, right and

we saw in this particular example in Squid Washington. This this opposition group was led by a woman who had actually tried to run for a state legislator position previously.

Uh and and she and she was you know, Republican and and sort of carried what what became increasingly pretty extreme views on stuff like masking and vaccines and and also election and so her as well as others the group, you use that space as a forum to post about these other topics and post misinformation and you know, links to YouTube videos that spread lies about stuff like the

election or Anthony Fauci. You know, these kinds of hot button you know, topics that became major drivers of of misinformation and and and including Q and on right, which we're seeing you know, has not died. Uh, just seeing the last couple of weeks, you know, Donald Trump increasingly embracing you know, Q and on slogans and kind of Q and on related memes, even as in the birth really disturbing acts of violence linked to Q and on

are also going up. Um. So, anyways, to to answer your question directly, I think it really mostly boils down to, you know, just the sort of then diagram of people in these kinds of forums, you're going to have people who are already sort of holding more extreme views and are any are kind of linked to these you know, networks related to conspiracy theories and sort of misinformation networks, and then they're just exposing a wider kind of group of people to those ideas who who may have entered

that space for different reasons to begin with. Right. Um. Yeah, Actually I talked to one researcher who had studying this particular Facebook group I'm talking about Squinn Washington, and he was actually able to find an example of one Facebook or of one group member I should say, who you know literally moved from you know, in the time before she joined this Facebook group from being like a Birdie Sanders supporter to you know, posting in support of the

Sovereign Citizen movement, which is this very far right kind of ideological movement like I mentioned, um, that promotes this very dangerous and false idea that that you know, you can you can you could be sort of exempt from US law if you apply for this basically fake set of documents. Um. Again, and this is something that's also

been linked to to actual political violence. So so this is so it's just a really scary example of how local issues, Uh, you know that traditionally we're sort of outside this normal partisan dynamic are now becoming avenues for

you know, radicalization. The normal avenues of talking about what's happening in your community become open like they're being exploited and manipulated in a way that like you can't even have the conversation about your school board, or your potholes or your garbage because those conversations are being so easily

manipulated by bad actors. Yeah, and I think actually that touches on a really important point and another I think in are another reason that paying attention to these kind of like local forums is so important, which is that normally we don't pay attention to them, right, Like, local government is the level of government that, on average, you know, we know sort of least about, which is ironic because

in some ways it has the most direct impact. Like we all care if our trash gets picked up, you know, we all care about the probles on our roads and our local school systems, but you know, we just sort of take for granted that those things are just gonna happen on their own, and so we tend to pay a lot more attention to you know, national politics or even sort of our state level, you know, political issues than we do to to what's happening in our city

council meetings and school board meetings, you know, until now, because these issues are becoming so much more kind of inflamed and and and and extreme. Um. But I but I think you sort of hit an important point, which is that you know, folks who are exploiting, as you say, that level ignorance you know in which most of us

exist around our local government. Your people are aware of that, and so they're they're you're getting into these beatings where there isn't necessarily a lot of scrutiny or a lot of awareness in general public, and and you know, taking advantage. Let's take a quick break at our back. It's easy to stay read in on issues at the federal level, you know who's running for president and what they stand for. But if we're being real, I'd be willing to bet that a lot fewer of us are as dialed into

issues happening at the local level. And we probably should be, because from county clerk's offices to school boards, these issues can really have a profound impact on our day to day lives. Laura says that extremists exploit our tendency to not always be so invested in local politics, and when we aren't paying close attention, they can swoop in and take over. Yeah, that's exactly what I was excited to

talk to you about. Next sort of, can you describe what you've seen in your reporting about how folks have been able to really a mass political power at the local level, really in kind of a sleeper way. Before you know it, you're like, oh, folks have really done done a successful paragraph of our local government. Absolutely so that RECTUSA really tells the story of two communities in particular,

and one of them I've already mentioned. It's it's squid Washington, and the other is Shasta County, California, Uh, where the story is really ongoing but played out in a pretty dramatic fashion, especially last year. And Shasta County is a very conservative pocket in northern California. It's a few hours

