A cluster of far-right Idaho lawmakers—15 of them out of the 105 there are total—held a “special session” of their own this week in the Statehouse in Boise to decry Gov. Brad Little’s COVID-19 stay-at-home orders as “unconstitutional” and a prime example of “tyranny.” The session, however, had no effect other than to underscore their impotence.
One Republican legislator described contact tracing as “the government taking babies away from their mamas.” Another claimed that health orders like Little’s were driving the nation to the brink of civil war. As they did so, a crowd of about 200 “Patriots”—including Ammon Bundy, organizer of the 2016 Malheur National Wildlife Refuge standoff and one of the leaders of Idaho’s resistance to the orders—cheered them on from the gallery above. Many of them were armed.
Idaho is currently experiencing a sharp increase in novel coronavirus infections, but none of the legislators wore masks. Rep. Vito Barbieri opened the gathering with a proclamation calling for a full special session.
“Whereas the governor’s office has exceeded its authority and violated the constitution’s separation of powers provision,” he said. “Exercising powers properly belonging to the Legislature, deliberately preventing and avoiding legislative participation as required by law.”
Rep. Heather Scott—the northern Idaho legislator with deep ties to the far-right “Patriot” movement and Washington legislator Matt Shea—told the gathering that “I fear the longer this goes on and on, the more we’re going to lose everything we have, and […] I truly believe a civil war is coming if we do not put an end to what we are seeing.”
“I’ve seen things happen that I never dreamed we would ever see in this country,” said Rep. Ron Mendive of Coeur d’Alene. “The damage here is much greater than what we are facing from this so-called pandemic.” He added: “Our nation gave up our freedoms without even a whimper.”
“Our leadership should not be intimidating us or bullying us to not meet,” added Scott. “It’s unthinkable that you as leadership will not join us today and will not push back on letting us do our job.”
Besides Bundy, a number of other far-right figures attended the session in the gallery above the House floor, including Eric Parker, a notorious figure from the 2014 Bundy standoff in Nevada who is currently running for the Idaho Senate.
“I see it as a protest by the House of Representatives to basically say, ‘We only have the executive branch operating in our state right now and we don’t think this is the right way to handle it and address the problems we’re facing,’” Parker told the Idaho Mountain Express. “It’s very much about giving them their due respect and their part in the process.”
The session ended with no votes and no action taken. Little said afterward that none of their fellow legislators are interested in a full special session.
“I understand the frustration, I understand the anger—I understand that people are upset about schools being out, lost jobs, loss of income,” he said. “But I’m following the U.S. Constitution, I’m following the Idaho Constitution, I’m upholding my oath of office as governor of the state of Idaho.”
Afterwards, Bundy posted a screed on Facebook denouncing Little’s orders, saying, “we still remain exposed to a tyrannical governor and his officers.” He concluded:
For those that are aware enough to listen, I issue this warning. We must unite with each other while we still have the capacity to do so. We must prepare for what is coming. We must have food on our shelves for many months. We must have the means to defend yourselves. We must know our neighbors and be willing to defend them at a moments notice. We must understand that good days lie ahead, but only IF and WHEN the righteous unite together and defend against the wicked. It is the only way!
One his admirers responded: “I TOLD YOU! JOIN MILITIA ACROSS AMERICA AND START ARRESTING ALL GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS! IT IS YOUR DUTY TO USE THE FORCE NECESSARY TO MAKE THOSE ARRESTS! DEADLY FORCE IF NECESSARY ! I SAY KILL ALL THE TERRORISTS!”
On Wednesday—the day after the self-appointed session—Idaho hit a new record with 243 new cases of COVID-19.