WEBVTT - Our Town Chapter 4: All Metal Mode 0:00:02.730 --> 0:00:04.430 Bloomberg Audio Studios. 0:00:04.890 --> 0:00:05.569 Podcasts. 0:00:05.890 --> 0:00:07.270 Radio. News. 0:00:08.090 --> 0:00:09.870 Previously on Our Town. 0:00:12.050 --> 0:00:14.310 Golly, one of the tracts of land that's been bought. 0:00:14.490 --> 0:00:16.669 That land belonged to his great-granddaddy. 0:00:16.989 --> 0:00:18.310 Yeah, that's right. That's a tough one. 0:00:19.550 --> 0:00:21.970 Were we going to end up in that Moscow situation? 0:00:22.210 --> 0:00:22.490 No. 0:00:22.750 --> 0:00:25.290 Our tagline is all of Christ for all of life. 0:00:25.590 --> 0:00:26.870 Murray Street's very important. 0:00:27.150 --> 0:00:29.050 It needs to be protected, that street. 0:00:29.520 --> 0:00:32.040 I want to get back to the town that's being built, 0:00:32.159 --> 0:00:34.860 which I assume is a fascist Christian theocracy. 0:00:35.420 --> 0:00:38.320 That's what the TV news in Nashville said. 0:00:38.860 --> 0:00:40.740 Isker was so excited. 0:00:40.760 --> 0:00:41.920 It's like a puppy. 0:00:41.700 --> 0:00:42.720 That found a new bone. 0:00:43.080 --> 0:00:46.200 That tells you that they've got big plans for your 0:00:47.020 --> 0:00:48.070 little piece of the world. 0:00:57.800 --> 0:01:02.660 It was mid-September 2025. Charlie Kirk had just been assassinated, 0:01:03.190 --> 0:01:06.950 and Nancy Pruitt, the retired art teacher in Gainesboro, got 0:01:06.990 --> 0:01:07.450 a call. 0:01:08.530 --> 0:01:12.110 Someone called and told me I needed to look at 0:01:12.130 --> 0:01:14.270 this podcast and be aware of what was going on. 0:01:15.209 --> 0:01:16.209 And so I did. 0:01:16.850 --> 0:01:18.169 All right. Hello, everyone. 0:01:18.190 --> 0:01:24.900 Today, we are discussing all the fallout from Charlie Kirk's assassination, 0:01:25.160 --> 0:01:27.200 everything that has happened in the last week and a 0:01:27.220 --> 0:01:28.300 half since he was killed. 0:01:29.160 --> 0:01:34.600 Andrew Isker, the Christian nationalist podcaster, and his co-host, C.J. Angle, 0:01:35.060 --> 0:01:39.000 had just released a new episode of their podcast, Contramundum. 0:01:39.940 --> 0:01:43.660 I just listened to the podcast. Obviously, he was upset. 0:01:44.080 --> 0:01:49.900 You know, anybody would be upset. But it was not 0:01:49.940 --> 0:01:52.940 a rational podcast, what he was saying. 0:01:54.640 --> 0:01:58.740 And so the things that I believe, which are basic, standard, 0:01:58.780 --> 0:02:00.880 conservative Christian things, is called hate. 0:02:02.080 --> 0:02:03.800 It's not just, oh, we have a disagreement of opinion. 0:02:03.860 --> 0:02:05.270 No, you're preaching hate. 0:02:06.000 --> 0:02:10.410 The podcast referred to his neighborhood and the signs that 0:02:10.450 --> 0:02:10.870 were in it. 0:02:11.470 --> 0:02:14.929 Nancy's signs, the ones she'd made nearly a year before, 0:02:15.430 --> 0:02:18.950 when news first broke in Gainesboro about the Ridge Runner project. 0:02:19.410 --> 0:02:21.120 Hate has no home in Gainesboro. 0:02:21.630 --> 0:02:24.510 When you accuse someone of preaching hate, they're saying, I 0:02:24.550 --> 0:02:26.090 hope somebody puts a bullet in your neck. 0:02:26.889 --> 0:02:30.460 Right? That's what that means. Phil Williams, the reporter who 0:02:30.470 --> 0:02:34.100 had broken the story about Isker and Engel's arrival in Gainesboro, 0:02:34.400 --> 0:02:35.400 heard about this too. 0:02:35.720 --> 0:02:38.540 In a post in a Jackson County Facebook group, Isker 0:02:38.560 --> 0:02:42.620 compares himself to Kirk, telling his neighbors that those signs, quote, 0:02:42.860 --> 0:02:45.740 mean you support violence against people you hate. 0:02:46.080 --> 0:02:48.060 They would like for my children to grow up fatherless. 