Brandi Kruse
Politics • Culture • News
[un]Divided Newsletter: September 11, 2022
September 11, 2022
 

Take a minute to [un]wind with our Sunday morning newsletter. Grab a cup of coffee and catch up on what you may have missed from [un]Divided this week.

Honoring heroes

Today our nation honors the lives lost on September 11 and the servicemembers sent to war in the years that followed, many of whom never returned.

I visited the 9/11 memorial while in New York City this spring. It is a poignant reminder of the strength of our nation and the profound way in which the attacks changed our lives forever.

Christmas on Halloween

Washington Governor Jay Inslee finally acknowledged that his state can continue to battle the pandemic without one-man rule. After more than 900 days of near unilateral power, Inslee announced he will end the state of emergency around COVID-19 on October 31.

“We will continue our commitments to the public’s well-being, but simply through different tools that are now more appropriate for the era we’ve entered,” Inslee said.

Hear my thoughts on this at the start of Friday's episode (and check out my dance moves while you're at it). 

The governor’s office released a timeline of “milestones” in the state’s response to COVID in case you care to relive every excruciating month. Conveniently, they’ve left off some of the most controversial aspects of their response – like giving scammers hundreds of millions of dollars for fraudulent unemployment claims.

Why not end the emergency earlier?

Inslee said the remaining emergency orders require time to wean from. For example, one order suspends some testing and certification requirements. It’s meant to help get workers into healthcare settings more quickly as many facilities still face employee shortages.

What will an end to the state of emergency mean for you?

Simply put, Governor Inslee can’t leverage emergency powers to suspend laws or restrict how the public gathers. But should there be an uptick in COVID cases that requires such measures, there’s nothing stopping him from declaring another emergency.

While we're at it, check out this hilarious cartoon from Future 42. As a Lord of the Rings fan, I approve.

 

Ignoring communities of color

The International District community in Seattle gathered in force this week to protest plans for a massive homeless complex in their backyard.

Our friend Jonathan Choe covered their passionate pleas for King County Executive Dow Constantine to include them in the conversation.

“I wish the decision makers were here, because this is what I want to say to them: ‘How dare you!’” said ID resident Bettie Luke. “It is insane. It is destructive. It will tear apart the safety that the residents here used to feel.”

(Photo: @ChoeShow on Twitter)

At least a thousand people, most of them Asian American, showed up to Hing Hay Park to voice their concerns over a planned homeless shelter that will house around 500 people. They claim city and county leaders never asked for their input.

“This is a county project and I believe they did some amount of research and outreach and talking to communities, and I know that they will continue to do that,” Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell told Choe when confronted at an unrelated event.

Choe noted that he didn’t see any elected officials at the protest – although representatives from the King County Republican Party were in attendance.

More on this coming up this week on [un]Divided.

Assembly Bill 2098

If you watch one thing from [un]Divided this week, check out my interview with California Dr. Houman Hemmati. Hemmati has been pushing back against Assembly Bill 2098, which threatens doctors who spread COVID-19 misinformation or disinformation. The law is vaguely written and risks punishing doctors for advice to patients that politicians deem out of line with “contemporary scientific consensus.”

Dr. Hemmati joined us on Tuesday’s episode (at the 19:00 mark). 

Future 42

On Tuesday I announced a partnership with Future42.org – a new nonprofit working to restore sanity to Washington state. As part of that partnership, each Monday we’ll highlight common sense solutions to challenges like crime, homelessness, and runaway spending.

[un]Divided has complete editorial control over segments sponsored by Future 42.

To learn more about Future 42, visit Future42.org. While you’re there, sign up to get their email updates. To learn more about who is behind Future 42, check out their umbrella organization, Project 42.

Housekeeping

Friday, September 16, will be a “Best Of” episode as I’ll be travelling. Enjoy some of our favorite interviews and segments!

Have a great week – thank you all for believing in this mission to bring common sense back to news and politics.

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The following remarks were delivered to the Whatcom County Lincoln Day Dinner on March 23, 2024, in Ferndale, Washington.

