Advocacy groups are criticizing some lawmakers on the House Business Committee for letting a man dressed in brownface testify at the legislature on Monday.
During public comments for a bill mandating employers verify the immigration status of their employees, far right agitator David Pettinger approached the podium wearing brownface make-up, sunglasses and a wig. His outfit also included handcuffs, a colorful shirt and a large turquoise necklace. In a fake Spanish accent, he pretended not to speak English.
“El Jefe, Amigos,” Pettinger said, before introducing someone he called his interpreter. “No hablo inglés.”
Representative Steve Berch (D-Boise) quickly interrupted.
“This is this is not performance theater here,” Berch said. “If we can please have straight testimony. Otherwise, I don't think this is appropriate form of testimony for this committee here.“
The committee was put at ease and after a short unrecorded break, Pettinger was allowed to continue his testimony, this time without the accent, but still in full brownface.
“I was looking forward to giving you some entertainment, and I think that you would have enjoyed that testimony substantially more,” he said as he ended his remarks.
A few minutes later, Idaho Democratic Queer Caucus chair Nikson Mathews testified against the bill and condemned Pettinger’s actions.
“I have to say what happened today is unacceptable,” Mathews said at the end of their testimony. “That man should have been removed from this room.”
“That's enough,” Vice Chair Josh Wheeler interrupted, “I'm going to ask you to please take your seat. We handled that in the way that we best saw fit.”
In a press release sent Tuesday, the ACLU of Idaho, Planned Parenthood and the Idaho Queer Caucus described Pettinger’s behavior as an “obscene mockery of Latinos in Idaho.”
The organizations also called for the committee members to be held accountable and called the testimony “a clear violation of the statehouse’s rules of decorum.”
“Allowing a racist demonstration in an official hearing is abhorrent conduct from an elected leader and deeply damaging to the integrity of the House as a legislative body,” wrote Planned Parenthood’s Mistie DelliCarpini-Tolman. “Elected leaders are sworn to represent all constituents, no matter their race, culture, or background. What happened in this committee was flat out racist and unacceptable.”
Vice Chair Wheeler did not respond to a request for comment by the time this story was published.
Correction: A previous version of this story misidentified Vice Chair Josh Wheeler as Jason.
