Zooey Zephyr is the Montana state representative who was excluded from the (state) House. He is transgender, purporting to be a woman today. That exclusion was part of a process where first he was censured for saying that blood would be on the legislature’s hands if they didn’t allow for transgender treatments on minors and then was thrown out for encouraging disruptive protests. Mind you, he was still allowed to vote remotely, but he couldn’t participate in any debates. He sued, with the help of the ACLU (of course), and he just lost his attempt to force the legislature to allow him to come back in and debate.
“We can’t idly stand by while a supermajority votes to strip individuals of their constitutional rights." – ACLU. Judge declines to grant injunction on censure of Zephyr citing separation of powers. ACLU considers appeal. By @KeilaSzpaller: https://t.co/k4sUPCG2sI #mtleg #mtpol
— Daily Montanan (@daily_montanan) May 3, 2023
The judge’s opinion can be found at the link, and its only five pages long—really only three pages of substance. As it is in federal court, he has to prove he is likely to succeed on the merits. We have made zero attempt to study the Constitution of Montana, but it is not surprising that the separation of powers doesn’t allow the court to override their censure and expulsion.
That was yesterday.
In any case, the punishment only lasted until the end of the legislative session, which is today:
Late last night, the House adjourned Sine Die—meaning the 68th legislative session has come to a close.
As soon as we adjourned, I returned to my seat in the People's House to celebrate the work my colleagues & I did this session, and begin discussing what comes next. pic.twitter.com/xzDEP4ovTw
— Rep. Zooey Zephyr (@ZoAndBehold) May 3, 2023
As for the rightfulness of this, on one hand, we think legislatures should more closely follow the First Amendment that they are supposed to obey when making laws. But they have not been doing that for years. On the other hand, the final expulsion was because he was encouraging disruption of the legislative session and we think Johnathan Turley eloquently explains why that is justified with respect to the so-called Tennessee Three:
Recommended
President Joe Biden held a curious meeting in the Oval Office where he honored to Tennessee legislators for “standing up” for democracy by preventing a legislature from continuing its work…https://t.co/ITwISzrYT0
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) April 25, 2023
…The media largely ignored the contradiction of President Biden praising legislators for defending democracy by stopping the majority from voting on legislation. This is why American politics has become a simple matter of amplification. https://t.co/HIPSbzFiX5
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) April 25, 2023
…It is now Politics BYOB (Bring Your Own Bullhorn). It appears that nothing says democracy like a bullhorn and obstructing legislative work. https://t.co/7974KEYQ3e
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) April 25, 2023
Three legislators, or a group of citizens aided by one legislator, preventing the entire legislature getting anything done is not ‘democracy,’ by any rational definition of the term.
More troubling is the claim Mr. Zephyr made on Twitter that someone close to him was SWATted:
Someone just attempted to SWAT my girlfriend.
Those who hate trans people are doing everything in their power to silence & harm us. But we will not be deterred.
We will stand in defiance of their cruelty, and never stop working until trans people get to live our lives in peace. https://t.co/FGf86vu0nj
— Rep. Zooey Zephyr (@ZoAndBehold) May 2, 2023
Erin Reed is another man who purports to have become a woman. So, Zephyr is a man, who claims to be a woman, who is boyfriends (but claims to be girlfriends) with another man who claims to be a woman, and we guess they claim to be lesbians?
Oy vey.
In any case, Mr. Reed spoke out about this event:
Somebody just attempted to SWAT me for my reporting on transgender legislation and events.
Thankfully, I've worked closely with the police in my community anticipating this, and the attempt failed.
I will never stop advocating for my community and will never be silenced.
— Erin Reed (@ErinInTheMorn) May 2, 2023
And he provides a link to an article discussing the matter, here:
An update, with a statement from the local police department:https://t.co/kCxfroKpLc
— Erin Reed (@ErinInTheMorn) May 2, 2023
Apparently, this took place in Montgomery County, Maryland (where he lives) and the police released a statement (where the police pretended he is a woman):
‘An email was sent to the Montgomery County Fifth District station. Officers responded to her residence this morning for a [welfare check],’ the spokesperson said. ‘They spoke with Ms. Reed, and she stated that she was fine and that her ‘information got leaked.’ She stated that she provided her information to the police department because she figured something like this might happen.’
A welfare check is just someone telling the police to please check up on a person. Let’s say, for example, your Dad lives in South Dakota and he would talk to you every day, but suddenly you couldn’t get ahold of him? You live several states away, so it is not practical for you to go personally check on him and you don’t have any contact information for his neighbors. In that case, you might call the local police and say, ‘can you please check in on my dad? I’m worried about him.’
What we are getting at is we don’t believe this is a SWATting or attempted SWATting at all. Since SWATting is a relatively new term, its meaning is probably more fluid than most but Webster’s Dictionary (online) has a definition that fits with how we have used the term: ‘[T]o make a false report of an ongoing serious crime in order to elicit a response from law enforcement (such as the dispatch of a SWAT unit).’ False reports of a murder, false reports of a hostage situation …
Ohio Gamer Pleads Guilty In Swatting that Caused a Death https://t.co/qZbKWvnUYe
— The Liberal Manifesto (@BaleyMontag) April 4, 2019
… or even T.J. Miller’s false bomb threat …
Feds Drop Fake Bomb Threat Charge Against ‘Silicon Valley’ Star T.J. Miller https://t.co/6ERVZoRnIC
— Variety (@Variety) July 30, 2021
… count as SWATting under that definition, but not a wellness check. The distinction to us is whether the caller believes they are putting a person’s life in danger above and beyond an ordinary interaction with the police. In the categories we described a minute ago, we would classify SWATting as a breed of attempted murder—but not a mere false welfare check.
Which isn’t to say that a bogus welfare check is ‘fine.’ We consider that to be, more or less, ‘harassment by police’ and whether you call it SWATting or not, it should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
In addition to that, Mr. Zephyr made this claim:
Someone just attempted to SWAT me as well.
I am fine.
An individual reported an anonymous tip targeting my home in Missoula, and the police recognized that it was likely a hoax and called me.
I will say again. We will not be deterred. The fight for trans rights goes on. https://t.co/tu3IshzuXF
— Rep. Zooey Zephyr (@ZoAndBehold) May 3, 2023
Some expressed doubts that it happened:
You are such a liar!
— Brandoniduni (@BrandonElect) May 3, 2023
Some skepticism is always justified, especially since politicians are not more honest as a group than regular folks. However, this appears to have some reality behind it:
Both Rep Zephyr and I experienced swatting attempts (failed) yesterday at our separate residences.
The Advocate confirmed the attempts.
This is what the far right wants – when they can’t silence you, they resort to violence.https://t.co/sbuDcLQQ5A
— Erin Reed (@ErinInTheMorn) May 3, 2023
The article he links to has the following statement from local police:
‘We took the call seriously and quickly contacted the representative immediately,’ said a spokesperson for the Missoula Police Department. ‘We confirmed everyone was safe. We determined the threat was from an FBI tip (not local), and it was unfounded.’
In any case, we are thankful no one got hurt.
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