A gay couple ran a rural restaurant in peace. Then new neighbors arrived.

[dalton99a]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/interactive/2023/front-porch-restaurant-virginia-dispute/
https://archive.ph/U0Pok

A gay couple ran a rural restaurant in peace. Then new neighbors arrived.
By Tim Carman
July 15 at 7:00 a.m.



As soon as she spotted the lifeless vermin, Tiffany Foster had a hunch about how it appeared near the trash bins behind the Front Porch Market and Grill in The Plains, Va. The general manager went inside, pulled out her phone and reviewed security-camera footage. Her suspicion was confirmed: The dead rat had been tossed onto the property.

The suspect? Mike Washer. The businessman and his wife, Melissa, first complained to the Front Porch proprietors about pre-dawn vendor deliveries in 2019, not long after the conservative Christian couple moved their financial firm right next door to the restaurant, which flies a gay Pride flag. The renovated building doubles as the Washers’ residence, where they have a front-row view of the Front Porch’s operation.

By the time the rat appeared last summer, the relationship between the two businesses had devolved. A year earlier, the Washers had started filing complaints about their neighbor’s trash with the health department. Fed up with what they viewed as harassment, the Front Porch owners filed a no-trespassing order against their neighbors. The Washers responded by installing signs to prevent diners from parking in spaces the Washers own in the shared lot. They confronted or towed drivers who ignored the signs. Their attorney threatened legal action against the restaurant’s suppliers if their trucks continued to “trespass” in the lot. The same attorney wrote a town official, challenging the restaurant’s right to operate under its existing permit.

Still, when she spotted the rat last August, Foster was not prepared for what she saw on the video: Mike Washer flipping the rodent onto the Front Porch’s property and taking photos of it, in what she assumed was a staged effort to flag health officials about an infestation. Foster remembers thinking, “I cannot believe that someone would stoop so low to try to put someone out of business.”

....



Mike Washer owns ICS Financial in The Plains, Va., with his wife, Melissa. (Amanda Andrade-Rhoades for The Washington Post)


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

How conservative Christians spread Jesus' love

[Maraya1969]

1. Mike Walsh is going to go through some things

[erronis]

3. I certainly hope so. I like The Plains - way back when.

It was a very quaint very small town but like all of the rest of the D.C. area has been overrun by vermin like Walsh.

[UpInArms]

5. One can hope

N/t

[Celerity]

9. Mike Washer

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikewasher/

[RainCaster]

80. That LinkedIn account is not active any longer

Seems to be going through some things.

[Celerity]

81. Good!

[intheflow]

47. I can't wait.

What a smug asshole look he has on his face. Get ready for backlash against your bigotry, you greedy, rotten jerk! Bwaaaaaaaa!

[COL Mustard]

58. It's already starting

Their business is getting slammed on Yelp, and someone is reporting that Washer has a felony drug conviction in his past. Karma’s a bitch.

[intheflow]

66. Ah! This story is so satisfying!

The heroes give back to their community with love and generosity and the false Christian is squirming like the rat/rat-tosser that he is, for all the world to see.

[ExWhoDoesntCare]

89. Stop with the ridiculous claim that he's a false christian

By saying that, you're claiming that he has to be a not-christian, because, to you, christians are all good people, and only not-christians can be immoral and cruel. Or that we'd pretend to be christians to, what--make your religion look bad?

I have news for you, mate--we not-christians don't have to do one bloody thing to make you lot look bad. You do a bang-up job of it, all by yourselves.

So stop blaming us for the bad behavior of your fellow christians, when we had bugger all to do with it.

Shame on you for trying to blame innocent people for the bad behavior of christians.

[intheflow]

97. First of all, I'm an atheist.

Second of all, thanks for making groundless assumptions about a stranger on the internet.

Third: Have you ever read the Bible? I have a MDiv and understand these people very well. I fully know what the Bible reports Jesus said about how his followers should act as opposed to the fantasy Rambo MFing Jesus these freaks worship.

Fourth: I basically presented this story as an imagined Hollywood blockbuster movie about instant karma on bigots. It didn’t pretend to be moored to any theology or worldview. Sorry to have offended you for absolutely no reason. 👍🏼

[ShazzieB]

76. Oh, Good!!!

[Beartracks]

53. And he'll complain about "religious persecution."

Why is it that the loudest and most publicly aggressive complainers of persecution turn out to be, themselves, the persecutors?

