APut 05/07 1330 Mock Lynching COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho (AP) -- Two mothers are protesting a pr

APut 05/07 1330 Mock Lynching


   COEUR  D'ALENE,  Idaho  (AP)  --  Two mothers are protesting a
proposed mock lynching for Coeur d'Alene's centennial celebration
later this month, telling the City Council it is inappropriate.

   "I can't imagine anything I'd like less to have my  3-year-old
watch than a mock lynching.  It's obscene," said Janie Ebright.

   Ms.   Ebright  and  her sister-in-law, Kathy Holmes, said they
did not want their children to play vigilante with other children
because they were copying the behavior of adults.

   "There's so much they can act  out  that  will  glorify  Coeur
d'Alene.   We've  got  enough problems with our reputation," said
Ms.  Ebright, alluding to the city's work to  overturn  notoriety
surrounding  activities  of the white supremacist Church of Jesus
Christ Christian (Aryan Nations), which has its  headquarters  at
nearby Hayden Lake.

   Ms.   Ebright said a mock gunfight would be tolerable, but not
a mock lynching. "There was a time when people took their kids to
see a hanging.  I don't think I would have done that."

   Steve McCrea, the  lone  council  member  voting  against  the
proposal at an earlier meeting, agreed.

   He  said such theatrics would not reflect the sense of justice
the community is attempting to nurture.

   Mayor Ray Stone told Ms.  Ebright and Ms.  Holmes that  McCrea
held a minority position on the council.

   "Minorities are  encouraged  in  Coeur  d'Alene," Ms.  Ebright
responded at Tuesday's meeting.

   The council agreed to discuss the mock lynching at  its  joint
meeting with  the Centennial Committee next Monday.  The event is
being planned as part of a proposed Wild  West  show  during  the
centennial celebration on May 23 and 24.

   The  show  would include a robbery and a gunfight, culminating
with the robbers' hanging.

	Stone said public response to the idea has been split.
   
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