A Whatcom County District Court judge has denied Blaine resident David Brudvik’s motion to reconsider protection orders issued against him following statements he made at an October town hall meeting.
Judge Angela Anderson issued the four-page ruling December 5, finding that Brudvik’s remarks quoting a violent scene from the 1994 film “Pulp Fiction” constituted a “true threat” under Washington law rather than protected political speech.
Brudvik attended a city of Blaine town hall meeting on October 13 and named four members of a local water advocacy group whose members have filed public records requests and criticized city leadership. He concluded his remarks by quoting the fictional biblical passage recited by Samuel L. Jackson’s character in “Pulp Fiction” immediately before executing a man. The monologue concludes: “And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger, those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers.”
Two days later, Brudvik acknowledged making the statement on social media and repeated it.
Four members of the water advocacy group, who, the judge pointed out, were all private citizens, not elected officials, filed for protection orders.
At a November 4 hearing, video from the film’s violent scene was shown to illustrate the context of Brudvik’s quotation. Brudvik testified he had made the statement.
In denying the motion for reconsideration, Judge Anderson cited Washington case law defining a “true threat” as a statement that a reasonable person would interpret as a serious expression of intent to inflict bodily harm. The court found Brudvik “engaged in a knowing and willful course of conduct” that conveyed a message that he would “kill them in a manner like the actor did in the movie” if they did not cease their activities.
All four petitioners provided testimony that they suffered substantial emotional distress. According to the ruling, their supplemental statement indicated, “They all live in fear for their lives now.”
The petitioners had approached Blaine police in the days following Brudvik’s October 13 address to council; the police reports of those contacts had been forwarded to the county prosecutor’s office to determine if charges should be filed.
According to Blaine police chief Rodger Funk, the prosecutor’s office responded with a “Notice of No Action Decision for insufficient evidence and the interest of justice.”
The unnamed deputy prosecutor who made the decision commented there was “Insufficient evidence of knowingly threatening specific person to cause immediate bodily injury; and decline in the interest of justice because of difficulty distinguishing statement from protected, albeit belligerent, political speech.”
The protection orders and an accompanying order requiring Brudvik to surrender firearms remain in effect. He subsequently surrendered a concealed weapons permit, approximately 16 rifles (some AR & M4-style), shotguns, six handguns and a suppressor/silencer.
Brudvik’s gun rights had previously been revoked following his 2004 guilty plea to two felony counts of drive-by shooting in Snohomish County. Court records show he was sentenced to 30 months in prison. His right to possess firearms was restored through a Whatcom County rehabilitation order in 2018.
Asked to comment on the judge’s decision, Brudvik replied in an email to The Northern Light, “Many people who know me on a personal level believe the judge’s decision to be a miscarriage of justice. They know I do not wish harm on anyone. I am a husband, father, business owner, and volunteer who cares deeply about the people of Blaine.”
