State Rep. David Eastman comments about possible economic benefits of dead abused children might not get any official punishment beyond a censure that was called meaningless by about 25 protesters who gathered at midday Friday at the Alaska State Capitol, but it’s clear the condemnation from his colleagues is far from the final word.
The protesters had plenty to say on the Capitol steps and during a subsequent surprise visit to Eastman’s office, international media has picked up the story with an arguably exaggerated characterization of his remarks and Eastman was not silent as he called into an Anchorage radio station Friday morning for 10 minutes to argue foes are deliberately misrepresenting his words.
Jonson Kuhn / Juneau Empire Jamiann S’eiltin Hasselquist addresses about 25 protesters in front of the Alaska State Capitol at midday Friday. The protesters were demanding the removal of state Rep. David Eastman, R-Wasilla, for his controversial remarks about potential benefits from the deaths of abused children, plus other statements during his tenure many protesters called discriminatory against Alaska Natives.
“The whole world is watching,” Jamiann S’eiltin Hasselquist, a protest organizer and administrator of the Alaska Native Sisterhood Camp 2 Juneau, told the lone staff member in Eastman’s office as several of protesters squeezed into the room and hallway outside.
When asked if Eastman was in his office beyond an open door adjacent to the entrance space, the staffer replied “he’s preparing for judiciary” and then reiterated the statement when asked again. The protesters departed without incident.
Earlier outside, in light snow and subfreezing temperatures, Hasselquist and other speakers were far more heated in their speeches to attendees holding signs such as “no bigots in office” and “we the people have heard enough of David Eastman.” Many called for his expulsion from the Legislature, or at least the committee where he made the remarks.
“His words are abusive,” said Hasselquist, describing herself as a survivor of child abuse. “Not only to me, but to all of us. To our children. To those in the foster care system.”
Eastman, a Wasilla Republican best known for a string of controversies since taking office in 2017, provoked the most recent uproar during a House Judiciary Committee meeting on Monday where he asked a series of questions about possible economic benefits from the death of abused children. He said the questions were based on arguments he’d heard from others that a cost savings would result “because that child is not going to need any of those government services that they might otherwise be entitled to receive and need based on growing up in this type of environment.”
The questions drew an angry response from Anchorage Democratic Rep. Andrew Gray, seated next to Eastman during the meeting, who said he and his husband had adopted an abused child from the state’s foster care system. Gray then called for a censure of Eastman during Wednesday’s House floor session, which passed by a 35-1 vote, with Eastman the lone no vote.
It was the second censure of Eastman, following one that occurred during his first year in office, and he remains the only state House member ever censured.
Jonson Kuhn / Juneau Empire Protesters at the Alaska State Capitol on Friday hold signs demanding the removal of state Rep. David Eastman, R-Wasilla, and objecting to his questioning if there are economic benefits to the deaths of abused children.
Gray briefly addressed the protesters, declaring “it’s very important to me children in foster care are worth something.” He declined to comment in a brief interview afterward when asked what, if any, further official action might realistically be taken against Eastman.
Eastman responded to the controversy Friday on the “Bob and Brock” morning show on KWHL-FM, asserting his questions were in response to a child advocacy group that made repeated references to unborn children and that abortion was part of the context of his inquiries.
“And it is not just about abortion, really, it goes to the heart of of, you know, how the far left views children in society,” Eastman said. “And it’s really about the commoditization of children.”
Much of the national and global media coverage characterized Eastman’s statements as advocacy rather than questioning, with headlines such as “Alaska Legislator Argued Child Abuse Deaths Are a ‘Benefit to Society.’”
Many protesters at the Capitol on Friday stated in words and signs that Eastman’s most recent comments are part of an anti-Indigenous pattern of behavior, noting the high number of Alaska Native children who are in foster care and/or suffer abuse. Also, Eastman’s first censure in 2017 was for claiming women in rural villages try to get pregnant so they can get free trips to the city for abortions.
Yolanda Fulmer, a Juneau resident who said she is “representing Indigenous matriarchs,” told the protesters “if David Eastman doesn’t like the environment that has been created for us he needs to change it.”
Fulmer, after the protest, said she feels Eastman is getting nothing except some extra attention from the most recent censure.
“There’s no consequences and we’ve seen he repeats this pattern of his, and he’s going to get used to it,” she said.
It seems unlikely Eastman would be removed from the Judiciary Committee by its chair, Homer Republican Rep. Sarah Vance, who during Wednesday’s floor session defended the right of legislators to make controversial statements. Eastman, who is the only House member not affiliated with a majority or minority caucus, has been spurned by House leaders because they say he is too difficult to work with, but have not indicated they would take any further action due to his most recent remarks.
• Contact reporter Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com
