COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho — Officials with the city of Coeur d'Alene responded Tuesday to reported racial abuse an out-of-state women's basketball team faced while staying in the city for the NCAA Tournament.
Allegations surfaced over the weekend that the Utah Women’s Basketball team faced racial abuse while staying in Coeur d’Alene for the NCAA Tournament. The alleged abuse forced the team to move hotels. On Tuesday morning, Coeur d'Alene city leaders held a press conference at the Coeur d'Alene Resort, where they denounced the incident and said it does not represent what Idaho stands for.
According to Tony Stewart, the secretary of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations, all information about the incident did not come from law enforcement or any university member. Instead, Stewart said it came from a "reliable third party source."
The Incident
Last week, the Utah Women's Basketball team and the University of California Irvine Women's Basketball team stayed at the Coeur d'Alene Resort for the NCAA Tournament games in Spokane, Washington. The NCAA approved teams staying in Coeur d'Alene because the hotels in Spokane were full due to the city being a predetermined site for the first and second rounds of the men’s tournament. Hotel rooms had to be blocked for those participating teams well in advance of the tournaments.
On Thursday, March 21, Stewart said the two women's basketball teams were walking to dinner in downtown Coeur d'Alene when a truck with a confederate flag stopped and began yelling racial slurs, including the N-word. After dinner, the teams were walking back when the same driver came back with reinforcements and continued harassing the players.
The driver was reportedly revving his engine while yelling racial slurs at the players, which Stewart said appeared to be a threat towards the players.
Stewart said the players came back to the hotel and told the basketball staff what happened.
When some of the men's teams were eliminated from the tournament, the NCAA and Gonzaga held those room blocks after the men’s teams vacated and offered to transition Utah and the other team staying in Idaho to the Spokane hotels.
Both schools accepted the offer to move and were relocated to Spokane.
City of Coeur d'Alene Responds
On Tuesday morning, Coeur d'Alene city leaders held a press conference to respond to the incident. Stewart was joined by Coeur d'Alene Mayor Jim Hammond and Coeur d'Alene Resort General Manager Brian Reagan.
Hammond said the city of Coeur d'Alene strongly condemns the actions of the suspected individuals and expresses regret and sorrow to the university and the staff.
"All of us stand with you. We embrace you, we celebrate your accomplishments and strongly denounce any hateful treatment against you," Hammond said.
To watch the full press conference, use the player below:
Community Reaction
Utah’s Head Coach Lynne Roberts spoke out about the incident after Monday's games. She said her team was the target of racial harassment that made them feel unsafe. In her postgame press conference, she said, “You know, we had several instances of some kind of racial hate crimes towards our program and incredibly upsetting for all of us. For our players... No one knew how to handle it, you know? And it was really upsetting, and for our players and staff to not feel safe in NCAA Tournament environment. It's messed up. But yeah, that's what happened and it was a distraction and upsetting and unfortunate."
Idaho Gov. Brad Little also released a statement on the incident on Tuesday afternoon, stating in part: "There is no place for racism, hate or bigotry in the great State of Idaho. We condemn bullies who seek to harass and silence others."
Gonzaga released a statement a statement about the incident on Monday night. It read in part: “We are frustrated and deeply saddened to know that what should always be an amazing visitor and championship experience was in any way compromised by this situation, for it in no way reflects the values, standards, and beliefs to which we at Gonzaga University hold ourselves accountable.”
Residents in Coeur d'Alene also expressed their shock toward the alleged racial abuse and want people to know North Idaho is not a place where racism happens.
“I don't think it should happen anywhere. We're all equal," resident Marcie Gillespie said.
Gillespie has lived in Coeur d’Alene for more than 30 years. She’s a manager of a business on Sherman Avenue. She says she sees many people out and about at night and no one ever has to be worried.
“I was kind of embarrassed that this would happen downtown," said Junior Mujtaba, the general manager at Crafted Tap House and Kitchen in downtown Coeur d’Alene. His restaurant hosted the team on Thursday.
"This is time when tourists come into town. And there’s nobody here. So to have 90 over at Crafted was great business so I was really excited. And to hear how they got treated was really sad and embarrassing," Mujtaba said.
More to Every Story
Coeur d'Alene city officials said they are investigating this incident as a potential hate crime, and even getting the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) involved.
But what constitutes a hate crime under Idaho law?
Using a racial slur is protected speech under the First Amendment of the United State Constitution; however, that changes if someone uses such language specifically to intimidate or harass someone. In Idaho, this law is called malicious harassment.
A 2022 Idaho State Police (ISP) report shows hate crimes are subjective to the motives of the offenders. The law states the offender's motive must be malicious and intended to intimidate or harass a person based on race, religion, ancestry or nationality. It does not protect people of different abilities, sexual orientation or gender.
Idaho law enforcement investigated 40 hate crimes in 2022, according to data from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Of those, 28 were motivated by race.
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