0:02:48.919 --> 0:02:49.419 They would like that. 0:02:49.460 --> 0:02:50.480 They'd like my children to be harmed. 0:02:51.180 --> 0:02:55.540 He led people to believe that his neighbor, which was me, 0:02:56.280 --> 0:02:59.070 that put the signs up in our neighborhood, wanted harm 0:02:59.110 --> 0:03:01.330 to come to him, which was, I said, what am 0:03:01.350 --> 0:03:02.710 I going to do, hit him with a biscuit? 0:03:03.690 --> 0:03:05.770 Isker was doing what a lot of people on the 0:03:05.810 --> 0:03:09.590 right had been doing, taking this terrible, awful thing and 0:03:09.770 --> 0:03:14.820 using it to recast any opposition as threatening, even life-threatening. 0:03:15.760 --> 0:03:20.360 Now he was saying that Nancy's signs, the ones opposing hate... 0:03:20.530 --> 0:03:24.690 were actually endorsing violence. And he called on his neighbors 0:03:24.990 --> 0:03:25.930 to take them down. 0:03:26.610 --> 0:03:28.590 You didn't think about taking them down? No, I put 0:03:28.610 --> 0:03:32.029 more up the next day. And it never entered my 0:03:32.070 --> 0:03:34.230 mind that I would take a sign down after he 0:03:34.270 --> 0:03:40.490 said that because it was just ridiculous. It was like 0:03:40.510 --> 0:03:41.470 he was stirring the pot. 0:03:41.940 --> 0:03:43.220 How many more signs did you put up? 0:03:44.200 --> 0:03:45.060 I painted some. 0:03:46.140 --> 0:03:47.620 I did some hand-painted signs. 0:03:48.160 --> 0:03:48.780 What did they say? 0:03:49.860 --> 0:03:49.940 Uh. 0:03:51.490 --> 0:03:55.600 One said, dangerous educated woman lives here. And one said, 0:03:55.760 --> 0:03:56.460 all are welcome. 0:03:56.940 --> 0:03:59.420 Others in town also saw Isker's post. 0:03:59.960 --> 0:04:02.100 Charlie Kirk at least went out and talked to people 0:04:02.160 --> 0:04:03.040 on the opposite side. 0:04:03.520 --> 0:04:06.380 Cassie, the restaurant owner, was unimpressed. 0:04:06.620 --> 0:04:10.000 Like, they are chicken shit to come out of their 0:04:10.150 --> 0:04:12.130 echo chamber online, their. 0:04:12.050 --> 0:04:13.530 Little building down there. 0:04:14.030 --> 0:04:17.610 They only will go into the places that they know 0:04:17.690 --> 0:04:18.670 that they feel safe. 0:04:19.420 --> 0:04:23.560 Contra Mundum, of course, was the safe place. And there, 0:04:24.040 --> 0:04:27.700 in the days after Kirk's killing, Isker went full throttle, 0:04:28.220 --> 0:04:31.029 demanding an immediate and forceful response. 0:04:31.770 --> 0:04:36.270 Unless a massive amount of force is wielded against the 0:04:36.290 --> 0:04:39.290 left in this country to such an extent that even 0:04:39.810 --> 0:04:41.089 even I might get uncomfortable. 0:04:41.870 --> 0:04:42.470 Right. 0:04:42.510 --> 0:04:44.310 If I start to get uncomfortable, then it's like, OK, 0:04:44.330 --> 0:04:45.990 we've we're on the right track. 0:04:49.830 --> 0:04:52.799 It was over a year into the experiment. Ridge Runner 0:04:52.900 --> 0:04:57.640 was continuing to build its so-called aligned community. And Gainsborough 0:04:58.020 --> 0:05:04.859 found itself in an increasingly tense and unpredictable state of existence. Bitterness, division, 0:05:05.360 --> 0:05:11.110 suspicion had seeped into Gainsborough, roiling this tiny, tight-knit town. 0:05:12.250 --> 0:05:16.229 For years, Gainsborough had been mostly immune to such things. 