COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho — Coeur d'Alene City Council unanimously approved a new hate crime ordinance that adds a new chapter to the municipal code creating a separate offense if someone commits a current offense.
City Council says the chapter will create a separate offense "if a person commits a current offense, such as malicious injury to property and disorderly conduct, because of the victim’s actual or perceived race, color, creed, religion, ancestry, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical or mental disability, or national origin."
The City Attorney says a big part of having this new ordinance is to make visitors feel welcome after those incidents put the city in a bad light.
"We want people to feel safe here, and people said they did not feel safe in Coeur d'Alene, so we wanted to do something to show that we took this seriously," Randall Adams, city attorney for the City of Coeur d'Alene, said.
This comes following two incidents of racial harassment in the City of Coeur d'Alene within the last five months. The first one happened in March when members of the University of Utah women's basketball team faced racial abuse when a truck with a confederate flag stopped and began yelling racial slurs, including the N-word, at the team.
The second came two months later when a group of Tribal School students were subjected to racial harassment in McEuen Park.
According to Tuesday night's Coeur d'Alene City Council agenda, anyone who violates the code "shall be guilty of a misdemeanor," including "any punishment for conviction of the underlying crime."
The agenda also says in addition, anyone who violates the code shall be ineligible for any City license, permit or activity for up to a period of three years.
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