Crazy fucks...

MAGA Republican running in Shasta implies sitting supervisor worships Satan

By Alec Regimbal

A woman running for a spot on the Shasta County Board of Supervisors seemed to publicly accuse District 3 Supervisor Mary Rickert of worshipping Satan at a meeting of the board on Tuesday.

The woman’s proof? Rickert’s California license plate number begins with 666.

Laura Hobbs, a self-described MAGA Republican who is running for District 2 Supervisor Tim Garman’s seat on the board, brought a photograph of Rickert’s license plate to the podium with her during the public comment section of Tuesday’s board meeting.

“This is the license plate of Mary Rickert, our supervisor here,” Hobbs said, holding the photograph aloft in her left hand. “I don’t know why she chose the number 666 … she paid extra for this.”

Almost immediately, members of the audience began to interrupt Hobbs with jeers. Her microphone was cut before she could finish her remarks, and board president Kevin Crye reprimanded her, saying, “I don’t think that’s appropriate to show.”

Rickert’s license is a commemorative “California Agriculture” plate, similar to a standard white California plate, but with an added side decal depicting the sun shining above a green field and the words “Food, Fiber, Fuel, Flora” across the bottom. Hobbs is correct that Rickert probably paid extra; normal license plates cost $27, whereas license plates with the farm logo cost $50, or $40 to renew, with proceeds going to 4H and other agricultural education programs. Rickert did, however, dispute the assertion that she’d chosen the number.

“I’m gonna explain something to you,” she told Hobbs at the meeting, nearly shouting. “…That came from the California Department of Motor Vehicles. I did not choose that. They sent that to me. You are being bizarre.”

As Hobbs gathered up her belongings, she leaned once more into the microphone and said, “For the love of God, repent,” prompting an emotional response from Rickert.

“You’ve embarrassed yourself, that’s terrible,” the supervisor yelled, as Hobbs returned to her seat. “That was the license plate that they sent to me. I did not request those numbers. And it’s an invasion of my privacy that people are going around sharing my license plate number, and I really resent that. And, Ms. Hobbs, you should be embarrassed, you should be totally embarrassed.”

The number 666, commonly called the mark of the beast, is often considered a symbol of either the Antichrist or Satan. It originates from Bible verse Revelations 13:18: “This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.”

Rickert did not immediately respond to a request for comment from SFGATE, but told KRCR on Tuesday that she found Hobbs’ actions “unsettling” and reiterated that she did not choose her plate number.

“When you order those through the DMV, they send you whatever number, whatever letters that are on there, I  didn’t request, I didn’t ask for special numbers or special letters or anything,” she told the outlet. “It’s a little unsettling to have someone going around stalking you and stalking your car and your license plate, and then showing it, you know, in a board meeting."

Hobbs is one of four candidates running for the District 2 seat being vacated by Garman, who is no longer eligible for the seat because the district’s new boundary lines don’t include his home. Hobbs’ candidate statement describes her as a “stay-at-home mom with a doctorate in microbiology,” as well as being “MAGA” and “America First,” two movements commonly associated with former President Donald Trump.

This isn’t the first time a meeting of the Shasta County Board of Supervisors has devolved into chaos. In a memorable instance last year, former board chair Patrick Jones — who once told this reporter to “drop dead” in an email — had a Black man removed from a meeting for loudly protesting when a white man used the N-word while speaking during public comment. The next week, protestors packed the supervisors’ meeting, jeering and waving signs until Jones apologized to the man he’d previously had removed.