After lengthy research, The Phoenix New Times’ Joseph Flaherty uncovers the long and sorted history of Arizona’s own right-wing extremist, Rep. Mark Finchem, who claimed Charlottesville was a conspiracy planned and orchestrated by the Democratic Party.
Flaherty highlights Finchem’s ties to the extremist group, Oath Keepers, and his tendency to accept provably false conspiracy theories as fact — and then to spread them.
The ideology extends to his official work as well. The New Times reports that Finchem has lifted text directly from right-wing groups to draft legislation governing K-12 education as public land use.
Read the full article here.