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America as we know it from the westerns still exists. The northwest of the United States remains a fascinating and unique place. A new promised land for tens of thousands of Americans. Still no reception. Yeah. You guys look at all the cows on the mountains. For Spencer, Alexandra, and their two children, this is a big day. He's a surgeon, she's a photographer, and they're moving to one of the least known parts of the country. WE DID IT. WOOHOO!
IDAHO, A RURAL STATE WITH A population of only 1.8 million. Nothing like the Californian coast where the family used to live. In San Francisco, all we see are tall buildings and houses everywhere. So, not a lot of breathing room in the city. And in here, we're going to have a lot more space. And a lot more mountains. I've missed the mountains. Alexandra and Spencer aren't the only ones who moved here to enjoy the spectacular scenery. In 10 years, Idaho's population has grown by 20%. The couple bought a house in a residential suburb on the outskirts of Idaho's capital, Boise.
Okay, let me get the key. One second. Okay, go ahead. here. Excited, their children, Everest and River enter for the first time. What do you think, River? Let's go to the bathroom down here first, and then we're going to go into your rooms together, okay? Downstairs. Yeah. Come Yeah, you look hungry, bud. I would have hitting something. Here's your room. Come and make your bed all pretty.
Their new home is spacious, four bedrooms, a garden, and even a toy room for the kids. Go look at it. I need to go to the bathroom. For this 280 square meter house, they paid 900,000 euros. In California, they would have paid three times the price for the same standard. Hey Dad, do you know what THAT IS? YEAH. THAT'S YOUR NEW OFFICE. I KNOW. Are you so excited? is it A place for me to work. A much better quality of life for their family, far from the unpredictability of big American cities. It's so safe here. Everyone's got really high integrity, and like I just like peace of mind for me to just be able to like relax and know that they're safe is
huge. Bye. It'll be so fun. Yeah, get out of here. There's so much space. Go clean it up. It's the promise of a quiet life in a tidy suburb in the fresh air that appeals to more and more families. With Idaho, Alexandra, Spencer, and their children have chosen one of the wildest places in the United States. But do they really know what they're getting into? These vast landscapes are now a magnet for some of America's most dangerous people. From east to west, this region covers five states, from Wyoming to Montana and Idaho to the coast of Oregon and Washington. While some come here to return to their roots, others see it as an ultra-conservative bastion to be defended at all costs.
Their enemy, a multicultural and progressive America where racial and sexual minorities have taken too much space. And it brings harm to our children, our country. You bet there'll be a fight here. They all have one goal, to form a new white Christian colony separate from the rest of the United States. From white supremacists to right-wing militia, the situation here is alarming. They're going to have to come in. And that would be an extremely important decision for them to make. The storming of the capital on the 6th of January 2021 was a warning. In the northwest of the United States, the anti-government ultra-right has found a
new leader. This year, he became a politician. We here in Idaho are in a fatal battle for our conservative soul. A discourse that frightens even the long-time residents and supporters of a traditional but still open-minded America. And it's going to be impossible to keep our way of life. Friendly cowboys, dangerous militia, and overworked police officers. They want to tear the whole country apart, have a homeland unto themselves, and unless you are a uh Christian, and more importantly, a white Christian, you're done.
A situation that could turn into a nightmare. Retaking of the West by the American ultra-right. We are back to Boise, the capital of Idaho. In this tradition-driven part of the US, Boise is a young and dynamic place that lacks ethnic diversity. There isn't a single person of ethnic minority on the streets. Idaho has less than 1% African-Americans. 15 times less than the national average. A few kilometers from downtown, Alexandra and Spencer's moving truck finally arrives from San Francisco. Hi Michael. Hi guys. How are you doing?