north of Sacramento. Um, it's always been, you know, pretty pretty deep red bastion, but during the pandemic we really saw how uh, you know, folks on the further right end of the spectrum really took advantage of some of the dynamics we've been talking about, you know, just the fact that people don't retally show up to their you know, uh county Board of Supervisor's meetings to sort of hear what's going on. But some people with pretty extreme political

views did. Um. And so just to sort of illustrate that a little bit more, a group of uh far right sort of ideologically aligned folks, including militia leaders, uh, you know, State of Jefferson supporters. State of Jefferson is a movement to uh have a chunk of California and a chunk of organ basically succeed some kind of conservative secession fantasy movement, uh, you know, as well as anti masters and just kind of all around disaffected you know,

conservatives who were sort of radicalized by the pandemic. All of these folks banned together during COVID to uh we call a conservative Shasta County supervisor. So the county supervisors and Shasta it's it's basically city council but at the

county level. And by successfully recalling this person, which they did, uh and install kind of one of their own, they were actually able to shift the balance of power in this conservative county, so that now you know, the board is controlled by a majority of pretty far right individuals UH, and you know, who have done things like, you know, early and earlier this year, you know, repeal the local state of emergency around the pandemic, and UH insists that

you know, county board meetings be conduct did in person rather than taking place over zoom to you know, mitigate UH, you know, pandemic risk. UH. And also you know, more worryingly, fire the county public health director excuse me, the county

public Health officer. And there's actually been this sort of alarming exodus a very high profile you know county officials who oversee the Department of Health and the county CEO, I believe, but there's been this really kind of worrying exodus of of of high ranking you know, county officials who are experts in their fields, you know, and who really are responsible for just keeping this level of government running in the kind of like day to day functioning

way that you know most of us would expect. And so, um, this is a movement that's really alarmed quite a number of residents in Shasta County. But again, in some ways as you've been saying, like it is a reflection of just the overall low level of engagement that most of us have when it comes to what's happening in our

own backyards. Yeah, I mean, I'm glad that you're spotlighting this, because I do think that it's just really easy to get super fired up about who's in the White House, who's in the Senate, who's in Congress, And I mean, I think we're all I'm guilty of it. I just think it's like very easy to focus on these bigger conversations and elections and races and really overlook what's happening on your own block and your own neighborhood and on your own street. And so, like one, I'm really glad

that you're spotlighting that because it is really important. And I guess my second question would be, you know, should we take the reporting that you've seen in bed Rock, USA as kind of a wake up call as to why it's so critically important that we stay engaged and checked in at the local level as well as the national and federal level. Absolutely, I mean, I hope that

is one of the sort of take home messages. Um. And you know, and I will say that you know, local officials who are you know, working in some of these communities where we reported would even say that, you know, silver lining might to too optimistic of a phrase, but you know that that they are glad, you know that there is more attention being paid to the work that they do, you know, as a result of these movements that are you know, otherwise extremely harmful, right, I mean,

these are these are movements again that are fuel bus misinformation about stuff like you know, from conspiracy theories like you went on to election denialism and and other just sort of misinformation systems. Um. But but that they are glad that you know, people are showing up to let's say, the elections office in Shasta County. My my producer and I were there in Shasta County in June to report

on the UH primary election that took place there. And there was a group of folks you know who were associated with the recall movement and who who held pretty pretty following views taking issue with the results of the election, and that is extremely damaging UH. And at the same time, it meant that the you know, county elections office had

more people paying attention to the way the system runs. Um. I think what it really comes down to is the fact that you know, we need more people who are paying attention in good faith, right, who are paying attention to the system and making sure things are going well, uh, you know, with with the belief that democracy should continue. Um. Because unfortunately, you know, many of these groups are are looking at what's happening with a you know, pretty predetermined

belief that what's happening cannot be trusted. And so you know, all the observation in the world, you know, are are unlikely is unlikely to to sort of stem that that disbelief. Unfortunately, real we saw that deeply, just just the profound, profound level of mistrust um. And some of these people who have imbibed the the kind of election wise that we're so prominent. UM. But anyways, this is all just to say, you know, we do need more people paying attention in

good faith. UM. Because if there's anything I learned from this podcast, and you know, going deep into the uh, you know, halls of local government and the people who make these you know, small bureaucracies work, is that democracy really comes down to people, and it's about the trust that we place in each other and the local level that literally comes down to trusting your neighbors and trusting the people you you know, you go to the grocery store with, and and trusting with people you hand your

