Two Boise women arrested for antisemitic harassment

The Boise Police Department has arrested two Boise women aged 28 and 38 for malicious harassment after an incident on the Fourth of July near 8th and Idaho in downtown Boise just after 9pm.

The two women approached a man and woman sitting on the patio of a restaurant. Then, according to BPD, the two women began "chanting and yelling antisemitic comments" directly at a man who was wearing a Kippah or Yamaka."

The argument ended as the two women walked away, but they later returned and continued to harass the victim. At one point, one of the women struck the victim's nose with her phone.

At this point, others in the area began to intervene and argue with the women, at which point police were called.

The two were arrested and booked into the Ada County Jail for their crimes.

The two were later arraigned on July 5 with their bond set at $25,000 and preliminary hearings set for July 19.

“This type of hateful behavior is unacceptable. Freedom of speech does not give anyone the right to break laws or target individuals based on their religion, race, or identity,” said Boise Police Chief Ron Winegar. “We take incidents involving hate bias very seriously and want to ensure everyone continues to feel safe and welcome in our community. We appreciate the actions taken by our officers to address the immediate issue and investigate this incident further.”

One of the women was also identified as being involved in a case involving a hotel on the 7000 block of Spectrum St, which was vandalized with a large amount of graffiti.