Protesting at elected officials’ private residences goes too far and hurts protesters’ message

We’ve seen a new trend in the Treasure Valley of protesters showing up outside the private residences of elected officials and even non-elected officials.

It needs to stop.

“What I would say is, I might be on the city council,” Jeff Souza, who’s been a Garden City Council member for 15 years, told the Idaho Statesman, “but my wife isn’t on the city council, my kids aren’t on the city council, my neighbors aren’t on the city council, and it’s really unfair to all of those parties when that kind of stuff happens.”

The most recent case came last week when activists with the Boise chapter of Black Lives Matter demonstrated in front of Boise City Council President Elaine Clegg’s house in Boise’s North End.

Demonstrators gathered on the street and sidewalk outside Clegg’s house and drew chalk figures with chalk blood on the sidewalk.

A spokesperson for the Boise chapter said the demonstration at Clegg’s home was because she was one of the four council members who voted to approve the 2021 budget that allocates more money for the Boise Police Department.

Just a couple of weeks earlier, on Aug. 3, Ada County Commissioner and Central District Health Board member Diana Lachiondo posted on Facebook a story of a group of anti-mask protesters showing up at her house on Lachiondo’s son’s birthday.

“They were unmasked, congregated on the public sidewalk, and did a fair amount of shouting about tyranny, communism, and the need to remove me from office,” she wrote. “They prayed that I would be released from Satan’s spell and see the error of my ways in requiring masks in public spaces.”

The practice of showing up at someone’s house apparently came into vogue in the early days of the coronavirus shutdown, when protesters showed up at the house of a Meridian police officer who arrested a local woman who refused to leave a city playground that had been shut down to stop the spread of coronavirus.

From there, we’ve seen protests at the houses of Gov. Brad Little and Boise Mayor Lauren McLean.

Whichever side of the argument you’re on, showing up at someone’s house to protest is the wrong thing to do.

Not many people agree with the tactic and that serves only to hurt your message, no matter what the message is. If your goal is to bring people to your side, showing up at someone’s house doesn’t curry any favor. It turns most people off.

In this day and age of social media, in particular, people have all sorts of outlets to flame public officials and elected officials, whether it’s a letter to the editor, a post on Facebook, a Tweet or a comment on a story online.

Showing up at someone’s house crosses a line and should be off limits.

Protesting at someone’s house does not lead to listening. The act seems less like an act of protest than it does an act of intimidation and threat. It’s less of a statement than it is an attempt to force someone to change their opinion.

“To me, this is just a form of stalking,” said Souza, who hasn’t had a protest at his house but has had to deal with a constituent showing up at his house. “I mean, it’s harassment, it’s intimidation, it’s threatening.”

Public and elected officials should be subject to criticism. No doubt, by their very nature, public officials will make decisions that some people don’t like. If they make a bad decision, they should be held to account. But invading their personal space and that of their family goes too far.

Protesting at a personal residence likely will have a chilling effect for anyone who might even consider running for public office. Knowing that any decision you make could expose you and your family and your neighbors to a protest in front of your house would make anyone think twice. We need more people running for office, not fewer.

We also are concerned about the potential for violence. Taking to the streets and protesting in American public spaces and squares is a tradition as old as this country and is protected in our First Amendment, but showing up at someone’s private residence, especially in Idaho where people love the Second, is dangerous and could escalate a situation to a place it never intended or needed to be.

If you disagree with the decisions an elected official is making, there’s an even better solution, according to Souza.

“If you think your ideas are better, if you think that Elaine (Clegg) and whoever else isn’t listening to you, if you hold the prevailing position of most of the residents, put your damn name on the ballot,” he said, “or find somebody who you align with and tell them to put their name on the ballot. That’s the process. That’s how this works.”

What doesn’t work? Protesting at a public figure’s house.