========

[MorbidButterflyTat]

62. Because

Jebus said so.

[ExWhoDoesntCare]

90. DARVO is a time-honored sleaze technique

That dominant classes of all kinds use to gaslight bystanders and even the authorities into taking their side against the vulnerable person(s) they're persecuting.

Go read White Tears, Brown Scars by Ruby Hamad as but one in-depth look at how dominant groups (in the book's case, white women), use DARVO to keep minorities (brown women) in "their place." It's about some of the racism issues intersectional feminism is trying to combat, but the same idea applies to all dominant groups trying to maintain their power at all costs over those they consider beneath them.

[SouthernDem4ever]

2. What does ICS stand for?

Intolerant Cruel Shithead

[hatrack]

18. Irritating Christian Shit

As the saying goes, there's no hate like "Christian Love".

[TheBlackAdder]

79. Whatever it is, it seems they want to jam something down people's throats.

.

Since buying the former dentist’s office at 6479 Main St. in 2019 and converting it into their business and home, the Washers purchased another nearby property (where 2Kyles is located) the following year under the company name ICS Financial Properties 2. According to people in town, including Waybourn and other business leaders, the Washers have looked into purchasing other properties, including the Front Porch.

This is where, as the pastor of Grace Episcopal Church noted, conspiracy theories have started to take root. Some in The Plains see the Washers’ real estate purchases, combined with the family’s political ambitions, as the potential dawn of a new, more development-happy era in The Plains. They’ll note that Melissa ran for town council in 2020, a year after the family moved to The Plains. (She finished fourth and didn’t earn a seat.) The couple’s son, Regan, recently won his Republican primary for a seat on the county supervisors board.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/interactive/2023/front-porch-restaurant-virginia-dispute/

Don't forget to tell them to wipe.



.

[Piasladic]

4. the last two paragraphs from the article

are heartbreaking. Bold mine

The following Monday, Waybourn’s attorney, Bounds, was prepared to tell his client the news about the lawsuit, even though he knew Waybourn had back surgery scheduled that day. But when Bounds called, the Front Porch owner was struggling to talk.

Waybourn was suffering a mini-stroke — during the call. The stroke, Waybourn said a day later, was the result of going off blood thinners for surgery, although stress may have contributed to it. The Front Porch owner said he was already feeling better, at least about his health, but not so much about the future of his restaurant, which may not be in his hands for long. In February, he and his husband put the Front Porch up for sale.

[dalton99a]

6. +1

[The Wizard]

13. Sell the property to

a street gang.

[MorbidButterflyTat]

63. Plus

one.

[ExWhoDoesntCare]

91. Nah. Make it a drag bar

That will *really* cause a stir.

[Takket]

19. Sad. I hope they sell it to the loudest, most flamboyant troup of drag queens in American history

[Trueblue1968]

59. Sad. I hope they sell it to the loudest, most flamboyant HEAVY METAL MUSICIANS in American history

Bands / Heavy metal ..... From sources across the web
Metallica

Black Sabbath

Iron Maiden

Judas Priest

Megadeth

Pantera

Slayer

Motörhead

Slipknot
42 more https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&sxsrf=AB5stBiu4gJ5_1H6ne4htGr6_FWTvkbvoQ:1689452715019&q=Heavy+metal+music+bands&uds=GzYAeJwJdqyToUVi-UsFIbkuiKhB0gEXYW5aAoZsTg6izkCwAWeSpRDigp9QN-ZW45QdZwI&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjg1cXnxZGAAxVNFzQIHWsbBFAQxKsJegQICxAB&ictx=0&biw=1193&bih=719&dpr=1

[Carlitos Brigante]

24. WTAF?! That's incredibly depressing. Hope he heals as much as one can. nt

[WhiskeyGrinder]

7. tl;dr: The owners put the restaurant up for sale in February.

[Jarqui]

8. Brutal ...nt

[TheBlackAdder]

77. Perhaps customers were confused which was Teh Ghey Place, ICS paint job is absolutely 😍fabulous 😍

.





.

[ismnotwasm]

10. This pissed me off

It’s also very well written and a good snapshot into the conservative mind. Using religion to justify their shitty existence.

[hadEnuf]

16. It's hard to believe that people like that are religious at all.

It's like they use religion as their ultimate armor to carry out their rotten agenda.

But who am I to say, right?

