Man Guilty Of Tossing Paint Can At N-Train

A Buhl-area environmentalist who contends he acted out of concern for Idaho has been convicted after throwing red paint at a train carrying radioactive waste.

Bill Chisholm will be sentenced March 28 for malicious injury to property.

“I thought I had a 50-50 chance, until the prosecutor equated my actions to bombing abortion clinics and killing doctors,” Chisholm said after Friday’s ruling.

His attorney did not dispute his client threw the can onto a rail car hauling spent nuclear fuel through Pocatello on Oct. 23, 1992.

At the time, the state and the U.S. Department of Energy were locked in a court battle over waste shipements to INEL.

The paint was thrown to protect Idahoans, his lawyer said, insisting it was an act of concern, not malice.