Man says he posted anti-Obama posters

SANDPOINT — A Bonner County man has come forward to claim responsibility for posting images depicting President Barack Obama in Nazi regalia on the doors of three local schools.

Matt Hathaway, 33, said he posted the images at Washington Elementary, Farmin Stidwell and Sandpoint High School on the morning of Sep. 8 to protest the president’s nationwide address to students.

“I believe that if Mr. Obama can contact our kids any time he chooses, I should have the right to go ahead and place what I feel on the school grounds,” Hathaway said in remarks aired on KPND radio.

The posters, which where approximately 8 1/2 inches by 11 inches in size, likened Obama to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, according to Lake Pend Oreille School District Superintendent Dick Cvitanich.

“They had a picture of him in a Nazi uniform,” Cvitanich said.

“They had a profile shot of President Obama, Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler … they had him holding up a Nazi flag. It said ‘Sieg heil, herr Obama’. Then there was another thing written that said ‘Obama’s brown shirts are coming.’”

Cvitanich said police were notified about the incident and the posters were taken down before any students arrived at school. The Sandpoint Police Department investigated the report but was unable to find a culprit until Hathaway came to the station last week to claim responsibility.

“We were pretty much at a dead end on where we were with it, and that due to the fact that very few people knew what was going on, again, its seems pretty interesting that all of the sudden I’ve got somebody who shows up on a doorstep saying, ‘Hey, I did this and I’m sorry,’” Chief Mark Lockwood said.

A former Bonner County Sheriff’s deputy, Hathaway resigned in 2006 after accusing the department misconduct.

Although Hathaway claims he had the right to put up the posters, Lockwood said the legality of posting images on school property has been decided by the nation’s highest court.

“That’s been vetted at the Supreme Court level and that’s not correct,” Lockwood said.

Despite his confession, the school district has elected not to pursue criminal charges against Hathaway, according to Lockwood. Given the evidence, Lockwood said Hathaway could have been charged with trespassing.

Cvitanich would not comment on the legal aspect of the incident, but said the district’s actions are in line with its policy toward unauthorized postings.

“We’re a school district, we’re not the police department,” he said. “We’re governed by board policies and, as such, our policies don’t imply that someone is going to run afoul of the law. My guess is that we’ll see other postings on our doors that have nothing to do with politics — people might be advertising something else — we want to be mindful that it needs to be treated the same way.”

In Friday’s broadcast, Hathaway said he was told that if he apologized to the school board, they would not pursue criminal charges. Hathaway said he would not take the deal and is willing to take the case to trail.

The Bonner County Human Rights Task Force released a statement Monday condemning Hathaway’s actions and asking the school district to pursue criminal charges.

“The Task Force is shocked and sickened that a former member of the sheriff’s department would consider carrying out a heinous act of hatred, racism, and disrespect toward our highest elected official, particularly in school buildings,” the statement reads. “We are saddened that Mr. Hathaway felt the need to post the distorted and misrepresentative image.”