Fairbanks assembly member Haney says she only claimed protesters 'looked like a tour group'
Fairbanks Assembly Member Barbara Haney claims she never promoted the idea that the Fairbanks protest was the work of imported Outside tourists brought to Fairbanks for the occasion.
She wrote to a constituent via email that all she said about the Fairbanks protest Saturday was that “they looked like a tour group.”
This is from an email Barbara Haney sent to a constituent who wrote her and said the protest included many people she knew from Fairbanks, The email by the constituent to Haney, a polite missive, did not assert that Haney claimed the marchers were “paid Outside actors.” The email to Haney made no allegations against Haney and did not put any words in her mouth.
Haney said she saw videos sent to her by friends that led her to think they looked like tourists.
Haney did repeat and amplify Suzanne Downing’s lie that the Fairbanks protest was the work of imported characters brought to the Golden Heart City specially for the occasion.
Haney did this in a limited way on Facebook under her own name and more directly on X, formerly known as Twitter, where she does not use her real name but self-identifies as “Steamboat Landing.”
The Fairbanks protest was “protest tourism” and was “paid for by the 50501 fund—the Bernie Bros,” Haney/Steamboat Landing said.
"Walked like a tour group, behaved like a tour group, nobody recognized them—even among the regular lefties. Totally astroturf—paid for by the 50501 fund. Protest tourism seems to be a new industry. We will see if there was an uptick in bed tax revenue," Haney/Steamboat Landing wrote.
On Saturday, Haney/Steamboat linked to Downing’s piece and added this: "The Fairbanks 50501 AntiTrump protest seemed more like a tour group than a local protest. They arrived, met at City Hall, Marched to Goldenheart Plaza and broke up after a few speeches."
On Sunday, Steamboat Landing said, "The 50501 fund is a Bernie bro pac. Last I checked he is a senator from Vermont, touring the country with AOC. Totally Astroturf. The paid for on the graphic is 50501. Decidedly not Alaskan. Neither is your planned protest for April 5—Hands Off 2025—which lacks a 'paid for' on the graphic."
There is no rule that for a “paid for by” disclosure on these items because this is not an election.
On Facebook, Haney objected to this blog post of mine headlined “Alaska Republicans invent lie that 200 Fairbanks protesters were imported actors.’
“This guy is a coocoo (sic),” she said of me. “I was at Chena Lakes spring fling that day- and read about just like everyone else. However, the flyer for the event said it was paid for by the 50501 Organization. That is the Bernie Saundersm (sic) organization. Last I checked, Bernie Saunders (sic) is a US Senator from Vermont- and not Alaskan.”
Haney has regularly used her Steamboat Landing alter ego to attack her political opponents, for instance, referring to former Assembly Member Savannah Fletcher as a “corrupt tyrant.” and “Havana Fletcher.”
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