Newsbreak

“Headlined by moderate members of the business and law enforcement communities, Idaho Leaders United is a statewide coalition created to denounce violent political extremism, bigotry and discrimination.

Founding members of the ILU are prominent local and regional names: BVA Development CEO Tommy Ahlquist; Saint Alphonsus President and CEO Odette Bolano; retired Ada County Sheriff Gary Raney; retired Brigadier General, Idaho Air National Guard Bill Shawver; Gross Farms CEO Doug Gross; and Ball Ventures CEO Cortney Liddiard.

“Extremism is not the Idaho way,” Raney said during a press conference at the Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial near downtown Boise on Thursday. “Idaho Leaders United will be a megaphone for the quiet majority of Idahoans who don’t want to see our state become a haven for hate. In law enforcement we know it takes good neighbors to keep a community safe. Public safety is at its strongest and best when a community comes together and joins in the standards that we live by.”

Raney made an apparent reference to Ammon Bundy, the anti-government activist and former gubernatorial candidate who’s currently resisting being served papers in a legal case by the Gem County Sheriff pertaining to his role in a legal dispute with St. Luke’s, when he and his supporters disrupted operations with a series of protests last year.

Bundy is a native of Nevada who currently resides in Emmett.

“Only miles from here, an extremist is spreading lies, threatening law enforcement and disregarding the rule of law that has made our country what it is,” Raney said. “Those actions, that claim to be liberty, undermine justice and rally evil intent.”