Opinion
Arizona -(Ammoland.com)- A scandal is developing in Alaska, as the head of the Human Rights Commission (HRC) has been implicated in directly chilling the exercise of the First and Second Amendments of the Constitution. Governor Dunleavy has ordered an investigation of the scandal.
The head of the HRC, Marti Buscaglia, became upset over a bumper sticker on a contractor’s work truck. The bumper sticker showed the silhouette of an AR15 type rifle, along with the words “Black Rifles Matter.” It is a pretty standard call to support the Second Amendment. Brenton Linegar owns Sage Mechanical, the small plumbing and air conditioning company that owns the truck. Sage Mechanical’s client is the owner of the building where the truck was parked. The HRC rents space in the building. Somehow, the Executive Director of the HRC in Alaska interpreted the Second Amendment sticker as being offensive.
The picture of the Second Amendment sticker of Black Rifles Matter on the truck, with the license plate, was posted on the official Alaskan HRC facebook page, with the comment: “In what world is this OK?”.
At first, it was not clear what Buscaglia found offensive about the bumper sticker. Was it the pro-Second Amendment message? No. The HRC, after considerable comments on Facebook, clarified Buscaglia had read the sticker as “racist.” The best reporting I have seen on this issue is on mustreadalaska.com. From mustreadalaska.com:
Gov. Michael Dunleavy has asked the Department of Law to launch an investigation into the apparent abuse of state power that occurred on Thursday at the parking lot of the Alaska Human Rights Commission.
The executive director of the Alaska Commission on Human Rights, in her own handwriting, told a plumbing company to move its vehicle from the parking lot due to what the bureaucrat thought was a racist sticker.
Buscaglia left a handwritten note, written on the back of her business card. Also, there was a business card left by State Probation Officer Kendall Rhyne.
Other commenters on Facebook have claimed there is more to the scandal than Buscaglia telling the contractor to leave the parking lot because of the sticker, posting a picture of the truck on the official Facebook page, and leaving the intimidating note and business cards in the vehicle. From facebook.com:
Sandie Roach The business card is one issue. The other is the email she sent to his client. As we haven’t seen it, here is the jist…
The client had received an email from Marti Buscaglia, the Executive Director of the Commission. According to Linegar, the email implied Linegar was a racist and asked the client to “please do something” about Sage Mechanical. The email also accused Sage Mechanical of performing substandard work and exercising poor judgement.
If the email asking the client (the owner of the building) to “do something” is real, the matter may become a severe criminal case. It is illegal to conspire to deprive someone of their Constitutional rights. In this case, it is the right to free expression under the First Amendment. From fbi.gov:
This statute makes it unlawful for two or more persons to conspire to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person of any state, territory or district in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him/her by the Constitution or the laws of the United States, (or because of his/her having exercised the same).
It seems unlikely the head of the Alaskan HRC would not realize the potential criminality of her actions.
Marti Buscaglia does not have experience in the law or a legal degree. Her experience is in newspaper management.
There is a section of the federal law (18 U.S.C. Section 242) that makes it illegal to use an official government position to deprive anyone of rights, privileges, or immunities under the color of law. It is unclear if Buscaglia’s actions meet that level of illegality. It appears she was using the power of her office to intimidate Brenton Linegar. The investigation called for by Governor Dunleavy should determine if that is correct. Using the power of her office to pressure the client to fire Sage Mechanical would be illegal if it were based on his political views, as evidenced by the Second Amendment Sticker.
The scandal and investigation are ongoing.
About Dean Weingarten:
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of constitutional carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and recently retired from the Department of Defense after a 30-year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation. Link to Gun Watch
In addition to the constitutional issues, in most states intentional interference in economic advantage is also actionable. Never seen a clearer case.
Self righteous liberals in positions of authority are a serious danger to everyone who values liberty and equal treatment under the law.
Where are the So Called Human Rights? The Second Amendment? ………….
As wild as Alaska is, I’m surprised to see someone flip out over a rifle sticker…
It shows you can take a little woman out of the Big City, but apparently, you cannot take stupidity out of a Libtard.
Politically correct is what it is all about. The small, and clouded, minded government employee took her authority to run down something she didn’t like. Her biggest mistake was putting it in writing on her official business card. That is a sign of pure ignorance but par for the course with a liberal. She thinks she commands us rather than the true fact that she is an employee of us. Tell her that and watch her blood boil. She found the plumber guilty before he was even tried, another liberal action. Burn them whenever the chance presents itself, maybe they… Read more »
The next two words will be banned “black/white by the progressive socialists. God bless the USA and the Constitution! I’m going out to shoot my Black AR!
If that had been me, right after going public with this, I would’ve found this B!tch, told her NO, I WON’T, and GFY TOO.
My Rights supercede your G-damn snowflake feelings!