Brandi Kruse
Politics • Culture • News
[un]Divided Newsletter: December 25, 2022
December 25, 2022
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Merry Christmas! I hope you’re all having a wonderful weekend (and that you managed to survive the ice storm). Take a minute to [un]wind with our Sunday newsletter. Grab a cup of coffee and catch up on what you may have missed from [un]Divided this week.

Let’s Go Washington!

This week on “Fridays with Friends.” I was joined by Brian Heywood, who discussed his 11-initiative effort to turn Washington state around. Let’s Go Washington gives voters an opportunity to change misguided laws around public safety, taxes, and good governance.

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You can watch our interview here at the 19:10 mark.

You can read each initiative here.

You can find a location to sign the initiatives here. After my interview with Heywood on Friday, I stopped by Wade’s Eastside Guns in Bellevue to sign all 11 initiatives.

As Heywood and I discussed, the initiatives present an opportunity to turn frustration around these issues into action. Mad about the police pursuit law? There’s an initiative for that. Upset by de facto decriminalization of personal possession of drugs? There’s an initiative for that. Baffled that the state didn’t give us a break on the gas tax this year? There’s an initiative for that!

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Heywood said they must get enough signatures to qualify the initiatives by the end of the year. If they’re successful, the legislature will be forced to consider them. Should lawmakers reject them, or fail to act on them, the initiatives will go to the people.

My only regret is not having Heywood on the show sooner.

Emergency power reform

The list of things that need to be fixed this legislative session is long, but chief among them is the stunning lack of checks and balances in a time of emergency.

Since early in the pandemic, I've advocated for emergency power reform. My opinion on the issue is based on three things:

  • Cooperation yields better results: I would much rather have the collective minds of our directly elected representatives brainstorming solutions than rely on the brain power of a single person.
  • Involvement of all areas of the state: Including the legislature in emergency decision making ensures that the needs of all areas of our state are taken into consideration - not just Seattle. 
  • Check on power-hungry governors: The current system gives the legislature no ability to reign in a governor who is truly abusing his/her power. Think about that for a second. Is that the kind of system you'd want if a governor of the other party was in power? 

Blinded by partisan considerations, Democrats in Olympia have failed to act on emergency power reform the past two legislative sessions. I’m hoping this year will be different, especially considering the pandemic is behind us.

I was pleased to see a bipartisan bill pre-filed this past week that would add meaningful, and reasonable, checks and balances in a time of emergency. The bill is co-sponsored by Senator Mark Mullet, a Democrat, and Senator Lynda Wilson, a Republican.

You can read Senate Bill 5063 here.

It would make two primary changes to existing law:

  • A state of emergency can be terminated via the passage of a concurrent resolution if the legislature is in session.
  • If the legislature is out of session, a state of emergency may be terminated in writing by all four members of leadership of the House and Senate if the state of emergency has already been in place for more than 90 days.

Both of those changes are incredibly reasonable and would require bipartisan agreement in order to terminate a state of emergency. That is a high bar, as it should be, but it at least provides a tool to use in extreme cases.

 

 

Kellyanna Brooking

If you watch one thing from [un]Divided this week, make sure it’s Wednesday’s episode with 14-year-old conservative commentator Kellyanna Brooking.

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Motivated by the 2020 riots and pandemic-era school mandates, Kellyanna has become an outspoken advocate for conservative principles. She now hosts her own digital show, advises a gubernatorial candidate, and serves as an ambassador for Turning Point USA.

As I told Kellyanna during the segment, I long hesitated having her on the podcast because of her age. Kellyanna started speaking out at 12 years old, which made me wonder how much the adults in her life were influencing her advocacy.

A couple years later, I’m so impressed by her knowledge on the issues and think you’ll find her to be incredibly independent minded.

Housekeeping

Not sure I would call this housekeeping, but please keep the family of KIRO Radio reporter Darren Dedo in your prayers this holiday, especially his four kids. I've had the privilege of getting to know Darren while filling in here and there on The Dori Monson Show. This past week, the newsroom was informed that Darren was in the hospital fighting for his life. The news was very unexpected. On a GoFundMe page set up by his family, we learned a little more about what he's facing:

"A few nights ago, he was hospitalized with what the doctors believed to be common pneumonia. Overnight, his oxygen levels dropped, and he was placed on a ventilator. The doctors have now determined that he has bilateral pneumonia. He was transferred to another ICU unit, where they discovered that his lungs have hardened. Through ECMO, his body is being kept alive to allow his lungs to heal."

Sending lots of love to the Dedo family and praying for a full recovery. 

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A few other things:

Mark your calendars: Our December LIVE Q&A will be this Tuesday, Dec. 27 at 8pm PT. Watch out for a link. 

Also:

Rejoice! Our ongoing issues with Apple Podcasts have been resolved. If you listen to the podcast on Apple, you should now see all the episodes missing since December 5 have populated. Please send me a message if that's not the case. 

Again, Merry Christmas and thank you for your commitment to giving common sense a comeback! Have a great week. 

 

 

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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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