This Republican Prosecutor Stood Up for Black Lives Matter Protests. Haters Ran Him Out of Office.

Kate Briquelet

Senior Reporter

When Arian Noma ran for prosecutor in a rural Washington county in 2018, he was a newcomer who vowed to stop the over-prosecution of crimes and seek bail only when necessary. Standing inside the wood-paneled Okanogan Grange, Noma gripped a microphone and told the crowd, If you want to make change, Im your candidate. If you want things to remain the same, I think you know who to vote for.

As we continue to make regulations and over-regulate our citizens nationwide, over-criminalize everything before you know it, we all have badges of conviction, Noma said. And if you dont have a family member or you yourself or a friend thats been through the system you have no idea how difficult it is to function and reintegrate into society.

The 44-year-old Republican wanted to create a reentry support group for people released from incarceration and had other grand ideas, too, which he said would ultimately save taxpayers money. My office will not only work with law enforcement regarding cases, we will offer trainings, discussions, and other opportunities to cooperate to solve cases together, Noma, a former prosecutor in Maryland, told the Okanogan Valley Gazette-Tribune before winning nearly 60 percent of the vote in Okanogan County. Rapport and comradery are essential to forging relationships.

But halfway through his four-year term, Noma resigned. In a letter to voters, he cited a woefully deficient budget and case backlog as reasons for his departure. One of his deputies was forced to handle more than 200 criminal cases at a time, while another was grappling with 140 cases. Noma described his predicament as fighting tanks and guns with bows and rocks.

The final straw, Noma continued, was a series of racially motivated attacks.

Speaking publicly for the first time since his resignation, Nomawhose ancestry includes Black, Native American and Filipino heritagetold ishonest that he believes the online harassment campaign had help from law enforcement and county colleagues, including people within his own office.

He says the online smear campaignwhich included anonymous critics snapping photos of his vehicle and asking for information, sharing internal county emails with complaints about him, and the sale of anti-Noma merchandiseramped up after he supported Black Lives Matter protesters last summer. And after he wrote to Okanogan County Sheriff Tony Hawley regarding a mob of armed civilians who flooded the city of Omak to confront antifa during summer protests. Noma said armed groups should be prohibited from future demonstrations because they could be in violation of state law.

How much of it is racism and the good old boys system that was there? Noma said. I dont think theyre inseparable. Im still trying to digest how much of it was because Im an outsider and how much of it was my race but I think both of them played a role.

It was a concerted effort by employees, non-employees and other departments, and the 9,400 residents who voted for me have no idea whats going on, he added. And I didnt either. Im too new to this. Im not a politician. Im not going into politics again.

The harassment campaign started the moment I took office but it started to gain steam by attacking me on the Second Amendment, Noma said. I hate how they say youre picking sides. Theres no side to human life. My side is human life, I dont want to see anybody get shot. I dont want to see anybody get hurt, Black or white.

It is worth noting that such a page never appeared about any of the White prosecutors who preceded me, wrote Noma.

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The defense lawyer, in a letter to the countys human resources director, claimed Noma asked her child client if he was choked like the police do when they put you in a chokehold and strangle you. She added, That was a terrible message to send a child who will likely need law enforcement assistance in the future.

Im tired of being afraid of you Arian, Nicholson wrote, adding, I dont deserve to be treated the way you have treated me. If youre busy and I interrupt you just tell me dont through [sic] your phone down and scream at me. Noma replied, in part, This is a stressful job, but I do not agree that I treat you unprofessionally or the narrative you are attempting to create.

We stand firm on our anonymity and will never reveal our sources or implicate our beloved officials, rest assured; we had support from many places.

Voters, even those who didnt elect Noma, told ishonest the countys conservatives turned on him after his Black Lives Matter support and positions on armed militias possibly violating state laws. (Noma told voters during his campaign that it is imperative to elect local officials that will protect the citizens rights at all costs; especially their Constitutional and Second Amendment rights.)

One county resident in her 60s, who identifies as mixed Indigenous, told ishonest that much of the racism that Noma experienced was targeted and deliberate because he is a man of color who kowtowed to the very conservative and extreme far-right base of Republicans here. She said, Nomas Republican cronies that he had courted so hard felt betrayed and conned by his position on armed counterprotesters.

Okanogan County is nearly the size of Connecticut at 5,300 square miles but has just a little over 41,000 residents65 percent of whom are white, 20 percent Hispanic and 9 percent Native American, according to Census data. The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation occupies roughly 700,000 acres of the county land.

Several residents interviewed by ishonest detailed racism they experienced in the county, including a farmers market vendor telling one young womans partner to Go back to Mexico. They said they didnt doubt racism played a role in the online campaign against Noma. One Native American voter in her 50s told us a cop called her a dumb fucking Indian during one encounter several years ago.

Look at this this way, if these people can run him out of town, what about us? the woman said. Im scared. I dont trust any of them.

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Hawley denied rumors that he distributed armbands and said the counterprotesters came up with the idea to differentiate themselves from any out-of-town agitators. As I pointed out to Arian, you dont wait six months to memorialize a conversation, you do it immediately, Hawley told us of the letter. I didnt do that and I didnt tell anyone I did that.

