Profile: KrisAnne Hall

KrisAnne Hall

“Constitutionalist” Speaker

Location: Wellborn, Florida

 

KrisAnne Hall is a Wellborn, Florida-based “constitutionalist” and a legal “theorist” frequently cited as an authority by People’s Rights leaders. Washington State People’s Rights figure Kelli Stewart, a regional figure in the group, uses Hall’s videos for training sessions in the Area 4 chapter that she leads. California state leader Tony Pellegrino has promoted and attended Hall’s events, while People’s Rights leaders circulating Hall’s material on Facebook include Oregon state leader B.J. Soper, Idaho Area 2 assistant Sean Anderson, and more.[1]

Hall has a lengthy far-right resume, producing work that has won her a place amongst groups ranging from the Tea Party to paramilitary groups like Oath Keepers.[2] Most notably, Hall promotes a radical assault on the Constitutional basis of federal civil rights and protections from race and sex-based discrimination in voting rights, referring to the 14^th, 15^th, and 19^th Amendments as “unlawful expansion[s] of federal power.”[3]

KrisAnne Hall’s “constitutional” evangelism saw her speak at an August 2019 meeting of the white nationalist League of the South, an organization that assails the 14^th Amendment in its quest for a white ethnostate in the U.S. south.[4]

In 2016, Hall inserted her political views into negotiations during the armed occupation by Ammon Bundy and associates of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge in southern Oregon by militia activists.[5] Before attempting to negotiate their surrender, Hall had endorsed the federal lands seizure goals of the group and would speak in Oregon on the issue and boost states’ rights.[6] And Hall played a role in the Coalition of Western States (COWS), a state legislator-led group that formed as a result of Cliven Bundy’s 2014 armed standoff with federal agents and intervened in Malheur.[7] As recent as 2017 Hall would refer to the armed occupation as a “direct and vocal protest against unconstitutional activity of the federal government and their agents.”[8] Hall has also conferred with Trump administration officials on immigration policy.

 

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NOTES

 

[1] Pellegrino Tony. Facebook. May 22, 2020. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1359766494224103; Pellegrino, Tony. Facebook. May 23, 2020. https://www.facebook.com/tony.pellegrino.75/videos/1360735580793861/ and Pellegrino, Tony. Facebook. May 24, 2020. https://www.facebook.com/tony.pellegrino.75/videos/1361311360736283/;  Soper, BJ. Facebook. March 30, 2020. https://www.facebook.com/bj.soper.5/posts/2860892317312308; Anderson, Sean. Facebook. June 6, 2017. https://www.facebook.com/seananderson.anderson.9/posts/219523295236957; People’s Rights of Washington. Facebook. June 15, 2020. https://www.facebook.com/uniteforlibertynow/videos/285070182873409/.

[2] See Hall, KrisAnne. “The Inalienable Right to Life.” KrisAnne Hall website. Undated. https://KrisAnnehall.com/index.php/resources/articles/245-the-inalienable-right-to-life; Hall, KrisAnne. “A Lesson On Gun Control.” KrisAnne Hall website. Undated. https://KrisAnnehall.com/index.php/resources/articles/175-a-lesson-on-gun-control; Hall, KrisAnne. “CNN & Nullification Misinformation.” KrisAnne Hall Website. Undated. https://KrisAnnehall.com/index.php/resources/articles/158-cnn-nullification-misinformation. Hall was fired from her job as state assistant attorney over conflicts concerning her far-right activity. She has appeared at Tea Party events, shared a stage with former Graham County, Arizona Sheriff and militia advocate Richard Mack, and her work is ubiquitous on the website of the nationalist paramilitary group Oath Keepers. Hall’s movement bailiwick is offering of legal “theories” defending prominent movement positions. Hall, for instance, has defended the nullification doctrine which claims that states can override federal legislation they deem unconstitutional; pressed a hardline Second Amendment position; and argued that Roe v. Wade is unconstitutional.

[3] Hall, KrisAnne. “The Constitutional Eligibility of Harris for Potus.” YouTube video. January 23, 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CBlOG8XDWQ.

[4] Tanner, Chuck. “’Constitutionalist’ Krisanne Hall to Speak at White Nationalist Event. Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights. August 7, 2019. https://irehr.org/2019/08/07/constitutionalist-krisanne-hall-to-speak-at-white-nationalist-event/.

[5] House, Kelly. “Who is KrisAnne Hall? Conservative activist joins Oregon standoff negotiations.” The Oregonian. February 11, 2016, updated January 9, 2019.   https://www.oregonlive.com/oregon-standoff/2016/02/who_is_KrisAnne_hall_conservat.html. Despite plain language of the 14^th Amendment to the contrary, Hall has fallaciously argued that, “Neither the Constitution nor the 14th Amendment establish birthright citizenship.” Adding her own twist on the assault on civil rights, Hall has also falsely claimed that Kamala Harris, Barrack Obama, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz are not “natural born citizens,” and therefore not eligible to run for president under the U.S. Constitution.

[6] Ibid. Preacher, Amanda. “Anti-Federal Speakers Flock to Oregon In Wake of Malheur Occupation.” Oregon Public Broadcasting. April 19, 2016. https://www.opb.org/news/series/burns-oregon-standoff-bundy-militia-news-updates/KrisAnne-hall-anti-federal-speaker-malheur/.

[7] Leodler, Kathy and Paul Leodler. “Report of Investigation Regarding Representative Matt Shea Washington State House of Representatives.” Rampart Group. December 1, 2019. https://int.nyt.com/data/documenthelper/6624-investigation-into-washington/df272c2c40a0c03cd97b/optimized/full.pdf.

[8] Hall, KrisAnne. “Official Statement Regarding Federal Hypocrisy in Oregon.” It Matters How You Stand. June 23, 2017. https://itmattershowyoustand.com/2017/06/KrisAnne-hall-official-statement-regarding-federal-hypocrisy-in-oregon/. Among other things, Lewis & Clark law professors Michael C. Blumm and Jeffery Bain wrote of Hall’s “theories” of federal land ownership that, “Ms. Hall’s interpretation of the text of the Constitution has never been adopted by the Supreme Court, nor any other appellate court of which I am aware, during the last 225+ years. Her interpretation seems to be a fabric of her imagination, not the result of serious legal analysis based on centuries of judicial analysis of the constitutional text.” See Blumm, Michael C. and Jeffery Bain. Memorandum. January 22, 2016. https://biotech.law.lsu.edu/blog/Malheur-memo-2.pdf. See also Smith, Susan Lea. Professor of Law. Willamette University. January 22, 2016. https://www.co.harney.or.us/PDF_Files/County%20Court/public%20land%20issues/Federal%20Ownership%20of%20Public%20Lands.pdf.