[Maraya1969]

38. +1000

[Johonny]

48. They aren't. They simply use religion as their shield

To justify being an asshole. Matthew would have them with the goats, but they never read the Bible to know it.

[Mariana]

65. Why? Religion doesn't magically make someone a better person.

Often it does the exact opposite.

[hadEnuf]

68. Maybe better said is that "I" find it hard to believe that these people

are religious at all.

In other words I think they are phonies.

[Skittles]

75. "judge not lest ye be judged"

means NOTHING to most "Christians: I know

[ExWhoDoesntCare]

93. Except they're not

Maybe you need to be a not-christian to see how this sort of nonsense goes on all the time, because it does. I don't think I've ever gone a full week in the US without some christian being a rude and vicious wanker toward me or to others I know who aren't christians.

Maybe you don't see it because your privilege blinds you to that reality.

[hadEnuf]

98. My privilege? What privilege would that be?

[ExWhoDoesntCare]

92. Why is it hard to believe?

Have you never studied their history? They've only been doing nonsense like this for centuries now.

[azureblue]

20. what if

the owners of the Front Porch, believed in Leviticus' prohibition against eating pork, and claimed their religion allowed them to flog pork eaters? So they went to this idiot's office and asked him if he had bacon for breakfast?

PS- I bet those bigots are Baptist

[The Jungle 1]

11. No one would have a problem with Christianity if...

those who believe in it practiced it.

These heretics need to be called out at every chance.

[Rebl2]

15. So true

[Unwind Your Mind]

40. Well said

[Celerity]

84. I would, as it is still contingent, no what the outcome, on the wilful suspension of disbelief.

Any and all beliefs in a god or gods involve wilfully partaking in magical thinking (ie suspending one's disbelief), and that act opens up the door to untold misery, fear, guilt, hate, sorrow, pain, rage, ignorance, self-loathing, war, sickness, and death, etc etc.

Christianity is never an a priori harmless stance, as it requires, by its very nature, subservient acceptance of the Nazarene as one's saviour or else it's the pits of eternal torturous damnation for you. Bow down or burn.

The invention of gods was the single biggest tragedy in the 5+ million year history of hominids/humans.

Humans are not mistakes of gods.

Gods are mistakes of humans.

[The Jungle 1]

86. This can be an interesting debate if we keep open minds.

My opinion is that there is a lot of unexplained magic in nature. 17 year cicadas in America have no good natural selection story. The metamorphosis of butterflies has no scientific understanding or natural selection story. Tadpoles have gills but they also have lungs. After their metamorphosis they breath with lungs and in water through their skin. I do not agree with the idea of *only* natural selection. There are still missing links in the evolution of humans. Should we believe only in natural selection when so much is unexplained? The reality of ESP is magical. Three-quarters of bereaved people report some form of communication with a deceased loved one.

"Christianity is never an a priori harmless stance" Christianity is not alone in this statement. My original statement should probably say: No one would have a problem with religion if people lived their religion. Don't all religions have a hell/place of torment?

Religion and humanity are extremely complicated. The Catholic church teaches that artificial birth control is intrinsically evil. However 98% of catholic women in America defy this teaching and still practice the Catholic religion. Christianity teaches us that being gay is wrong. It also teaches us that God is omnipotent. There are hundreds of animals that exibit homesexual behavior. So yes some religious teachings are not good for humanity.

I agree religion has caused great harm to humanity. I acknowledge that not all religious doctrine is good.
I guess the debate revolves around how much good or bad has religion done. All religion revolves around personal interpretation.

[ExWhoDoesntCare]

95. Oh FFS

We don't know *******FOR NOW******** why cicadas have a 13-17 (not 17 alone) year cycle, but I know this: We will never get the answer to that question from magic or religion. Only science will find that answer, because magic and religion are total failures at finding out anything about reality.

Your logical fallacy is the Argument from Ignorance, an assertion that a claim is either true (or false) because there is a lack of evidence to the contrary. Just because we don't have an explanation for now about why something happens doesn't mean there isn't a logical explanation for it. Or that there will never be evidence for a natural explanation. In fact, the chances are far higher that the natural explanation will come. You magic believers keep trying to find gaps to squeeze your wishful thinking into, but, with every passing second of every passing day, those gaps get smaller and smaller as science finds perfectly rational evidence to explain reality.

