When it comes to extremism in Idaho, silence is not an option. We can’t go backward

Kyle “Based Stickman” Chapman offers Idaho an illustration of what the state is up against — and how we can fight back against extremism here.

As Idaho Statesman reporter Nicole Blanchard documents as part of a new two-part series on extremism in Idaho, Chapman offers a window into the mindset of how white nationalists and extremists see Idaho as a haven for their ideals and beliefs.

“Some cry ‘ETHNOSTATE!! I say ‘Idaho,’ ” Chapman wrote in a group he created on the messaging app Telegram.

It might seem simple enough to dismiss someone like Chapman as just some fringe figure with ultra-right views.

But these attitudes and behaviors must never go unchallenged.

It’s been 20 years since Idaho defeated the neo-Nazi group Aryan Nations in North Idaho, but the state continues to fight the stereotype of being a refuge for white supremacists.

Meanwhile, such attitudes persist, with recent incidents of antisemitism in Boise and Patriot Front’s attempted disruption of a gay pride picnic in North Idaho. There even has been an infiltration of Idaho politics by figures with white nationalist views — and they’ve been legitimized within the state’s Republican Party.

It’s worth questioning why Chapman moved to Idaho from California. Why did he come here?

“Idaho is the best location in the country to weather the storm and lobby for secession,” Chapman wrote in 2020 in a message to his group on the Telegram app. “Ethnic enclave. Fight the battle from higher ground.”

In his Telegram group, he encouraged people to move to Idaho to get away from minorities, whom he referred to with racial slurs, according to the Idaho Statesman article on the impact Chapman and other extremists are having.

So how do we fight back?

We make it loud and clear to Chapman and his ilk that they’re not welcome in Idaho.

It’s time for decent, reasonable, loving Americans to have the loudest voice.

Tony Stewart, one of the founders of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations, pointed out to Blanchard that community outcry was part of what helped push the Aryan Nations out of North Idaho some 20 years ago.

We must do the same today.

If you see something, say something.

It’s going to take brave business owners, like Wendy Rose of Beardsmith Barbershop, who called out Chapman’s bad behavior and racist language, and refused him further service.

It’s going to require businesses, corporations and political parties to not only speak out, but to put their money where their mouth is and not contribute financially to those who cater to such extremists.

Politicians can’t stay silent or dance around the issue. Republican politicians seem to prevaricate when it comes to these extremists because they recognize that these people vote for them, and they want to make sure they scoop up every last vote they can.

Rather than working to keep those votes, they should ask themselves why someone like that would vote for them in the first place.

In social media posts, Chapman promoted Idaho, Montana, Utah and Wyoming as places with white, conservative demographics that would be welcoming to people with alt-right ideologies.

Vincent James, a self-described “Christian nationalist” who recently moved to North Idaho and supported Idaho Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin in her bid for governor, ominously explained his view of Idaho politics in a video posted on social media.

“If you’re a legislator here, either get in line or get out of the way, because what we’re planning on doing here in this state is inevitable,” James said.

A Department of Homeland Security official recently told McClatchy and the Statesman that Idaho has been “microtargeted” with extremist online content because of its history.

Idaho legislators recently failed to approve a license plate declaring the Gem State “Too Great for Hate.”

We cannot normalize hate, white supremacy or Christian nationalism. We cannot allow it in Idaho, not ever. We cannot go backward.

There is nothing patriotic about white nationalism, racial supremacy, imposing your religious beliefs on others or vilifying groups of people based on race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity.

Whenever and wherever we encounter such extremism and hate, it’s going to take all of us to disavow it loudly, forcefully and repeatedly.

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”

Statesman editorials are the unsigned opinion of the Idaho Statesman’s editorial board. Board members are opinion editor Scott McIntosh, opinion writer Bryan Clark, editor Chadd Cripe, newsroom editors Dana Oland and Jim Keyser and community members Johanna Jones, Maryanne Jordan and Ben Ysursa.