Idaho official exits meeting in tears to check on kids after anti-mask protesters surround home

A county official from Idaho was left in tears after finding out that anti-mask protesters had surrounded her house and were banging on the doors as her two preteen sons were alone inside. Ada County Commissioner Diana Lachiondo was attending a virtual conference when her son called in tears to let her know that people were banging on their house door, reported People. She was at the office at the Ada County Courthouse while her two young children were alone at home. She was attending a Central District Health board meeting when she got the call from her son. The video conference had only just begun when she interrupted the meeting to appraise the others of the situation and asked for permission to go home to her children. "Can I interrupt you for just a moment?" said Lachiondo while getting emotional. "My 12-year-old son is home by himself right now, and there are protesters banging outside the door. I’m going to go home and make sure he’s okay, and then I'll reconnect with you once I'm there." A pediatrician on the meeting, David Peterman, added, "I'm a father, and that's just unbelievable." 

You can watch Lachiondo tear up exit the meeting at 4.30 in the following video.

The other participants of the video conference were just as shocked. "Okay, Diana. Go ahead, and bless you," said an official in the meeting. Another official on the video conference also confirmed that protesters were outside their house as well. Later, Lachiondo wrote about the incident on her Facebook page. She said there were "armed protesters" outside her home "yelling, banging, firing air horns, amplifying sound clips from Scarface, accusing me of tyranny and cowering inside." The video of her exiting the call conference showed Lachiondo exiting the meeting. "I wasn’t actually inside the house: I was taking the call from my office at the Ada County Courthouse. But my two sons, ages 12 and 8, and my mother (who was out taking our dog on a short walk) were," posted the official on Wednesday. "And as many of you saw last night, my son called me in tears at the beginning of last night’s meeting."

Lachiondo said she feared for her family. "I am sad. I am tired. I fear that, in my choosing to hold public office, my family has too-often paid the price. Though I was born and raised in Idaho and have chosen to raise my own family here, I increasingly don’t recognize this place," wrote the Ada County Commissioner. People have turned hostile after the local government had asked people to wear masks to fight the spread of the virus. "There is an ugliness and cruelty in our national rhetoric that is reaching a fevered pitch here at home, and that should worry us all," wrote Lachiondo.

She highlighted that the rhetoric against masks and social distancing is being viewed by the majority as "tools of oppression" rather than as a way to stop the spread of the virus. The right-wing supporters and conservatives, including President Trump, have often claimed measures to implement social distancing and mandating masks as an impingement of personal rights. Earlier this month, more than 400 anti-maskers convened at the Central District Health offices in Boise, Idaho, to protest a meeting deciding on more mandates to combat the spread of Coronavirus. The protests are coming at a time America is recording the highest Coraonvirus deaths. On Wednesday, America recorded more than 3,000 deaths — the highest since the pandemic started. 

The meeting at the Central District Health offices ended early as protesters gathered outside the building. Russ Duke, district director for CDH, called on the public to not take matters into their own hands. Duke said that they "appreciate the public's interest and investment in this process" but "simply ask that those who may disagree with these difficult discussion points and decisions do so in a way that is respectful and does not endanger our staff, board of health members, and our law enforcement, all who are critical in this response."

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