I struggled with what to talk to you about tonight. 

Well, that’s not true. I didn't struggle with what to talk to you about – I struggled with whether I was brave enough to say what I wanted to say. 

When I'm invited to speak to groups, I don't want to offend anyone or be too controversial. So, I reached out to a few of your fellow party members to ask whether any topics were off limits or wouldn't go over well with the crowd. 

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Pragmatism against idealism. 

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Most of us didn't even realize that a war was being fought. We were too caught up in our own lives and our own problems. ...

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EXCLUSIVE: When being a social media troll comes back to bite you – hard
If you simply can’t help but poke the hornet’s nest, at least make sure your own hive is in order first.
 

 

 

This story has it all. Politics. Conservative infighting. Social media trolls. Lawsuits. A fugitive from justice. Charges of sodomy. And a side of karma, served cold.

Let’s start with the basics.

On March 26, a 24-year-old named Tyler James Crowl was arrested at his dad’s house in Lakewood, Washington, for a warrant out of Oregon. The arrest didn’t make the news in Washington, which isn’t a surprise considering the alleged crimes weren’t perpetrated in our state.

Crowl was wanted out of Yamhill County, Oregon, on three counts of Sexual Abuse in the First Degree and three counts of Sodomy in the First Degree. Both crimes are felonies. According to court records from September 2024, prosecutors allege Crowl “unlawfully and knowingly engaged in oral sexual intercourse with a child under 12 years of age” on multiple occasions and “did unlawfully and knowingly subject a child under 14 years of age to sexual contact by touching her vaginal area and/or upper/inner thighs” on multiple occasions.

While Tyler Crowl would have been a teenager himself at the time of the alleged crimes, Oregon state law says minors under 12 years old cannot consent to oral sex. And minors under the age of 14 cannot consent to sexual intercourse.

The details of Tyler Crowl’s alleged crimes are disturbing. But the way he came to be arrested in Lakewood is the stuff movie scripts are made of.

For those who frequent the bowels of political social media in Washington state, the last name Crowl might look familiar. Eric Crowl, known by the X handle @OutragePNW, is a well-known social media troll in conservative circles. His schtick is attacking Republicans who he deems not conservative enough. In full disclosure, I’ve been a favorite target of his for my reporting on former gubernational candidate Semi Bird. Bird, a Republican, was accused of stolen valor, on top of other documented criminal cases from his past. I found the accusations credible and important enough to discuss on my show.

OutragePNW didn’t like that one bit.

His online posts became so unhinged, not to mention defamatory, I informed my local police department that I was worried for my safety. We had officers at our home a couple times to check in.

1.png?token-time=1744848000&token-hash=08A8qzwyNh1P_xGdASRiY-hEB_Fkn0epz6V44aQtwaU%3DWhile I’ve had my share of social media trolls rile their followers up into a rabid mob, Eric Crowl presented a different kind of security concern – one worth taking seriously.

In 2016, Eric Crowl, then 39-years-old, was arrested in Portland with a cache of weapons including a rifle, shotgun, camouflage, police scanner, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. Police there had been investigating Crowl for months, after they “noticed him videotaping police outside the bureau's east precinct, often showing up during shift changes and leaving after hearing his name over the police scanner he carried,” according to Portland station KGW.

Crowl was arrested and charged with attempted assault of an officer and unlawful use of a weapon. 

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While out on house arrest, he was accused of violating the conditions of his release by allegedly showing up – with his wife and son in tow – to the home of a federal inspector.

“Crowl and his family were described as ‘aggressively’ staring into the inspector’s open garage and duty vehicle,” according to Portland station KOIN. The federal employee said Crowl was wearing shorts and did not have his court-mandated GPS monitor on.

“The inspector believed the Crowl’s were acting suspiciously and/or conducting surveillance on his home,” according to court documents.

Crowl was rearrested and had his bail set at $1 million. In November 2016, he agreed to a deal with prosecutors and pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of unlawful possession of a firearm in exchange for three years of probation, KOIN reported.

