One of Darl Easton's first acts of our new County Chair was to appoint Dr. Shahid Shafi as his Vice Chair. Dr. Shafi failed to directly respond to requests that he himself publicly declare that he will support Israel with Jerusalem as its undivided capital and oppose creation of a Palestinian State within the historic borders of Israel, in keeping with our Texas Republican Party Platform:
207. Israel: We are grateful that the US Embassy in Israel has been moved to Jerusalem. We believe that Jerusalem should remain Israel’s undivided capital, accessible to people of all faiths. The United States should continue to support Israel militarily, financially, and technologically. We oppose any pressuring of Israel to make concessions they believe would jeopardize their security. We strongly oppose the anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, on all levels, including and especially on college campuses, at the United Nations, and by anti-West non-governmental organizations. We believe there should not be a Palestinian state within the historical borders of Israel. Our policy is inspired by God’s biblical promise to bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse Israel, and we further invite other nations and organizations to enjoy the benefits of that promise.
208. Israel’s Sovereignty: We further insist upon Israel’s right to exist, its right to secure borders, and its right to the land secured by practicing self-defense from aggressive enemies. We strongly encourage other nations of the world to respect Israel’s sovereignty, right of self-determination, and right of self-defense.
The rather defensive reaction from our County Chair was that it was unfair to ask Dr. Shafi if he will make such a declaration (each element of which is in our party platform) simply because he is a Muslim:
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Actually one can be a Muslim and still support Israel. In fact there is a very, very, small group of pro-Israel “Zionist” Muslims. But they are in extremely small numbers and live in fear of their lives, threatened by the vast majority. The Wikipedia article on Muslim Supporters of Israel, however, says:
In the Muslim world, support of Israel is a minority orientation, and supporters of Israel have faced opposition and violence
One wonders why such oppression and violence would come from a religion of peace.
However Dr. Shafi had been endorsed by CAIR which is well known for its anti-Israel agenda.
Our Texas Party platform says of CAIR:
177. Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR): We hereby call on all law enforcement and governmental agencies in Texas to avoid and suspend all contact and outreach activities with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), named unindicted co-conspirators in the Holy Land Foundation trial, with ties to terrorist groups such as Hamas.
And the ADL says of CAIR:
CAIR’s anti-Israel agenda dates back to its founding by leaders of the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), a Hamas affiliated anti-Semitic propaganda organization.
At the September 2018 meeting of the Executive Committee, Dr. Shafi addressed the body, but completely ignored calls for him to make a public statement supporting our pro-Israel platform.
By November of 2018 There was a concerted effort by the Tarrant County Republican Party leadership in cooperation with the liberal media, to establish a narrative that the opposition to Shahid Shafi is driven by bigotry.
In fact this blogger received a message from a Party official (who shall remain nameless) saying:
"It is a simple narrative that I am trying to establish. The TCGOP does not approve of bigotry within the party. I understand your concerns and its importance, I get it. ... Perception is everything. ... I would ask a favor, please stop working against what my goal is here..."
The leadership within the Tarrant County Republican Party collaborated with the liberal media to intentionally establish this bigotry narrative.
Darl Easton had created a public relations nightmare. The party was divided and there was little hope that is could unite under Darl's leadership with this controversial appointment in place. Yet, since Darl and his cohorts, had established a narrative for the liberal media that this was only about bigotry, the liberal media was attacking the party as "bigots".
This blogger called for Darl Easton's resignation from the floor of the November 10th, 2018 Executive Committee meeting. And on November 14, 2018, this blog called for Easton's resignation, starting an online petition.
There was only one way forward that would limit damage to the party at this point. Darl Easton needed to resign for the good of the party. With Darl's resignation, his controversial appointments would simply evaporate with no action needed by the Executive Committee. But Darl Easton was less concerned with what was best for the party, than with his own ambition.
At this point, Northeast Tarrant County Tea Party President Julie McCarty stated that she regretted helping Darl Easton become County Chair and was embarrassed by the handling of the Shafi controversy.
On December 29th, 2018, in the Tarrant County Republican Party Discussion group on Facebook, user Larry Beck posted:
Considering the actions of the TCGOP leadership in using the demoncrat Mainstream Media to attack any and all Republicans they disagree with or think may oppose them or their candidates, it is clear that the TCGOP leadership should be removed and a new leadership that is actually REPUBLICAN can be installed so that we can return to actually fighting for Republican principles instead of copying the most disgusting of demoncrat tactics
Julie McCarty responded:
I completely agree that inviting the media into this battle was a really foolish thing to do. I'm embarrassed by how terribly this has been handled by those who should know better.
When user Philip Wynne responded:
Julie White McCarty The County Chairman, various elected officials, several SREC members, and Shafi himself have run to the lazy, lying, leftist media to smear or imply that anybody who doesn't agree with them is racist, bigot, xenophobe, islamophobe, not to mention lie about the Constitution to suit their needs. It's absolutely appalling.
Julie McCarty "liked" his comment.
A user named Ashley Robinson responded by asking "wasnt Barnes talked out of running for this chair?"
This clearly was a reference to the fact that in the final hours before the deadline for filing, Julie McCarty is said to have talked anticipated Easton opponent Rick Barnes into filing not to run for County Chair, but to run for Tax Assessor Collector instead. This "deal" opened the way for Darl Easton to step unopposed into the office of Tarrant GOP County Chair.