0:05:16.880 --> 0:05:21.690 Rarely concerning itself with matters of party politics, red versus blue, 0:05:22.210 --> 0:05:26.890 it put local over national. But now, with new neighbors 0:05:27.050 --> 0:05:29.900 came a new reality. So much of what had been 0:05:29.960 --> 0:05:35.220 haunting the nation was now gripping Gainesboro, transforming it into 0:05:35.279 --> 0:05:41.930 a microcosm of America's turbulence. Gainesboro, the small town at 0:05:41.990 --> 0:05:53.539 the center of the world. From Bloomberg News, I'm Mara Benight, 0:05:53.660 --> 0:05:58.240 reporting along with Susan Burfield, and you're listening to Our Town. 0:05:59.240 --> 0:06:19.170 This is Chapter 4, All Metal Mode. It was now mid-October. 0:06:19.630 --> 0:06:22.210 and Nancy Pruitt was out for an evening walk. 0:06:22.430 --> 0:06:25.790 And I see this huge figure. 0:06:26.310 --> 0:06:28.750 It was across the street in her neighbor's yard. 0:06:29.170 --> 0:06:31.669 And I walked by, and I looked up, and it moves, 0:06:31.770 --> 0:06:37.110 and it talks, and I just had a really good laugh. 0:06:37.750 --> 0:06:41.470 It was a 12-foot-tall Grim Reaper with a massive gray head, 0:06:41.850 --> 0:06:45.910 glowing eyes, blood dripping from its mouth, a new addition 0:06:45.990 --> 0:06:47.429 to the street's Halloween decor. 0:06:48.010 --> 0:06:51.450 This yard, they'd never had anything like that. Her neighbor 0:06:51.550 --> 0:06:54.010 had really done it this time, she thought. When I 0:06:54.050 --> 0:06:58.029 saw it, I knew exactly what that grim reaper was about. 0:06:59.290 --> 0:07:01.990 Here's the thing. Halloween in Gainesboro? 0:07:02.620 --> 0:07:04.560 Halloween is a big thing in this town. 0:07:06.720 --> 0:07:11.520 A beloved tradition for generations, for both kids and adults. 0:07:12.260 --> 0:07:15.270 On Halloween here when people come, They always tell me 0:07:15.310 --> 0:07:18.010 about the first house they went to was my grandmother's 0:07:18.070 --> 0:07:21.430 because she made popcorn balls, caramel popcorn balls. 0:07:21.770 --> 0:07:24.680 You did not come to town on Halloween unless you 0:07:24.740 --> 0:07:25.920 knew you were going to get eggs. 0:07:25.980 --> 0:07:26.860 I love Halloween. 0:07:26.900 --> 0:07:27.179 Yeah. 0:07:27.480 --> 0:07:30.980 Barry Knaff, the dog lover, has fond memories of his 0:07:31.020 --> 0:07:33.880 Halloweens growing up, especially the eggs. 0:07:34.100 --> 0:07:35.580 You know, you get them a week or two ahead 0:07:35.620 --> 0:07:37.440 of time and let them rot. 0:07:37.760 --> 0:07:40.380 The town square was a battle zone of mischief. 0:07:40.640 --> 0:07:43.550 They'd be a hundred kids just waiting for somebody to 0:07:43.590 --> 0:07:43.950 come by. 0:07:44.630 --> 0:07:48.010 And Murray Street, which is Nancy Street, being so close 0:07:48.050 --> 0:07:50.330 to the square, goes hard on Halloween. 0:07:51.010 --> 0:07:53.210 All of the neighbors open up and we just have 0:07:53.290 --> 0:07:53.770 open houses. 0:07:54.230 --> 0:07:57.570 It's the biggest gathering on Murray Street, a chance for 0:07:57.610 --> 0:08:01.490 the whole community to celebrate together. People come from all 0:08:01.590 --> 0:08:05.250 over Jackson County and beyond. By one count, there were 0:08:05.250 --> 0:08:07.250 900 trick-or-treaters last year. 0:08:07.650 --> 0:08:10.230 They come from everywhere to our street for Halloween. 0:08:10.680 --> 0:08:13.660 And all the neighbors pitch in money. It's expensive buying 0:08:13.700 --> 0:08:17.560 candy for hundreds of kids. All along the street, there 0:08:17.580 --> 0:08:21.920 are decorations, lights, smoke machines, coffins. 