Click the graphic to access The Searchlight Review article, “Following up on Senator Ericksen’s ‘grandstanding media event’ at Meridian High School

September 12, 2018  Dena Jensen

For the day 18 post of Doug’s Got to Go, and in this year of so many tragic instances of gun violence, let’s all recall that Republican State Senator Doug Ericksen has a lifetime A rating from the National Rifle Association and has received the third largest amount in campaign contributions from the NRA out of all Washington State Senators. This information is courtesy of a May 7, 2018 article in The Stranger, “As Gun Control Stalls, a List of WA State Senators Who’ve Taken NRA Money.”

Five weeks after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, where 17 students and faculty members were killed, and others were wounded, by a gunman, Senator Ericksen managed to arrange a visit to Meridian High School in Bellingham, as he described it, to talk with students about gun violence and school safety. 

Below is an excerpt from the second of two Searchlight Review articles written about this event: 

“Public records I obtained from the Meridian School District show that Principal Forbes sent a March 20, 2018 email (at 6:38 AM) to all Meridian High School teachers, letting them know that he still needed names of any students who the teachers believed should contribute to the conversation with Senator Ericksen. According to email records provided, several teachers responded to Principal Forbes and provided him with some names of students as potential participants for the senator’s March 21 event.

One teacher sent a March 20 email response in which he voiced his displeasure to the principal about Senator Ericksen’s intention to come to the school to talk to students about gun control and school safety. That teacher wrote:

“‘I choose not to participate in this by giving names…This is politics in its worse form. Using a bunch of teenagers to score some form of political points and take advantage of a photo op. I have an enormous fear that people are going to discuss arming teachers with weapons. I strongly believe this isn’t an option and not even worth discussing.’

“As it turned out, the possibility of arming teachers was a subject that was part of the discussion during Ericksen’s meeting with students.” – Sandy Robson