ballot to. And and we do need that trust to work. And we also need oversight people paying attention to to ensure that you know, that trust is earned. Yeah, I mean I wanted to ask you about that. What role? I mean, it sounds like mistrust and the lack of trust in general is really the thing that is the problem here, right, Like, what role do you think that a lack of trust in our institutions has played in all of this? Oh, it's profound. I mean, it's definitely profound,

and it's it's it's not new, clearly. I mean, you know, mistrusted in government, particularly at the at the federal national level, you know, goes back, you know, decades, if not to the founding of our country in some ways. Um, but we're I think the sort of level of mistrust and local government is actually some someone new because for the most part, people tend to place more more trust in

the sort of people in institutions that are closest to them. Um. And but we are starting to see that really kind of degrade. And I think the pandemic, you know, played a just a huge role in kind of accelerating this,

this crisis of mistrust. Um, you know, because of how you know, our our local leaders and state leaders and national leaders handled the crisis, and and and because of you know, the way online platforms so readily you know, spread and kind of supply misinformation and conspiracy theories to to sort of give people alternate explanations for what was happening. Um. And that's a huge problem. And it's not just in government, it's also in science, it's also in media. And I

don't see that profound mistrust going away. And you know, this is a huge problem that every community needs to be confronting on some level. And so you know, again I'm hopeful that there there are you know, folks at every level who who are trying to get engaged or that kind that kind of good faith way. But yeah, this is something we're going to just continue to see more dal quick break, let's get right back into it.

So I want to switch gears a little bit. You know, so much of what you have covered on the podcast has been pretty dark, but one of the sort of silver and linings is that people didn't take this sitting down in these in these you know, small communities, they actually organized to resist the takeovers of their communities by these extremist factions. Can you talk a bit about how they were able to do that? Absolutely? So, yeah, the community there is is Squim, Washington. And so this was

where okay we were talking about earlier. There was this opiate addiction treatment clinic that was proposed really drove the town into in the opposition group became this kind of like forum for a most radicalization UM and And part of the story too is that, you know, while people were kind of asleep at the wheel, so to speak, or not paying a whole lot of attention to what was happening on their city council UM in this small town, a guy was elected to city council and eventually became

mayor who was a professed supporter of Q and on UM at that time, who actually you know, was posting with the Q and on slogan where we go when we go all on his Facebook page, and who eventually would go on local radio station in this small town and kind of uh advertise Q and on and encourage people to go you know, look up YouTube videos that

that promoted this dangerous conspiracy theory. And so when that happened, UM and and kind of then uh, all around the same time as the big controversy around the clinic hit, you know, people really freaked out. I mean not everybody, right, because the mayor did that as supporters for sure, particularly in this Facebook group. UM. But there was a group of citizens in this community that came together and said, you know, this is where we draw the line basically, UM.

And so they sort of set their eye on the upcoming city council election. Uh. And they formed a group which they called Good Governance League and it was a bipartisan effort or folks on both sides the little while involved, including other city council members um. One of it was a Republican UM. And they campaigned together to say, you know, we you know, the people of Squim care that our

government runs on facts. They banded together and say, what we care most about is that our city council runs on facts, and that you know, our city council members are not that our city council members are paying attention to the issues that affect us and not to you know, conspiracy theories that are prominent at the national level, or you know, to these kinds of national level political trends that are there reshaping our country. We really want, you know,

our local leaders to focus on local issues. And so that was really the message they campaigned on and they member of candidates for city council. And I have to say, they didn't really do anything particularly novel, right. I think what was so striking about this story is that, you know, they just deployed the tactics that organizers have been using for decades, you know, if not forever. They went door to door, They you know, talked to their fellow neighbors

about what was going on in their town. They just kind of spread awareness about you know, what the mayor was all about, what he was saying. You know, they sent emails, they wrote postcards, just these kind of traditional methods, and uh, they were successful. And so I do think that that is a encouraging story about no just pretty regular people, you know, drawing the line in the sand around the way they wanted their government to work and kind of what that meant for their local democracy, and

they did something about it. And I do think that you know, just looking at some of the tactics and methods they use, Like, I think that could definitely be repeated in other communities. Well yeah, I mean that brings me to one of my last questions for you. Given all that you've reported on with bed Rock USA, are you hopeful for the state of democracy, for the state of politics and the way that decisions get made and progress gets made in small towns? Who am I hopeful?