We have a very--very--long record of a whole bunch of things people have attributed to magic turning out to have entirely natural explanations. Meanwhile, I can assure you that the number of phenomena for which there's evidence of a supernatural cause is exactly bloody zero. Not once has any woo merchant ever produced actual evidence to support a supernatural claim. Oh, they try to present "evidence," but it's always falsified, and quite easily.

That's why rational people go with the process that has a proven track record of explaining reality, because it has evidence to back up its claims, and magic has exactly bugger all in its corner.

[ExWhoDoesntCare]

94. You cannot be serious

Every christian I know has zero problem with their deity beating the crap out of people who commit a non-violent offense--and not even an offense of any law, secular or Judaic, but an offense against his own precious fee-fees. In case you don't know to what I'm referring, how about temple and moneychangers? That ring a bell, I mean, it was right there in the book they all claim to follow. Meanwhile, civilized people and societies consider it downright loathsome to use violence against people who commit non-violent offenses. But not christians--they're A-OK with it, else they wouldn't use the moneychangers as an example of how "moral" their deity was. I see people right here on DU bragging about that incident, without even one qualm or even a frisson of concern about its morality--or lack thereof, as the case is.

The religion teaches its followers to look for being persecuted--so they do, even when no one is persecuting them, often with brutal results for not-christians.

It teaches them to accept being mistreated, and to offer themselves up for more. Just what do you think "turn the other cheek" does ? Yeah, it's so healthy to tell people to just take that abuse and ask for more. In a masochists R us bizarro land.

Millions of them were okay with slavery because it was a christian leader who said it was okay to enslave non-European pagans--and he invoked their book to justify it. Not once, but twice. And in writing. And, yes, it would be many christians who fought against it...later. Much later. But since they created the problem to begin with, well, they needed to clean up the mess they made. For once, some of them actually did, a refreshing change from blaming their bad behavior on Jews or pagans or the gays or whatever other minority was conveniently at hand, which is their standard m.o.

The religion promotes divisiveness. It tells its followers to cut off ties with anyone and everyone who doesn't belong to their religion--even their own family, if need be. It's clearly spelled out for them to do this. In big red letters.

Then there's the core belief they have that it's okay to torture people forever--for not agreeing with their idiotic claims. Tell me what can match that for viciousness. I'll wait.

And what can anyone do but cringe at the history of how they've, you know, practiced the religion out here in the real world: Crusades, pogroms, inquisitions, witch burnings, slavery, religious wars, genocides of indigenous peoples; terrorism against women who want to decide what to do with their own bodies and the medical staff who assist them; book burnings; destruction of, well, anything they don't like from synagogues to libraries; open thievery of hundreds of billions of dollars, if not trillions, from Jewish people; impeding scientific and medical advancements--

So tell me how we're supposed to have no problem with people who practice that religion again, given the history of how they've actually gone about it?

[orthoclad]

12. Gentry and bigotry

an awful intersection.

[flying_wahini]

14. I think Mike Washer is gonna see some things, too.

Karma has a way of doing that.

[Captain Zero]

27. Would be a good town for a decent person

With a financial service business to start a branch across the street from him. Call it
Sensible Alternatives Financial .

[jmowreader]

44. Across, hell!

Sell the Front Porch building to another financial planner.

Here’s what I wonder: The Front Porch apparently owned its building and parking spaces. When this so-called Christian started doing shit like marking their parking spaces “no Front Porch parking,” why didn’t The Front Porch file a C&D order against him and report him to the state agency that licenses financial services businesses?

[Merlot]

17. "I cannot believe that someone would stoop so low..."

“I cannot believe that someone would stoop so low to try to put someone out of business.”

I guess he doesn't understand the conservative mind.

They will stop at nothing to get their way.

Though living in CA, I see the posted parking signs all the time. The other stuff was harassment, no doubt.

[Ray Bruns]

70. Believe it.

[moose65]

21. Restaurant is still open, and still dealing with this

I don't think the owners have sold. Their Facebook page had a post this morning about the article, thanking people for supporting them.

Looks like a good restaurant: https://www.frontporchtheplains.com/menu

[KentuckyWoman]

32. There's an update on website from today too. 7/15/23

https://www.frontporchtheplains.com/washington-post

Update: July 15 at 11AM
We are absolutely blown away by the overwhelming support pouring in, both here and through the Washington Post comment section. The sheer number of you who have reached out, asking how you can contribute and where you can send your generous donations, has left us speechless. In response to this incredible outpouring of goodwill, we have established a Go Fund Me Page, which we’re calling Grace in The Plains. Through this page, we aim to gather funds for our neighbor, Grace Episcopal Church in The Plains, VA.

