BONNER COUNTY, Idaho – An Idaho man has reached a resolution in his free speech case after a former Bonner County commissioner attempted to restrict his access to commission meetings.
In January, Dave Bowman and another man were banned from attending a meeting. Bowman was removed from the meeting on January 26th by police. He felt targeted as a former political opponent to Luke Omodt.
Bowman says he regularly attended board meetings and challenged the transparency of county leaders.
In a news conference on January 30th, former Commission Chair Luke Omodt justified his decision by citing safety concerns for the public, county employees, and the commission itself.
During his arrest, a knife and a gun were taken from Bowman. He stated that he voluntarily gave up his concealed gun to police and never made a threat.
“The emails that went back and forth after I was threatened to be removed from that first meeting were never any kind of a threat,” Bowman said. “What I said was – you people should deescalate rather than escalate – because if you escalate people have a right to defend themselves if they feel they are being assaulted.”
Commissioner Asia Williams was the only commissioner opposing the ban for Bowman. She warned her fellow commissioners in a February meeting that the ban could result in a lawsuit, arguing doing so is; “silencing the public because you don’t like hearing what they want to say.”
As part of the settlement, the commission is required to formally apologize to Bowman during their December 10th meeting.
Bowman expressed hope that others will be inspired by his story.
“So we can snivel all we want about what happens in Washington or Boise,” Bowman said. “But one person or a small group of people are highly unlikely to have any impact on what happens there – it trickles down over time into our daily life – but what happens locally is right now.”
The Bonner County Commission was contacted for comment. Tuesday’s agenda does not specifically mention Bowman, but it could be covered during the litigation portion of the meeting. The Bonner County Commission meets at 9:00 a.m.
