3-25-2022 Gubernatorial Candidate Forum Baker City Oregon

The treasurer from the Baker County Republican Party is recording a public gubernatorial event. Suzan Ellis Jones, who is the chair of the party and mother of Gubernatorial candidate, Kerry McQuisten, says no one else is allowed to record or video stream but them.

There was a long list of other edicts such as when to clap, no loud noises etc. You can see the look on the faces of the audience as the list is rattled off. When asked why there was no recording you can hear, "That's our Rules".

According to Oregon public recording laws you do not need consent to record electronic communications that are easily available to the public. Or. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 165.540 (West 2012).

Suzan Ellis Jones was asked if she was going to provide the full unedited version and agreed in front of the entire audience which has yet to be released as of 3-31-2022.

Why tell everyone that it's ok for me, but not for thee?

She had no authority to make such double standard demands so a member of the audience, maybe more, continued to record.

Suzan Ellis Jones told someone to call the police and have a person removed for recording while she continues to record this public event. She had two additional people removed that were not recording.

The secretary of the Baker Republican party violated an individual’s civil/constitutional rights by trying to take the cell phone away without their consent as you can see in the video.

Wouldn't this also be a conflict of interest and highly suspicious for a gubernatorial candidate's mother and the chair of the republican party to be the gate keeper of the recordings? What unfair advantage does this create? What stories can be told if they are the only ones holding the evidence?

The video below shows the disturbance Suzan Ellis Jones caused when the cops arrived as proudly escorted them to the innocent man using his cell phone to record.
https://www.tiktok.com/@merritt4oregon/video/7080319366000332078?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1

The police said in a public statement afterwards that they should not have been involved.

Suzan Ellis Jones admits to pre-planning this by calling the police prior to the event in a public statement yet blames someone else for pre-planning which is projection on her part again.

The Precinct Committee People who vote on these matters of the Baker County Republican Party were not apprised of these "Rules" nor voted for this format to occur. Suzan Ellis Jones made these decisions unilaterally and violated the party bylaws.

After the event, false statements and misplaced blame were made publicly by the Baker County Republican executives. It was their own bad decisions that made people leave in disgust which is merely projection on their part, once again.

Other candidates spoke out about the conduct of the chair during the event.

False public statements were made by Kerry McQuisten and the Baker Republican executives after the event.

Here is a quote from Kerry McQuisten: "At least one man began filming the audience, was asked to stop multiple times, and refused. Two young children were terrified, burst out in tears and had to be taken from the room. A female citizen who had simply come in from the street to watch the event said she felt threatened with a cell phone aimed at her face. What was the intent of this hostility? Police were called by security to trespass the two or three folks who wouldn’t let the event continue peacefully, and we were then able to move on.
The hue and cry on social media from such people is that their first amendment rights were infringed upon. The setup to make these claims, of course, was always part of their plan as this was my home county.
No part of our wonderful Constitution gives any individual permission to cause harm simply because they feel entitled to. This behavior isn’t patriotism; this is thuggery."

As you can see, these claims are false and that's exactly why it's important to record to protect yourself from slander and liable.

Would you trust these people after seeing the truth?

Finally in the public statement mentioned earlier, Suzan Ellis Jones blames Baker County United for people sharing their disgust of how the forum was held. Apparently, the candidates and most the audience were members of Baker County United so if that was intended to be a compliment then we are thankful.

To learn more, go to: https://www.bakercountyunited.com/