PORT TOWNSEND — A candidate for Jefferson County prosecuting attorney posted a video on the Internet site YouTube nearly three years ago in which he repeatedly characterizes the United States as “a fascist police state.”
But Paul Richmond said he does not feel the characterization pertains to Jefferson County, where he is seeking election as the county’s top prosecutor.
“In any jurisdiction, there are laws that might be unconstitutional,” said Richmond, who is running against Deputy Criminal Prosecutor Scott Rosekrans in the Nov. 2 election.
“I was calling attention to that on a national level, and there was very little in the address that pertained to Jefferson County issues.”
Richmond, who ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2007, removed the clip Monday evening, a few hours after discussing it with the Peninsula Daily News.
“I felt it was providing a distraction,” he said.
“There are a lot of other things we can talk about in this campaign.”
The clip was posted by Richmond on Jan. 23, 2008, and was filmed at a Seattle rally commemorating the sixth anniversary of establishing a U.S. military prison at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, naval base.
It begins with Richmond comparing the rally with an Alcoholics Anonymous-style 12-step program “where the first step is admitting that you have a problem.”
“The problem is that we live in a fascist police state,” he said, entering into a call-and-response sequence with the crowd.
“We live in a land where the government moves bodies from the war zone at night and does not allow photographs — why?”
“We live in a fascist police state,” the crowd responds.
The sequence continued for five minutes, with questions such as “we live in a country where corporations choose who gets to speak in presidential debates” and “we live in a place where government listens to our phone calls and reads our e-mails.”
All calls got the same response, which fluctuated in enthusiasm in relation to the subject.
Richmond said Monday the speech was “performance art” that exaggerated his position to make a point.
He compared himself with U.S. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., who was a “Saturday Night Live” TV comic prior to his election.
The video link was sent to the media by Western Washington University student Jenna Henry, who grew up in Port Townsend.
“It was pretty amazing,” Henry said of the video.
“I know that it was from two years ago, but if he becomes prosecutor he will have to work with law enforcement.
“I can’t imagine that law enforcement would want to work with him if he felt that way.”
Rosekrans was unavailable for comment, but retiring Prosecuting Attorney Juelie Dalzell agreed with Henry, saying: “When you work with law enforcement you have to respect each other.
“It’s obvious from watching this video that he really believes what he is saying,” Dalzell said.
She has endorsed Rosekrans as her replacement.
Rosekrans is running as a Democrat, and Richmond states no party preference in the all-mail countywide election, for which ballots will be distributed starting Oct. 13.
Richmond unsuccessfully ran in the 2008 Democratic primary against U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks.
________
Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
