A candidate for judge in Williamson County has some Facebook affiliations that should cause voters concern.
Jonasu Wagstaff, currently running for Williamson County Justice of the Peace Precinct 2, has “liked” numerous offensive Facebook pages. “God is a D***,” “F*** the Vatican,” “Religion Poisons Everything,” and “If You’re Religious You’re a C***” are only a few of the examples listed on her profile.
Wagstaff also likes the Austin Socialist Collective, the WilCo Democratic Socialists of America and “Red Guards Austin,” a group of militant communists. A quick scroll of the Red Guards page reveals support of Maoism, Marxism, and a continual revilement of police officers as “pigs.” One of their posts contains a state trooper’s report detailing a recent incident where armed Red Guard protestors caused violence near the state capitol. The post is captioned with cries for militant “antifascism” action and anti-police comments like, “The pigs and the racists they protect are one in the same.”
Ironically, Wagstaff also likes a page called “Inciting HATE & VIOLENCE isn’t FREE SPEECH”.
This is not to imply that Wagstaff is a Red Guard militant, but one could assume that posts from these pages may show up on her personal news feed. More importantly is the fact that Wagstaff has chosen to “like” these numerous pages of offensive and troubling content. Furthermore, socialist and anti-religious themes are the exclusive viewpoints on her list of likes.
On her website, Wagstaff states “The citizens of Williamson County see a need for a more fresh and progressive approach to justice.” If her Facebook affiliations are any indication of her beliefs on individual rights and respect, that statement would be a concerning proposition.
The Williamson County Justice of the Peace has duties that include presiding over civil cases up to $10,000 in controversy, resolving landlord/tenant disputes, and issuing search and arrest warrants.
Though often overlooked, local elections decide who has power over the issues felt closest to home. All levels of city and county government have immediate impacts on a local community; therefore, it is even more critical that those elected officials respect and support the rights of the individual.
If citizens want to have a powerful voice in policy that directly affects them, then voting in local elections is the best place to start.
