By Gale Washington, Destination Freedom Media Group
This morning watching CNN, I saw a piece on an incident which happened in Virginia City, Nevada, on Friday, August 2, 2024, not far from our home in Reno. The incident happened during a Hot August Nights car show event there.
Gary Miller (74) was approached by a Black signature gatherer from Texas, Ricky Johnson, for a proposed ballot measure. The conversation got heated, profanities were shouted back and forth by both parties, and Mr. Miller decided to escalate the conversation to a level of bigotry that has been brewing for several years because of the rhetoric that Trump and some Republicans have expressed through media, various election rallies, their personal actions, and changes to laws in this country. Mr. Miller told a Storey County Sheriff’s investigator that he told Johnson “….there was a hanging tree down the road, to go hang out there,” according to the criminal complaint affidavit. At one point in the video (YouTube link below), Johnson asks Miller the location of that tree and Miller replies “in your backyard.”
We just found the video of Ricky Johnson. These videos will let you see for yourself what took place.
YouTube Video of incident: Nevada family arrested after viral racial incident in Virginia City – KRNV News 4 Reno
According to the KOLO TV article, Deputy Jacob Smiley asked Miller to explain his statement and Miller’s comment was “he grew up in different times.”
Man accused of Virginia City hate crime told authorities he referenced ‘hanging tree.”
Folks, this comment is an indicator that, instead of progressing and becoming a better country and caring for our fellow citizens, the flames of the fire are being stoked by ongoing racist inferences by many in our country, including many individuals in our government. Americans used to pride themselves in being caring, respectful, and law-abiding citizens who taught their children respect, to honor the American flag, God and our Constitution, and not to lie. As time moves forward, it is becoming more and more apparent that those family values have lost their way in society.
Miller was charged with a hate crime; Miller’s wife, Janis, was arrested on one count of battery, and their daughter, Tiffany, was arrested for obstructing or delaying a police officer.
We at Destination Freedom Media Group applaud the following for taking action and speaking out, and their denouncement of the Millers’ actions:
Storey County Sheriff’s Office and Sheriff Mike Culen for the arrest;
Storey County District Attorney’s Office for the filing of the criminal complaint; and
Hot August Nights for revoking the Millers’ permit to participate in Hot August Nights.
Hot August Nights also had this to say, “Following the event, Hot August Nights will further evaluate the Virginia City venue,” organizers said on Sunday. “We are committed to ensuring integrity and safety at all our events and will take action to remove individuals who diminish or harm others.”
Nevada Appeal – Carson Valley couple arrested in Virginia City confrontation
A big “THANK YOU!” to Nevada State District Attorney, Aaron Ford, for his praise and comment about this horrific and despicable incident. Mr. Ford stated, “The public outcry was heard loud and clear, and steps have been taken to hold these individuals accountable for their racist and unlawful actions.”
As the wife of a Black man, mother-in-law of a Black man, and grandmother to Black grandchildren, this story was very hurtful and infuriated me. There is no room in society for this type of hatred….no excuse that he “grew up in a different time.” Gary Miller, Janis Miller, and Tiffany Miller need to account for their actions, which should include a mandatory program dealing with racial microaggressions. We hope the Storey County District Attorney’s Office will take this programming suggestion into consideration.
Destination Freedom prefers and supports the use of transformative and restorative justice programs in lieu of jail. It has been proven time and time again that people cannot get well in a jail or prison cell. Racism is a disease that must be treated.
As a last note, is this what we want to revert back to? I surely hope not! This would be a very dark day for America.
The “master race,” ladies and gentlemen!
And you are right: there is no room in a multi-cultural, pluralistic, democratic society for this type of hate.
Paradox of Tolerance, people. That’s where it’s at.
“Mr. Miller decided to escalate the conversation to a level of bigotry that has been brewing for several years because of the rhetoric that Trump and some Republicans have expressed through media, various election rallies, their personal actions, and changes to laws in this country. ”
So these bigoted people acted out because of Trump? Trump made them do it?
PUH Lease…
“So these bigoted people acted out because of Trump? Trump made them do it?”
Your questions are oversimplifications of complex phenomena.
Stochastic violence/terrorism is a real thing. Republicans right now have every reason to deny it.
Again, no matter how much they howl to the contrary, they have little in the way of ideas for governing. Their vaunted “trickle down” baloney doesn’t and never did work (even it’s inventor came out and said it was nonsense); they tanked a bipartisan bill for the border (in order to let ole Trumpy continue to wail and run on that bugaboo); they seem invested in culture war nonsense and flinging red meat to their followers.
Even their own are coming out against them, like Mayor John Giles of Mesa, AZ, who is now the chair of the Republicans for Kamala chapter there, and who has said that his own party needs to be burned down and reformed before he’ll vote for another GOP President.
Sounds like that’s a Republican who actually has values and is interested in governing (and he’s not a climate denier, so that’s another plus) and not just spitting out right wing shibboleths, trying to “own” the libs, or flinging out red meat for his Republican constituents.
There aren’t many of them left, apparently.
“Your questions are oversimplifications of complex phenomena.”
In other words you have no proof.
You didn’t ask for an offer of proof. What would in your estimation, constitute proof?
There’s a police officer that’s in critical condition, barely holding onto life in Ferguson as a result of the Michael Brown riots on Saturday.
Now if I were to say that “the Ferguson rioter decided to escalate the situation to a level of hate that has been brewing for several years because of the rhetoric that Kamala Harris and some Democrats have expressed through media, various election rallies, their personal actions, and changes to laws in this country” would you be okay with that?
It’s not a matter of me being okay with it. It’s a matter of whether or not you can support it with substantiation.
Did the author that wrote this commentary support their statement about Trump and Republicans with substantiation? I didn’t see any yet you still published it.
Both of y’all are entitled to your opinions. And if you wanted to submit an op-ed, we would publish it as well.
Sure. Trump had *nothing* to do with it, eh?
Funny how these people could stay decently inside their hidey holes and not blast their indecency until someone came along and gave them license to do so.
There has been a documented and statistically significant upswing in the number of such incidents since ole Trumpy put open hatred back on the menu.
People like that need to be shamed by all decent humans right back into those hidey holes.