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September 30, 2009 in Idaho
Bonner County man claims he posted Obama images
Matt Hathaway is claiming responsibility for hanging posters of President Obama wearing a Nazi uniform at three Sandpoint schools. Shown in this 2006 photo, Hathaway was fired later that summer from the Spirit Lake Police Department.
(Full-size photo)
A former Bonner County sheriff’s deputy is claiming responsibility for posting manipulated images of President Barack Obama wearing a Nazi uniform on the doors of three Sandpoint schools.
The Bonner County Human Rights Task Force this week called on the Lake Pend Oreille School District to bring charges against 33-year-old Matt Hathaway.
Sandpoint Police Chief Mark Lockwood says Hathaway could be charged with trespassing, but the district has decided against legal action.
Hathaway told KPND radio on Friday that he put the posters up at Washington Elementary, Farmin Stidwell and Sandpoint High schools on Sept. 8 to protest the president’s nationwide address to students.
The posters were removed before students arrived.
Hathaway resigned from the sheriff’s department in 2006.
Sandpoint Arbor Day is Saturday 
southie4573 on September 30 at 2:27 p.m.
Another Idaho nut!
deacon46 on September 30 at 3:05 p.m.
Claims he was stupid. And demonstrates he is a racist besides.
Lets show the rest of the world how advanced a society we are and show the utmost contempt for our President. Oh yes, and how our religion guides us.
Sounds about right…… Thank goodness they took his star and gun away.
twobit on September 30 at 5:52 p.m.
idaho has it all this is a another one he probley is his mothers brother son cant figure out if he calls his dad uncle or dad
frostythesnowman on September 30 at 5:56 p.m.
Only in Idaho could such a hate crime result in no charges being filed. Such actions are illegal…but, apparently, not in Idaho!
skierdc1 on September 30 at 6:56 p.m.
Another idiot from North Idaho.
Dinosaur Man on September 30 at 7:22 p.m.
Better to be a free thinking Idaho nut, than a libtard Obama worshipper from CA or WA. If it was up to me I’d send your idol back to Kenya where he belongs.
southie4573 on September 30 at 7:33 p.m.
I almost thought this story was a joke. What is with these nut bags from Idaho. Racists!
ladyseaside52 on September 30 at 8:33 p.m.
Matt Hathaway is a joke. A loser, another North Idaho tiny man.
garfnagn on September 30 at 8:57 p.m.
He’s a sad little man hoping to get an interview with Glenn Beck and make his life of FAIL somehow more meaningful. What a typical teabagger - full of hate and stupid.
As an aside, last time I checked the Bonner Co Prosecutor had not abdicated his responsibility to charge criminals to the school district.
Just saying.
yikes on September 30 at 11:48 p.m.
Yep, he’s definately a nutcase. I’ve lived in North Idaho all of my life (32 years). This kind of mindset is all too common and lately it’s really been making my blood boil. However, as much as I’d like to shove those papers down his throat, I wonder how far we should go in prosecuting these offenses. Was it only trespassing that was the criminal offense? I guess I need to wrap my head around this a bit more. I hate to hear of these ignorant wads of flesh circulating such B.S. but I hope we’re not going to blur the lines of free speech. I’ve seen much worse verbage written accross the backs of cars lately, to the point where I think “there should be a law against that” instead of ramming them, I politely flip them off. One thing that is beneficial is that it’s a fantastic openiing for dialague between the kids. These nuts are a great example of the kind of human they should never be.
Erik_T on October 01 at 1:11 a.m.
People, he is making political statement all within his constitutional rights as a citizen of this country. I do not believe that a picture of our president, while wearing a Nazi uniform, is a racist statement. An educated person would be lead to believe he is attempting to show that the premise of the speech to the children is much like Hitler may have done in German during the Third Reich’s control of that country.
Be as it may however, you all have the right to voice your opinions just as this person has, politically correct or not.
Is it nuts to demonstrate your political feelings in a peaceful manner such as this? I would surely hope that none of you would feel as such, obviously this writer is wrong about that…
I would think “nuts” would fall under the category of “Matt Hathaway, dressed in a Nazi uniform, passed out literature expressing his anti-Semitic beliefs to high school students today in North Idaho.”. Again however, everyone has a right to their own personal opinions regarding the level of “nuts” they think people around them exude. I find it hard to swallow that most of you are more concerned about this (11 comments?) than any news story (not published) about the waning public school system in this country (reference to the schools he posted on).
I would love to see more people voice truly thoughtful ideologies about the larger problems we as citizens face in the coming times.
garfnagn on October 01 at 5:27 a.m.
Nice try on the free speech excuse, guys, but last time I checked there’s no constitutional right to slap hate literature up on grade schools anymore than there is to shout “fire” in a crowded movie theater.
He’s a nut, pure and simple. Glad he had to give up his badge and gun.
marytormey on October 02 at 8:31 a.m.
Local authorities had plenty of wittinesses to the crimes Hathaway committed as a police officer, but instead of prosecuting him they chose to go after victims. Since this man has never been convicted of a felony he still has a 2nd Amendment Right to own a gun.
There will be plenty of blame to go around if he ever tries to combine his 1st and 2nd Amendment Rights at a grade school or other public place.
Glad I moved!