This is what extremist rhetoric leads to: A bullet with Boise mayor’s name on it

The sentencing this week of a Greenleaf man who was arrested with bullets labeled with threats against Boise Mayor Lauren McLean, among others, shows how dangerous, hyperbolic rhetoric is causing some on the far right to become “radicalized extremists.”

Erik K. Ehrlin, 33, was sentenced to 6½ years in prison by a federal judge in Boise. He pleaded guilty to counts of unlawful possession of a firearm and assault on a federal officer in January.

Prosecutors said Ehrlin, whom U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit aptly called a “radicalized extremist,” discussed mass violence; wrote avowing his loyalty to a right-wing extremist ideology; threatened federal agents; declared himself sovereign from federal jurisdiction; and was found with four firearms, tactical gear, heavy-duty zip ties, duct tape, rubber gloves, a balaclava face mask, high-capacity magazines, a bag of ammunition, and bullets with the words “Die McLean” written on them, as well as expletives before the words “feds” and “BLM.”

This is the result of the vitriolic political discourse we have today, in which you vilify, demonize and threaten those with whom you disagree.

We’ve seen for too long the far right use hyperbole and end-of-the-world rhetoric to talk about “leftists,” “statists,” “globalists,” “Marxists” and “socialists.”

“The Democrats are trying to destroy America.”

“Democrats are trying to create a socialist state.”

“The left” is indoctrinating kids, “sexualizing” them in school. They’re taking homosexuality and “trying to shove it down our throats.”

Such hyperbolic rhetoric hit a crescendo during the coronavirus pandemic, as the far right ludicrously equated mask mandates and contact tracing with Nazi Germany and the Holocaust, in which 6 million Jews were killed.

And it gained its massive momentum, of course, under professional hate purveyor Donald Trump, whose many transgressions include declining to condemn white supremacists, telling the Proud Boys to “stand by” and letting the violent mob that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, know, “We love you.”

Unfortunately, some people, like Ehrlin, fall for all of this problematic rhetoric and become radicalized.

Remember “pizzagate,” a conspiracy that Hillary Clinton and Democrats were running a child sex-trafficking ring out of a Washington pizzeria that led to a vigilante gunman showing up at the restaurant with an assault rifle and opening fire?

Those words, historically reserved for the late-night far-right shock jocks like Michael Savage, have now trickled into our everyday politics and coarsening discourse.

In Ehrlin’s case, he could disagree with McLean’s policies about clean energy, homelessness, affordable housing or the Boise City Council’s declaration about not enforcing an abortion ban.

But it is way too far with threats of violence.

And Ehrlin doesn’t even live in Boise. He lives in Greenleaf, in Canyon County. The mayor of Boise has no effect on Ehrlin’s life.

But McLean has been incessantly attacked from Day One by far-right groups all over the Treasure Valley, such as the Idaho Liberty Dogs and the Idaho Freedom Foundation, including an ugly — and ultimately unsuccessful — campaign to have her recalled from office.

Remember the attack ads against Ada County Commissioner Diana Lachiondo, a Democrat who lost to far-right Republican Ryan Davidson two years ago?

The ads, posted by political action committee Conservative Citizens for Thoughtful Growth, called Lachiondo “dangerous, radical, extreme,” for her “crazy green policies” and “radical social agenda.”

The PAC eventually took the ads down over safety concerns for Lachiondo.

It’s one thing to disagree on a policy position. It’s quite another to foment hate, vitriol and threats of violence.

The new chairperson of the Idaho Republican Party, Dorothy Moon, vowed to act with civility — and then turned around and used violent rhetoric when talking about the other side of the aisle.

“We have to make sure with the Democrats coming at us with full force that we have our barriers up, our guns loaded and ready to keep this state free,” Moon said after she was elected party chair.

“Confrontational politics” has devolved into something undemocratic and ugly.

People in leadership positions, like Moon, need to recognize the effect their words can have on their followers.

The “locked-and-loaded” rhetoric of the Republican convention was disturbing and incendiary. Whether intended or not, those words have the power to radicalize people, and this radicalization gives agency to extremists who feel empowered to show up armed at someone’s front door, threaten public officials or write their name on a bullet casing.

We can disagree about policy, but we must not let those disagreements incite violence.

Fortunately, Ehrlin was caught, prosecuted and sentenced.

But how many others like him are out there?

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.