So, what’s the link between Eric Crowl (@OutragePNW) and alleged sodomizer turned fugitive Tyler James Crowl?

Tyler is Eric’s son.

Usually, the misdeeds of family members of social media figures wouldn’t be something I’d jump to report on (regardless of how I felt about that particular person).

But in this case, it was Crowl’s obsession with trolling his perceived political enemies that led to his son’s capture. And that’s a tale too interesting not to tell.

On March 4, Eric Crowl registered a nonprofit with the state of Washington named the Pierce County Republican Party. He immediately started a Facebook page using the name and even held live virtual events on X titled “Pierce County Republican Pary – Media Availability.”

If that sounds weird to you, it is.

There is, of course, already a Pierce County Republican Party. It’s the Pierce County branch of the State GOP and has been active in local politics since at least the 1960’s.

So why would Eric Crowl want to troll his local GOP?

The Pierce County Republican Party and its chairman, Dave McMullan, have been favorite targets of Crowl’s social media attacks. McMullan was an early and unapologetic supporter of Republican Gubernatorial candidate Dave Reichert, earning him the ire of the party’s right flank – and of diehard Semi Bird supporters like Crowl. Furthermore, the county party voted unanimously to ban Crowl from its biennial organizational meeting back in November – in part because of his conduct online.

What better way to make sure you're included than to register an imposter Pierce County Republican Party and put yourself in charge of it?

In response to Crowl’s filing, the legitimate Pierce County Republican Party made a filing of its own – in United States District Court.

On March 23, the PCRP filed a lawsuit against Crowl and his new nonprofit, accusing him of violating the Federal Trademark Act.

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The only thing left was to serve Eric Crowl with the papers at his home in Lakewood.

That job fell to Robert Parker, a local Republican who offered to help.

In advance of doing so, Parker told unDivided he thought it would be wise to see who else was living at the home. He knew of Crowl’s criminal history in Oregon and wanted to be prepared for what he might encounter.

A search of public records from the address showed a Tyler James Crowl was registered to vote there. Parker went into amateur detective mode. He put Tyler Crowl’s name into Google. Up popped a January 6, 2025, blog post from a small news outlet in Oregon. It was a list of outstanding warrants.

“Area law enforcement agencies are looking for the following people who have absconded from the law.”

On the list was “Tyler James Crowl, 23, wanted on warrants for first-degree sodomy and sexual abuse.”

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Unsure whether Tyler would be at his dad’s house, but armed with the information anyway, Parker went to serve the papers.

Sure enough, Tyler Crowl was the one to come to the door. Parker caught the whole thing on camera.

“Mr. Crowl?”

“That should be my father, but yeah, what’s this regarding?”

“That’s for him,” Parker said, handing over the notice of service in a manilla envelope.

“Ok … what’s it regarding if you don’t mind me asking?”

“It’s legal paperwork for him.”

A woman can be heard in the background saying “Tyler, don’t accept that.”

Parker leaves the documents with Tyler and walks away – only to promptly contact the Lakewood Police Department to inform them of the whereabouts of a fugitive from justice.

Within hours, Tyler Crowl was in custody and being held at the Pierce County Jail, where he is still awaiting extradition to Yamhill County, Oregon.

It is unclear whether the elder Crowl knew his son was a fugitive from justice. unDivided has reached out to prosecutors in Oregon to inquire whether they are investigating whether Eric Crowl knowingly concealed his son’s whereabouts.

A text message and email to Eric Crowl seeking comment went unanswered Tuesday. Crowl protected his X account (@OutragePNW) shortly after unDivided reached out for comment about his son’s arrest, limiting his posts to approved followers.

So, what lessons can be taken from this sordid tale?

For starters, don’t engage in sex acts with a pre-teen. That’s good advice for anyone.

Second, don’t be a social media troll. Also good advice for anyone. But if you simply can’t help but poke the hornet’s nest, at least make sure your own hive is in order first.

 

 

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