While campaigning for Clark County Sheriff, a petition was started against the candidate for comments he said were ‘a complete fabrication’

Leah Anaya
For Clark County Today

On Sunday (July 2), a retirement celebration was held for former Clark County Sheriff candidate Rey Reynolds, who took the opportunity to update his supporters on what he’s been through since November’s election and talk about some of his future plans. 

Reynolds has been in law enforcement for a total of 39 years, 25 of which were spent with the Vancouver Police Department (VPD). Following a brief speech, Reynolds spoke with Clark County Today to give more information and context to his statements.

Just weeks prior to the election, he said, several complaints began rolling into the department regarding a podcast in which Reynolds participated called Cross Politic. During the podcast, several current events and issues were discussed, including that of “pride” events, drag queen story hours, and others related to the transgender community. The complaints accompanied a Change.org petition, which outlined the nature of why the complaints were filed.

“During this interview/discussion,” the online petition states, “officer Reynolds claimed that as a VPD officer, he was legally allowed to arrest transgender citizens simply for being trans (fast forward to 14:55 in the video to see the statement). This is an outrageously harmful comment – it has left Vancouver’s transgender community feeling afraid to even leave their own homes in fear of being targeted by the VPD.”

“Please,” Reynolds said, “go listen to the podcast if you haven’t heard it already. Because when you listen, you’ll hear that I never said that. I didn’t say anything like that. It’s a complete fabrication. But one thing I agree with is that it would be an outrageously harmful comment. Good thing it’s completely untrue.”

Several months ago, he said, Reynolds was placed on administrative leave by VPD in connection with those several complaints filed against him, as well as others. Someone with access to that information from within VPD leaked it to a local news publication, which is against department policy. As a result, legacy media was able to publish regarding his admin leave, which was miscategorized as suspension, and Reynolds said he was unable to respond in any way due to department policy that says a subject officer can not discuss information directly related to an ongoing investigation against him.

“They took my badge, they took my gun, and they sat me at a desk,” Reynolds recounted. “I said something as a private citizen seeking office, not in uniform, and I said I wasn’t speaking for VPD, and what I said was taken out of context and used against me. The leak allowed slander to be published against me and not only could I not defend myself, but no one else with knowledge on the matter could defend me either since the investigation was ongoing. The VPD Internal Affairs department was weaponized as a political armament. It was used as a political instrument of the [political] left. I don’t want to say that, but it’s the truth.

“There are some amazing police officers at VPD, men and women with honor, integrity, and the wherewithal to do what is right, not what is only politically correct,’’ Reynolds added. “I am honored to have served with them. They deserve the respect and support of the community. They don’t deserve what’s happening right now, or what happened to me, because that means it can happen to them too.

“Because what happened to me, when all is said and done, is my voice was silenced. My First Amendment right taken,’’ Reynolds said. “As an American citizen, police officer or not, we are guaranteed to say what we think, as long as it’s not causing harm to anyone, right? If someone decides to take that away from you, what’s that called? I’ll tell you. It’s called tyranny. That’s what happened to me – my voice was taken away.

“My voice was taken away for things I didn’t even say, nor do I agree with,’’ Reynolds said. “I believe in standing for what’s right, and someone saying the things they said I said, that’s not right. But neither is punishing someone with an impeccable service record for someone saying I said those things, when listening to that podcast for less than one minute proves my innocence. I will not tolerate this abuse sitting down.”

But, Reynolds said not everything that happened in the last several months has been bad. He said he didn’t want to complain about the “toxic and hostile work environment” he felt he was handed as a result of the complaints that he said “affected my career, gave me mental anguish, hurt my reputation, hurt my family, caused me to lose my enjoyment in life, and more.” Instead, he said, “I want to tell you something. God is good. He has been very, very good to me. Yes, I’m retiring. But that’s not the end. Rey Reynolds isn’t done. I intend to stay in this fight. No retreating, no stopping. No discouragement. The only thing you’ll see me doing is staying in the fight and saying what needs to be said.

“I have a new job, a fantastic job, starting this week, at US Digital as their chief safety officer,’’ Reynolds said. “I’m so thankful to David Madore and the staff there. I’m excited to help keep that place safe, here in Vancouver and California and wherever else they expand. I’m encouraged that I’ll be in an environment where I can do what I’m called to do.”

David Madore is the owner and founder of US Digital. He is also owner and founder of Clark County Today.

Reynolds said that people have asked him many times since November if he will be running again. “To that,” he said, “I have this to say: As the Lord leads, so will Rey follow. I’m not done.”