Pleading guilty, Boise activist says he defaced Lincoln statue ‘to make a statement’
A Boise man charged with vandalizing a statue of President Abraham Lincoln in Julia Davis Park pleaded guilty Friday morning to one misdemeanor count of injuring monuments, ornaments and public improvements.
Terry Wilson, 37, was arrested in March after the Boise Police Department began an investigation into the statue vandalism in February. Boise Parks and Recreation staff were able to clean the statue, called Seated Lincoln, and no permanent damage was reported.
At the Ada County Courthouse on Friday, Wilson admitted to defacing the statue.
“I placed eco-friendly chalk to make a statement along with a Black Lives Matter flag for the Dakota 38,” Wilson said. “Essentially no permanent damage was done to the monument. The objective as a leader in this community was to make a statement.”
In 1862, Lincoln ordered the execution of 38 Sioux who were convicted by a commission of military officers for participation in the U.S.-Dakota War.
Wilson’s attorney, Debra Groberg, said she, Wilson and the prosecution have been working to find “a swift and appropriate solution” to the case.
“The city protects free speech and is not making a statement about the content or message Mr. Wilson is making, but is taking this action because of the defacement of the statue and the expenditure of city resources regardless of the content,” said Jonathan Roundy, deputy prosecutor for the city.
The plea agreement they reached does not mean she and Wilson agree with city code on defacing property, said Groberg, who called the code vague and a violation of free speech. But she said the plea deal was beneficial to Wilson, who originally was charged with several misdemeanors, including resisting and obstructing officers during his arrest.
Wilson is the head of a local Black Lives Matter chapter, Groberg said, and is also a professor at Boise State University who recently completed his graduate degree. He is currently seeing a tenure track and assistant professor position at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, she said.
Wilson has Stage 4 cancer and serious health concerns, Groberg said.
“The stress of having this case pending against him, the stress of going to graduate school, working, the pandemic and the pleasurable but taxing work of promoting civil rights — I applaud him for how he has handled that,” she said.
Wilson was ordered to spend 32 hours doing public service, which he has already completed, and to pay court fees and $94 in restitution to the city.
