Cramer disputes county's trespass claims
SANDPOINT — Despite being trespassed from the Bonner County Administration Building for the alleged disruption of meetings, resident Rick Cramer maintains his innocence and does not believe he deserved to be trespassed without warning.
Cramer, along with Dave Bowman, were trespassed from the building during a budget update meeting Friday, Jan. 26, without much prior notice that they would no longer be allowed on the property.
In addition to alleged disruptive behavior at regular Tuesday commissioners’ meetings, Commissioner Luke Omodt cited emails that Bowman had sent to several county officials as the reasons for the trespass. These emails were perceived by some staff as threatening, and Omodt stated he had to put the safety of employees and residents above anything else.
When the men refused to leave, they were eventually arrested by Sandpoint Police after being placed under citizen’s arrest by Omodt. However, it is unclear whether charges were filed against the two men, who were not booked into the jail.
Despite the allegations, Cramer said he does not feel his conduct in the meetings was disruptive and does not believe Omodt’s actions are warranted.
“My comments were not disruptive,” Cramer said. “Chairman Omodt just doesn’t like what I have to say. Mr. Omodt should be humble enough to listen to the public’s viewpoints before making his decisions.”
Cramer said that during the Jan. 26 budget meeting, he had not spoken a word since the meeting began and “was respectfully seated” when he was informed he was being trespassed from the property.
“I was shocked,” he said. “I was peaceful both before and after he asked me to leave.”
Omodt held a press conference Jan. 30 to discuss the situation and outline his reasons for his decision. When Cramer watched the conference online, he said he was appalled that Omodt implied that he had “made threats and posed a safety risk to staff” — likely referencing the emails from Bowman.
“I never made a threat of any kind to him or to staff,” Cramer said. “Mr. Bowman wrote an email to the commissioners, which Mr. Omodt misinterpreted as violent. I was never consulted by Mr. Bowman before he sent that email.”
Cramer said that Omodt has unfairly lumped him in with Mr. Bowman’s actions.
He maintains that his actions at the meetings have remained non-violent, and said he finds it odd that Omodt would trespass him when Commissioner Steve Bradshaw — who has a civil protection order against him for allegedly threatening to shoot Commissioner Asia Williams — is still allowed to attend the meetings in person.
“It is ironic that Mr. Omodt excludes non-violent members of the public from commissioner meetings, when Commissioner Bradshaw has been adjudicated in a court of law of making threats of violence and the court issued a civil protection order for one year against him,” Cramer said. “Mr. Omodt doesn’t require Mr. Bradshaw to appear via Zoom. He ignores Mr. Bradshaw’s violent threats because Mr. Bradshaw agrees with him.”
Cramer maintained that Omodt — the chair of the board — needs to hear all public comments, regardless if those comments agree with his personal views or not.
“Commissioner Williams represents us, too,” he added. “The chair needs to let her agenda items be discussed and voted on — even if he doesn’t agree with them.”
The trespass order against Cramer and Bowman will remain in place for one year. They will not be allowed to enter the Administration Building until Jan. 25, 2025.
Bowman did not respond to requests for comment.