State lawmaker calls journalists ‘dirty, godless, hateful’

SPOKANE — A Washington lawmaker lashed out at the media at a gun-rights rally by calling journalists “dirty, godless, hateful people.”

The Spokesman-Review reports that Republican Rep. Matt Shea of Spokane made the comments Saturday at what was initially a protest against a gun control ballot measure tightening sales.

The ballot measure was tossed by a judge days before over technicalities and is now in limbo with an appeal of that decision ahead of the November election.

Gun advocates gathered Saturday at Franklin Park to rally.

Shea addressed the crowd, defending gun rights and free speech while also slamming the media.

Shea is also on the Washington Legislature’s public records task force, a group set to meet next month — and includes representatives of the media — to discuss the state’s disclosure laws in the wake of a lawsuit by a coalition of news groups, led by The Associated Press.