COEUR D’ ALENE, Idaho – It has been a tough 2024 for Coeur d’ Alene’s public image. A NCAA women’s basketball team was verbally attacked with racial epithets in March, followed by a group of Indigenous teenagers being similarly harassed over Memorial Day weekend. Coeur d’Alene City Council will address these incidents with an ordinance proposal on July 2.
According to a statement released by the City of Coeur d’Alene, the city council is considering a new municipal code that would designate disorderly conduct or malicious injury targeted at someone because of their race, gender identity or sexual orientation as a separate offense.
The language of the ordinance explicitly mentions the NCAA women’s basketball team incident as a motivating factor for designating racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic or transphobic attacks as hate crimes.
Mayor Jim Hammond, who has held two separate press conferences about hate incidents in Coeur d’Alene since January, highlighted the potential for the ordinance to protect civil rights.
“It is imperative that the City of Coeur d’Alene does everything possible to protect the rights of all individuals,” Hammond said.
The full language of the proposed ordinance is attached below.
