Christian Nationalist Antigovernment Group Setting Up Compound in Washtucna, Wa.

"You can't tell me no" Michael Lewis Arthur Meyer told Washtucna City Council members at their meeting on Feb. 28 meeting

Michael Lewis Arthur Meyer at the Veterans on Patrol compound in Pima County, Arizona. VOP has been labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Michael Lewis Arthur Meyer is an antigovernment extremist, vigilante, and conspiracy theorist fixated on pedophilia and human trafficking, and last night he told Washtucna City Council he was setting up a base of operations in their tiny town.

“So you’ll see guys with tactical equipment,” he said. “You’ll never see them patrolling the streets for crime, there’s no crime here. They’ll load up with me to go to locations where children have been trafficked to in various parts of the northwest sector of the United States.”

The tension rose in the small room as he spoke. More than once city councilors called for points of order as his remarks strayed into descriptions of what he alleges the Sinaloa drug cartel is doing to children to extort money from their parents and loved ones. Three members of the Adams County Sheriff’s Office stood in the corner and looked on as he thrust his hand into a jacket pocket and held up an external hard drive he said contained evidence of the cartel, Catholic Charities, and a humanitarian organization called “No Mas Muertes” engaging in child trafficking together.

Washtucna is a town of about 200 in Adams County, just off State Route 26 near Palouse Falls. It’s a place where many stop for fuel on their way to Pullman and Washington State University and college football games.

Meyer is the founder of a group called Veterans on Patrol and has spent the last five years irritating the townspeople of Arivaca, Arizona, and damaging water barrels in the desert left for migrants crossing the southern border. He got into some legal trouble in recent years for his role in helping a woman named Sarah Stanley take her three-year-old daughter and keep the girl from her father, who had been granted full custody of the child. He was also a part of the Bundy standoff in 2014, in which anti-government militia members took over a national wildlife refuge in Oregon and engaged in an armed standoff with federal agents.

That standoff is widely regarded as a watershed moment for anti-government extremism in recent American history and it’s where Meyer reportedly earned the nickname “Screwy Louie.” He’s considered a fringe character in far-right circles, according to High Country News. Not once, but twice he climbed a flagpole in Surprise, Arizona, and stayed up there for hours.

“Now we’re looking for 1400 missing kids that this government trafficked through my properties in Pima County, Arizona,” he said. “I was the one who purchased those properties and border patrol agents pulled me aside and told me they needed help.”

Adams County Sheriff Dale Wagner spoke after Meyer and said his agency would protect the community of Washtucna. As he spoke, Meyer pulled out a Bible and began to read.

“You do not have the right to bully,” Clap said, looking at Meyer. “You do not have the right to overtake a meeting. You do not have the right to say certain things that offend other people in their space.”

You can watch the full clip of his remarks here.

About halfway through Meyer’s five-minute-long speech city councilwoman Cathy Blankenship called for a point of order and explained why.

“I’m here to bring charity because we’re all sinful. Everybody in here thinks we’re all great and we’re leaders. No, Jesus is great,” he said.

“Point of order,” interjected Blakenship. “Sir, that’s not what we’re talking about right now.”

“I just told you I was here to provide charity,” he said.

“I understand that,” she said.

“Ok, that’s it. And that’s free and you can’t tell me no,” he said.

The Southern Poverty Law Center has listed Meyer’s group, Veterans on Patrol, as an extremist group.

“The group has also pushed anti-Indigenous, antisemitic, anti-Catholic and anti-Mormon falsehoods. VOP activists have incorporated QAnon conspiracy theories into their activities as well, including operation of two camps in Arizona – one in Three Points and one in Sasabe – under the exaggerated premise that they are rescuing children from satanic pedophiles who are trafficking children for sex, human sacrifice and organ harvesting. Even after having their conspiracy theories debunked by law enforcement and media, Meyer and VOP continue diverting attention away from legitimate organizations and law enforcement agencies combating human trafficking,” the SPLC writes. “According to statements shared by VOP, group members believe their activities are sanctioned by God, and they therefore don’t have to comply with state or federal laws.”

You can watch Meyer’s entire public speech to Washtucna City Council here:

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Earlier today Meyer and an associate who goes by the nickname “Butterfly” posted an update from Washtucna, asking for volunteers for the “beautiful compound” they’re working on, as well as donations.

Meyer said that since the sheriff said he would protect the town that meant he would protect it from the “military-industrial complex,” 5G towers, chemtrails and the “synagogue of Satan,” among other things. Sheriff Wagner wouldn’t need to protect the town from Veterans on Patrol, he said, because they are not a threat. Anyone who would think VOP is a threat might be serving Satan, according to Meyer.

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You can listen to a full recording of the city council meeting up to the executive session that the city council went into about an hour into the meeting below.

The pastor of the town’s only church also spoke during public comment time, and her remarks are worth listening to. I reached out to her to get a quote for this piece and I will add those when she gets back to me.

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