Reichert’s rant requires apology
Libertarian Frank Reichert is lucky none of three North Idaho legislators felt threatened after he said in a passionate e-mail they should be “hung in public display.”
Otherwise, he might be in legal trouble now. In Idaho, it’s a felony to threaten to commit a crime against a state politician.
The targeted District 1 politicians protected Reichert from the poor judgment he showed in submitting his rant to three Internet user groups. The lawmakers – Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, Rep. George Eskridge, R-Dover, and Rep. Eric Anderson, R-Sandpoint – all were disturbed and disappointed by Reichert’s e-mail, but they felt any perceived threat was an idle one.
“The talk of violence was disturbing,” Keough said. “But I know Frank wouldn’t be violent.”
In this time of workplace killings and school shooting sprees, angry e-mails that threaten violence, even in passing, shouldn’t be dismissed lightly. Jacob Carr, the 14-year-old student accused of attempting to kill a Ferris High School teacher in Spokane, had sent threatening e-mails. Reichert should be given the benefit of the doubt because he denies advocating force or issuing a threat. But his conduct as a former Libertarian candidate for the Legislature should be remembered if he seeks office again.
In reacting to his representatives’ support for a bill to license contractors, Reichert fired off an e-mail stating: “Most sensible folks would probably agree that they should all be hauled out onto the street and hung in public display for their treason against the unalienable rights of the individual citizen.” If that’s a harmless statement, as Reichert claims, subsequent information he provided was not – the time and place the three lawmakers would be together for a Bonners Ferry fundraiser.
Reichert may not have meant his Internet posting literally, but an unstable person might have taken it that way, putting Keough, Eskridge and Anderson in jeopardy and Reichert himself at legal risk. In 1990, an Oregon jury awarded a $12.5 million verdict against White Aryan Resistance leader Tom Metzger and his son, John, for helping incite skinheads to murder an Ethiopian immigrant.
At the minimum, Reichert should consider himself lucky he didn’t focus his tantrum on someone like lobbyist Tom McCabe of the Building Industry Association of Washington. McCabe didn’t shrug his shoulders when Spokane Mayor Jim West, then a state senator, left an angry recording on the building association’s telephone following a newspaper advertisement painting West as anti-education: “McCabe, you son of a bitch, you’d better get me ‘cause if you don’t, you’re dead.” McCabe called the police.
As a result, West spent more than $20,000 in legal fees before settling the matter by making a $500 contribution to an Olympia charity and apologizing to McCabe.
Reichert’s online posting was irresponsible and, possibly, dangerous. He should apologize to the three legislators who graciously allowed him to get away with his foolishness.