Good. I'm Frank by the way. Hi Frank, you too. This is Everest, Spencer. Hi, how are you? The moving company owner, Frank, is surfing on the endless stream of newcomers. His company, The Boise Boys, helps move up to 100 families a month. He himself is a newcomer. He moved from California to Idaho 4 years ago. You know how I found out about Idaho? Is I top 10 best safest places to live, top 10 best um schools, top 10 best cost of living, uh top 10 happiest people. When I first got to Idaho, I This is the truth. That everybody was waving at me. Do they do that here? Up here? Yeah, they're so nice. just and I thought, you know, coming from Oakland, Alameda, California, I was like, these guys are like weird. And my wife said, why is he waving
at us? And I'm all, he's just being friendly. And he says, that's you know, we were like what do they want? Like right. And then on It doesn't take long to make friends here. Barely an hour after their arrival, they receive a visit from their neighbor who came to welcome them. Annika arrived from California 6 years ago. However, there are some who don't see this influx of Californians as a good thing. Even Michael, an employee of the moving company, doesn't hide his annoyance. His cap clearly displays his opinion. This means no vacancies means uh we feel like we're full, you know, we got enough people here. We don't want any more people here. And that's how um natives feel, you know.
People who call Idaho home, you know, and then um like I said uh influx [snorts] of foreigners from other states drive up the real estate market. I've got four kids and I can't afford a house like this. And uh I don't mean no offense to nobody, but it's just how I feel. Unfortunately for Michael, the invasion is not about to stop. It's now spreading to northern Idaho where it is causing even more rejection. Here, nearly 70% of the population voted for Trump.
These people distrust the politics of big cities. The locals don't want to see a change happen to their unspoiled and wild land. The larger movement to make the northwest an ultra-conservative colony. With the help of its land owners, new inhabitants, and its soldiers, Viper the biker is in full support of this movement. At 66 he lives off the radar in a trailer in the middle of this car scrapyard with Bear, his 23-year-old girlfriend. Welcome to our home. A life far from modern comforts, but one that gives the retired biker a strategic advantage. You We are in the middle of nowhere.
There is no There's not an address here. I prefer not to be found. I make enough of these people around here that wish to do us all harm. I make them angry. And so if they don't know where I'm at, it's better for them. Because if they come here, what they need to do, they come here to do me harm, they need to put their next of kin in one pocket, their blood type in another, and then I'll call the police and have them come deal with them. The reason Viper's on the alert is that he's the founder of a motorcycle gang, the Panhandle Patriots, who are currently at war with the government.
His obsession is with the Democrats. He sees them as dangerous leftists and believes they stole the last election. The biker participated in the storming of the Capitol on January the 6th, 2021. Right here. His girlfriend Bear has proudly put together all the articles about the event. I've been in junior high school riots that were worse than that. It was nothing. You got some people that got rowdy that showed displeasure in what's happening in their states. Can you blame them? You are proud when you see a picture of you in front of the Capitol?
You [__] right I am. That's [__] American proud, and I'd do it again right now anywhere, anytime. And they can kiss my red, white, and blue ass. These guys, these two people who have literally gave put their lives in jeopardy for you and I to have freedom. These guys are more fun to be around and actually I can be around them not want to strangle them, you know, it's just normal citizens. All they want to do is argue, fight, complain, and not know what life is. Viper's view of America comes from his years in the Marines, the US Army's elite unit. That's what this is, Camp Fuji, Japan.
