THE HISTORY OF THE KOOTENAI COUNTY TASK FORCE ON HUMAN RELATIONS POLICIES, PROGRAMS, ACTIVITIES, AND PARTNERSHIPS TO PROMOTE HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST (1981-Present)
1. The Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations (KCTFHR) played a major role in the successful passage of Idaho’s laws to combat hate crimes and laws to promote human rights starting in 1983 and continuing through the 1990’s. The laws include the Anti-Malicious Harassment Law (criminal and civil penalty provisions), Domestic Terrorist Control Act (anti-paramilitary training and actions), Uniform/Bias Crimes’ Reporting Act, Explosive Devices Act, Anti-Common Law Court’s Act, and False Lien Act. Prior to the passage of these laws, Idaho already had a criminal law forbidding verbal assaults against citizens that would cover threats based on hate.
In 1990 the state of Idaho enacted the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr./Human Rights State Holiday.
2. The Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations has a major Victim Support Program advocating for victims of harassment and hate crimes including support for victims during their testimony in either criminal or civil cases. The KCTFHR has been an advocate for past victims such as the Connie Fort Family and Victoria & Jason Keenan. In carrying out the work of our Victim Support Committee, we work closely with law enforcement and the prosecutors of the region.
3. The Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations has historically sponsored major human rights rallies including the “1986 Coeur d’ Alene City Park Human Rights Rally” with over 1,000 people in attendance from five Pacific Northwest states; the 1989 week-long regional “Human Rights Celebration” that included the displaying of 6,000 ribbons on cars in support of human rights & the 20th birthday party for the Idaho Human Rights Commission with 600 5th grade students joining Idaho Governor Cecil Andrus in cutting a 20 foot-long birthday cake; the 1998 “Hands Across the Border for Human Rights Rally” at Gonzaga University with over 1,000 people celebrating human rights with music and speakers; and the “1999 KCTFHR Human Rights Rally” at North Idaho College with Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthrone.
4. The Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations, the North Idaho College Popcorn Forum, the NIC Human Equality Club and the Coeur d’ Alene and Post Falls school districts in January, 1986 initiated an annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Children’s Week for all 5th grade students in the two school districts. Doug Cresswell, former superintendent of the Coeur d” Alene School District and current KCTFHR board member, and Coeur d’ Alene School District administrator Pam Pratt were instrumental in establishing this program. Ms. Pratt continues as the coordinator of the program that includes a visiting civil rights speaker who works with the children throughout the week. The week ends with a gathering of all the fifth grade students from Post Falls and Coeur d’ Alene at a formal program at North Idaho College. During the past 25 years, over 30,000 fifth grade students have been through the program.
5. The Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations assisted with the establishment of the NIC Human Equality Club at North Idaho College in 1991. For the past 19 years the NIC Human Equality Club has had one of the largest student club memberships on campus. The club has a voting member on the Board of Directors of the KCTFHR.
6. The Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations conducts press conferences and issues press releases addressing numerous human rights issues as well as denouncing hate messages and activities.
7. The North Idaho College PBS TV Public Forum (1972-2008) and its program producer Tony Stewart starting in 1984 and continuing through 2008 joined with the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations to produce a number of broadcasts including several documentaries addressing human rights issues. The programs and documentaries were aired across the Pacific Northwest and Canada. These productions are housed in the North Idaho College Molstead Library.
8. Several years ago Tony Stewart, then president of the KCTFHR and political scientist at North Idaho College, served on the College’s advisory committee that rewrote “NIC’s Civil Rights and Anti-Malicious Harassment Policies for Employees and Students”. The policy forbids discrimination or harassment based on race, color, ethnicity, nationality, religion, gender, sexual status (orientation), age, disability or status as Vietnam-era veterans).
9. North Idaho College and the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations co-sponsored and financed a week-long symposium titled “Racism: Prejudice and Progress” in September, 1985 with over 4,500 people attending for the week. The symposium featured major civil rights leaders from across America with the programs taped and now housed in the NIC Molstead Library.
10. In addition to the NIC PBS TV Public Forum broadcasts featuring human rights issues housed at the North Idaho College Molstead Library, the library’s special collection unit is the depository of Tony Stewart’s 30-year human rights collection detailing the region’s human rights story. Based on the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations work, the City of Coeur d’ Alene in 1987 was awarded the Raoul Wallenberg Civic Award from the Raoul Wallenberg Committee of the United States (New York City) that included a grant to establish a human rights collection at the City of Coeur d’ Alene Library that includes a children’s section.
11. Due to the human rights work of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations along with the support of many community organizations and individuals, the City of Coeur d’ Alene in 1990 became the first city in the state of Idaho to be honored with the highly distinguished “All American City Award”.
