Let’s Go Washington (LGW) has reported multiple incidents of harassment, intimidation, and outright theft targeting signature gatherers in Vancouver, Tacoma, and Bonney Lake. The actions, LGW says, are not only a violation of Article II, Section 1 of the Washington State Constitution but also a direct assault on Washingtonians’ First Amendment rights to petition their government.
Earlier this month, LGW launched two new initiatives: one restoring parental rights and another aimed at protecting girls in sports. The parental rights initiative seeks to repeal HB 1296, passed by Democrats this year to scale back Initiative 2081, which lawmakers had previously adopted as a “parents’ bill of rights.”
ALERT – -Breaking! WA State Initiatives
Intimidation ! Vandalism! Violent threats! & Theft—
tools being used right now in WA state to block you from having a voiceTwo days into gathering signatures and already we have received reports of at least three incidents of… pic.twitter.com/LoGqfQlC1W
— Brian Heywood – That Damn Mormon (@bkheywood) September 23, 2025
LGW founder Brian Heywood posted on X, warning of “Intimidation! Vandalism! Violent threats! & Theft—tools being used right now in WA state to block you from having a voice.” Just two days into signature gathering for their latest initiatives, Heywood said, LGW has already documented at least three escalating incidents:
- Clark County – A store manager who had previously allowed other groups to solicit support allegedly used shopping carts to blockade LGW’s petitioners and spent significant time actively discouraging shoppers from signing. Heywood raised the question of whether such “no campaign” activity was being reported to the Public Disclosure Commission, as required by state law for political activities.
- Tacoma – A man pretending to sign allegedly scrawled over several sheets of completed petitions, attempting to invalidate them. When the signature gatherer objected, an accomplice reportedly threatened her with a beating if she did not leave Walmart property.
- Bonney Lake – In the most brazen case, thieves allegedly ran up to a petition table, grabbed eight sheets of signatures, and fled into nearby woods. Store management turned over surveillance footage to police, and an investigation is reportedly underway.
“These gross obstructions of justice don’t just impact the gatherers,” LGW wrote in a statement to The Ari Hoffman Show on Talk Radio 570 KVI. “They suppress the voices of Washingtonians who signed their names in support of families and female athletes. At worst, the thieves now have access to personal voter information, putting signers directly at risk.”
LGW says local law enforcement has been alerted in each case, and the group is calling on Governor Bob Ferguson, Secretary of State Steve Hobbs, and Attorney General Nick Brown to put an end to what they describe as voter suppression and to prosecute those responsible.
Ahnaleigh Wilson, a Washington athlete and advocate for protecting female sports, condemned the attacks in a statement to The Ari Hoffman Show on Talk Radio 570 KVI.
“It’s scary to think that people are being harassed, threatened, and stolen from simply for standing up for athletes like me who want to compete on a level playing field,” Wilson said. “These attacks won’t hold us back—if anything, they show how far people will go to silence us.”
At the federal level, scrutiny is also growing. In April, the U.S. Department of Education and Department of Justice announced a formal investigation into Washington’s Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) over policies allowing biological males to participate in female-only sports and use women’s facilities, raising potential Title IX violations.
Instead of debate, LGW argues, opponents are resorting to harassment and intimidation.
