Reno, Nevada – When Beth Smith joined the Washoe County School Board, she expected a rigorous debate. But he didn't anticipate a level of vitriol and toxicity more commonly associated with it higher office in Washingtoninstead of his city in Nevada.
“What you don't expect is harassment, intimidation and attacks on you, constant yelling and swearing, people knowing where you live, where your kids go to school,” Smith told CBS News in an interview for “Eye on America“'I have to have conversations with my kids…no one goes to the door, the front door stays locked.'
And Smith is not alone. A recent Princeton University study found that harassment and threats to local officials increased 55% in the past two years. The research found that both Democrats and Republicans reported hostility in equal amounts, but women and people of color tended to bear the brunt of the hostility.
Federal office holders such as senators and members of congress, for better or worse, have grown accustomed to harassment and often have the security infrastructure to deal with it. But local officials, who are often closest to the communities and constituents they serve, are inherently more vulnerable.
“They're closer … They shop at the same grocery stores, their kids go to the same schools, and that makes them part of that kind of front line of democracy, but it also makes them often more at risk elevated,” said Shannon Hiller. , the executive director of Princeton University's Bridging Divides Initiative who led the study.
Hiller describes much of the increase in hostility at the local level as “legal but horrible,” noting that harassment, such as stalking, harassment, or general threats, is not always illegal. legal, but may have a negative impact on the ways in which local officials can participate. democracy.
“Only a small percentage of this behavior will actually have a legal remedy or remedy,” Hiller said, “but it could be effective in terms of driving people out of public service, closing the space for engagement and the dialogue and really altering democratic processes at their most local level.”
The data can also serve as a warning. “These kinds of persistent and rising rates of threats and harassment could be an early sign that we're at risk for other, more severe types of violence,” including physical violence, Hiller said.
But it can also be successful on its own: discouraging public meetings, posting on social media, or even running for office. Almost 40% of officials surveyed said they were not likely to run for re-election.
A CBS News investigation compiled video evidence of harassment against local officials across the country, from city managers and mayors to county clerks and commissioners. For example, in Taylor County, Texas last year, a man protested outside a city manager's house with a rifle in the back of his truck pointed at the house. According to a video he posted on Facebook, the man says, “These are the people who are screwing us as citizens,” before police ask him to point the gun away from the official's home.
In 2022, an Erie County, Pennsylvania, clerk reported that an unknown person threw a partial pipe bomb into his family's home while they slept, along with a message that the next pipe bomb would be live , according to local reports.
Earlier this year, a Texas mayor received a threatening package containing a noose and a note that said, “Get out of the race now.” These are just a few examples of the more than 900 incidents reported over a two-year period between 2022 and 2024 analyzed by the Bridging Divides Initiative.
And in Washoe County, recent elections have seen an increase in harassment of local officials. In 2022, both a candidate for county commission and mayor of Reno found GPS trackers in their cars. CBS News obtained video of police questioning a private investigator who wouldn't say who hired him, but did admit the devices were planted for “political” reasons.
Suspicion has centered on Robert Beadles, a wealthy local political activist. Beadles and his PAC spent several thousand dollars on private investigators and investigative services during the period the politicians were under surveillance. He also wrote a now-removed blog post that said, “We chose to use professional services to investigate allegations from numerous individuals throughout the county and state.”
When contacted for comment, Beadles denied any involvement in the surveillance of local politicians. Beadles, who says he made money in cryptocurrency and real estate, has become a well-known agitator in Washoe. In 2021, he attended a school board meeting and announced that he would use his financial resources to oust school board members.
“God has blessed me. I have ***-tons of money,” he said. “And I will [do] everything I can to eliminate you all.”
Beadles has focused his anger on Smith, the school board member. She wrote a blog post detailing her painful divorce and posted altered images of herself dressed as the reaper — images, Smith says, meant to make light of her recent battle with cancer.
“Recently, I was faced with my mortality when I had cancer and I had to look at my children and tell them there was a chance I wouldn't be able to see them grow up,” Smith said. “So when I see messages with images of death… I know it's part of their attacks to make me stop doing this job.”
When asked about these and other allegations of harassment, Beadles scoffed at those making the complaints, saying they “sound like sissies.”
“If they're running for office and they can't accept the truth about it being told in any light, … maybe they shouldn't be running for office,” he told CBS News.
In Washoe, the school board has become the center of political discontent, as it has in much of the rest of the country. Washoe County GOP Chairman Bruce Parks says the party prioritizes school board races because “this has a ripple effect throughout our community.”
When asked about the tactics employed by Beadles, who serves on the Washoe GOP executive committee, Parks suggested they are effective.
“If you want to shed light on something, do you just whisper the information to someone or do you want to get their attention? He gets attention.”
Even as the political climate in Washoe continues to heat up, Smith says he'll keep at it for now: “I beat cancer and I'm definitely not going to stop for that.”
Caitlin Huey-Burns