12. In 1983 Robert Matthews, an associate of Richard Butler, established what became known as The Silent Brotherhood, also known as The Order. The group has been described as the most violent and notorious domestic terrorist group in the United States during the 1980’s. Larry Broadbent, then the Kootenai County Under-Sheriff and a Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations founding board member, discovered The Order and informed FBI Special Agent Wayne Manis. Members of The Order committed numerous crimes including a California armored car robbery totaling $3.6 million, counterfeiting money, plotting to poison water wells in Los Angeles, and other crimes. Members of The Order also killed Denver radio talk show host Alan Berg in June of 1984. The perpetrators were convicted and given life in prison. In 1986 several Order members were convicted of racketeering charges in a Seattle Federal Court and given long prison sentences. Matthews was killed on December 8, 1984 in a shoot-out with the FBI on Whidbey Island, Washington.
13. In September 1986, a dangerous hate group known as Order II and an affiliate of the Aryan Nations bombed the home of popular St. Pius X Catholic Church pastor and priest Bill Wassmuth, who was serving as president of the KCTFHR. A few days later the same group set off several bombs in Coeur d’ Alene. The Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations hosted a standing room only “Unity Rally” for Father Bill at North Idaho College featuring an address by Idaho Governor John Evans. Father Bill Wassmuth would later serve as Executive Director of the Northwest Coalition Against Malicious Harassment. Father Bill passed away in 2002.
14. The Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations initiated the founding of the five-state Northwest Coalition Against Malicious Harassment (NWCAMH) in 1986, as well as a number of Pacific Northwest local task forces. The NWCAMH existed from 1986-2003. Based on a proposal by former Idaho State Senator Mary Lou Reed, the KCTFHR initiated a proposal that resulted in the 1998 creation of a sister human rights organization known as the Human Rights Education Foundation that would evolve into the Human Rights Education Institute in 2001.
15. The Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations in cooperation with the Inland Northwest Crime Stoppers provides funds to an informer who shares information that leads to the solution of hate crimes in the Inland Northwest.
16. The personnel and officials of North Idaho College are very involved with the local civil rights groups. Christie Wood, Chair of the North Idaho College Board of Trustees, serves on the Board of Directors of the KCTFHR. Al Williams, the college’s athletic director, is a board member of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations and the Human Rights Education Institute. Erna Rhinehart, Director of Public Relations for NIC, is a board member of the KCTFHR. Dr. Jerry Gee, former North Idaho College Vice-President of Instruction, serves on the Human Rights Education Institute’s Board of Directors
17. The North Idaho College Board of Trustees and the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations on July 18, 1987 joined Idaho Governor Cecil Andrus in dedicating the 3,200 feet of the NIC Coeur d’ Alene Lake Beach to the Coeur d’ Alene Tribe. The Coeur d’ Alene Tribal Council chose the name “Yap-Keehn-Um Beach” (The Gathering Place). The beach is open to the public for their enjoyment.
18. The North Idaho College Board of Trustees in 1997-1998 signed a nine-point agreement with the Coeur d’ Alene Tribe to promote a mutual understanding and cooperation in advancing human dignity and educational opportunities at NIC. The KCTFHR was present for the signing and praised the college and the Coeur d’ Alene Tribe for this significant agreement.
19. The Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations and “The Spokesman Review” newspaper on May 28, 1998, under the direction of northern Idaho regional editor Ken Sands, co-sponsored human rights seminars for regional high school students.
20. To assist the human rights efforts in the Pacific Inland Northwest, “The Spokesman Review” newspaper in 1998 produced 130,000 car and home display posters, along with an eight-week in-depth newspaper series titled “In It Together” at the same time that the KCTFHR was launching a major human rights campaign to counter the Aryan Nation march in Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho.
21. “The Coeur d’ Alene Press newspaper for several years produced a children’s human rights tabloid in January to co-inside with the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Children’s Fifth Grade week of activities sponsored by the school districts and the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations.
22. The Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations and the religious community for several years co-sponsored an annual inter-faith service in honor of the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
23. The KCTFHR for many years has funded extensive ad-
vertising campaigns including “Idaho Is For Everyone” posters, “Idaho The Human Rights State billboards, brochures, newspaper adds, etc. During the Aryan Nations Coeur d’ Alene march in 1998, numerous businesses in Kootenai County used their marques that weekend to register their support for human rights. Marshall Mend, a
current, as well as a founding board member of the KCTFHR and local realtor organized all these advertising projects.
24. The KCTFHR is active and a participant in the work of the region’s colleges and universities including a special relationship with the Gonzaga University Institute for Action Against Hate.
25. For more than two decades the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations has staffed a booth at the North Idaho Fair during the last week of August. The KCTFHR presents materials and activities to some of the more than 70,000 Fair goers.
26. In October 1993, the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations, the American Council of Learned Societies, the International Research and Exchanges Board, and North Idaho College co-sponsored the fourth in a ten-year series of conferences on the future of international human rights. The 1993 conference topic was “Empowering Women: Achieving Human Rights in the 21st Century”. The conference drew 900 delegates from around the World. The first conference was held at The University of California at Berkley; the second conference in Moscow, Soviet Union; and the third confer- ence was held at Columbia University in New York City.