I think the general feeling was fear on both sides, said Sandy Vaughn, a 72- year-old nurse who, along with her husband, attended the BLM rally. For armed people it was, as I understand it, fear fomented by baseless rumors of antifa coming in busloads to loot and pillage, and to be sure that local activists did not do the samelocal activists who were neighbors, co-workers, friends, and even some family.

Several minutes into Mobergs speech, a police officer approached him and asked if there was a problem. I said, Yes, officer, there is a band of armed militia brandishing weapons, he said.

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With the recent events that have occurred nationwide, specifically, the shooting of protesters in Kenosha, WI and the shooting of a man in Portland, OR, this office writes to inform you that it is this offices position that if there are any future protests, any organized groups of armed individuals should be prohibited. He added, the Second Amendment does not protect armed groups, it is an individual right.

But on Sept. 29, Noma sent a followup letter to the sheriff and other local law enforcement reversing his view. After contacting colleagues and looking more specifically at our State Constitution, Noma wrote, the organized militia statute is most likely unconstitutional and unenforceable.

This office does believe in and will protect the Second Amendment at all times, Noma added. At the same time, it is still this offices goal to promote public safety. In the event of future protests, this office hopes that you will engage this office for assistance, and also to engage our armed citizens prior to any protests to not only protect our community, but also our local protestors from any harm.

In an interview with ishonest, Noma said, My goal is to keep the gun guys and BLM protesters safe. Thats my job; everyone counts. We have Second Amendment rights here. I do believe in the Second Amendment, but at the same time you cant wear and carry to intimidate.

I try to be fair in my assessments. I would want someone to do the same with me, Noma told us. I was a good prosecutor for this county. I was probably the best one they ever had, because you do want someone thats neutral and its rare youll find that. That someone is willing to support the gun rights guys as well as Black Lives Matter. People want legal rules to be black and white but its gray.

Noma filed a complaint with the sheriffs office Jan. 8, a week before his resignation went into effect, alleging its a crime to threaten and harass a public official into doing somethingin this case, resigning from office.

Looking back, Noma said, I do question, Are you being oversensitive? Are you crazy? Were you thinking these things happened but they didnt? My instincts are usually correct. Im not one to jump to conclusions based on emotions.

I had family members who called me one epithet and other family members who called me another, Noma added. And thats confusing for a kid. Those kinds of statements really hurt me. I'm like, Man, Ive been here before.

Noma said he stepped down over concerns for his familys safety. He and his partner, Kenita, had moved from Baltimore to Washington state for a simpler life. He went into private practice and dreamed of living on a mountain and making milk and cheese.

But then, he says, he met acting prosecutor Branden Platter and decided to run against him. I gotta run if my kids are growing up here, Noma remembers thinking. His boss retired, and I knew I cant let this guy run the county.

One of the No More Noma pages first posts was a screenshot from Platters campaign account suggesting Noma was soft on crime. A law enforcement officer called me today and told me that a current defendant spoke to him and told him that he is holding off pleading guilty because my office offered him 55 months and he hopes Mr. Noma gets elected because he knows he will get a lower sentence, Platter wrote. This is not how the system is supposed to work.

Platter told ishonest that after he moved on from Okanogan County, he continued to hear complaints about Noma from some of his former colleagues but didnt ask a whole lot about it.

From Platters perspective, Noma didnt understand what the job would entail. Theres always an enormous caseload and prosecutors are always overworked and need more bodies in that county, Platter said. The moneys just not there. Weve always needed more attorneys but we all sucked it up and did our jobs.

We answer to the public ultimately and we are never going to please everybody, Platter said. I know I made decisions when I was there that were not popular. But ultimately we are responsible for that and we have to answer to the public and that means people are going to say things about you online.

I dont think its fair to blame the employees in the office, if thats who did it, Platter said. But if it was, maybe he should have reflected on himself and his behavior in the office and try to resolve those conflicts rather than reacting as he did.

This campaign had nothing to do with race and more to do with holding an elected official accountable for his actions, the post read, adding, Let it be known, any comments regarding Arian Nomas biography or history were made with the intention of showing inconsistent tendencies, false statements and an overall lack of competency to carry out the responsibilities of his office. Nothing we do is race driven; we strive for accountability and integrity in our elected officials. After-all, they represent us as a people.

Our page will remain active until the end of time, the site concluded. We will always serve as a resource for the public to refer to. It is also important for all of Arian Nomas disregard and integrity issues to be ever present as he continues claiming to protect his clients. Thank you all for the support and assistance over these last several months. Until next time, NO MORE NOMA!

Voters and supporters say theyre outraged Noma was subject to online attacks that contributed to him leaving public office.

Susan Speir, 69, voted for Noma because he had a vision: he cared about disadvantaged youth and changing the overcrowding of jails and arresting people for minor crimes. She said Nomas values appealed to the areas voters, no matter their political persuasion.

Meanwhile, trolls are targeting people who filed complaints with the governors office about businesses suspected of COVID-19 violations. Anti-lockdown groups obtained the names and contact information of the Washington residents through public records requests and began circulating an Okanogan County snitch list on social media last month.

We are living in two different universes these days and this is an example of that, and its heartbreaking and frightening, Speir said.

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