Toxic Wasteland With A Beautiful View
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7/16/2021
We moved to Bonney Lake from a city further north 4 years ago, due to rising costs. Bonney Lake has always been one of those places where, unless you know someone there or have business at a specific place there, you don't just drive through because it's somewhat out of the way from everyrhing else, and feels like it's in its own little universe. When we first moved here, we were completely charmed by the views of Mt. Rainier, the relatively small population, bigger acreage per home, and the rustic feel of the place. It almost felt like you were moving to a more civilized version of Little House on the Prairie. This charm was quickly replaced by discomfort and dread, however. What the mountain views and lower population estimates don't tell you, is that Bonney Lake is actually a cesspool of racists, bigots, and the fringe groups of political right-leaning folks who are obsessed with owning and bragging about their guns. The vast majority of adults who live in this town are extremely uneducated, which does not make sense considering their school district is honestly one of the only good things about this place. Willful ignorance is alive and well, and many adults would rather wallow comfortably in their ignorance than to hear someone out about life experiences that are different from theirs. They will assume almost anyone they don't already know is a drug addict (tweaker), and in the past have even garnered widespread media attention in the state for starting up clubs centered around combating the town's "most dangerous drug criminals and thieving populations". In reality, what this was, was a fringe group of intolerant people who publicly humiliated and shamed the poverty-stricken pan handlers they encountered on street corners, and anyone they automatically assumed affiliated with "known drug houses". Before being forcibly disbanded for negligent and unlawful treatment and exposure of innocent victims, they ruled most of the town's neighborhood sectors like some kind of redneck mafia, using unlawful tactics and threats to intimidate anyone who dared to cross them as they utilized internal connections within the local police and sheriff's departments to slander and make false claims of illegal activity of people they thought were addicts. They used social media to bully and harass hundreds of people. We have known people who were slandered online and accused and of being "meth heads" for nothing more than walking down the street smoking a cigarette, or driving through a neighborhood with "known drug houses" (a.k.a. suspected) on the block. Even after this group was disbanded, there have been several instances of blatant racism and prejudice against minorities and people they don't know. One of the more notable ones happened last year during the national BLM protests of George Floyd's murder. The local gun/pawn shop owner, Pistol Annie's, went to social media with what she claimed were targeted threats of looting and violence toward her little store by anonymous BLM members. What happened next was so bizarre that it felt like a fictional movie plot, so unreal that I wouldn't have believed it had I not seen it myself. Pistol Annie's claims, combined with a community of people already tense with apprehension over our neighboring cities' protests, spurred a small group of gun-toting militants to quickly band together using social media in a display of unwarranted vigilantism to "save Annie's". These people spent WEEKS camped out on the roof of Pistol Annie's pawn shop beneath a canopy, taking shifts guarding her shop from the black escalades she claimed had been casing her store one evening. They made idle threats daily online, stating they hoped these "rioters" tried something so they could shoot them in the face. They brought semi-automatic rifles, and treated it like some kind of armed gathering of the racist juggalos. Many people stopped going to the other businesses in that area like the post office, for fear that they might become a victim of senseless gun violence. The worst part: Neither the Twitter account, nor the threats she claimed to receive online were ever verified, and there was never any credible evidence of these escalades the owner claimed were circling her store. When things finally died down, general consensus here in town was that it was most likely a publicity stunt to garner a wider audience for her store's post-covid lockdown reopening that next day. Hypocrisy is second nature here, where it's common to watch someone move interchangeably between feigned outrage and horror, to die-hard support of something to suit their agendas at any given time. They joke about groping and sexual assault, glorify the days they remember when you could beat shoplifters senseless without repercussions, threaten arson and other violence against people and homes they dislike, and proudly hang the most profane and intimidating political affiliation banners, flags, and bumper stickers they can find or create - while simultaneously clutching their delicate pearls at the mere mention of children receiving an education that's not exclusively heteronormative or faith-based in schools.
I have personally had my safety and life threatened multiple times, for merely questioning or speaking out against someone's racism or prejudism online. On top of that, one neighbor flew drones with cameras into our backyard to record us while we were swimming, and another threatened to kill our dog when he escaped our yard one afternoon. And yet another neighbor has made no effort to veil is contempt for us simply living near him, for reasons we have yet to even understand. There is no welcoming feeling here, at all. Not unless you are also willing to play along in their uneducated mind games of gossiping, social ignorance, and unwarranted bias. Out of fear for our safety due to credible threats of violence, we've spent years taking painstaking efforts to remove or minimize any information found online about our identities in relation to our physical address.
The weirdest part, is that from strictly a statistical standpoint, this town is SO much safer to live in than many others. Crime stats are much lower than other cities I've lived in here in the state. But I've never felt more in danger anywhere else. I personally believe that a key factor for all of this is the fact that up until recently, there has been no reason to branch out or into this place. There's really only one major way in or out of town, with nothing acting as a major drawing force for outsiders to visit or be lured in by its charming facade. Because of this, the town and its locals have managed to swaddle themselves in a cocoon of ignorance, fueled by a false sense of like-minded bravado, because they've shielded themselves from diversity.
Bethany | Bonney Lake, WA