A school board member from the state of Washington and his stepson were arrested this week by the FBI in connection with January 6 violence against police guarding the U.S. Capitol.
Richard Slaughter, 40, and Caden Paul Gottfried, 20, of Orting, Washington, are charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement officers and other felony and misdemeanor offenses. Slaughter is charged with using a deadly weapon in the attack, the Department of Justice (DOJ) reported.
The two men were arrested Wednesday in Spokane, Wash., 21 months after the riot – but less than a year after Slaughter’s Nov. 2, 2021 election to the Orting School Board in Pierce County, Wash. Slaughter had won with a campaign filled with MAGA-friendly talking points.
On police body-camera footage at the Capitol entrance, “Slaughter is heard saying to officers at the entrance “…You guys need to stand down. Just walk away nobody will fucking hurt any of you… This is America. This isn’t fucking right. You fucking know it…. This has never been the America I ever fucking known...”, according to the FBI criminal complaint against him.
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“Slaughter can be seen struggling amongst other rioters and then having a long pole in his hand which was covered by his black fingerless glove. Slaughter continued to use the pole to attack officers guarding the front line of the tunnel.”
The arrest documents also accused Gottfried of “using his bodyweight to push against a line of officers” as part of the mob. And it alleged that Slaughter passed chemical spray to fellow rioters along with using his own weapon.
On Slaughter’s campaign website – “Slaughter the Vote” – the candidate echoed numerous MAGA themes, attacking critical race theory, mask mandates, “disgusting” sex education and the need “to protect children from vile education and forced pronoun changes."
He also called out a recently passed police-reform bill in the state of Washington.
And the most ironic statement – in light of the current charges against Slaughter – was this:
“I've always said we should defund the media, not the police! We need public servants who are working to offer safety for all citizens without fear and propaganda.”
You can read the FBI criminal complaint here.
