The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office says a letter circulating the internet purportedly signed by Sheriff Rob Snaza is not legitimate, and that the county’s prosecuting attorney is looking into the matter. The Nov. 23 letter, which included a Washington State Sheriff’s Association letterhead, claimed there is “no law in place” requiring masks to be worn in public, and that business owners denying entry to maskless individuals are engaging in harassment and discrimination, and could be punished by up to a year in jail or fined $5,000.
“It is totally false and a fabricated letter,” Snaza said Thursday. “That’s not my stance, that’s not what I believe in … I believe everybody has their own rights, but at the end of the day, businesses also have the right to refuse service.”
The wearing of masks is currently mandated by Washington state, and businesses are prohibited from servicing customers violating the order, although according to Prosecuting Attorney Jonathan Meyer, local law enforcement has broad discretion in enforcing statewide COVID-19 restrictions. Snaza and other county officials have made it clear that enforcement will not be prioritized within the county.
According to a Thursday press release from the sheriff’s office, the fake letter was released after Snaza met with an organization last month that had “concerns regarding being removed from businesses for failing to wear a mask.” The group argued that a state civil rights and anti-discrimination law protected their right to flout the statewide mask mandate unless they were deemed “contagious by a treating physician with access to their full medical records.” The group asked Snaza if he or other sheriffs would write a letter ordering businesses denying them entry to “cease and desist.”
The Washington State Sheriff’s Association is composed of and governed by elected sheriffs. President and Grant County Sheriff Tom Jones could not be immediately reached.
“I advised them I would discuss their concerns with other sheriffs, but did not offer support of such a letter during the meeting with the group’s members,” Snaza wrote. “I sincerely apologize for anyone adversely impacted by this unauthorized document … I appreciate the views of others, but do not support the use of my name, or that of my office, to further agendas I have not lent my support to.”
According to Meyer, the prosecuting attorney’s office will find a law enforcement agency other than the sheriff’s office to do a criminal investigation.
“It’s not something that’s going to be tolerated,” Meyer said. With a high level of misinformation and politicization around COVID-19 restrictions, “and then to have someone throwing gasoline on that fire, is not a good idea. So it’s not acceptable.”
In a subsequent press release, Meyer noted the letter was printed using a fake Washington State Sheriff’s Association letterhead and called the forgery “reckless, irresponsible, and perhaps, criminal.”
In addition to alerting the prosecuting attorney of the forgery, Snaza also said he contacted the unnamed group asking them to retract the document.
For businesses confronted by customers refusing to wear a mask, Snaza said he “would encourage them to call law enforcement,” but asked residents “please don’t put us in the position where we have to do it. I’d rather do education first.”
Snaza said residents can get a more accurate picture of his stance of the mask mandate and other COVID-19 restrictions from the recent letter he and Meyer recently wrote to Gov. Jay Inslee, which requested that the state take the lead in enforcing pandemic-related restrictions, and claimed that local officials didn’t have the resources or guidance to do so.