We did cold weather training there. That's Justin. He's He's also a Vietnam veteran. He is this is an American Indian. First uh picture me in the Buddhist temple. That's Kali, ain't it? Really? Yeah. I eat, sleep, [__] breathe Marine Corps. I couldn't get Marine Corps out of my head if you poured bleach in it. And what I'm doing is and I adhere to the same oath that I took when I went into the military. Number one was to love and protect my country, to serve and protect my country. We Idaho and the people up here, we see this is a stronghold and a last resort to repel the cancer. In addition to the Democrats, the former Marine thinks the Black Lives Matter and LGBT movements
are perverting America and bringing it closer to civil war. Faced with these numerous threats, he's preparing a counter attack. It starts in his backyard, with his hands in the dirt. So, what I want you to do is, since I filled this up, I want you to go pop that. Okay. And I'll tell you when. Is it getting harder? No, not at all. He's repairing second-hand cars, like this Beetle, which he is preparing for the worst. He has added off-road tires and most importantly, the car has no electronic components. Well, in case [__] hits the fan, okay? Because I can fix this thing on the side of the road with bailing wire and bubble gum. And God forbid that we go to war around here. You know, you know, I got a way to get the hell out of here. I want
to be mobile. I could be here today, I could be gone tomorrow. And the next day I'd be somewhere else, you know? Moving target's hard to hit. So. If war breaks out, Viper can count on his network. He has gathered around him a community that leads to surprising alliances. Among his friends, for example, is a seemingly peaceful pensioner. Hi, baby doll. So, how you been? Uh busy, I'm sure. At 65, Rachel is in charge of the group's food autonomy. In her vegetable garden, everything has been designed to serve their cause, and everything is organic.
Yeah, so the potatoes are a great survival food because they're full of calories and they grow pretty well. I haven't really had to do anything to them other than water them. Okay. I didn't know that. I was We got more of the Egyptian walking onions here. Got a ton of uh dill. With cabbage? Um I have some. Yeah, I got Since leaving the big city of Seattle for Idaho, Rachel has become a radical. She's become a survivalist with a conspiracy bent. It seems their plan is to destroy America mentally, physically, spiritually. Financially.
Financially, everything. Destroy our children. Destroy our ability to survive and be happy. I think they want people to die. They want to reduce the population because a smaller population is easier to control. Am I going to garden to resist? No, she does that. I'm going to kick butt what I do. America that Viper anti-patriots claim to be defending is this. Wide open spaces shaped by a handful of cowboys in the 19th century. A land of pioneers where freedom and independence are the hallmarks.
An America that is conservative in essence but can be more open-minded than one might think. The leader of the Alice clan is this woman. Jennifer is the head of this family of ranchers who own over a thousand cattle. She's boss. When it's [snorts] like the song's about it, you know, I wear the pants when she's not around. She's got a husband, three children, and two grandchildren. Stand up here and behave. Hello guys. Jennifer's family has owned this ranch for six generations. Here they learn to ride a horse as soon as they can walk. So, this is all just our family
basically with the guys that come help us. We're going to take these cattle on over here because if anything goes bad, you need everybody here. Cattle don't um it's not push button. The fundamentals of the West have always been helping each other and working hard. Here, it's the work that commands respect. Well, that was pretty speedy. They basically jogged the whole way. Around here, you don't ask who to vote.
You vote Republican. So, the rural areas were conservative, but when you talked conservatism, then it was that you know, smaller government, um better budgeting practices, private property rights. I would say maybe a little more libertarian leaning in the fact of you do you, I'll do me, you know, mind your own business to a certain extent. Every summer, the Ellis clan takes up residence on this ranch to graze their cows. The cowboys' days are long. It's a hard life, but it doesn't stop them from having a good time.
Build your own sandwich, guys, and uh Anything we can get our hands on. Whatever the cook cooks. he brought is exactly right. There you go. Lots of sandwiches, not enough steak. And for that, now he gets tuna fish for a week. Yep. For some time now, Jennifer has been angry. She no longer recognizes the Republican Party and its attempt to get the most votes from extremists. We can have a look at some of the uh some of their greatest hits. What drew the line was the election of the new Republican Party chair in Idaho, Dorothy Moon, a politician whose recent words are a call for violence. And basically, this is a direct quote
from uh um from her acceptance speech. "We have to make sure with the Democrats coming at us with full force that we have our barriers up, our guns loaded, and ready to keep this state free." Moon said after the results were announced. Um that's a dog whistle, a low-level dog whistle that shouldn't have any place in political discourse, I hope. The secret sauce here is these young white men. For Jennifer, it was former President Donald Trump's tenure that made this discourse so much simpler. Since then, she has decided to leave the party with a heavy heart. Fight, even when that means fighting amongst our own ranks. Why is this man's there are so many great people in this state, and they don't know what's happening.
