Western States Center Responds to Boise Protest against Public Health Rules
Eric Ward, executive director of Western States Center, released the following statement:
“Today’s protest in Boise is a continuation of a series of reckless events promoting fringe and extremist groups at the expense of public health. We are still in the midst of a pandemic that has killed more than 60,000 Americans. Public health professionals and elected officials, not armed extremists, must decide when it’s safe for communities to lift social distancing rules.
“Ammon Bundy, who recently sought to intimidate law enforcement officers into not enforcing common-sense, life-saving public health rules, received an award at today’s rally for his work. In accepting the award, Bundy invoked the Holocaust in a deeply offensive and inappropriate manner and, in an egregious act of historical revisionism, effectively blamed Jews for their own deaths.
“Bundy is endangering the health and safety of his supporters, and the community at large. We urge Idaho authorities to reject his dangerous rhetoric and actions and stay focused on the wellbeing of all Idahoans.”