COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho — Several residents at Tuesday night's Coeur d'Alene City Council meeting asked the council to take further action in addressing the racial incident directed to the Utah Women's Basketball team. One resident said while she appreciated the apology from city officials, they need to be proactive to prevent incidents like this from happening in the future.
One person took the stand with the opposite opinion, saying he didn't believe the incident happened due to lack of evidence. Council responded to that statement saying they, in fact, knew something had happened.
"Just because you don't know about a video, doesn't mean something didn't occur. A young woman certainly doesn't have to have a video to prove themselves that something occurred," Councilmember Christie Wood said.
The executive director of the Human Rights Education Institute told council people have been reporting more hate incidents year after year. Some examples of reported incidents include stolen pride flags, someone calling a child the 'N-word,' harassment and threats.
In 2022, the institute recorded 25 reports. In 2023, that number increased to 39. In the first three months of this year, the institute received 30. Councilmember Wood said the community has done a good job of dispelling hate, but some residents believe they need to do more.
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