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Big Sky Tea Party Association Gives President the Boot

By KFBB News Team

Story Created: Sep 7, 2010 at 5:01 PM MST

Story Updated: Sep 7, 2010 at 5:01 PM MST

Comments on a personal Facebook page have landed one man out of a leadership position and in some hot water.

The Big Sky Tea Party Association has removed Tim Ravndal as their president and from the party. He has been the party's president for the past month.

Back in July, Ravndal made a comment on his Facebook profile that implied he condoned violence against homosexuals.

Ravndal's Facebook page currently has a post reading "nothing could be farther from the truth. Those that know me understand and that is all that matters!" He also says the post was a "mistake."

The wall-posts under fire referenced the 1998 slaying of Mathew Shepard. Shepard was beaten and left to die, tied to a fence post. Witnesses in that Wyoming case testified and referenced Shepard's homosexuality as a cause for the crime.

Big Sky Tea Party Association Board Member Roger Nummerdor says “we felt it was very important to remove him because he was in a leadership position and when you make a statement of that type, which we felt, as a board which was very bigoted, that we couldn't have somebody like that representing us. Because of the way we handled this I’m hoping that people understand that it isn't the Tea Party it was someone on a personal Facebook site.”

Ravndal will address the party at a meeting tonight and since the announcement of his removal, Secretary of the Big Sky Tea Party Association and Republican nominee for a Helena-area legislative seat, Kristi Allen Gailushas, has quit the group. She claims she is upset about how the situation was handled, referencing her distaste for the fact Ravndal wasn’t given the opportunity to comment before the board’s decision.

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