On Nov. 8, voters in Shasta County will have the opportunity to put the final nail in the coffin of a horrific far-right extremist movement, which took over the Shasta County Board of Supervisors last February with the recall of District 2 Supervisor Leonard Moty. Since the recall, the Board of Supervisors has been composed of a hard-right 3-2 majority. A vote for Erin Resner for District 1 Shasta County Supervisor and a vote for Browning in District 5 will swing the Board of Supervisors back to a moderate Republican majority. Resner and Browning received the most votes in the primary election against their far-right competitors last June.
California is a blue state, but in Shasta County, the big fight is on the right as a far-right vocal minority has been busy targeting what they call “Republicans in name only” or “RINOs” for short. The recall movement just barely succeeded in recalling Moty, a retired police officer who was active in the community. Of the relatively small number of voters who cast their ballots for the February recall election, 5,032 voted “yes” to recall Moty, and 3,958 voted “no”. The candidate selected to replace Moty, Tim Garman, received only 2,391 votes. The election of Garman solidified the hard-right majority which exists to this day. It is composed of Garman, District 4 Supervisor Patrick Jones, and District 5 Supervisor Les Baugh.
In District 1, far-right darling Kevin Crye is running against Erin Resner, a moderate Republican. Resner received 48 percent of the vote in the primary election. Crye received 42 percent of the votes. In District 5, moderate Republican Baron Browning is up against Chris Kelstrom, a far-right candidate supported by State of Jefferson separatist movement leaders. Browning received 44 percent of the vote in the primary election while Kelstrom received 36 percent.
District 5 Supervisor candidate Chris Kelstrom is a fervent State of Jefferson supporter.
Chris Kelstrom supporter and former Shasta County Board of Supervisor candidate Colt Roberts.
Despite a sizable donation of $830,000 to far-right political organizations by a wealthy former Shasta County resident named Reverge Anselmo, none of the far-right candidates running for several county-level positions won in the primary election last June. Local far-right celebrity Carlos Zapata supported the Moty recall. Zapata directly blamed A News Café and essentially everyone who did not support his far-right agenda for Moty’s recall. After all the far-right candidates Zapata and his far-right cohorts supported leading up to the June primary election lost, Zapata was silent when it came to the blame game.
Despite the losses at the ballot box, the far-right movement has succeeded in casting a reign of terror over Shasta County. The Board of Supervisors fired the county’s chief medical officer. The county CEO resigned due after one of the hard-right supervisors blackmailed him in a politically driven stunt. Many others have simply walked away from their county jobs to avoid being the next target of far-right activists. Far-right activists have also dominated board meetings and resorted to violence as they wage a war associated, in their twisted imaginations, with the American Revolution.
Screenshot of Timothy Fairfield at a Shasta County Board of Supervisor meeting. “When the ballot box is gone, there is only the cartridge box. You have made bullets expensive. But lucky for you, ropes are reusable,” Fairfield said.
The far-right movement captures the attention of outside journalists – where are they now?
The far-right movement captured the attention of journalists writing for national news outlets across the country, especially after the movement to recall Moty gained momentum. “The California County Where MAGA Took Control” read one headline. “Could a Populist, Militia-Backed Shasta County Recall Effort Provide Roadmap for Other Races?” asked another headline.
These headlines and the stories which followed were fairly accurate. Many included comments shared by the writers here at A News Café and hyperlinked our stories. However, the far-right movement has already faced significant losses – and big-time journalists have yet to cover it.
What happened to Red, White and Blueprint?
Speaking of the absence of big-time journalists, what happened to the ghost that was Red, White and Blueprint?
Red, White and Blueprint has served as the propaganda media arm of far-right politics in Shasta County for a little over a year and a half. Co-owned by Carlos Zapata, Jeremy Edwardson, and Jon Knight, Red, White and Blueprint is best known for producing a slick docuseries made up of 8 episodes. Red, White and Blueprint’s docuseries episodes pushed lies and misinformation that supported the recalling of Moty and extreme far-right ideologies. Episodes in the series were cornier than the corniest of Halloween movies. That is until the episodes mysteriously vanished like Freddy Krueger’s last victim on Elm Street.
