For the third straight session, the Idaho Senate has passed a bill to change Idaho code defining domestic terrorism. In previous sessions, the proposal never got a committee hearing in the house.
If it becomes law, Idaho would only recognize criminal acts as domestic terrorism if a person committing a crime was cooperating with a foreign terrorist organization, and labeling someone a terrorist would require a successful criminal prosecution. Bill sponsor Senate Majority Leader Kelly Anthon, (R-Burley), said it's meant to protect average citizens from the label.
In testimony on the Senate floor, he referenced protests and incidents of threats at some school board meetings across the country, for example, where some people's actions got them designated or investigated by the federal government as domestic terrorists.
"If you were called a domestic terrorist, it's going to affect your name. It's going to affect your business. It's going to affect your family. And it's not fair. If you've never had your due process, you've never had your day in court," Anthon told lawmakers.
In a statement, the Federal Bureau of Investigation declined to comment on any Idahoans or others being monitored because of incidents described by Anthon.
"The FBI investigates individuals who commit or intend to commit violence and other criminal activity that constitutes a federal crime or poses a threat to national security. We are committed to upholding the constitutional rights of all Americans and will never open an investigation based solely on First Amendment protected activity. Additionally, our focus is not on membership in particular groups but on criminal activity. Membership in groups is not illegal in and of itself and is protected by the First Amendment," the agency wrote by email.
Senate Bill 1220, like its two predecessors SB1398 in 2022 and SB1122a last year, changes Idaho's Terrorist Control Act, put in place after the 1987 attempted murder of Rev. Bill Wassmuth in North Idaho by members of the Aryan Nations. Wassmuth, a Catholic Priest, was a vocal opponent of white supremacism. Boise's Wassmuth Center for Human Rights, home of the only memorial to Anne Frank in the United States, is named in his honor.
Back on the senate floor, opponents of the bill questioned whether the proposed legislation would have made prosecuting the Aryan Nations or other well-known domestic terrorists like Ted Kaczynski or Timothy McVeigh more difficult.
"Those Aryan Nation members who bombed Rev. Bill Wassmuth did not have a connection with a foreign government, so they would not - under this bill - be a domestic terrorist,” said Senator James Ruchti (D-Pocatello) during testimony.
Minority leader Melissa Wintrow, (D-Boise), said requiring foreign influence to meet the definition of domestic terrorism weakens the state position against terrorist acts.
"To eliminate the threat of a group of U.S. citizens - Idahoans - that would come together to actually inflict, coerce, intimidate, and harm a military government civilian group," she said, "is a problem."
Anthon said updating the definition of domestic terrorism does not change the fact that criminal acts can still be prosecuted. The bill passed 27-8 and now heads to the state house. In previous years, the bill has not received a hearing after being assigned to the House Judiciary and Rules Committee, but the legislation arrived much later in each of the previous two sessions.
This story has been updated to include comment from the FBI, and to correct that Wassmuth survived the 1987 bombing attempt on his life.
