Several advocacy groups in Idaho this week are condemning Republican members of the state’s House Business Committee for allowing public testimony from a man who appeared before the committee in brownface and has previously engaged in racist and antisemitic demonstrations throughout the state.
The man, far-right demonstrator David Pettinger, was initially stopped from testifying before the committee in broken Spanish while wearing brownface makeup and clothing appearing to stereotype Latinos, with handcuffs dangling from his wrist. He appeared at Monday’s hearing as the committee was evaluating HB 704, a bill that would require businesses in the state to verify employees’ legal status and work authorization.
Shortly after Pettinger began speaking — calling the committee’s vice chair “El Jefe” and referring to other members of the committee as “amigos” — Democratic Rep. Steve Berch called for a point of order, telling Pettinger, “This is not performance theater here” and asking for “straight testimony.”
The committee’s vice chair, GOP Rep. Josh Wheeler, then allowed Pettinger to continue, asking for “straight testimony” and threatening to move on to the next speaker if Pettinger did not comply.
Pettinger, in Spanish, said “yes” and asked if he could continue speaking in the language.
The committee then entered a closed, or “at ease,” session, where cameras monitoring the hearing were cut off. After several minutes, the hearing continued and lawmakers allowed Pettinger to continue testifying while wearing brownface and his costume, though they asked him to continue in English only.
Pettinger spoke for about a minute in the public hearing, ending his time by telling the lawmakers, “This bill is a good bill. I was looking forward to giving you some entertainment. And I think you would have enjoyed that testimony substantially more. But considering that I don’t want to end up in these handcuffs again from your friends in the Idaho State Patrol in the back, I’ll just leave it at that.”
In an interview, Berch, the Democratic state legislator who first objected to Pettinger’s testimony, told NBC News that he was supportive of the committee’s decision to enter an at-ease session to discuss how to handle Pettinger’s testimony.
Berch said he had to leave the at-ease session for a personal matter, and when he returned he was surprised to see Pettinger testifying in costume and brownface, albeit in English.
“It would not be the decision that I endorsed,” Berch told NBC News. “I would have insisted that he should be removed from the committee room and asked to remove his brownface and costume.”
Reached for comment by NBC News on Thursday, Wheeler pointed to comments he made Wednesday to the Idaho Statesman when asked whether lawmakers in the at-ease session discussed whether to ask Pettinger to remove his brownface.
“That would have been good, frankly,” said Wheeler, who was first elected in 2022. “If I had more time, and the presence of mind, I would have preferred that.”
Berch added that the situation was complicated because it was Wheeler’s first time serving as acting chair of the committee. The committee’s chair, GOP state Rep. Jordan Redman, was prohibited from serving in that capacity because the committee was evaluating a bill he sponsored.
“We had a unique situation here,” Berch said, adding that Wheeler, a two-term state representative, “had never been a chair before and had never been in a situation like this before.”
Wheeler, Berch said, has been publicly criticized since Tuesday’s incident for laughing at Pettinger.
“I know he had been kind of criticized for laughing,” Berch said. “He has since said that it was nervous laughter, and I believe him.”
Pettinger has a history of racist and antisemitic demonstrations in Idaho.
Last year, Pettinger wore brownface in a video portraying former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who is now running for governor of Ohio. In 2021, he was arrested at the Idaho statehouse on an unrelated warrant after he testified wearing a large, yellow Star of David badge. He also appeared at protests against public health orders in the state during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Pettinger did not immediately respond to a request for comment submitted through his website.
Berch said that Pettinger and his often offensive forms of demonstration are “pretty well known” to state legislators, but that Wheeler “is relatively new and I don’t know that he was necessarily aware of Pettinger” before Monday’s incident.
Still, Berch said he was grateful that Wheeler recognized that Pettinger’s testimony was out of place and allowed him to call a point of order.
“We all have an opportunity to weigh in if we think it’s outside the bounds of appropriate decorum. I’m thankful that the committee chair and other members felt that we should decide that we should step aside and figure that out as opposed to letting [Pettinger] to continue without restraint,” Berch said.
Leaders from the state’s ACLU chapter, the regional Planned Parenthood organization and the Idaho Queer Caucus later condemned Pettinger’s testimony as racist and said that by allowing his testimony to continue, the committee’s leaders violated the committee’s rules for testimony, which say that “demonstrations, applause, clapping, and signage are prohibited during a committee meeting.”
“The committee’s decision to allow a demonstrative and openly racist display in direct violation of the statehouse’s own rules represents a profound failure of leadership and accountability,” Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates regional political director Mistie DelliCarpini-Tolman said in a statement, adding later: “Elected leaders are sworn to represent all constituents, no matter their race, culture, or background. What happened in this committee was flat-out racist and unacceptable.”
In a separate statement, Ruby Mendez-Mota, the interim advocacy director of the ACLU of Idaho, said, “We remind lawmakers that they represent all of their constituents, even those with dark skin, even those who don’t speak English as a first language, even those they disagree with; and we remind them it is their duty to hold themselves accountable to a high standard, or we will do it for you. What this committee did here is support racist behavior, and it’s absolutely unacceptable.”
Nikson Mathews, chair of the Idaho Queer Caucus, a statewide network of LGBTQ+ leaders, organizers and community members, in a separate statement called the committee’s decision to allow Pettinger to testify a “blatant act of racism.”
Mathews testified against HB 704 before the House Business Committee, minutes after Pettinger appeared. After making their comments regarding the bill, Mathews objected to Pettinger’s testimony.
“I have to say what happened today is unacceptable. That man should have been removed from this room. There are people who are watching this,” Mathews said, before Wheeler cut them off.
“Mr. Mathews, that’s enough. I’m going to ask you to please take your seat,” Wheeler said. “We handled that in the way we best saw fit. Thank you for your time. Thanks for being here.”
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