0:08:21.460 --> 0:08:25.120 With people rising up, baby dolls hanging from trees, and 0:08:25.140 --> 0:08:26.860 then Snoopy will be in the middle of it. 0:08:27.710 --> 0:08:31.650 And now, this past year, a new 12-foot Grim Reaper 0:08:31.870 --> 0:08:36.730 you couldn't miss. When Nancy first saw the towering Reaper 0:08:36.830 --> 0:08:40.270 a couple weeks before Halloween... It wasn't the holiday spirit 0:08:40.429 --> 0:08:43.150 that made her giggle. It was the delightful dig of 0:08:43.200 --> 0:08:43.460 it all. 0:08:43.820 --> 0:08:45.920 Okay, so. 0:08:46.520 --> 0:08:49.920 It all started when C.J. Engle, the podcaster who lived 0:08:49.980 --> 0:08:54.080 on Nancy's block, had made a post on Facebook. The 0:08:54.120 --> 0:08:57.969 problem with evil Halloween decorations is that they are real. 0:08:58.250 --> 0:09:01.950 They summon real monsters. They bring forth real beings. 0:09:02.230 --> 0:09:04.310 It's not a game. Festivities matter. 0:09:05.929 --> 0:09:09.630 Almost immediately, up went the 12-foot reaper, just a few 0:09:09.670 --> 0:09:10.950 houses over from Engle. 0:09:11.290 --> 0:09:11.650 Oh, yes. 0:09:12.350 --> 0:09:13.890 It was a direct response. 0:09:14.950 --> 0:09:18.200 The reaper also happened to be next door to his co-host, 0:09:18.390 --> 0:09:22.240 Andrew Isker's house. Nancy knew it was a bit childish, 0:09:22.500 --> 0:09:24.100 but she couldn't resist thinking. 0:09:24.500 --> 0:09:26.620 Every time they walk out in their yard, it's going 0:09:26.640 --> 0:09:27.300 to talk to them. 0:09:27.980 --> 0:09:33.780 So it's... In fact, after the Reaper, it seemed like 0:09:33.820 --> 0:09:35.600 the entire street got the memo. 0:09:35.880 --> 0:09:39.200 Our street really stepped it up a notch, just so 0:09:39.240 --> 0:09:41.980 that Engle would have to see what we. 0:09:41.880 --> 0:09:45.780 Were all about, I guess. Murray Street showed out. Neighbors 0:09:45.960 --> 0:09:47.540 added even more decorations. 0:09:47.920 --> 0:09:50.069 Everything you can think of. And it was pretty gruesome, 0:09:50.110 --> 0:09:52.090 but the kids loved it because it was all in 0:09:52.130 --> 0:09:53.410 jest and all in fun. 0:09:53.770 --> 0:09:56.729 It was a chance to poke back, and locals just 0:09:56.809 --> 0:10:01.000 couldn't resist. Who knows exactly why Engle decided to take 0:10:01.140 --> 0:10:04.800 on Halloween. Later, he told us it was just a, quote, 0:10:04.920 --> 0:10:08.770 random post. But to Murray Street, the post struck at 0:10:08.809 --> 0:10:12.750 the heart of Gainesboro's sense of community. It wasn't just 0:10:12.809 --> 0:10:16.530 a post. It felt like a rejection of Gainesboro itself. 0:10:17.090 --> 0:10:17.770 And it hurt. It hurt. 0:10:19.330 --> 0:10:22.429 Like so much of what was happening in Gainesboro, Halloween 0:10:22.470 --> 0:10:26.339 decorations had become a statement and a way to resist. 0:10:27.540 --> 0:10:30.760 Over the past year, it was these small, even amusing 0:10:30.920 --> 0:10:35.160 acts of protest that could keep Gainesboro residents afloat at times, 0:10:35.800 --> 0:10:38.850 keep people's spirits up when they got bogged down in 0:10:38.880 --> 0:10:45.530 the bigness of it all. When Halloween did arrive, Nancy, unsurprisingly, 0:10:45.910 --> 0:10:48.610 didn't see Engle with his family out on Murray Street. 0:10:49.220 --> 0:10:52.720 She didn't see Isker either. But they were around town. 0:10:53.320 --> 0:10:56.580 Barry Knaff had spotted the podcasters and their crew meeting 0:10:56.620 --> 0:11:00.010 for breakfast at a new place after the DQ sit-in. 0:11:01.550 --> 0:11:05.290 They go into Faye's and eat on Tuesday mornings. 0:11:05.970 --> 0:11:10.020 Faye's Cafe, a greasy spoon diner right on the town square. 0:11:10.320 --> 0:11:13.080 Nobody talks to them. Nobody stops and talks to them. 0:11:13.100 --> 0:11:14.900 You know, they've got their own little group. 0:11:15.460 --> 0:11:18.830 So ten months after Dairy Queen... Barry thought it time 0:11:18.970 --> 0:11:23.530 to gather folks again and have breakfast at Faye's, hoping 0:11:23.630 --> 0:11:30.050 for a DQ sit-in, the sequel. It was 6.30 a.m. 0:11:30.170 --> 0:11:33.449 on a Tuesday. Barry arrived at Faye's and bumped into 0:11:33.490 --> 0:11:40.330 some friends. Nancy was also there, ordering her usual. 