Washington mayor claims she's being harassed after calling 911 to report 'far right-wing' petitioners at Walmart as they tried to get signatures for ballots on tax, parental rights and police pursuits
- Yakima Mayor Janice Deccio called 911 on Let's Go Washington petitioners at Walmart on Sept. 3 - branding them 'far right-wing'
- Police promptly told her they would not remove the people collecting signatures without a court order
- She claims her and her husband have been harassed since the call came out
A Washington mayor said she is being harassed after audio of a 911 call shows she reported a group of what she called 'far right-wing' petitioners outside Walmart - before cops promptly told her they were within their rights to be there.
Petitioners were collecting signatures outside the store on September 3 for issues including taxation, police pursuit and parental rights when Yakima Mayor Janice Deccio called the emergency line on them.
In the call she said: 'I know this isn't an emergency call, but I need to speak to somebody. I've emailed the chief but there's some far right-wing petitioners at Walmart and they're not leaving.'
She has claimed 'numerous credible local people' told her the petitioners' behavior was aggressive and asked the cops why they could not remove them.
But when the dispatcher told her police would need a court order to remove the group, she responded: 'I'm wondering how can that be. If petitioners were on my yard, the police could take them out.'
![](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/09/20/15/75641353-12540239-image-m-13_1695220519249.jpg)
Yakima, Washington Mayor Janice Deccio called 911 on petitioners outside Walmart after receiving complaints they would not leave
![Petitioners were collecting signatures for six ballot initiatives regarding taxation, police pursuit and parental rights over, a right protected by Washington state](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/09/20/15/75641779-12540239-image-a-14_1695220553434.jpg)
Petitioners were collecting signatures for six ballot initiatives regarding taxation, police pursuit and parental rights over, a right protected by Washington state
Unsure, the Mayor said, 'That's insane. So, Walmart has no rights.' The supervisor repeated that Walmart needs to get a court order.
Deccio's call was outed along with her unredacted phone number by conservative commentator Glen Morgan - leaving her and her disabled Iraq war veteran husband inundated with abuse.
Deccio said she has received hundreds of harassing texts, emails and voicemails since the 911 call was released - the bulk of which are coming from outside Yakima, a city with less than 100,000 residents.
At a Tuesday city council meeting, Deccio said she made the call because a constituent informed her that 'an extreme right-wing group' was petitioning at Walmart and creating problems for shoppers.
She claims she did not care what the group were petitioning about - and says she could not get through on the non-emergency line due to it being Labor Day weekend.
'I don’t care, nor even know what they were petitioning about, just that he told me they were harassing shoppers and that the manager had called the police numerous times during the week after she had asked the petitioners to move from the entrance of the store,' Deccio wrote in a statement.
'I admit I was unaware of all the nuances of the law at the time, though and in hindsight I could have waited to hear from the chief,' said Deccio.
'Since this call was made public without my personal phone number being redacted, I've had hundreds of phone calls, texts and voicemails from across the country. Some of them are quite juvenile and include sexual harassment.'
She then played a voicemail from her phone that said: 'I was just wondering how such a beautiful face could be such a liberal c**t that would like to stop democracy.'
She added: 'This has also affected my husband who is a disabled veteran from the Iraq war, he has PTSD, as they’ve been harassing him as well.
'Some of these writers have even gone as far as saying I requested tear gas and a police raid.
'So, this has been conflated to new heights, as these things often do when inaccurate perspectives are reported.'
![Deccio said her and her husband have been harassed since the call came out and played a voicemail during Tuesday's city council meeting](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/09/20/15/75641355-12540239-image-a-15_1695220619209.jpg)
Deccio said her and her husband have been harassed since the call came out and played a voicemail during Tuesday's city council meeting
'Complaints about other criminal activity are investigated and addressed accordingly,' a spokesperson for the Yakima Police Department said.
'Whether or not signature gatherers have a right of access on private property is determined by a balancing test of three factors: the nature and use of the property; the impact of the decision upon the effectiveness of the initiative or referendum; and the scope of the invitation that the owner of the property has extended. Decisions are made based on the facts of each individual situation.'
DailyMail.com has reached out to Walmart for a comment.
The Yakima Herald reported that the initiatives activist were collected signatures for are sponsored by the group Let's Go Washington.
The six initiatives on Let's Go Washington's address removing restrictions on police pursuits, stop carbon taxes, the ability to opt out of state-run long term care coverage, repealing the capital gains tax, prohibiting state income tax and giving parents the right to review school records.
The initiatives require 324,516 signatures to qualify to be put on the ballot.
The Washington Secretary of State website says that collecting petition signatures is a constitutionally protected practice, but admits the extent that businesses and private property owners can exclude signature gatherers is not clearly spelled out in state law.
The members of the Yakima City Council appoint the mayor. Deccio was selected to office in January 2022.