Red, White and Blueprint co-owner, and Bethel-affiliated Christian music recording artist Jeremy Edwardson posted a video of himself on Facebook last March to say that the company removed all but one of the docuseries episodes to edit them. Edwardson said they would return soon. However, the only episode currently available is Episode 8.
Why have the Red, White and Blueprint docuseries episodes not returned to any media platforms? And where are the 10 episodes Red, White and Blueprint promised to create for its first season?
Red, White and Blueprint has sunk to the level of producing basic video podcasts and selling T-shirts, sweatshirts. stickers, and beer koozies with their logo and corny sayings about the fight against “tyranny” emblazed upon them. If you want to dress up as a far-right extremist for Halloween, Red, White and Blueprint have you covered.
Satire Halloween costume.
The owners of Red, White and Blueprint failed to be far-right social media influencers outside of their bubble. Viewership on all Red, White, and Blueprint media content has decreased dramatically over the last several months, and the company’s YouTube page has very little content. Red, White and Blueprint podcasts are currently only available on a ragtag website designed to look like a media company.
‘We’re winning, we’re winning guys’: Red, White, and Delusional
As Shasta County inches closer to the November general election, members of Red, White and Blueprint are optimistic about the future. This is despite the fact that all of the candidates the co-owners of the media company backed faced significant losses in the primary election. “We’re winning, we’re winning guys,” said cast member Woody Clendenen in a recent Red, White and Blueprint podcast. Clendenen was referring to the so-called “information war” the propaganda media company is fighting to promote the far-right takeover of the county.
If there is indeed an “information war” brewing, Red, White and Blueprint certainly isn’t winning it.
Just before Clendenen claimed to be winning the so-called information war, he said, “They don’t have a drug problem in the Philippines, I promise yah … if they find it in your pocket they shoot you in the head right there on the street,”
Clendenen’s claim was not accurate, of course, but accuracy and facts are not key components of the so-called blueprint.
Woody Clendenen.
Woody Clendenen’s Barbershop in Cottonwood: Source: KQED video screen grab.
Earlier in the same podcast, Knight misquoted Vladimir Lenin and mistook him for Joseph Stalin while trying to describe the so-called “tyranny” the far-right is fighting against.
“It’s two steps forward and one step back, like that, was ahhhhh…famous quote from Stalin, but um, that’s what you do,” Knight said. “You take two steps forward, you take a bunch, then you give a little bit back”.
Lenin, the leader of Russia, and later, the Soviet Union between 1917 and 1924, is known for saying, “It is necessary sometimes to take one step backward to take two steps forward”. Stalin, of course, came later.
Goin’ down in a blaze of corny
One thing is for certain, the bonfire scene at the end of Episode 8 mentioned in “Red, White and Blueprint Docuseries Burns Out in a Blaze of Pseudo-Patriotic Glory”, might just serve as the symbolic demise of not only Red, White and Blueprint, but also the far-right movement in Shasta County.
Zapata started the bonfire after he flicked his lit cigarette into a pile of wood doused in gasoline. As the fire raged, Zapata and his wife and business partner, along with Knight and his partner looked on in pure enjoyment. Red, White and Blueprint cast members Lani Bangay toasted his drink in the air as if the group and the far-right movement in general, had accomplished something big.
Carlos Zapata lights the fire in the final Red, White and Blueprint episode.
Bonfire scene in the final red, White, and Blueprint episode.
Brave community members speak out against far-right extremists
It is not easy to find residents of Shasta County who are willing to go on record against the far-right movement in Shasta County. One source contacted for this piece said they did not want to share their identity because they were afraid what happened to Nathan Pinkney would happen to them.