0:11:40.350 --> 0:11:42.270 Maybe I'll get a cheese omelet and hash browns and 0:11:42.309 --> 0:11:42.970 my coffee. 0:11:43.390 --> 0:11:46.480 Nancy positioned herself in a booth facing the front door. Yep. 0:11:47.420 --> 0:11:50.220 wearing one of her dangerous, educated woman t-shirts. 0:11:50.720 --> 0:11:52.140 That's the most dangerous person. 0:11:53.880 --> 0:11:57.309 Everyone ate their breakfast, but the two podcasters never showed, 0:11:57.710 --> 0:11:59.630 so no encounter with Isker or Engel. 0:11:59.650 --> 0:12:01.850 I may be wrong, but they probably knew. 0:12:02.830 --> 0:12:06.030 It wasn't the only thing about that morning that disappointed Barry. 0:12:06.490 --> 0:12:10.170 About 75 people showed up to Dairy Queen that morning. So, 0:12:10.510 --> 0:12:13.160 you know, we're not going to get that turnout today, but. 0:12:15.309 --> 0:12:18.650 Faye's is a tiny shoebox of a restaurant, like eight booths, 0:12:19.250 --> 0:12:21.700 so this was never going to be a Dairy Queen situation. 0:12:22.140 --> 0:12:25.939 Even still, Barry wasn't able to pack the place. Only 0:12:25.980 --> 0:12:29.819 about a dozen people showed up. Barry hadn't given folks 0:12:29.860 --> 0:12:33.120 much time to plan, just about 12 hours, but he 0:12:33.179 --> 0:12:36.280 thought there was something else going on. The energy to 0:12:36.320 --> 0:12:38.620 resist seemed to be waning among some. 0:12:38.640 --> 0:12:42.589 As long as he's not bothering me, you know, I 0:12:42.610 --> 0:12:45.670 don't care what they do. That's the attitude that most 0:12:45.730 --> 0:12:46.570 people here have. 0:12:47.890 --> 0:12:50.910 A year in, Barry saw more people settle somewhere in 0:12:50.950 --> 0:12:54.070 the middle. Some had always been there, and others had 0:12:54.110 --> 0:12:57.229 drifted there as time went on. He wasn't the only 0:12:57.330 --> 0:12:58.170 one who'd noticed. 0:12:59.010 --> 0:13:02.210 Now it's starting to calm down. People are starting to 0:13:02.250 --> 0:13:05.429 realize that it's not as bad as they thought it 0:13:05.480 --> 0:13:05.910 was going to be. 0:13:06.820 --> 0:13:09.640 Mickey Davis sat at the coffee shop on the square. 0:13:10.120 --> 0:13:14.870 She described herself as a libertarian-minded Republican. She's also a 0:13:15.010 --> 0:13:17.230 newly elected commissioner in Jackson County. 0:13:17.670 --> 0:13:21.670 I don't believe in those set belief systems that they have, 0:13:22.130 --> 0:13:24.200 but that doesn't mean they can't be my neighbor. I 0:13:24.220 --> 0:13:26.620 just think the whole thing is really a big nothing burden. 0:13:29.030 --> 0:13:32.590 Mickey runs a Jackson County Facebook group that's pretty active, 0:13:32.590 --> 0:13:37.630 9,000 residents, including Isker and Engel and Josh Abatoy, the 0:13:37.670 --> 0:13:40.980 CEO of Ridge Runner. And she sees that live and 0:13:41.020 --> 0:13:43.840 let live attitude when Ridge Runner gets discussed. 0:13:44.420 --> 0:13:46.900 They can set up their own little community if they want, 0:13:47.140 --> 0:13:49.740 their own little shops and stores and homeschool the heck 0:13:49.820 --> 0:13:53.329 out of their kids. People should be allowed to live 0:13:53.350 --> 0:13:56.589 their life the way they want, and they can believe 0:13:56.630 --> 0:13:57.310 whatever they want. 0:13:58.220 --> 0:14:01.570 Live and let live. It just needs to go both ways. 0:14:02.650 --> 0:14:06.309 If they don't come and affect me personally or try 0:14:06.350 --> 0:14:10.150 to change us, but until they even try, why are 0:14:10.390 --> 0:14:12.140 we making such a big fuss about it? 0:14:13.620 --> 0:14:16.440 Mickey and other folks were willing to wait it out 0:14:16.520 --> 0:14:20.780 and see. Not Barry. Later in the morning, he called 0:14:20.820 --> 0:14:23.840 Nancy to give her an update. This is Barry. Hello. 