BOISE, Idaho (AP) – More than 1,000 protesters gathered Monday in Boise during a visit by President Joe Biden to protest his plan to control the coronavirus pandemic, last year’s presidential election and a series of other issues.
Biden visited Boise as part of a swing through three Western states to promote the use his administration used of a war law to help prepare for wildfires, analyze forest damage, and boost their economic agenda. He arrived at the Boise Interagency Fire Department Monday morning to meet with fire officials and Idaho Gov. Brad Little, a Republican.
Lisa Mitchell, 65, of Middleton, Idaho, said she ran to protest because she does not believe the 2020 election is valid and believes she won former President Donald Trump.
“I’m here to support Trump and stand up for freedom,” said Mitchell, who carried a sticker “Trump won in 2020.”
Biden, Mitchell added, is “there illegally.”
While some of former President Donald Trump’s staunchest supporters believe he continues to claim that the presidential election was stolen, there is no evidence of widespread fraud and Republican and Democratic election officials certified the election as valid. Courts have also repeatedly rejected lawsuits claiming the election was tainted.
About half a dozen Boise police officers were stationed at the entrance to the Interagency Fire Department and other police officers patrolled the area on motorcycles. Police estimated that the number of protesters was at least 1,000 at its peak. The complex that houses the center is generally closed to the public and protesters gathered outside its entrance.
Many protesters carried explanatory-laden signs or waved U.S. flags hung upside down as a sign of distress.
Biden also planned to visit Sacramento, California and Denver during the two-day trip and will campaign in California for Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who faces a by-election on Tuesday.
His administration last month activated the Defense Production Act to increase supplies from a U.S. Forest Service fire equipment supplier.
The activity of forest fires has been increasingly extreme throughout the West. Scientists say climate change has made the region much warmer and drier in recent decades and will continue to make forest fires and the climate more extreme and destructive.
Among the protesters was Chris Burns of Boise, who said he attended the protest because “I’m against everything Biden is in favor of.”
Burns said he was irritated by the president’s new vaccine terms for 100 million Americans announced last Thursday.
The vaccination requirement says all employers with more than 100 workers must demand that they be vaccinated or get tested weekly for the virus. Healthcare workers receiving Medicare or federal Medicaid will also need to be fully vaccinated, as well as employees of the executive branch and contractors doing business with the federal government.
“He’s acting like a dictator,” Burns said of Biden.
Idaho has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the United States and the state’s health care system is in danger of flaring, as the delta variant causes COVID-19 case numbers to skyrocket.
One in 210 Idaho residents tested positive for COVID-19 over the past week and the average number of new daily cases has increased nearly 70% in the past two weeks.
Idaho hit a record high with 613 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 on Wednesday, according to the latest figures available from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.
Last week, state officials gave northern Idaho hospitals permission to operate under “crisis care standards,” a health care rationing measure. intended to ensure that scarce resources, such as hospital beds, are given first to those most likely to benefit from treatment or survive.
But opposition to the use of masks, social distancing, and vaccination remains high across the conservative and overwhelmingly Republican state.
“I don’t think anyone should be forced to put anything on their body,” Michelle Ballon of Caldwell said while holding a sign that forced vaccines are “medical violations.”
Several far-right groups took advantage of Biden’s trip as a way to show his opposition to his administration.
Among them were far-right Idaho Liberty Dogs, whose members often protest heavily armed events while wearing militia-style clothing. The group had promoted a “Not welcoming Joe Biden in Boise” protest. Miste Gardner-Karlfeldt, director of the Idaho Health Freedom vaccine group, also urged fans to protest Biden’s arrival.
Some members of the “People’s Rights” organization founded by anti-government activist and far-right government candidate Ammon Bundy also said they planned to protest Biden’s arrival. Tammy Nichols, an Idaho GOP representative, urged residents to attend a “Trump Rally” at the National Interagency Fire Center.
And Dan McKnight, a military veteran and founder of “Bring Our Troops Home,” an organization that advocated the end of the war in Afghanistan, promoted a protest called “Biden Killed Americans.”
Several of the GOP’s governing candidates in Idaho also took advantage of Biden’s trip to try to stand out in the crowded camp.
Ed Humphreys, a GOP gubernatorial candidate who has made the fight against vaccine warrants part of his campaign, announced last week that he would host a “Traitor Joe is not welcome at the Idaho rally.”
Idaho Lieutenant Governor Janice McGeachin, who is also running for president and has defended masking rules and other efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus, asked Little, the governor, to “disinvite” the president.
Little also announced last week that he was working with the state attorney general to combat the mandate of the Biden vaccine through the legal system.
During the briefing at the National Interagency Fire Center, Biden said global warming is a serious problem and told wildlife firefighters that the nation should make sure they have the equipment needed to fight it. against fires.
“It’s not a Democratic thing, it’s not a Republican thing, it’s a meteorological thing,” Biden said.
Biden also talked about raising federal firefighters ’salaries and other strategies for dealing with wildfires.
Little said the group should address what federal and other partners can do to build a more resilient ecosystem and prevent the dangers firefighters face.
“We have a lot of work to do,” Little said.
Biden said he once applied for a job at the Idaho-based forest products company Boise Cascade because he and his late first wife Neilia wanted to move to Idaho.
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This story has been updated to correct the slogan of a sticker worn by Lisa Mitchell. The sticker says, “Trump won 2020” and not “Trump Women 2020.”