It's a it's a it's a tough question. Uh, you know, I think I think we are in a really scary spot right now. I mean, we have a significant proportion of our voting public, you know, who still question the election results. Uh, you know, who are likely to continue to question the results of elections moving forward based on beliefs that are just not rooted in fact, right. I mean, we saw this in we are seeing it in local elections moving forward, and we're very likely to see it

during mid terms. Um. And that's really scary, you know, at the national level and also on the local level because again, like a lot of us just aren't paying attention.

You know, local media outlets have been drained of their resources to cover a lot of local elections, and so there just isn't going to be you know, as much coverage as as there should be of you know, election deniers harassing election works for example, or you know pressuring, uh, you know local officials too, you know, perform and necessary investigations or or even throughout election results potentially. I mean all things that you know we saw play out to

to sort of different degrees in the election. I think we are going to continue to see that happen. And so you know where that leads. When you have a populous that does not accept the results of a sound election is I don't know if you can call it

a democracy anymore, right, So, so that is really scary. Um. I think that you know, based on my reporting, you know where I put my hope I suppose is you know, in groups of people who do you know, decide to come together around a common belief and even you know, faith that the system can work and that it should

work and that it can be better. Um. And also just in some of the local officials I met, who you know are continuing to do their jobs because they believe so wholeheartedly in that system that they're just continuing to do their jobs under really really challenging circumstances. You know, in communities like Shasta County where there are just a lot of people who do not trust the work that you know, election workers do, or some of the you know,

county officials who run the health department for example. Um, and they're harassed, you know, and they're they received threats, and they are you know, doing their jobs in the face of just really serious threats to the work that they do. Um. But but they're persevering. And you know, I'll say that this kind of environment is really discouraging to a lot of people who might otherwise consider that kind of work. But it's just it's so important. Um.

They're they're literally keeping or our kind of system running. UM. So some of those folks give me, give me hope, But I think the overall picture is is definitely scary. Oh. I mean, I find this time and time again, it's the people that make the only thing that gives me any hope in covering any of this is the people. Like the people working together coming together will always be more powerful than the dark forces, I choose to believe, and so that's the only way I have any hope

about any of this at all. Yep, yep, I mean, and I think it's kind of it's like it's obvious, but it's also kind of profound, right as I'm gonna try to sort of say this earlier and probably was pretty inarticulate, but like that is really the like and not so profound, but kind of profound conclusion that gave

to in this whole reporting project project. It is just that, you know, we think of democracy is like this abstract institution and you know, this this like hallowed set of processes and kind of rituals that it's just supposed to happen. And and you know, democracy sounds like it's building or something or like a like a physical structure, but it's people.

I mean literally, it comes down to the people who are counting the balance and and running you know, polling locations and you know, literally tabulating votes at the end of the day. Right, And of course it's also the people who we like to represent us, but it is people. It really does come down to people. And and whether you know, we can and do trust those we have put in positions that you know, ought to be worthy

of our trust. But I completely agree with you. I think we have to be looking to each other because that's all we have that's all we have is one another to sort of maas for system work or where can people find the podcast and keep up with all your work? Absolutely so, bed Rocky was Say is available anywhere you listen to podcasts. You're finding on Apple podcast, Spotify, iHeart Radio, um born Bloomberg dot com, and you can

follow me on Twitter. I'm at miss Laura Bliss. Got a story about an interesting thing in tech, or just want to say hi? You can reach us at Hello at tang godi dot com. You can also find transcripts for today's episode at tangdi dot com. There Are No Girls on the Internet was created by me bridget Toad. It's a production of iHeart Radio and Unboss creative Jonathan Strickland as our executive producer. Terry Harrison is our producer

and sound engineer. Michaelmato is our contributing producer. I'm your host, bridget Toad. If you want to help us grow, rate and review us on Apple Podcasts. For more podcasts from iHeart Radio, check out the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Well Wait