This opportunity to give back to Grace Church and its LGBTQ+ ministries may be a remarkable silver lining to what has otherwise been a heartbreaking experience. We thank you for the idea to set up this initiative, and we gratefully accept your contributions on behalf of our friends at Grace Church. We know they will use the funds to foster compassion, inclusion, community and Grace in The Plains.

[dalton99a]

35. +1

[Hekate]

43. Wonderful

[MorbidButterflyTat]

64. That

is SO awesome!

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

82. oh wonderful. Thanks for the update. Not having a WP account, I wasn't able to read the comments

glad they were supportive.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

83. $17,000 raised so far

https://www.gofundme.com/f/grace-in-the-plains

[NoMoreRepugs]

22. Bigots are easy to despise.

[Farmer-Rick]

23. The Washers are spewing typical toxic christian hate and bile

This toxicity, masquerading as christian doctrine, is what makes living with these fools so miserable. If only they understood how much of a tool for greed and ignorance they are.

It's almost as if the devil were in control of today's christians and Jesus lost the battle between right and wrong.

[peppertree]

26. And, wouldn't you know it, he has a front yard sign that reads:

"LOVE LIVES HERE.

Love of Truth, Justice, and the American Way."

Looks like Washed-up got the GOP memo: Always pretend your hatred is anything but.

(a memo which, of course, few bother to read anymore)

[tiredtoo]

25. Religion... The root of all evil! EOM

[Marthe48]

28. Christian how?

Not the way they treat their neighbors. Not observing the Golden Rule. And making a living dealing with money, which I thinks puts him across the table from Jesus (re money lenders in the temple)

They are worshipping at the altar of bias.

[Wild blueberry]

29. The creeps are buying real estate in The Plains, bad sign

And they've run for office, wife for town, son for county.
From the article:
"Asked whether the Washers are trying to remake The Plains into their image of America — White, conservative, Christian — Melissa said, 'I can see where you’re coming from.' "

Horrible assholes.

[RKP5637]

55. K&R +++10000+++. Too many Christians these days are just horrible entitled ugly assholes. n/t

Last edited Sun Jul 16, 2023, 01:01 PM - Edit history (1)

[summer_in_TX]

72. If you'd said "Too many Christians these days are

just horrible entitled ugly assholes," I'd agree.

But the way you phrased it is too broad a brush. I'm a Christian. So was the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. So are the Bidens and the Obamas.

Religion is powerful in the hands of those who want to use it for their own money, power, or fame, or just to lord it over others. So it's easy for those with such motives to use religion as their tool in manipulation of others.

My kind of Christians are those who are all about loving and serving others, the Golden Rule, and issues of compassion and justice. No manipulation.

[ShazzieB]

78. Gabriel Warnock is a Christian, too!

I don't have any religious affiliation presently, but my roots are in Christianity, and I know for a fact that Christians are not all assholes.

It doesn't make any sense anyway. There are over 2 billion people in the world who identify as Chistians. It's ridiculous to say all 2 billiion if them are ________, no matter what you fill in the blank with.

[RKP5637]

87. Very well said!!! I'll go change it! Thanks!!! n/t

[Botany]

30. So this guy moved next door to a restaurant that was run by an openly gay couple flying a rainbow...

.... flag and he sees them as the problem? I hope they sue him into bankruptcy over the
rat "thing." BTW your business is next door to a nice restaurant and being nice to your neighbors
could have made both businesses money.

From the Post Article .... these are grade A assholes:

Mike, 54, and Melissa Washer, 53, are conservatives who have an “Only JESUS can save America” sign on their back railing. On her Facebook page, Melissa posted a photo of herself, her husband and their son, Regan, outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, when rioters stormed the building to prevent a peaceful transfer of power, leading to multiple deaths.

“It WAS an AMAZING day in DC!!” Melissa wrote in the post, which she has since taken down. “Truly an unforgettable experience everyone was peacecful [sic], kind and friendly with one another, no matter their race, nationality, socio-economic level, background or religion.” She later told The Post the family did not enter the Capitol. “We didn’t actually even know anything that was going on until we got home that night,” she said.

[Wuddles440]

33. She said that they did not enter the Capital...

but how do we know if that's really true? All the evidence indicates that these Christofascists scumbags are entirely morally and ethically bankrupt, so can we really believe the veracity of her statement? If someone hasn't already done so, I think it's time to compare their ugly mugs with those insurrectionists in the FBI photo montage.