0:14:24.880 --> 0:14:25.120 Hello. 0:14:25.740 --> 0:14:29.100 He'd learned that the weekly Tuesday breakfast might soon take 0:14:29.160 --> 0:14:30.520 place on Wednesdays. 0:14:30.640 --> 0:14:33.270 So I'm going to bet you that they'll be there tomorrow. 0:14:33.910 --> 0:14:35.530 Okay, I'll be back. 0:14:36.410 --> 0:14:38.130 Okay, well, if you pass the word. 0:14:38.950 --> 0:14:40.390 I know it didn't turn out like we'd. 0:14:40.290 --> 0:14:41.590 Hoped, but. 0:14:41.810 --> 0:14:45.050 Okay, well, I've got somebody, another person that was there calling. 0:14:45.100 --> 0:14:46.840 Let me see if she's telling me something. 0:14:46.860 --> 0:14:48.120 All right, bye. 0:14:48.140 --> 0:14:48.240 Hello? 0:14:49.580 --> 0:14:49.900 Hello? 0:14:52.800 --> 0:14:55.590 The local resistance was trying to do what they could 0:14:55.790 --> 0:15:00.770 with the resources they had. Meanwhile, things with Josh Abitoy 0:15:00.790 --> 0:15:03.630 had been getting more bitter. He was ratcheting up the 0:15:03.690 --> 0:15:06.870 tension in a new way. He said there were dark 0:15:06.990 --> 0:15:11.150 money networks working against him in Gainesboro. And he said 0:15:11.220 --> 0:15:16.400 it in The Federalist, an influential conservative publication. Abitoy claimed 0:15:16.420 --> 0:15:21.200 there was a, quote, well-oiled operation to tar newcomers like himself. 0:15:21.840 --> 0:15:26.680 and two of his customers, the podcasters. This was Abitoy's 0:15:26.860 --> 0:15:29.740 first real public jab at locals, and it was in 0:15:29.800 --> 0:15:36.610 a national publication. Diana Knaff, the deep-diving sleuth, of course 0:15:36.690 --> 0:15:38.130 read the article immediately. 0:15:38.490 --> 0:15:41.590 Disingenuine. And that was how I felt when I read that. 0:15:41.890 --> 0:15:43.730 It doesn't make any sense to me. 0:15:44.170 --> 0:15:49.520 A powerful, deep-pocketed network against him and other conservative Christians 0:15:49.620 --> 0:15:50.060 like him. 0:15:50.080 --> 0:15:54.070 We've You know, we've read tweets and we've read books. 0:15:55.030 --> 0:15:58.830 We've read the words of you and your affiliates and 0:15:58.870 --> 0:15:59.729 your associates. 0:16:00.750 --> 0:16:05.390 Ironic, Diana thought. She'd spent the past year untangling Abitoy's 0:16:05.430 --> 0:16:09.910 connections and project. And now here he was, flipping the script. 0:16:11.390 --> 0:16:15.200 In the article, Abitoy referred to a political dossier that 0:16:15.220 --> 0:16:18.020 he'd gotten his hands on. It was a research memo 0:16:18.240 --> 0:16:21.220 on the Ridge Runner project given to residents by a 0:16:21.280 --> 0:16:26.310 national organization that advises local communities on threats to democracy. 0:16:27.110 --> 0:16:32.010 Abitoy also linked the organization and the town's resistance to 0:16:32.080 --> 0:16:33.080 George Soros. 0:16:33.520 --> 0:16:37.960 I haven't seen George Soros around Jackson County. Then I 0:16:38.000 --> 0:16:39.460 was like, you know, I'm not even sure I know 0:16:39.480 --> 0:16:40.100 what he looks like. 0:16:40.140 --> 0:16:44.560 So then I had to Google his picture. That way, 0:16:44.600 --> 0:16:48.120 if I do cross paths with him here, I'll know. 0:16:48.200 --> 0:16:51.040 What was it like to see the opposition to Ridge 0:16:51.060 --> 0:16:56.960 Runner described as, quote, an organized, resourced, and aggressive, progressive 0:16:57.080 --> 0:17:00.250 faction attempting to make inroads in the community? 