SALEM, Ore. (AP) – An Oregon state senator who once worked in the world’s hotspots as a contractor and soldier now finds himself under fire over threats he made during a Republican revolt over climate legislation.
Sen. Brian Boquist, a veteran who served in Iraq, warned Senate President Peter Courtney that if he sent the State Police to force him to return during the walkout by the minority Republicans, “hell is coming to visit you personally.”
Courtney later asked Gov. Kate Brown, a fellow Democrat, to order the state police to bring the Republicans back so the Senate could reach a quorum. When Brown did so, the senators fled the state.
Boquist said he would resist any attempt to be forced to return to the state Capitol and advised state police, in front of a TV news camera, to “send bachelors and come heavily armed.”
He now faces a hearing by colleagues over his statements.
The walkout marked Oregon’s most rancorous legislative session in memory. Demonstrators, including loggers and truckers who said they’d be financially ruined by carbon cap, protested on behalf of the absent senators. One planned session had to be canceled because of a purported militia threat.
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