[Botany]

36. Bald faced liar

She later told The Post the family did not enter the Capitol. “We didn’t actually even know anything that was going on until we got home that night,” she said.


Now how did she know to say that?

[dalton99a]

37. +1. Hypocrites are shitty liars

[DBoon]

69. on the advice of her attorney no doubt

[Oneironaut]

41. Because Conservatives are always the victim.

Telling them they can’t bully the “inferiors” is victimizing them. It’s their right to stomp on the lives of whoever they want.

[Botany]

45. It must be awful to carry around so much hate.

Little does that financial products salesman know but the war is over and our LGBT friends have won despite
any short term setbacks and hate that they and all of us have to deal with because among generation z they
have zero support for the GOP because they all have LGBT friends and family and they just accept it.

Besides I noticed that the restaurant bakes home made pies and that is a good thing.

[machoneman]

57. Geez, a shotgun could.................

[paleotn]

31. Organized religion is a POX on our civilization.

The sooner we all dump the magical thinking bullshit and its assorted baggage, the better off we'll all be.

[OMGWTF]

42. THIS! THIS! THIS!

[Kaleva]

85. Nazis thought the same

Stalin and Mao also considered organized religion to be a major threat.

Malcom X and MLK were part of organized religion.

[pandr32]

34. Horrible people

The entitlement due to their perceived righteousness allows them to look down on everyone else. They feel wherever they go they are in charge.

[GoCubsGo]

39. These dregs of humanity knew who their neighbors would be when they bought the property.

If they don't like having this restaurant next door, they should have bought their property elsewhere. This looks to me like a deliberate attempt to harass and drive that restaurant out of business. Fuck them and the horse they rode in on.

[IronLionZion]

46. Instead of moving next to a gay owned restaurant and harassing your new new neighbors

how about conservatives move next to other conservatives and mind their own business?

Virginia is a blue-leaning purple state. Northern Virginia is pretty liberal with plenty of gay people close to the DC area.

[intheflow]

49. ICS Financial's website is "under contruction."

But I'm guessing they've been gobsmacked by they hatred they put out in the world bouncing back on them in a deliciously karmic way.

[Skittles]

74. EXCELLENT

we cannot let these hateful assholes win: NO INDEED

[IcyPeas]

50. He also did time for selling ecstasy according to some reviews in Yelp...

This is from the yelp page for ICF Financial. The wapo article didn't mention this. (I cannot confirm or deny). They are getting "crucified" on Yelp.

[moniss]

51. We get something similar

in farm country. The GQP types with money buy land in farm country, build their fancy houses and then bitch about the smell of manure, dust blowing around from working the fields and slow moving large pieces of farm machinery driving down the road. It's not religion based per se it's more a**hole based.

[COL Mustard]

52. I live in the general area (30 miles or so)

I go through The Plains on my way back from Middleburg, and I’ve seen the Front Porch. I’ll make it a point to stop in the next time we’re out that way.

I despise fake “Christians” who behave in this way. They clearly didn’t pay attention in Sunday School and missed the whole Love Your Neighbor thing.

[RKP5637]

54. All in the name of "their" Jesus love. Most christians I run into are fucken assholes! n/t

[COL Mustard]

56. Don't forget to give the financial services company

An appropriate rating on Yelp. Also, someone mentioned that at least one of the Washers has a felony conviction. Quite interesting for some Internet sleuths!!

[RANDYWILDMAN]

60. Calling them Christians is especially repulsive

dirtbags or shitbags seems better

[CaptainTruth]

61. Scumbags. Utter scumbags.

[CaptainTruth]

67. Mike Washer on Twitter...

https://twitter.com/mtwasher]

[Evolve Dammit]

71. Just another asshole MAGAT

[SunSeeker]

73. What a fucking nightmare.

I hope the restaurant stays in business.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

88. Supervisor candidate Regan Washer pulls social media citing harassment due to news report

The story is not going away. The local paper picked it up.

News report detailing gay-owned restaurant’s battle with conservative neighbors prompts ‘overwhelming’ show of support

By Jill Palermo Fauquier Times Staff Writer Jul 16, 2023 Updated 20 hrs ago

William Waybourn said Sunday he wasn’t sure how the community would react to an in-depth Washington Post story that detailed the political tensions underlying a yearslong zoning dispute his Front Porch restaurant has had with a neighboring financial firm.