0:17:00.670 --> 0:17:03.700 Oh my gosh, it made us, it made everybody here 0:17:03.740 --> 0:17:05.000 sound so professional. 0:17:05.020 --> 0:17:08.800 I should probably send a thank you note. 0:17:10.640 --> 0:17:14.300 The article did rattle Diana and others, though, the way 0:17:14.359 --> 0:17:16.500 it portrayed the opposition to Rich Runner. 0:17:16.900 --> 0:17:20.980 You're saying a lot of things that are morally wrong, 0:17:21.680 --> 0:17:24.859 and there's no way to sit with that. End of story. 0:17:25.640 --> 0:17:29.860 And it was another reminder of Abitoy's network and national audience. 0:17:30.470 --> 0:17:34.480 and all they were up against. Fall turned to winter, 0:17:34.800 --> 0:17:39.780 and Christmas decorations replaced the Halloween ones on Murray Street. Meanwhile, 0:17:40.220 --> 0:17:45.030 Nancy Pruitt busied herself with holiday preparations, with her volunteer work, 0:17:45.450 --> 0:17:48.390 and of course, with Isker and Engel's podcast. 0:17:48.690 --> 0:17:51.600 We need to be seeing guys in jackboots out there 0:17:52.190 --> 0:17:55.160 raiding Home Depots. That's literally what I voted for. 0:17:55.650 --> 0:17:59.650 For Nancy, the barrage of awful national news was made 0:17:59.730 --> 0:18:04.290 worse by listening to the podcasters as they mocked and ridiculed. 0:18:04.990 --> 0:18:05.730 Did Renee good? 0:18:05.760 --> 0:18:07.080 I don't even like using her name. 0:18:07.119 --> 0:18:07.960 We shouldn't use her name. 0:18:08.260 --> 0:18:12.840 The whole, oh, this poor woman was just dropping her 0:18:12.880 --> 0:18:15.879 kids off at school and made. 0:18:15.780 --> 0:18:19.490 The wrong turn in front of ICE and they shot her. 0:18:19.890 --> 0:18:22.950 It's always somebody else's fault. You can never blame a 0:18:22.970 --> 0:18:23.750 woman for anything. 0:18:23.930 --> 0:18:24.550 What was his name? 0:18:25.190 --> 0:18:25.929 Pretty or something? 0:18:26.530 --> 0:18:27.830 I've already forgotten. It doesn't matter. 0:18:28.710 --> 0:18:31.850 Isker and Engel kept at it, praising the arrests and 0:18:31.890 --> 0:18:37.109 deportations and killings in Minnesota from their little studio in Gainesboro. 0:18:37.690 --> 0:18:41.369 I don't fear them, but it is disturbing to hear 0:18:41.730 --> 0:18:46.410 the propaganda that they talk about to those people that 0:18:46.630 --> 0:18:52.890 listen to them. It's very disheartening. that it's coming from Gainesboro. 0:18:56.470 --> 0:19:00.840 Soon after, on a frigid January night, Nancy Pruitt woke 0:19:00.940 --> 0:19:02.219 to pounding at her door. 0:19:03.160 --> 0:19:07.760 So it's about 3.30 in the morning. It's about 18 0:19:07.760 --> 0:19:11.330 degrees outside. I'm in my bedroom, sound asleep, and I 0:19:11.369 --> 0:19:14.590 hear something banging on the door. And I got up, 0:19:15.150 --> 0:19:18.449 and I hear,' Miss Pruitt, Miss Pruitt, my house is burning. 0:19:18.510 --> 0:19:22.330 Call 911.' A fire was raging at her neighbor's house, 0:19:22.810 --> 0:19:25.879 a former student of hers who lived with his elderly parents. 0:19:26.550 --> 0:19:30.090 When the fire crew arrived, they evacuated the house next door. 0:19:31.530 --> 0:19:32.970 It was Andrew Isker's house. 0:19:33.650 --> 0:19:38.810 I looked over, and Isker has a wife and six children. 0:19:39.470 --> 0:19:42.830 And so the baby was crying, two of the other 0:19:42.869 --> 0:19:46.930 kids were crying, and it was freezing. I just walked 0:19:47.050 --> 0:19:49.190 over and I said, look, it's too cold for y'all 0:19:49.210 --> 0:19:50.939 to be out here just come down the street to 0:19:51.000 --> 0:19:51.520 my house. 0:19:52.000 --> 0:19:55.340 As Nancy led Isker's family across the street to her house, 0:19:55.760 --> 0:19:56.840 she realized something. 