Shots Fired at Freedom Foundation

Aaron Withe
August 12, 2020

The most recent attack on the Freedom Foundation was in the form of a bullet fired at the Foundation’s National Headquarters in Olympia, WA.

The Freedom Foundation’s ongoing struggle to expose the lies and misdeeds of the nation’s government employee unions — and, by extension, the unions’ irresponsible counterattacks — escalated to an alarming new level over the weekend of Aug. 1-2 when someone fired a bullet through a window of the organization’s Olympia office.

The structure was deserted when the attack took place, and no one was injured.

Olympia police are investigating.

The obvious bullet hole was discovered in the window when the office opened on Monday, Aug. 3.

Fires and broken windows are an almost nightly occurrence in downtown Olympia, as roving mobs of violent protesters roam the streets with complete impunity. But the Freedom Foundation is nearly a mile from city center, and a single bullet hole isn’t consistent with the usual pattern of random violence.

“This was a targeted attack on the Freedom Foundation,” said CEO Tom McCabe. “The perpetrator knew who we were, where we worked and what we do. This was an attempt to intimidate us, and it won’t work.

“Desperate people do desperate things,” he said. “And they try to incite their deluded followers to do desperate things on their behalf. Thank God no one was in the building when that shot was fired, but this just shows you the kind of people we’re dealing with — and settles once and for all any question of which side has facts and reason on its side and which has to resort to thuggery.”

- General Update, Washington

Aaron Withe

Chief Executive Officer

Aaron Withe is the Chief Executive Officer of the Freedom Foundation. Aaron began his career at the Freedom Foundation in 2015, working in the outreach department. He devised a full-scale outreach campaign that included having a team of door-to-door canvassers contact all union members throughout Oregon and inform them of their rights to leave their union. After various promotions the Freedom Foundation’s Board of Directors appointed Aaron as the CEO in 2021. As an immigrant-turned-U.S. citizen, Aaron recognizes America as the freest and most prosperous country in the world. However, he also recognizes the very real threat posed by the government unions attacking the foundations of the American dream. This is what fuels Aaron as he now leads the Freedom Foundation’s national campaign to free every public employee in America from union bondage. Aaron is the author of the book Freedom is the Foundation: How we are defeating progressive tyranny by taking on the government unions. Aaron has been a featured speaker for the Freedom Foundation at a multitude of events, including the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) 2019. He was the proud recipient of the Oregon Taxpayer Association’s 2019 Thomas Jefferson Award. He was formerly on the Washington & Oregon Advisory Committees to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. And he is a member of the American Enterprise Institute’s (AEI) Leadership Network. Aaron has often shared the Freedom Foundation’s message on TV, including appearances on Fox News, Fox Business, One America News, Newsmax, and The Huckabee Show on TBN. He has been featured on several national and local radio shows, including Sean Hannity and Lars Larson, and in print media outlets across the country, including the Wall Street Journal, the Hill, and the Daily Wire. He is a native of Birmingham, England, and is a graduate and former basketball player at Corban University in Oregon. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his wife Aubree and their daughter Amelia, as well as with their extended family and friends. He is active of his church and enjoys relaxing at several Pacific North West’s microbreweries. As an immigrant-turned-U.S. citizen, Aaron recognizes America as the freest and most prosperous country in the world. However, he also recognizes the very real threat posed by the government unions attacking the foundations of the American dream. This is what fuels Aaron as he now leads the Freedom Foundation’s national campaign to free every public employee in America from union bondage. Aaron has been a featured speaker for the Freedom Foundation at a multitude of events, including the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) 2019. He was the proud recipient of the Oregon Taxpayer Association’s 2019 Thomas Jefferson Award. He was formerly on the Washington & Oregon Advisory Committees to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. And he is a member of the American Enterprise Institute’s (AEI) Leadership Network. Aaron has often shared the Freedom Foundation’s message on TV, including appearances Fox News, One America News, Newsmax, and The Huckabee Show on TBN. He has been featured on several national and local radio shows including Sean Hannity and Lars Larson and in print media outlets across the country including the Wall Street Journal and Daily Wire. He is a native of Birmingham, England, and is a graduate and former basketball player at Corban University in Oregon. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his family and friends, staying active in many different sports and at the gym, he is active in his church and enjoys relaxing at several of the Pacific North West’s microbreweries.