Gov. Otter calls on Labrador to condemn Charlottesville racist violence
Asked about the racist violence in Charlottesville over the weekend, Gov. Butch Otter today recalled Idaho’s own experience with neo-Nazi white supremacists, when the Aryan Nations was headquartered in North Idaho. “We’ve not new to that – we’ve had those problems in Idaho before,” Otter said, “and fortunately, for the most part I think we dealt with it in the right way. They weren’t welcome here. They went beyond the line.”
He praised Sen. Mike Crapo and 2nd District Rep. Mike Simpson for their strong, prompt statements on social media on Sunday condemning racist violence and white supremacy; Sen. Jim Risch followed with a similar statement on Monday, but 1st District Rep. Raul Labrador hasn’t responded to repeated inquiries from Idaho reporters about his thoughts on the events; his staff hasn’t returned reporters’ calls and emails and hasn’t even offered so much as a “no comment”/Betsy Russell, Eye on Boise. More here.