Washington State Lawmaker’s ‘Holy Army’ Manifesto Prompts FBI Scrutiny
INCENDIARY
Matt Shea’s “Biblical Basis for War” urged Christians to use violence to install fundamentalist religious laws.
Facebook/VoteShea
A Washington state lawmaker has reportedly sparked an FBI investigation by distributing a manifesto calling on Christians to take up arms to end abortions and same-sex marriage and kill all non-Christian males if fundamentalist religious laws are not obeyed. Republican Rep. Matt Shea, who is running for re-election in the midterm elections, defended the four-page manifesto, titled “Biblical Basis for War,” this week, saying on Facebook Live it was meant to be a “summary of sermons on biblical war.” He also suggested those criticizing the document are members of a “counter-state” made up of “Marxists” and “Islamists.” Shea’s comments failed to ease concerns, however, and Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich alerted the FBI to the manifesto, which he described as “a ‘how to’ manual consistent with the ideology and operating philosophy of the Christian Identity/Aryan Nations movement,” according to the Seattle Times. The FBI confirmed it is now reviewing Shea’s writings, local news station KHQ 6 reports. In addition to FBI scrutiny, Shea has also reportedly lost several donors, with AT&T joining several political action committees in asking for donations made to Shea’s campaign to be returned, according to KHQ 6.
