After the Release of Alleged Damning Parks & Rec Recording, the Usual Followed
They say that Anchorage has a short-term memory when it comes to politics, but there was a time not so long ago when our city's hardcore contingent of maskholes, conspiracy theorists, and extremists made life hell for the Anchorage Assembly and members of the public who attended the fire and brimstone Assembly meetings of 2020-2021.
There are things I recall vividly, such as the time a lunatic burned a mask in the Assembly Chambers and when a man was arrested for allegedly threatening to kill former Assemblymember John Weddleton. Mayor Bronson's defense of his supporters' use of Holocaust imagery at a series of Assembly meetings is a moment I won't soon forget, or when members of the Save Anchorage turd threatened civil war over a proposed mask mandate.
This image of the downtown guillotine is something I will never be able to unsee.
I've often said that writing the Blue Alaskan blog was not a fun time for me, and after reflecting on it, I stand by that statement. I was threatened with a lawsuit for simply identifying a man as a Save Anchorage ringleader. For an extended period, as I wrote about the Bronson administration's shenanigans, people from around Alaska—and one very disturbed man in Washington state, sent me death threats on a regular basis. The Blue Alaskan website was repeatedly attacked, and at one point, a concerned individual provided me with the names and telephone numbers of two FBI Special Agents, which I kept on speed dial. While I never called, there was one particular moment when my finger hovered atop the dial button. There was also a morning in April of '22 when I was harassed outside my door by a right-wing radicalized smooth brain who, apparently, was not a fan.
I say all of that to say this: the intimidation tactics being used against Termination Dust Press for their recent release of an alleged anonymously sourced recording are unwarranted and dangerous.
Last week, Termination Dust Press released an audio recording provided to them by an individual described as a "whistleblower." The recording was allegedly taken from inside an Anchorage Parks & Rec breakroom and appears to demonstrate an employee, alleged to be "Dillan," saying that homeless individuals passed out on the sidewalk should be "free game."
"You deserve some broken ribs," the man said. Other employees captured on the recording can be heard cackling hysterically in response.
Not so insignificantly, the recording has been listened to more than 11 thousand times.
According to Termination Dust Press, additional unreleased audio refers to alleged physical altercations that may have taken place between Park and Recreation employees and our unsheltered friends and neighbors.
On its face, the audio paints a disturbing picture of how municipal employees view Anchorage's homeless population and demands a closer look by reporters who can validate the recording and uncover what, if anything, has been transpiring outside of the public's purview.
But equally disturbing is Termination Dust Press facing intimidation and threats of potential in-person confrontations from individuals who are most displeased with the reported audio recordings.
In a later exchange, "Vladimir" 🙄 wrote a highly aggressive and offensive tweet directed at Termination Dust Press, using derogatory language—calling them a "fucking retard" and a "fucking loser."
The hostility and intimidation journalists face for their reporting continues to be deeply troubling—flying in the face of a society that claims to value a free press and free speech for all.
But, perhaps notably, the aggressive responses and threats of in-person confrontations underscore the importance of validating the recording in question—after all, as I learned during my time as The Blue Alaskan, where there's smoke, there's very often fire.
