The Selah Witch Hunt

A Blackmail Scandal

This venture into the internet began with something called "SAFE."

Back in late 2021, a publication called the Rain Shadow Report made an interesting claim: Yakima's Mayor was supposedly being blackmailed right before the election.

The proposed culprits? A councilwoman named Soneya Lund, and a man named Xander Deccio.

The deed? They were discussing everything they could do to help Xander's wife (Janice) win the election. This included deleting themselves out of "anything that makes people think you are partisan, even in private groups."

The evidence? The Rain Shadow Report had discovered texts in the public record, allegedly between Xander Deccio and Soneya Lund.

Janice Deccio became Yakima's new Mayor, and she appointed Lund as her Assistant Mayor. You can decide if that's a coincidence.

But there was one thing in the texts that the Rain Shadow Report didn't address: SAFE.

BLM Sidewalk Chalk

I started searching. Broadly, Google returned the expected "make Yakima safe again" pages. No surprise there.

I hopped onto Facebook, and an interesting group caught my attention. The Selah Alliance For Equality - SAFE.

When I searched "Selah Alliance for Equality," the first result was an article of support written by the ACLU in 2020. Apparently, SAFE and some local residents sued the City of Selah for "censoring Black Lives Matter-related speech" (aka, sidewalk chalking) in the midst of the George Floyd riots.

I vaguely remembered hearing about this as "that time Selah got sued for washing some BLM chalk off the sidewalk."

About SAFE

We'll start by taking a look at SAFE's logo.

And if their logo isn't enough, check out the group's About statement.

Essentially, ye standard Leftist fare of questionable sexual allegations, an onslaught of raging feminism, racism, and gayness, and the overwhelming need to control information to the public.

Who Runs SAFE?

There seem to be 6 people in charge of SAFE, some of whom hold very interesting positions of authority.

• Amanda Watson - a resident of Portland OR who works for a major marketing and print company (Kore Group). Her background would make promoting SAFE's activism very easy.
• Anna Murray (Whitlock) - a Selah resident and activist with a possible background in IT and communications. She organized fundraising for a couple protests led by the group that later became SAFE.
• Anita Callahan - a Selah resident with 24+ years of work in human services with the State of Washington. Callahan has worked for the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), including representing them in legal hearings. Her background provides potential connection to State funding and legal navigation.
• Charlotte Town - a Selah resident whose main role in SAFE appears to be outreach to the Selah City Council. Town is also the group's Public Outreach manager.
• Courtney Hernandez - an educator at A.C. Davis High School. The ACLU states that Hernandez was the first organizer of a BLM protest in Selah back in June 2020 - during the George Floyd riots.
• Kalah Lalley (James) - The ACLU states that James is a Selah resident and activist who leads SAFE's Education group. Her role is to interface with Selah Schools. Further research showed that James is more than just an "encourager" to Selah schools. James is actually an educator at Selah Intermediate.

Unexpected Findings

Aside from the strong themes of BLM, feminism, and LGBTQ in this concoction of people, I found something far stranger along the way.

That's right. Literal witchcraft.

Kalah Lalley (James) posted in celebration of Samhain, a pagan holiday. Charlotte Town posted about "doing hot goblin s**t" and received comments from a fellow "bog trotting swamp witch."

Just in case you're wondering, the Columbian Wicca website confirms that the "Yakima/Selah/Union Gap" area is home to the Cowiche Coven.

Back to the Blackmail

By now, you're probably asking how all of this ties in to a blackmailing scheme against the Mayor of Yakima.

Remember that in the Rain Shadow Report's uncovered texts, Xander Deccio was trying to hide his involvement in certain groups.

In July 2020, one of SAFE's admin gave a shoutout to Xander Deccio for taking photos at their March for Equality event, meaning he was there.

This was the same timeframe in which Anna Murray (Whitlock) was fundraising for the group that would become SAFE. The original fundraiser was directed to not just the people of Selah, but Yakima too.

Xander Deccio witnessed and interacted with the founding of SAFE. Connection to this group would immediately show the depth of depravity he and his wife - Yakima's new Mayor - support.

The Result?

Ultimately, it's the public who's burning at the stake and paying for this.

In February 2022, the ACLU reported that the City of Selah had reached a settlement with SAFE.

Among other demands, Selah paid $300,000 to SAFE.

SAFE is now working towards applying for nonprofit status, making it eligible to receive even more direct funding and grants from the state.