Protesters draw chalk blood, figures on sidewalk at Boise council president’s home
Activists with the Boise chapter of Black Lives Matter drew chalk figures with chalk blood on the sidewalk while demonstrating in front of Council President Elaine Clegg’s North End home.
According to a video posted by the Black Lives Matter Boise Twitter account, demonstrators gathered on the sidewalk and in the street outside Clegg’s home Sunday morning. Some had musical instruments and chanted.
They also drew what appeared to be chalk outlines generally associated with homicide investigations on the sidewalk in front of her house. The outlines had red smears over where the hearts would be. The person recording the video told a police officer present that the smears were also chalk.
Terry Wilson II, the spokesperson for the Boise chapter, said in a phone call the demonstration at Clegg’s home was because she was one of the four council members who voted to approve Mayor Lauren McLean’s 2021 budget. The 2021 budget allocates more money for the Boise Police Department, even though the overall budget decreased from 2020.
The 2020 budget allocated just over $70 million for the department, about 29% of the general fund budget. The proposed 2021 budget proposes about $71.2 million, about 29.8% of the general fund budget. The extra money will go toward funding five new police officers.
Two members of the council — Jimmy Hallyburton and Liza Sánchez — voted against the budget. Hallyburton proposed keeping the police budget at $70 million until the city was better able to talk with community members on how to use the money, but his motion was denied.
“Councilmember Clegg was M.I.A while @BoisePD confronts peaceful assembly,” the Black Lives Matter Boise account said in its post.
Wilson said the chapter wanted to hold Clegg accountable for her vote, which he called “bad policy.”
“I myself have made an effort to reach out to different stakeholders and have largely been ignored,” he said.
Clegg, who has been on the Boise City Council since 2003, was re-elected to her position last year. She wrote about the demonstration on her personal Facebook account and attached photos of the chalk outlines and of the demonstrators.
“We all inherited a system of policies that have resulted in racial inequity,” she wrote. “For the last 17 years I have worked to support a move to community policing in Boise and fully support the addition of a new mental health unit in BPD in this year’s budget. I have also brought forward, supported and funded policies that help citizens experiencing homelessness and other housing deficiencies. Some folks think that’s not enough and that it was okay to wake up my neighborhood at 7:00 AM with a bull horn and police like siren and with drumming and chanting accompanied by chalk figures and blood.”
Council Members Patrick Bageant and T.J. Thomson both said Monday that they had not seen demonstrations outside their homes “yet.” Thomson said he believed more demonstrations were planned, but Wilson said he was not sure about other events.
In a text message, Bageant told the Statesman that doxing, or the act of publishing private and identifying information about a person with malicious intent, “isn’t productive, responsible or brave.”
Thomson told the Statesman that he thought the demonstration was “tasteless.”
“I think the drawings they put down are pretty horrific, considering these are neighborhoods with very young children,” he said.
Thomson is white, but he noted that his 6-year-old daughter is Black. He said he told his daughter what happened, and she was so scared, she slept in her parents’ bed.
“Stick to public places like City Hall for protesting,” Thomson said. “It’s not a classy way to run an operation, and I don’t think it’s helping them in any way. It’s hurting them.”
Clegg shared a second post on Sunday with children drawing with chalk in what appeared to be the same place the outlines had been earlier in the day.
“There is nothing like grandkids to lift your spirits,” she wrote.
Demonstrators have also gone to McLean’s home in recent weeks for a few reasons, including to protest her mask orders.
This story was originally published August 17, 2020 at 7:14 PM.
.jpg)