TIOGA - The Sons of Liberty based in Tioga sponsored a “Freedom Fest” at the Tioga Community Center on Saturday, October 23rd. Featured speakers were District 2 GOP Chairman, Justin LaBar, Rep. Sebastian Ertelt (R-Dis. 26), and Rep. Jeff Hoverson (R-Dis. 3).
Despite skepticism about the need for such events expressed by the Tioga Tribune earlier this month, the organizers were expecting a good turnout. The Sons of Liberty hosted a booth to teach attendees more about the organization, to sell t-shirts, and to accept donations. Other vendors at the event were Gifts-to-Go, North Prairie Photography, several vendors with baked goods, a photographer, and other artisans. As people filed in, vendor Veronica McGinnity of North Prairie Photography predicted that the event would draw a large crowd. “I’m here to make money,” said McGinnity. She predicted correctly: attendance eventually topped more than 120 people.
A Constitutional Glock was raffled by the Sons of Liberty via a “Plinko board” game which drew a large enough crowd at times to cause a bottleneck of contestants. According to Tim Heuer, Vice President of the Sons of Liberty, the gun raffle was more of an attempt to connect with the people than to make money. Kelci Hanson of Tioga, another vendor at the event, eventually won the Glock, which did in fact raise more than $300. Raffle tickets for some other popular prizes were being sold at their booth and will continue to be sold by members in the coming weeks. Many more guns are on the list, such as a Sig Sauer AR556, a Shadow Systems MR19 9mm, a Rossi mini 22LR youth, a Browning A5 12-gauge 3.5-inch camo, a Ruger 9mm carbine, and more. There is also a quarter beef up for grabs.
One event attendee noted he was looking forward to learning more about the upcoming legislative session and what they planned on accomplishing. He also just wants to be more proactive in general because, as he said, “We need to have more people involved so we can possibly have a voice against the corruption we currently see.”
Sons of Liberty representative Jessica Steele introduced Chairman LaBar, and Reps. Ertelt, and Hoverson. The presentation started with a prayer led by Kathy Cartier of Williston, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Rep. Hoverson then spoke of three bills that will be introduced at the legislative session scheduled to reconvene in November. These bills are intended to stop vaccine mandates and are sponsored by Rep. Ertelt, Rep. Lisa Meier (R-Dis. 32), and Rep. Bob Paulson (R-Dis. 3). Rep. Hoverson encouraged the attendees to call and email legislators to vote in favor of these bills. He finished with an impassioned plea to the crowd: “If you start controlling my body, what’s left?”
Rep. Ertelt then took the podium. Building on remarks by Rep.Hoverson, Rep. Ertelt discussed whether legislators “have our backs.” Taking it a step further, he listed the legislators who voted for and against the bills previously introduced to stop vaccine mandates. Rep. Ertelt then outlined bills introduced earlier in the spring session that were quickly shot down by the 67th Assembly of the Legislature. These bills would have made it more difficult for vaccine mandates to come to fruition in North Dakota. House Bill 1320, which in part would have repealed the law relating to immunizations required for entry to school or daycare, failed by vote of 8-84. HB1377, which would have created a law dealing with exemptions for individuals required to be vaccinated by an employer, school, or licensing entity failed by a vote of 21-72 by the assembly. And then HB 1468 introduced by Rep. Kathy Skroch (R-Dis. 26) would have enacted a requirement to notify individuals of risks associated with vaccines and provide a penalty. That failed 46-47. Rep. Ertelt also believes there are already existing laws dealing with discrimination that could be applied to individuals like nurses who were being fired for not complying with corporate mandates on vaccines. Even more foundational, “Article 1, Section 1 of the Constitution addresses the inalienable right to enjoy and defend life, liberty; of acquiring, possessing and protecting property,” said Ertelt. “How else do we acquire property than by working?”
Finally, Chairman LaBar gave final remarks. His speech compared today’s political climate to the conditions in 1775 when Patrick Henry delivered his famous “Give me liberty or give me death” speech. LaBar’s history lesson prior to the Henry analogy highlighted that Patrick Henry gave his speech in front of 120 delegates, which coincidentally was the rough attendance at the community center venue. “We are living in a potentially tragic moment of American history,” stated LaBar. “What we are facing is nothing more than a choice between freedom and slavery. Some may think this overblown or dramatic, but did you ever imagine our country in the condition it is now in such a short time?” He continued, “What better way do we have to judge the future than by the past. And the past tells us that tyranny never ends well.” LaBar insisted, “That can’t happen here. This is America. . . . Are our representatives in Bismarck and Washington selling us out? . . . Individually we cannot accomplish what is ahead of us, but together we can. . . . I pray each of us will declare as Patrick Henry did 246 years ago, ‘I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!’” An immediate standing ovation ensued.
"What we are facing is nothing more than a choice between freedom and slavery. Did you ever imagine our country in the condition it is now?"Justin LaBar, NDGOP Chairman, District 2, White Earth
Afterwards, representatives Hoverson and Ertelt answered questions from the attendees. One of the most compelling discussions involved a nurse, Chelsea Carr, who stated she is on a 30-day administrative leave and then will be terminated for her decision not to “take the jab.” She was hopeful that something could be done by our legislators in Bismarck to put a stop to this.
Carr also explained she wants legislators to understand that masks and vaccines are very different things and should not be lumped together interchangeably. “Masks are PPE [personal protective equipment] and vaccines are an invasive treatment,” Carr said. She hopes that any bills that are discussed by the legislature will have verbiage to reflect the difference.
"Masks and vaccines are very different things. . . . Masks are PPE and vaccines are an invasive treatment."Chelsea Carr, Williston
After the Q&A period, Rep. Hoverson discussed what he believes is a problem with RINOS (Republicans In Name Only) in our legislative assembly. “There is a definite distinction between a Republican and a conservative,” he stated. “A bill for stopping the vaccine mandate has a better chance at getting traction than an election integrity bill.” A handout also noted another bill in the upcoming reconvening of the legislative session. Rep. Jeff Magrum (R-Dis. 28) is sponsoring a bill that would give back to the people the billion dollars yet to be allocated by the legislature.
Steele felt the event was a complete success. “The turnout was great, and the speakers were engaging,” she said. Many people walked around and visited with others including Chairman LaBar, Rep. Hoverson, and Rep. Ertelt who were gracious with their time. The early success of this group may lead to more events like this in the near future. Sons of Liberty President Jerol Gohrick said they signed up about 27 new members who were excited to follow up by attending the Sons’ regular meeting the following evening. “I’m real happy,” said Gohrick. “This was great.”
The Sons of Liberty believe the next very important step is to begin establishing chapters. Many members are currently driving long distances to attend the bi-weekly meetings, and membership is growing rapidly. A chapter in Crosby is in the works, and other chapters seem possible in Powers Lake, Minot, and Williston in the very near future.
More information about the Sons of Liberty can be found at ndsonsofliberty.com. For raffle ticket information, contact Jerol Gohrick at 701-641-2077.