Waybourn, 76, said he and his husband, Craig Spaulding, who own the Front Porch, hired armed security for The Plains eatery Saturday night in case anti-gay protesters showed up outside. As it turned out, no security was needed.

Instead, the Front Porch was flooded with reservations and patrons – some of whom drove from as far as Maryland – to show their support.

“It’s been insane,” Waybourn said, noting that the restaurant received only one negative phone call in the wake of the Washington Post piece about their ongoing struggles with ICS Financial, a firm owned by a Michael and Melissa Washer, a conservative couple who live above their office, nextdoor to the restaurant on Main Street.

{snip}

Reach Jill Palermo at [email protected]

Now there's more.

Supervisor candidate Regan Washer pulls social media citing harassment due to news report

Hunter Savery Fauquier Times Staff Writer Jul 18, 2023 Updated 12 hrs ago



Arthur "Regan" Washer greets voters at the Marshall Middle School polling place on primary election day.
Doug Stroud

Regan Washer, the Republican nominee for Fauquier County Board of Supervisors' Marshall District seat, has gone dark on social media following the release of a lengthy Washington Post expose detailing a feud between Washer’s parents and a gay-owned restaurant in The Plains.

In a statement to the Fauquier Times, Regan Washer, claimed he was subjected to online harassment and threats following reporter Tim Carman’s piece, which the Post published online Saturday morning. ... "In the course of the many hateful, vile, and disturbing threats I have received over the past few days, I was told in no uncertain terms that these incidents would be used to hurt me in retaliation against my mom and dad,” Washer said in his statement to the Fauquier Times.

Washer’s campaign did not provide any specific examples of threats and declined to comment on whether they have been in touch with law enforcement regarding the alleged online harassment. ... In another statement to the Times, a spokesperson for the Washer campaign accused the Post’s article of being inaccurate and politically motivated.

“Regan loves his mom and dad and does not recognize the people who were described in that story,” the statement went on. “Fortunately, this community knows the Washer's true character and does not look to The Washington Post or anyone else to tell them what to believe.” ... Carman’s 5,000-word story details the political and cultural divide underlying a yearslong zoning dispute between the Front Porch Bar & Grill, owned by longtime gay rights activist William Waybourn, and ICS Financial, a financial firm owned by Mike and Melissa Washer. The Washers are conservative Republicans and supporters of former President Donald Trump.

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Reach Hunter Savery at [email protected]

Regan Washer - Conservative Republican

https://www.linkedin.com/in/regan-washer-bb385a51

Regan Washer
Owner and Advisor at ICS Financial, Inc.
Washington DC-Baltimore Area
540 followers 500+ connections

ICS Financial
University of Mary Washington

Experience
Owner and Advisor
ICS Financial
Apr 2016 - Present7 years 4 months

Internal Wholesaler
Curian Capital
Jan 2015 - Mar 2016 1 year 3 months
Nashville, Tennessee

Education
University of Mary Washington
Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA)Business Administration and Management, General
2010 - 2015

[dalton99a]

99. Arthur "Regan" Washer has a criminal background like his father:

https://fredericksburg.com/news/umw-student-charged-for-trail-of-destruction/article_b62c81a3-5798-55f9-84b5-ab9d6fedc8c7.html

UMW student charged for 'trail of destruction'
BY LINDLEY ESTES / THE FREE LANCE-STAR
Apr 29, 2013

Fredericksburg police have made an arrest in the “trail of destruction” case that left broken glass and overturned benches littering Caroline Street in downtown Fredericksburg last week.

Arthur Washer of Fredericksburg, a 21-year-old University of Mary Washington student, was arrested on Monday and charged with destruction of property in connection with the series of incidents that occurred on April 26.

Officers responded at 2:30 a.m. Friday for a report of two male subjects breaking glass in the 900 block of Caroline Street, and they found a line of vandalism leading from the 600 block, through Market Square and ending near Hyperion Espresso at William and Princess Anne streets, according to public information officer Natatia Bledsoe.

The vandalism included toppled and broken sidewalk benches, several broken planters, trees pulled from the ground and damaged downspouts.

There was also shattered glass at 829 Caroline St. and 106 George St.

Fredericksburg police previously said they had identified two suspects.

Another suspect has been identified and interviewed but not charged.

[Iggo]

96. There is no hate like christian love.