McCarty responded "That's a big regret."
In the days since that Dec, 29th blog, there was a great deal of fallout.
Darl's wife Janna Easton reacted by resigning from the NETTP board. Darl Easton replied with a public post accusing McCarty of stabbing him in the back and reminding her of the time and money he had donated to the Northeast Tarrant County Tea Party:
Julie McCarty posted a response stating that Darl had been repeatedly advised not to start the [Shafi] mess in the first place, and repeatedly advised on how to handle to controversy, but had ignored the advise, and even done the exact opposite at times. McCarty went so far to say that Darl had chosen to represent Darl and not the people, and that she was shocked by Darl's insinuation that his donations and service to NETTP had bought him a free pass on accountability.
On January 10th, with much fanfare, the Tarrant County Republican Party Executive Committee voted not to remove Darl Easton's controversial appointment.
Then there was a brief effort to unite the party. As the Star-Telegram reported:
One of the champions of the unsuccessful effort to oust a Muslim from Tarrant Republican Party leadership now has a new appointment.
James Scott Trimm now serves on the Tarrant County GOP Precinct Chair Recruitment Committee. He was a vocal supporter of the request to remove Shahid Shafi from the post of vice chairman.
“The point of this is to heal the Party,” Tarrant Republican Joel Downs, who heads the committee, posted on Facebook about the new appointment.
(Star Telegram Jan. 18, 2019)
The Dallas Morning News reported a day earlier:
His appointment, leaders say, is intended to be an olive branch to those who voted to remove Dr. Shahid Shafi from his position.
Joel Downs, chairman of that committee, announced the appointment Tuesday on Facebook, along with an explanation of why Trimm was chosen.
“Although James is a capable person and I appointed him for that the reason, I did it mostly to make a gesture of peace,” Downs told The Dallas Morning News. “We need to bury the hatchet and defeat the Democrats.”
(Dallas Morning News Jan. 17, 2019)
The public should know that Joel Downs and I discussed my possible appointment to the committee for the first time on Saturday January 12th, 2019. However after discussing the matter, we both agreed that I would not accept this appointment without Darl Easton's approval.
On January 14th, 2019 Joel Downs contacted me to tell me that Darl Easton had approved of my appointment to the committee.
On January 18th I was contacted by the Fort Worth Star Telegram for a comment about my appointment:
When asked for a comment about his appointment, Trimm responded: “I voted against Shafi because he was unwilling to publicly support Israel with Jerusalem as the undivided capital and oppose creation of a Palestinian state within the historic borders of Israel” which is a plank in the Texas GOP platform.
“The decision on Shafi has been made and we Republicans now need to work together to keep Tarrant County red.”
(Star Telegram Jan. 18, 2019)
Then on Thursday January 24th I learned that the entire committee had been vacated when the Star Telegram reached out to me for a comment. I had none, because that was the first I heard of it. Apparently Easton's priority was notifying the press rather than the committee members.
That day the Star-Telegram reported:
Tarrant Republicans trying to unite after an unsuccessful move to remove a Muslim man from party leadership have hit another roadblock.
An effort to “heal the party” has ended.
The idea was to offer a spot on a recruitment committee to James Scott Trimm, who vocally supported removing Shahid Shafi, a Muslim, from party leadership.
But the chairman of the committee has resigned and the entire committee has been disbanded, at least for now.
(Tarrant GOP’s effort to ‘heal’ after Muslim vote claims first victim: a whole committee)
Why did this happen? Because Darl Easton, who had approved my appointment just ten days earlier, had waffled and suddenly wanted me off the committee. The committee chair Joel Downs, unwilling to remove me from the committee without any real cause (short of Easton's inability to stand by a decision he had made just days earlier) chose to resign rather than to follow Easton's directive.
Darl Easton's goal was to "completely reorganize" the committee. The Star Telegram reported Easton as saying:
“The (committee) will be completely reorganized after the assessment,” he said in his statement. “The purpose of this re-assessment is to improve and expand our efforts to grow the Party and its outreach to every corner of Tarrant County as we approach the next election cycle.”
(Tarrant GOP’s effort to ‘heal’ after Muslim vote claims first victim: a whole committee)
The Washington Post would later recall these events reporting that this resulted in the Lincoln Dinner county party fundraiser being a complete disaster:
“As part of the party leadership’s peacemaking effort, Trimm
— one of Shafi’s most vocal opponents — was appointed to the recruitment
committee, a move that ignited more furor among those who wanted to move on
from the headline-grabbing incident. The committee chairman quit, and the group
was disbanded.
Major donors avoided the county party’s Lincoln Day dinner,
which netted $38,000, far less than the $150,000 or so it made in other years,
according to party officials.”
(The Washington Post; "After a battle over a Muslimpolitician divided their party, the GOP fights to keep Texas red"; By Annie
Gowen; April 15, 2019 at 1:15 p.m. CDT)
Easton had virtually brought the Tarrant County Republican Party to its knees!
It has taken several months, but with another Lincoln Dinner on the horizon, Darl Easton has finally chosen to do the right thing. He has now finally resigned, and his controversial appointments have now fallen by the wayside.
Now perhaps the Tarrant County Republican Party can unite, and begin working together to keep Tarrant County Red!