Zapata and two of his friends assaulted Pinkney at his place of employment in May of 2021. Zapata and his two friends were all found guilty of various charges related to the attack. What happened to Pinkney, however, is just one of the many examples of violence members of the far-right community have directed at people who speak out against their agenda. The source said it isn’t just about Zapata, but that Zapata is a “metaphor for all things that are going haywire in the county”.
“One of the biggest reasons for their failure is the divisions within their own ranks,” said North State resident Trent Copland in response to the desperate goals of the far-right.
One example of this division is Zapata’s surprising support for Max Steiner, a Democratic candidate running for Congress in California’s First District. Steiner is running against incumbent Doug LaMalfa. According to some political insiders, Zapata chose to support Steiner because Erin Ryan, LaMalfa’s Regional Director, said during an event that Red, White and Blue was funded by drug money.
Zapata confirmed he is supporting Steiner, but would not answer any questions due to being upset about the dog mauling stories published on A News Cafe that involved what he called his “best friend,” and business partner Nathan Mendes.
“Rescind that bullshit story and I’ll tell you what you want to know,” said Zapata. “Until then, fuck off”.
Copland described himself as fiscally conservative but socially liberal.
“I am certainly a liberal to any of the alt-right,” Copland said.
Copland switched party affiliation from Republican to Democrat when Ronald Reagan was elected president in 1980, but he occasionally votes for GOP candidates. Copland is a highly respected retired teacher who taught in the Shasta Unified High School District for 28 years. His work as an English as a Second Language teacher encouraged him to have great affection for the Spanish-speaking immigrant population in the North State.
Copland has three adult sons. He and his wife have lived in the Redding home they currently reside in for 30 years. Copland currently serves on the Board of Directors for Shasta County Citizens Advocating Respect (SCCAR) and previously served on the University Preparatory School Board.
Copland has deep roots in the North State
Unlike many members of the far-right movement, Copland has deep roots in the North State. Copland’s family has been in Shasta County since 1851, right after California was admitted to the Union as a state. His grandfather once owned a premier men’s clothing store in Redding known as Thompson’s Clothing Store. Copland’s grandfather and great-uncle also served for many years on the Shasta Unified School District Board. Shasta High School’s Thompson Field is named after his grandfather for his contributions to helping establish Shasta Community College.
“I am rather appalled by conditions in Shasta County,” Copland said. “If you had suggested to me such would be our state of affairs today, a couple of years ago, I would have laughed you off.”
Copland said that despite their different political beliefs, he did everything he could to help Moty stay in office. He and Moty graduated together from Shasta Union High School in 1972.
Despite his deep roots in the community, Copland says he is afraid to attend Board of Supervisor meetings due to the threat of violence.
“I will never attend a County Supervisors Board Meeting again until I feel confident that I am safe,” Copland said. Copland attended several meetings in recent years. However, he says he stopped attending because he felt like the Board of Supervisors chamber was full of guns, and that the sheriff’s office deputies working security would not protect him. Copland has a point. In the early months of the movement to recall Moty, Shasta County Sheriff’s Deputy Greg Walker worked security at Board of Supervisor meetings.
Trent Copland in the living room of the Redding home he has lived in for 30 years.
Zapata recently targeted Copland in a hostile tirade on a Red, White and Blueprint podcast. Zapata was upset at Copland and others for voicing their dislike of the far-right movement a Facebook group page that tracks far-right activities known as Thought You Should Know – Shasta County.
“These are angry and ugly people inside and out,” Zapata said before he launched into his unhinged tirade. “This is a guy who talks a lot of shit online,” said Zapata in reference to Copland. Zapata made a snide comment about Copland’s background as a teacher, which goes along with the myriad negative comments Zapata has made about the state of public education in the U.S.
During his rant on the podcast, Zapata said he wants people to tell him their thoughts about him to his face. Zapata also said he welcomes confrontation with people he disagrees with because confrontations are an efficient way to solve problems – even though some of the confrontations Zapata has been part of have caused more problems than they have solved, even for him.
