COVID CONVICTION: Former GOP chair slapped with felony over not masking at WA state election center in 2024

Hazelo, a well-known supporter of President Donald Trump, was authorized to be inside the Island County elections office last fall as a Republican observer. Masking rules were instituted by Island County Auditor Sheilah Crider, requiring all observers to wear face coverings while in the ballot-counting area, years after most pandemic restrictions had been lifted across the country.

Crider testified that the mask mandate was imposed because around half her staff got Covid-19 during a previous election cycle.

Hazelo refused and was ultimately removed by the Coupeville Marshal. He was later charged by Island County Prosecutor Greg Banks.

On Wednesday, a jury found Hazelo guilty of one count of second-degree criminal trespass and one count of felony unlawful entry into an election facility under a Washington state law that is rarely used. He faces up to a year in prison, and his felony conviction can jeopardize his job, which requires a security clearance that he cannot have if convicted of a felony.

During the trial, jurors were shown body camera footage of the incident, in which Hazelo is seen calmly seated and refusing requests from election officials to don a mask. Law enforcement eventually escorted him from the room.

Hazelo testified in his defense, telling the jury, “I signed in, I was authorized to be there, I walked into the room, sat down, and quietly, I didn’t disturb anybody, I didn’t touch a ballot, I quietly sat there by myself.”

Hazelo’s attorney, Austin Hatcher, said, “When the government exceeds its authority, people have the right to challenge that. They have the ability to do that in a peaceful, non-violent manner. That is exactly what Mr. Hazelo did in this case.”

The case drew additional attention because Island County’s elected prosecutor, Greg Banks, chose to personally try the case, an unusual move that critics argue points to bias. Banks has a history of making inflammatory remarks about Trump supporters and anti-mask individuals on social media.

In past posts, Banks has compared Trump supporters to Nazis and the KKK, called them “racist bullies with a second-grade intellect,” and said, “We need to cleanse the planet of their diseased thinking.” He has also publicly wished death on people who refused to wear masks during the pandemic. Despite these statements, Banks refused to recuse himself from the case, calling the posts “jokes” and insisting he could remain impartial.

The judge barred Hazelo’s defense from introducing the prosecutor’s past statements as evidence, a move critics say undercut the defense’s argument about political motivation.

Observers have also pointed out what they describe as selective enforcement. KOMO News visited the election facility the day after Hazelo was removed and found other individuals, some of them staff, not wearing masks. Police body camera footage also showed at least one officer holding, but not wearing, a mask. None of these individuals faced charges. But that evidence was not allowed to be presented at trial either.

Judy Thorpe, who attended the trial, called the prosecution “a frivolous case.” She told KOMO News, “I have been an observer too. This is taxpayer money just being wasted.”

Hazelo is not the only Republican observer charged in Island County. Tracy Abdul, another Republican volunteer removed under similar circumstances, is also facing trial for felony charges after refusing to wear a mask during ballot observation.

In both cases, the initial citations were misdemeanors but were later elevated to felony charges by the prosecutor using Washington state law covering unlawful election facility entry.