Update: Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration confirmed that it has removed Allard from the position.
Anchorage Assemblywoman Jamie Allard is no longer a member of the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights after she publicly defended obviously pro-Nazi license plates reading 3REICH and FUHRER as inoffensive, meaningless foreign language.
The decision to remove Allard from the position came from Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration, according to a report by the Anchorage Daily News, because her comments in the “license plate controversy have become a distraction.”
“The comments made by Ms. Allard regarding the license plate controversy have become a distraction for the Human Rights Commission and its mission to ensure equality and fair treatment of all Alaskans,” Dunleavy spokesman Jeff Turner told the ADN. “Gov. Dunleavy felt it was in the best interest of the board to remove her effective immediately.”
Allard defended the plates on Facebook over the weekend, arguing that it’s a matter of defending free speech against liberals. She claimed Reich and Fuhrer do “not offend in Germany” (they do when they’re obvious Nazi references, as was the case with these plates) and added “I’m here to tell you as many of my Jewish friends have explained it’s a spin from progressives.”
She also worried that the word “Taco,” which is not a Nazi reference if we’re keeping track, might be next. When asked by Matt Tunseth, the original photographer of the license plates and author of the excellent “I (Still) Hate Alaska Nazis,” what the 3 in front of REICH might mean, she wrote “Does it matter?.” (It does.)
Allard’s term on the Commission for Human Rights was set to expire in 2024.
The Human Rights Commission has the power to accept and investigate violations of Alaska Human Rights Law. The Alaska Boards and Commissions office’s guideline for social media usage notes that they’re protected by the First Amendment but urges them to “be mindful of their social media as a reflection on the State and the industry they are serving.”
The Department of Administration issued a statement on the license plates on Monday following an inquiry from Juneau Democratic Rep. Sara Hannan and said that they “had previously been recalled by the DMV and the DMV issued replacement standard plates to be displayed. We are notifying law enforcement that these plates are unauthorized by the DMV.”
The statement from Administration Commissioner Kelly Tshibaka pledged to review how the plates were issued in the first place, reaffirming the state’s commitment “both in terms of preventing inappropriate messages and also the state’s obligation to protect Alaskans’ constitutional rights to free speech.”
The state’s vanity license program is intended to “prohibit references to violence, drugs, law enforcement, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and other government entities.”
The far-right Allard deactivated her official Facebook page on Monday night after users noticed that she was deleting comments and blocking constituents from seeing her page. Before deleting her page, she published the following post:
“Some political bloggers are claiming that I am supporting white supremacy because of recent comments I made questioning what words are not allowed on license plates,” she wrote. “Let me state this plainly, my father was 100% Chilean and I am proud of my heritage as a Chilean Latina. As a person of color myself, I unequivocally condemn racism and white supremacy in all forms.”
She later claimed that Facebook deleted her official page, asking people to follow her on a right-wing social platform. “I will be hanging out with President Trump on Gab! 🇺🇸”
It appears in some circles that Jamie Delfiero Allard claims to be fluent in “Deutsch”. If this were indeed the case and if she wanted to make an honest point, she would acknowledge that references to the Nazi period and the singular noun attributed to Adolph Hitler are anathemas to most Germans, who actually are fluent in their language. The noun “Führer” harkens back to Nazi-ism and the “bad old days”. These days, that word is used (best or mostly) as a compound noun meaning “some kind of leader”. Here’s an example: Oppositionsführer (zB: Aleksei A. Navalny).