Video shows confrontation at center of Tri-Cities area candidate request for court order

Loren Culp’s campaign manager is asking for a judge to dismiss a request for a protection order filed by one of Culp’s opponents.

Jerrod Sessler, a candidate for the 4th Congressional District, is trying to prevent Culp’s campaign manager Christopher Gergen, from contacting him or speaking about the campaign.

He claims Gergen was aggressive toward him at a May 7 event in Yakima, and harassed him. A new video and affidavits filed in the case shed light on what happened.

But Gergen’s attorney, Gregory L. Scott, has called the protection order politically motivated. He said Sessler failed to meet the requirements for getting an order, and any order would violate his client’s constitutionally protected free speech rights. Sessler is representing himself.

Culp and Sessler are both Republican candidates in an eight-person race for the 4th District seat that held by U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Sunnyside.

They each announced their campaigns after Newhouse voted to impeach then-President Donald Trump following the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

The two men vied for endorsement from Trump, who eventually backed Culp in the race. The former small town police chief lost the 2020 governor’s race to Democratic incumbent Jay Inslee.

Culp, Sessler, state Rep. Brad Klippert, Benancio Garcia III, Corey Gibson, Jacek Kobiesa and Democrat Doug White are seeking to unseat Newhouse.

The two candidates with the most votes in the Aug. 2 primary will continue to the November general election.

A temporary protection order remains in place to prevent Gergen from contacting Sessler or coming within 500 feet of his home in Prosser.

The order is scheduled to expire at the next court hearing on July 22, but it’s already been extended at least twice. Ballots for mail-in voting have already been sent out.

A hearing was scheduled for July 8, but it was canceled because Judge Norma Rodriguez recused herself from the case. She said she had previous dealings with Sessler, and in the interest of fairness, she wanted another judge to handle the case.

It was a move that Scott said he appreciated.

Yakima accusations

Sessler is accusing Gergen of confronting him as he was walking off the stage after a debate at the VFW Hall in Yakima on May 7.

The event appears to have been on a small dance floor area in a banquet room that was set up with music stands for the candidates, according to a VFW Hall post.

Sessler claims the campaign manager “aggressively approached him with clear anger,” and had “strong rage in his face and body language. He got so close to me that his wiskers (sic) and breath were on me.”

He claimed Gergen made false accusations and tried to goad him into fighting. Sessler said he didn’t know if the confrontation would become physically violent.

Scott has said Gergen approached Sessler because of inappropriate remarks about Culp’s volunteers.

According to court records, Sessler allegedly approached a volunteer at a Lincoln Day Dinner in Omak with a handgun tucked into the front of his pants.

The volunteer, Kortni Nelson, wrote that she didn’t remember his exact words, but it was something to the effect of, “Mr. Culp is tearing this party apart and that I should not be working for Mr. Culp.”

She also felt threatened by Sessler, according to her statement in court records.

Gergen provided an 11-second video clip of the confrontation in Yakima, recorded by one of the attendees. It shows the two men yelling at each other while a man steps between them. Then a young man grabs Sessler and directs him away from the area.

The video also appears to show other candidates step in help separate the men.

Motion to dismiss

Scott said the protection order should be dismissed because there isn’t any evidence to support it, and what Sessler is looking for would limit Gergen’s rights.

He argued that Sessler needed to show a pattern of behavior that makes the order necessary.

Scott argued that the Yakima confrontation was only one instance and “does not establish unlawful harassment.”

Sessler does mention a letter that threatened legal action later in his petition, which Scott said was taken out of context. The letter said the Culp campaign had a non-disclosure agreement in place with a consulting firm that Sessler’s campaign had hired.

Sessler also is looking to prevent comments from Gergen about the Sessler campaign.

“This is clearly a political ploy on the part of Mr. Sessler to try and prevent the campaign manager for an opponent in a political race from addressing the issues presented,” Scott wrote.

He argued this protection order would violate his constitutionally protected right to speak about the Sessler campaign.

This story was originally published July 14, 2022 at 11:38 AM.