0:19:57.180 --> 0:19:59.750 I realized all of a sudden, if I take him 0:19:59.770 --> 0:20:01.950 through my front door, I have to walk his wife 0:20:01.970 --> 0:20:03.090 through all those signs. 0:20:03.750 --> 0:20:06.470 A bunch of them, signs she'd put up in her yard, 0:20:07.070 --> 0:20:10.050 including these signs. Hate has no home. 0:20:10.770 --> 0:20:12.929 So I said, let's go in the back door. So 0:20:12.970 --> 0:20:14.690 we came up, we came in the back door, and 0:20:14.710 --> 0:20:17.790 there's only one sign that says, all are welcome. I 0:20:17.830 --> 0:20:19.909 think his wife went in first, and then the kids, 0:20:20.030 --> 0:20:23.210 and then Isker. And I just leaned over and patted 0:20:23.260 --> 0:20:25.220 him on the back and said, I bet you never 0:20:25.260 --> 0:20:26.699 thought you'd be coming to this house. 0:20:30.420 --> 0:20:33.639 Nancy gave them blankets to warm up and started making 0:20:33.680 --> 0:20:35.100 hot chocolate from scratch. 0:20:35.840 --> 0:20:38.889 His wife was very friendly. and wanted to talk. 0:20:39.570 --> 0:20:42.469 As Nancy took mugs off the shelf, she explained she 0:20:42.510 --> 0:20:45.010 collects them from each country she travels to. 0:20:45.330 --> 0:20:48.790 One of his daughters, and she said, my mom collects 0:20:48.869 --> 0:20:54.209 mugs like that. And they're Starbucks mugs. And I said, yeah. 0:20:54.310 --> 0:20:58.670 And Isker, the first time he's really said anything, said, yes, 0:20:58.710 --> 0:21:03.460 but hers are from the United States. And I said, yes. 0:21:03.540 --> 0:21:06.080 I'm trying to talk to the kids today. I said, 0:21:06.140 --> 0:21:08.380 you know, I've only been to two places where they 0:21:08.440 --> 0:21:13.080 didn't have Starbucks. One place is really cold. It has 0:21:13.140 --> 0:21:17.090 lots of ice. And one of the kids said, Greenland? 0:21:17.810 --> 0:21:21.270 And I said, well, that's true. It is colder, but 0:21:21.330 --> 0:21:24.850 I'm speaking of Iceland. And Isker says, well, they'll have 0:21:24.869 --> 0:21:26.869 a Starbucks in Greenland before long. 0:21:28.230 --> 0:21:31.750 The Isker family returned to their home that night. Kara, 0:21:32.050 --> 0:21:36.109 Isker's wife. told us they thanked Nancy profusely, and the 0:21:36.150 --> 0:21:39.750 family looked for opportunities to be neighborly right back, but 0:21:39.790 --> 0:21:46.190 didn't see Nancy the rest of the winter. Meanwhile, for 0:21:46.230 --> 0:21:49.810 Diana Knaff, who continued to sleuth, it felt like she 0:21:49.850 --> 0:21:54.930 and Gainsborough just couldn't escape the news cycle. It was mid-February, 0:21:55.170 --> 0:21:57.929 and Diana got a news alert. It was about one 0:21:57.950 --> 0:22:00.200 of her research subjects from the past year. 0:22:00.220 --> 0:22:02.680 Let's pray together again. Our Father in God. 0:22:03.460 --> 0:22:05.100 Lord of heaven and earth, we. 0:22:05.020 --> 0:22:05.680 Pray to you now. 0:22:06.560 --> 0:22:11.570 Doug Wilson, the Christian nationalist pastor from Moscow, Idaho, the 0:22:11.590 --> 0:22:15.669 man who wanted to turn America into a theocracy. He 0:22:15.710 --> 0:22:19.070 was standing at the Pentagon in front of 150 or 0:22:19.130 --> 0:22:24.070 so staff, leading a new ritual there, a monthly prayer service. Amen. 0:22:24.250 --> 0:22:26.929 Well, it's a very great privilege to be speaking. 0:22:26.770 --> 0:22:27.030 To you today. 0:22:27.330 --> 0:22:30.170 And this month, Wilson was the guest preacher. 0:22:31.510 --> 0:22:37.149 To call it shocking... It's probably mild to have someone 0:22:37.190 --> 0:22:38.990 who's taken those public positions. 0:22:39.680 --> 0:22:42.820