The far-right ‘Anselmo Anointed’ echo chamber
“My take is that the movement is largely talking in an echo chamber,” said another source who wished to remain anonymous because of fear of retaliation from far-right extremists.
“Their audience is finite, and the influence beyond it is nil. I think it’s important for us to keep shining a light on ‘Anselmo Anointed’ and the dirty money they’re receiving from a revenge-seeking, pissed-off multi-millionaire, scofflaw from Connecticut”.
The anonymous source said they’re registered Democrat but they occasionally, like Copland, vote for Republican candidates. As an example, the source said they supported Moty recall candidate Dale Ball and donated to his campaign because of his work to clean up homeless camps.
“I’ve since come to know him better,” the source said., “And he’s frankly, frightening in his blind support of Anselmo’s Anointed”.
A 65-year-old lifelong resident of Shasta County who also wished to remain anonymous highlighted the lies, threats, the blackmailing of Shasta County CEO Matt Pontes, and the firing of Ramstrom as the reason why the far-right movement has not gained enough traction to take over the Shasta County Board of Supervisors.
“These are just some of the reasons why this small rag-tag of bullies and misfits have not succeeded,” the source said.
‘Meat-headed extremists throwing a toddler fit’
Katie Cavagna, a former social worker who worked for Shasta County Health and Human Services for 13 years, echoed the comments made by others about the lies and misinformation pushed by the far-right. Cavagna said the far-right is “aligned with loud, rude, misogynist, racist, conspiracy theorists”. Cavagna also said the far-right does not represent Republican values and that “they are meat-headed extremists throwing a toddler fit for reasons that people can’t even track because they’re constantly changing their focus.”
“Voters are largely smart enough to see these people as glorified cartoon characters,” Cavagna said.
Katie Cavagna
Cavagna left her position with the county when her department became the first in line for the “forensic audit” led by the hard-right county supervisors. Cavagna said she worked hard to put her heart and soul into her work for a modest paycheck. “Then one day I got to show up to community members protesting in front of my workplace,” said Cavagna.
“It’s almost like they turned the community against us,” Cavagna said regarding the far-right anti-vaxxer and COVID-19-denier attack on health and medical services in the name of “medical freedom”.
“It slowly made it harder and harder to get our work done,” Cavagna said. “I don’t think they realize just how much damage was done by their smear campaign against HHSA”.
Cavagna says the Shasta County Board of Supervisors fired Ramstrom for no good reason, because she is owed her severance pay, and the new person who fills the position, which has yet to be filled, will be paid a much higher salary, and thus, cost the county more money.
District 3 Shasta County Supervisor Mary Rickert explained the experiences shared by Cavagna with a broader scope. Rickert said the county has been impacted on many levels by the far right movement and that there is more damage to the stability of the county than meets the eye.
“Political games continue to be played, though it is not apparent to the general public,” Rickert said. “We are teetering on the brink of collapse, depending on the outcome of November 8th.”
Rickert is encouraging voters to vote for the experienced candidates, “or the consequences will be devastating.”
There’s no doubt that the far-right movement has done damage in Shasta County. People have lost jobs and violent radicals have verbally attacked residents who have spoken out against the far-right movement. However, there’s also no doubt that the damage done by the movement is nowhere near what its leaders wished for. Sensible people in Shasta County have repeatedly stood up against the far-right movement at the ballot box, at Board of Supervisor meetings, at protest events, and on social media. The far-right movement is on the brink of failure when it comes to taking over the county. All the empty talk about the fight against “tyranny” and the fight for “liberty” and the battle to “take our county back” is beginning to haunt the far-right movement and it is just in time for Halloween.
If far-right politics in Shasta County, a hot spot for such politics in the U.S., provided a “roadmap” or a “blueprint” as some would call it, for other counties, the failure of the far-right movement can do the same.
