Maine town elects convicted killer to city council: ‘That’s my past’

A woman who was directly involved in the murder of a Canadian tourist has been elected to the city council of a Maine town.

Angela Walker, who purports to be nonpartisan but is backed by “progressives,” won a seat as a Bangor city councilmember on Tuesday.

The election to office of Walker, a Native American, comes decades after she was convicted of manslaughter, alongside her brother, in 2003, following the brutal 2002 beachside murder of white Canadian tourist Derek Rogers.

“A fight broke out after Rogers allegedly called Walker a derogatory term for Native American women, and he was later found severely beaten and suffocated with sand,” according to the Bangor Daily News.

Walker spent 10 years in prison. After completing his own prison sentence, her brother continued to stay in trouble by getting arrested for domestic violence, violating his probation, and drunk driving.

Her brother also tried to make himself into a victim by filing a lawsuit accusing the Ramada Inn of firing him after he complained that a co-worker had allegedly harassed him for being a Native American.

ADVERTISEMENT

Walker has alleged that she’s now a different person.

“That’s my past,” she said. “I don’t live there anymore, and I’m a different person.”

The Daily News notes that she “believes her personal history, which also includes having been homeless earlier in her life,” as well as being an alcoholic and murderer, “could bring a unique perspective to policy and community building with the city’s most vulnerable residents.”

Critics strongly believe otherwise, arguing that her past as a killer should have voided her “right” to run for office in the first place.

“America is so broken. Voters in Maine elected Angela Walker, a violent murderer, as a new city councilor,” one critic tweeted.

ADVERTISEMENT

However, there “are no rules in Bangor’s code barring a resident from running for office based on criminal record,” the Daily News points out.

“There’s no law against this, likely because our founders would never expect us to vote for an animal who shoved sand down a tourists throat,” another critic tweeted. “Who voted for her? What are the stats?”

See more criticism below:

ADVERTISEMENT

Walker has dismissed concerns about her past.

ADVERTISEMENT

“I want people to see that it’s possible that we can change,” she told the Daily News. “I was so lost for so many years. I think people really need to see the other side of that.”

Her election comes amid Democrats running a candidate sporting a Nazi tattoo, as well as a guy who fantasized about the murder of his political opponent and his two innocent children.

Regarding her intent to help the so-called “vulnerable,” particularly addicts, Walker said she supports “all pathways to recovery.”

“That means Narcan use, cutting back if that’s what it looks like for people, attending 12-step programs if that’s what it looks like,” she said.

Vivek Saxena

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

Latest Articles