Lauren McLean, mayor of Boise, Idaho, said she faced “real and serious” threats during her tenure, which was marked by violent demonstrations against the Covid-19 restrictions she and other government officials have put in place.
In a nearly 900-word statement shared by her office Thursday, Ms McLean, a Democrat, said she faced torch and pitchfork protests outside her home and “sinister foiled plots” against her. Ms McLean said she discussed the threats publicly because the brutal intimidation forced other officials to step down from their posts.
“I understand my decision to leave public office because I still feel intense fear, frustration and helplessness as I watch my two children calmly accept news of threats thwarted against me and learn that they, too, have been targeted and tracked online. “. Ms McLean said in a statement.
Ms McLean said that after consulting with her family, she decided to remain in her post. She also said she made changes to her professional and personal life, including traveling with security, stopping her early morning runs, and sharing information about her family online less.
Ms McLean did not specifically mention the coronavirus in the statement, although several protests she described taking place outside her home in 2020 were against Covid restrictions.
Boise lifts the ban on wearing masks in city buildings and lifts restrictions on the size of gatherings on Monday. The changes follow a significant drop in Covid cases, hospitalizations and deaths in Idaho in recent weeks.
In Idaho, coronavirus vaccines and pandemic public health regulations have been particularly contentious. According to the New York Times database, only 53 percent of Idahoans are fully vaccinated, one of the lowest rates in the country.
In August 2020, dozens of unmasked protesters, some of them armed, stormed the chamber of the state House of Representatives, pushing back state soldiers to protest pandemic-related laws. Among them was Ammon Bundy, who led an armed confrontation with federal agents in Oregon in 2016. In the Oregon case, Mr. Bundy was acquitted of conspiracy with the federal government and possession of a weapon. He was convicted of trespassing during an Idaho protest, but returned to the Idaho Capitol building multiple times.
In December 2020, Ms McLean and the Boise police ended a virtual meeting held by the city’s public health agency due to concerns about protests outside the agency’s headquarters and the homes of at least three of its board members.
Ms McLean said in a statement that she tried not to draw attention to the “militia-related” crowds gathered outside her own home, but wanted to describe threats against her and her family so that other public figures facing harassment would feel less isolated.
Ms. McLean, the first woman elected mayor of Boise, was a member of the Boise City Council from 2011 to 2019, when she won the mayoral election. She took office in January 2020 and has been dominated by the pandemic for most of her tenure.