Woke Boise mayor tosses Appeal to Heaven flag aside like trash, raises LGBTQ flag in defiance of state law

The radical mayor of Boise, Lauren McLean, took time on Easter Sunday to crumple up an Appeal to Heaven flag like trash so she could hoist an LGBTQ flag unobstructed at city hall in direct defiance of a new Idaho law.

Earlier this month, Republican Gov. Brad Little signed into law H.B. 96, which strictly regulates the flags that counties, municipalities, and other governmental entities in Idaho may fly on public property. The law mainly permits only those flags representing the U.S., the military, the state of Idaho, schools, and Indian tribes.

Despite this new law, Boise has continued to fly the "Progressive Pride" flag, depicting the rainbow associated with non-heterosexual identities, the colors affiliated with so-called transgenderism, and black and brown stripes that pay fealty to non-white skin colors.

"We will continue flying it because we are a safe and welcoming city that values all comers," McLean said in a statement.

'Now this is a mayor. We gotta re-elect her. She stands for all the people.'

Early Sunday morning, some area activists attempted to beat McLean at her own game. They brought a ladder, positioned it on the city flagpole, then proceeded to make some changes to the flags blazing there, video showed.

For one thing, the two men placed black trash bags over the Pride flag and a flag promoting organ donation.

They also clipped to the pole an Appeal to Heaven flag made famous during the American Revolution. Because of its official association with the state of Massachusetts, the Appeal to Heaven flag does not violate H.B. 96, the Idaho statesman said.

Later that morning, undeterred by the attempts to bring Boise into compliance with the new state law, Mayor McLean and an assistant went to the flagpole and restored the flags to the way they were.

Far from passively rearranging the flags, McLean took a knife of sorts and cut part of the Appeal to Heaven flag before her assistant finished the job, tearing away the flag and the black bags covering the Pride and organ-donation flags. McLean then balled the flag up into one of the black trash bags and tossed it on the ground like garbage.

Their actions were so politically charged that the Idaho statesman criticized McLean's lack of "respect" for a flag "which has a lot of historical significance for Americans." Yet McLean was so nonchalant about it all that at one point, she paused and wished some passersby a "happy Easter."

Pam Hemphill — a rabid leftist who claims to have previously supported President Donald Trump and the MAGA agenda but who now takes every opportunity to excoriate MAGA and trumpet Democratic talking points — filmed McLean and her assistant and could barely contain her enthusiasm for their woke flag stunt.

"I am so happy. ... This is wonderful," Hemphill gushed.

"Now this is a mayor. We gotta re-elect her. She stands for all the people," Hemphill continued, even as McLean and the assistant basically ignored her.

Hemphill also characterized her detractors as "idiots" and "haters." "All you know is propaganda and hate," she said.

Mayor McLean has managed to flout H.B. 96 so brazenly because the law is basically toothless. Even Ada County Sheriff Matt Clifford, whose office has been bombarded with complaints about the flag mess in Boise, has admitted there's little he can do.

"The law, as it stands, doesn’t provide any enforcement mechanism," Clifford said in a statement posted to social media.

Clifford further noted that criminal laws generally "apply to individuals, not institutions," but H.B. 96 applies mainly to local governments and government bodies.

Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador, a Republican, also acknowledged that "the law does not allow for criminal prosecution in this situation."

"I cannot prosecute conduct that is not a crime, and I will not distort or stretch Idaho law to invent one. What I can do — and am actively doing — is reviewing every available civil legal option under Idaho law in response to this situation," he added.

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