Police: 3 arrest warrants issued, others may follow after COVID protests at Boise homes
After protests derailed a Central District Health meeting Tuesday night, Boise’s police chief says there are active arrest warrants out and more could be coming.
Boise Police Chief Ryan Lee told reporters Wednesday that there were three active arrest warrants connected to people protesting outside the home of Ada County Commissioner and Central District Health board member Diana Lachiondo. She and other board members were supposed to hold a meeting Tuesday to discuss and vote on a potential health order to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
Shortly after Tuesday’s virtual meeting began, Lachiondo left after tearfully telling other members that anti-mask, anti-health-order protesters had gathered at her residence, where her children were briefly home alone. Outside the CDH building, an estimated 400 protesters gathered in opposition to the health order. The meeting ended shortly after, as Boise Mayor Lauren McLean and Lee asked for adjournment for safety reasons.
One person was placed under citizen’s arrest by a CDH representative for allegedly trespassing Tuesday night, before being taken into custody by police. That woman, 53-year-old Boise resident Yvonne St Cyr, was booked into the Ada County Jail on a misdemeanor count of trespassing.
According to Lee, others could soon be arrested.
“In connection with Commissioner Lachiondo’s house, we have three active arrest warrants and we are securing other warrants for other activities related that was criminal to the events that occurred last night,” Lee said Wednesday.
In a Facebook post Wednesday morning, Lachiondo wrote that armed protesters assembled outside of her house blaring air horns, playing sound clips from the movie “Scarface” and accusing her of tyranny. After receiving a call from her son, she left her office at the Ada County Courthouse and went home.
“The scrutiny, intimidation, harassment, and threats have taken a toll on us all, myself included,” she wrote.
Lachiondo, who wrote that both of her sons were home, and that her mother had been there but had taken the dog for a walk, called on Idaho Gov. Brad Little and other Republican leaders to “act boldly and with conviction,” and take steps to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
“I’m calling on Republican leaders who have politicized public health, who have amplified rhetoric, capitalized on it, tacitly endorsed it while holding hands with the most extreme factions in their party: take a hard look at what you’ve become. It’s far past time to do better,” Lachiondo wrote Wednesday.
Little issued a statement on Tuesday night calling gathering at private residences “reprehensible.”
“It is nothing more than a bullying tactic that seeks to silence. Our right to free speech should not be used to intimidate and scare others,” Little said in a tweet. “There is no place for this behavior in Idaho. I urge calm among Idahoans so we can get through the pandemic together, stronger.”
Megan Blanksma, a Republican state representative who represents Elmore County on the health board, said the protest outside the CDH building was peaceful, with music and people serving hot chocolate. She said she and CDH Director Russ Duke were the only meeting participants who were inside the building at 707 N. Armstrong Place.
“The folks outside the Health Department building were not threatening anyone,” Blanksma said on Boise radio station 670 KBOI. “They were doing a peaceful protest allowed by law. I don’t want that to get lost in the behavior of a few.”
She said the behavior of the few who heckled at board members’ houses was “totally unacceptable.” She added, “It’s quite obvious at this point that we need to find a way to de-escalate this.”
About 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, the Idaho Republican Party, on its Facebook page, also condemned protests at homes, in a statement that was signed by party Chairman Tom Luna, Little, Idaho’s all-GOP congressional delegation, and several local mayors.
“The harassment and intimidation of public officials as they do their work, at their homes, or anywhere for that matter will not be tolerated. We vehemently condemn anyone who engages in this unacceptable behavior,” the statement read. “We strongly support free speech and the right to peaceably assemble, but political expression must be exercised civilly and in a proper setting.”
Leaders around Boise issued statements in support of Lachiondo on Tuesday and Wednesday, including Boise City Council members Patrick Bageant and Lisa Sánchez, as well as McLean and City Council Pro Tem Holli Woodings. Lachiondo’s fellow Ada County Commissioners Patrick Malloy and Kendra Kenyon also voiced their support.
“It is a sad day in our community when our elected public servants are harassed, intimidated, and threatened at their personal homes,” Kenyon wrote in a statement. “I have hope that the good people in our community will continue to band together, and focus on the positive. We live in a beautiful community that condemns bullying and intimidation, and we stand together against this abhorrent behavior,”
Malloy said he was saddened to hear that for the second time this month, people chose to gather outside of an elected official’s home.
“While I am a Constitutionalist and a conservative, I find it outrageous that citizens would think it appropriate to protest outside the private residence of any elected official,” he wrote. “This same group of protesters would find it a violation of their rights if a government agency rallied outside of their home, but find nothing wrong with causing fear and anxiety for the children and other family members of elected officials.”
Anger over Tuesday’s protest led to a petition circulating Wednesday demanding that the government function despite the intimidation. The group circulating the petition — dubbed The 97%, seemingly a reference in opposition to the far-right group the Three Percenters — had garnered over 1,000 signatures by Wednesday afternoon.
Boise police presence
Lee told reporters Wednesday that BPD had anticipated a significant protest Tuesday night, but it ballooned into a larger gathering than expected.
To complicate matters, Lee said police responded to an auto-pedestrian car accident just before the event. That crash required substantial police resources, which strained officers at the CDH protest. While the meeting continued, police were notified of the protests at board members’ homes.
Dr. Ted Epperly, another board member, said about 15 people gather outside his Meridian home.
Lee noted that while most protesters were orderly, it takes only a small group of agitators to make a scene hard to manage. Police said they learned that some people intended on forcing their way into the building and that some wanted more confrontational interactions with police.
As the situation evolved, the police department voiced concerns to members of the CDH board, who voted to adjourn the meeting. It had not been rescheduled by Wednesday afternoon.
Lee said police were still trying to determine the number of protests that took place outside of board members’ homes. In Lachiondo’s case, police worked overnight to secure the arrest warrants, he said.
Business Editor David Staats contributed.
This story was originally published December 9, 2020 at 3:43 PM.
