No lower bail in ‘boogaloo’ case
Judge: Evidence against Parshall overwhelming
A Las Vegas judge on Tuesday refused to reduce the $1 million bail for Stephen Parshall, one of three suspected members of the extremist “boogaloo” movement charged with conspiring to firebomb a power station and cause violence at Black Lives Matter protests.
“At this stage, the evidence against him is overwhelming,” said Justice of the Peace Diana Sullivan, who found Parshall to be a threat and a flight risk.
During the 45-minute hearing, Deputy District Attorney Michael Dickerson called Parshall, 35, an “extreme danger” to the community who deserves to remain in custody.
The hearing came as an arrest report obtained by the Review-journal shows that the men also had plans to “destroy” federal buildings, including a Lake Mead National Recreation Area fee station.
Group members “engaged in physical training, firearms tactics and reconnaissance of various target locations,” according to the
turned to opposition to affirmative action, which then led her to raise a hypothetical scenario, and use an expletive, in which she lost her job to a black person.
Maclean said he also heard, through the dozens of phone calls, that Fiore had said “white lives matter,” at which point it was described to him that “you could hear a pin drop” in the room.
The state party said it would launch an inquiry.
“The Chairman and myself were not in the room when Las Vegas Mayor Pro Tem and Nevada GOP National Committeewoman Michele Fiore spoke to the Clark County Convention,” state GOP Executive Director Jessica Hanson said in a statement. “Michele denies making these remarks and we have launched an investigation to find out what happened over the weekend.”
Maclean said the party did not record the convention, held with
roughly 400 attendees at the Ahern Hotel and Convention Center, but there might be video of the event taken by individuals on cellphones.
The stern reprimand comes as the county party seeks to distance itself from the comments “in an otherwise overwhelmingly positive event,” according to the statement issued Monday, saying it regretted her remarks as “irresponsible, insensitive and inaccurate” as it called upon Fiore to issue an apology to attendees and the community at large. It also comes at a time when protests are being held nationwide, including in Las Vegas, to condemn police brutality and systemic racism in response to the killing of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody.
Fiore was one of multiple community leaders invited to speak during the convention, which also offered a stage to political candidates, according to Maclean.
Contact Shea Johnson at sjohnson@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0272. Follow @SHEA_LVRJ on Twitter.