The Oregonian Needs To Report On Oregon Sheriff John Trumbo’s Blatant Lies
There are few things that upset me as much as mainstream media trying to cover up a scandal for marijuana prohibitionists. Sadly, that is exactly what is happening in Oregon. Umatilla County Sheriff John Trumbo lied to The Oregonian when he said that he didn’t know anyone affiliated with a group called “Protect Our Society”. Protect Our Society was a Political Action Committee (PAC) that was created for Measure 32, a 2010 initiative which sought to repeal the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act (OMMA).
The PAC was technically discontinued after the petition failed to get any signatures; however they are far from non-existent. Acting from the shadows, Protect Our Society purchased a handful of billboards in the Portland metro area depicting an emaciated adolescent girl who appears to be hooked on meth. Below is an excerpt from a stellar article explaining the depths of this scandal, written by one of my favorite activists, the always hardworking Jennifer Alexander:
“Other law enforcement officials also seem to be distancing themselves from the group; although Sheriff John Trumbo is quite outspoken against Measure 80 and the designated spokesperson for the Sheriffs of Oregon’s opposition campaign against Measure 80, he reportedly told the Oregonian that he doesn’t know anyone involved with Protect Our Society. Protect Our Society was a political action committee (PAC) that was created (and discontinued) about three years ago for an attempted 2010 citizens’ initiative to repeal the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act.
According to Election records, the discontinued PAC listed Sheriff John Trumbo, Sheriff Tom Bergin and Officer William Jennings as the three Co-Chief Petitioners of the initiative; Shirley Morgan was the treasurer for the discontinued PAC. Although the initiative failed to gather any signatures or funding, the website has continued to be maintained – only recently adding the page lobbying against marijuana legalization and adding the image from the billboards after they were taken down (and even claiming that she is a real person of only 12-years old!) It is hard to reconcile the fact that Trumbo, a Co-Chief Petitioner for the Protect Our Society initiative, “doesn’t know anyone involved with Protect Our Society.”
In a phone interview, Trumbo discounted the connection, claiming that the initiative was drafted by Kevin Mannix (the 2008 version, including multiple provisions related to his “Anti-Crime Alliance” work, was drafted by Mannix) and that the backers of the 2010 effort (which is only a small portion of what was drafted in 2008) needed names for Co-Chief Petitioners, which he agreed to. But the initiative stalled, and he promptly forgot about it; he claims he cannot recall who asked him to be a Co-Chief Petitioner or who was involved in the effort.”
Since when did lying become an accepted act for Sheriff’s to commit? I thought that law enforcement was supposed to tell the truth? Am I missing something here? What does it say to Oregonians that a Sheriff can blatantly lie, and that the mainstream media won’t call him out on it? For crying out loud, he lied to the largest media outlet in Oregon! Why is no one except independent media reporting this?! Shame on every mainstream media outlet that hasn’t covered this. I know that they know about it, because I have e-mailed and tweeted them over and over. Sigh. I can’t say I’m surprised, but it certainly doesn’t make me less frustrated. I urge all readers to contact The Oregonian and tell them that you want the truth, and for them to quit sweeping this under the rug!
P.S. – When I Google’d ‘oregon sheriff john trumbo’ the first link that came up was TWB’s article about the blatant lying…To the editorial staff at The Oregonian and other mainstream media outlets in Oregon – this is not going away, and every day that you refuse to report on it (and I don’t mean a comment on page 17) makes you look like you are trying to cover something up…Had marijuana activists done something like this, Oregon media would have reported on it everyday. Considering Oregon sheriff’s have to be elected, I wonder how many people will be Googling Mr. Trumbo’s name during his next re-election bid, and I wonder what they will see when they do so…
