KCTFHR announces activities to counter hate

Following the arrest of 31 members of the white nationalist Patriot Front on June 11 in Coeur d’Alene, the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations has received an outpouring of requests from citizens for plans of action.

The KCTFHR announced in a news release several upcoming activities aimed at promoting human rights as a counter to threats from hate groups.

Under the leadership of task force supporter, attorney Mike Gridley, the group’s first action following June 11 was the distribution of now over 1,500 T-shirts with the wording “North Idaho Rejects Hate” along with similar posters.

During this weekend’s events in downtown Coeur d’Alene — Art on the Green, Taste of Coeur d’Alene and the Downtown Street Fair — the KCTFHR will be in front of the Human Rights Education Institute distributing more North Idaho Rejects Hate T-shirts. They will be there from 3 to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday from noon to 5 p.m.

The task force is planning “a second public meeting to gain additional input on how we move forward in promoting Idaho’s true cultural values,” said the release. Details of this meeting will be announced soon.

The KCTFHR will sponsor its 23rd annual human rights banquet Saturday, Sept. 24 at the Best Western Plus Coeur d’Alene Inn. Jeff Crowe, owner of Bunk House Media, Inc., has been commissioned to produce a documentary ”What Are Idahoans’ True Values: This Is Who We Are.” The film will feature testimonials from individuals from a variety of backgrounds and occupations with a special emphasis on families who have lived in Idaho for generations who are grounded in the state’s longtime cultural values. The documentary will be featured at the banquet dinner.

With support from professor Cornell W. Clayton, executive director of the Thomas S. Foley Institute for Public Service and Public Policy at Washington State University, the KCTFHR will host on Monday, Nov. 14, an address by distinguished scholar Sara Kamali, a justice advocate, academician and author of “Homegrown “Homegrown Hate: Why White Nationalists and Militant Islamists Are Waging War on the United States.” The time and venue is to be announced later.

The KCTFHR advises it will inform the public as it moves forward on these and other action plans.