Coeur d’Alene residents should be alarmed by the unruliness of the crowd at U.S. Sen. Larry Craig’s town hall meeting this week.

The seemingly organized attempt by political newcomer Stan Hess of Hayden to whip up anti-immigration sentiment could be a sign of nasty things to come this fall. Hess, who served as president of the California chapter of former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke’s EURO organization, is running against incumbent Denny Hague for a North Idaho College trustee seat. Apparently, Hess plans to use his campaign as a soapbox to push his pro-white agenda.

Hess and others who hooted in support when Hess shouted down Craig don’t realize that Kootenai County has a long, distinguished history of defending itself against uncivil ideologues and racists. The Kootenai County Task Force On Human Relations has written the manual on how to deal with race agitators. Hess will be hard-pressed to re-ignite the flames of intolerance that were effectively extinguished when Aryan Nations founder Richard Butler lost his compound and most of his organization after he was sued into bankruptcy.

There are several practical ways to handle race baiters: Challenge their message, comfort their victims, monitor their activities and vote against them when they seek political office. North Idahoans have accomplished all four of these objectives, with the task force leading the way. They have learned that intolerance grows in a vacuum. That haters don’t go away if you ignore them. That “saying yes to human rights is the best way to say no to prejudice.”

Hess denies that he’s a racist, insisting rather that he’s simply crusading for European-American recognition in this country to counterbalance the attention paid to minority groups. However, the esteemed Southern Poverty Law Center ranks him among the 100 most prolific white supremacists in the country. A spokeswoman for the center told The Spokesman-Review: “He’s a big man in hate; there’s no question.” Hess’ inflammatory actions Tuesday indicate there’s more there than he’s willing to admit. Before stomping out of the meeting, he called human-rights leader Tony Stewart a name from another era: “Bolshevik.”

Those who criticize immigrants and minorities have a right to voice their opinions. But they don’t have a right to disrupt meetings or to expect others to embrace their message. Hess’ actions at the public meeting, which was ironically held in the new Human Rights Education Institute, indicate he wants to be heard but not to listen. In the past, North Idaho showed its contempt for political candidates with similar approaches and messages by overwhelmingly rejecting the mayoral candidacies of supremacists Vincent Bertollini, in Sandpoint, and Butler, in Hayden.

Hess’ dark-horse candidacy should be snubbed, too.

Unquestionably, the issue of immigration is ripe for debate. This country has failed to seal its porous borders and to reform immigration laws. But the debate should take place in a civil manner.

Hess’ brand of activism won’t find fertile ground in North Idaho.