100 armed vigilantes rouse fear, soul-searching in Snohomish

SNOHOMISH — It was a festive night of tailgating and celebratory pleasantries, with “no really harsh terms or anything,” the atmosphere you expect at the start of a parade, Snohomish Police Chief Keith Rogers said.

But over two nights of heated and heartbroken comments at public city council meetings last week, Snohomish city leaders endured four hours of scathing criticism from citizens, teachers, students and business owners who saw something far more sinister last Sunday.

“I can’t imagine someone could’ve said that with a straight face, because what I saw was the farthest from festive tailgating,” said Terry Lippincott, a longtime resident and president of Snohomish Friends of the Library. “I saw intimidation. I saw people being afraid. I saw what looked like to me to be an absolute disaster waiting to happen.”

They said the mayor and police chief welcomed armed vigilantes — one waving a Confederate flag, some flaunting patches of a hate group’s coded insignia on tactical gear — as they occupied First Street’s historic downtown with military-style rifles to “protect” local boutiques from alleged leftist looting threats that never materialized.

In meetings held over the video app Zoom, the police chief and Mayor John Kartak faced a chorus of citizens calling on them to resign for allowing a gun-carrying crowd to publicly drink alcohol, intimidate citizens and tarnish the city’s reputation. Some in the armed group were later identified as members of the alt-right. It “hijacked the narrative” of what was supposed to be a night of protest against racism, said council member Judith Kuleta.

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