27. In July 1998, Richard Butler and his Aryan Nations held a twenty-seven minute march in Coeur d’ Alene. The Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations coordinated a counter response known as the Lemons to Lemonade Drive. Individuals and organizations voiced their opposition to the hate message and march by pledging donations to human rights organizations for each minute the march lasted. A total of $35,000 was raised for several civil rights groups of which $24,000 went to the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations—the Task Force gave the $24,000 in grants to educators in northern Idaho and eastern Washington to create human rights and diversity lessons and programs in the public schools. The Lemons to Lemonade campaign was borrowed from the residents of Boyertown, Pennsylvania, who used this idea when the KKK came to their town for a rally.
28. In 1998 Victoria Keenan contacted the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations after she and her son Jason were victims of vicious attacks by the security guards near the Aryan Nations Compound. The KCTFHR’s attorney Norm Gissel took charge of the case. Gissel joined forces with Morris Dees and the Southern Poverty Law Center as well as Idaho prominent tort attorney Ken Howard in bringing a civil suit against the security guards, Richard Butler and the Aryan Nations. A twelve-member Idaho jury on September 7, 2000, unanimously awarded civil damages of $6.3 million to Victoria and Jason Keenan, shooting victims of the Aryan Nations security guards (“Aryan Nations v Keenans”). The jury award bankrupted the Aryan Nations and their leader Richard Butler.
29. Following the successful civil court decision, Greg Carr of the Greg C. Carr Foundation purchased the Aryan Nations compound from the Keenans in 2001 and dismantled the compound and turned it into a peace park. He then deeded the peace park to the North Idaho College Foundation in 2002.
30. The Greg C. Carr Foundation in January 2002 awarded a $1,000,000 grant to the Human Rights Education Institute in Coeur d’ Alene as seed money for the establishment of a human rights center and program in Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho. The center is located at 414 ½ Mullan Avenue (208-292-2359).
31. The Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations has sponsored an annual human rights banquet in Coeur d’ Alene since 1998. The banquet profits go to the Human Rights Education Institute (HREI) who allocates some of the proceeds to fund four minority scholarships at North Idaho College in partnership with the North Idaho College Foundation. The highlight of each year’s program is the keynote speaker. Examples of some of our past prominent keynoters are former Idaho Governor Phil Batt; Morris Dees of the Southern Poverty Law Center; Jim Hood, Mississippi State Attorney General; Greg Carr from the Gregory C. Carr Foundation, and Nontombi Naomi Tutu, daughter of Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
32. In March, 2003, the North Idaho College Popcorn Forum Lecture Series and the Gonzaga University Institute for Action Against Hate along with eleven other colleges hosted a nine-day symposium titled “Confronting Hate: Humanity’s Greatest Challenge”.
33. On September 15 & 16, 2000 North Idaho College and the Human Rights Education Institute (HREI) co-sponsored a two-day symposium for 300 Idaho and Washington educators titled “Celebrating Diversity in the Classroom.” The HREI appropriated $10,000 for the conference with no conference fee charged to the teachers. Prominent educators from across the United States presented at the conference. NIC president Michael Burke welcomed and addressed the conferees.
34. In the 1980’s and 1990’s the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations co-sponsored with the Spokane, Washington Inter-Faith Community a P.E.A.C.E. (People Everywhere Are Created Equal) Camp for Spokane and Kootenai Counties’ high school students. The students were not charged any fees for the camp.
35. The Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations provides a quarterly newsletter to the “Friends of the KCTFHR”.
36. The Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations for more than twenty years has hosted an annual Gala event on the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Holiday.
37. On August 21, 2009 the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations hosted a press conference at the Washington-Idaho border featuring the cities’ mayors, police chiefs, the Coeur d’ Alene Tribe, Spokane County Sheriff and the Kootenai County Prosecutor to denounce the recent distribution of hate literature in several Inland Northwest neighborhoods. Both the elected officials and law enforcement representatives addressed several recent incidents of hate crimes in the region and assured the victims that these crimes would be aggressively prosecuted when the evidence leads to the arrest of the perpetrators.
38. The Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations is an active member of the Greater Coeur d’ Alene Area Chamber of Commerce.
39. Since the later part of the 1980’s, the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations has provided speakers/consultants to communities across the United States who have been confronted with hate groups and hate crimes. We have either visited or consulted with such out of state communities as Colville, Spokane and Bellingham, Washington; Noxon, Thompson Falls and Bozeman, Montana; Gainesville, Florida; Asheville and Black Mountain, North Carolina; seven day tour of cities in Pennsylvania; statewide campaign in Wyoming; Pulaski, Tennessee; Las Vegas, Nevada; San Diego, California; and Grant County, Oregon. The KCTFHR contact person is Tony Stewart at (208) 765-3932.
40. The Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations is the recipient of the Coeur d’ Alene High School and Lake City High School student’s annual fundraising campaign that includes the purchasing of links to a human rights chain. The proceeds from this fundraiser are presented to the KCTFHR at the annual Coeur d’ Alene and Lake City men’s basketball game featuring a fun competition known as the “Fight for the Fish” trophy. In 12 years, the KCTFHR has received more than $15,000 from these fundraisers.
Updated August 2010