Um they're just so distanced from policy or politics. Um they really don't know what's happening. They don't know how bad it's gotten. They don't know that their neighbors are scared to live here now. And In Idaho, more and more people live in fear. Minorities only dare to come out once a year on gay pride day. For this occasion, Coeur d'Alene City Park was decorated in rainbow colors. Jennifer and her daughter drove 6 hours from their ranch. Well, that's going to ban it. do it this way, right? They wanted to be here to support the organizers of the event and to salute their courage. Showing the colors of the
LGBT community in North Idaho is a daring act. Yeah, first amendment rights, freedom of assembly. That was the thing about our country that I think makes it the very best in the world. Sorry, guys. Uh is that and there should be no harassment for doing it. We're just going to remind them that's not what America was built on. Barely 400 people gathered for the pride march, all positively minded. But, soon enough, others want to spoil the fun. Fundamentalist Christians and men, armed to the teeth, invited themselves.
Their presence is not illegal, as is carrying an assault rifle in public. Several states in the region allow it. Straight up intimidation. And they come to an event in the park and all of a sudden you got these whack-a-doos walking around with their, you know, M4s, M16s, whatever the hell they're they're uh um of the day that they're carrying, you know, even if it's not a long gun, it's a sidearm that they've got like, you know, Wild West Bill Hickok crap. Um that scares people. And they have every right to be scared of that. Gradually more people gather around the event to show their disagreement.
Police forces are setting up a security perimeter to protect the gay pride participants. No violence to report for the moment, but some heated confrontations. He bore the shame of our sins upon the cross. Be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. We're lost. God's not going to continue to tolerate this. Judgements are beginning and have started. You're indoctrinating children. You're not showing them the truth. You're showing them hate. love. Oh, I'm shaming them? Yeah, you are. I'm showing them love. I'm trying to show them that Jesus will save them from hell. Jesus is love. Yeah, he is.
Jesus didn't preach anything against homosexuality. Oh, he did. No, he didn't. How many gods do you worship? On the other side of the park, Viper also invited himself to the party. The biker didn't come alone, but accompanied by his bodyguard. You Your parents, you tell them I said thank you. They raised you properly. Speakers and a lot of guns, the former Marine organized a counter demonstration. Around 100 supporters came to listen to the most far-right figures in the entire country. We will walk and stand against the demon-dressing drag queens in our libraries. And then every attempted perversion in this community will be defeated in your mighty name, Jesus Christ. Amen.
You see this? This is a community coming together and I tell you what, for just the ones you see here, there's thousands more that are out there and ready to stand up for their community. If we are pushed to a point and it brings harm to our children, our country, you bet, there'll be a fight here. And it is planned. Viper and his men remain a threat. At the same time, a far-right militia was preparing to attack the gay pride. This footage recovered by the police has shocked the whole of America. A group of white supremacists filmed themselves in the middle of a commando operation.
Remember guys, most importantly, remain calm. All right, stay quiet. In total, there were 31 of them in combat gear hiding in a truck. A passerby saw them get into the vehicle and had time to alert the police. I'm going to shoot you guys if you don't have your hands up. Hey y'all. On the ground, move. On the ground. Coeur d'Alene's policeman stopped them a few meters away from their objective and prevented a tragedy by the skin of their teeth.
These militias consider themselves God's soldiers on a divine mission to save America from all its sins. It is a holy war with one of its masterminds located in the far north of Idaho. The Lord is in his holy temple. The Lord's throne is in heaven. His eyes behold, his eyelids test the sons of men. The Lord tests the righteous. People come from all over the state to listen to the preaching of one of the most revered pastors of the militia. Upon the wicked he will rain coals, fire and brimstone, and burning wind. For the Lord is righteous, He loves righteousness. His countenance
beholds the upright. Steve Bratchar is the head of the Kukulala Evangelical Church and even in the house of God, his followers carry their weapons. They will do anything to defend a way of life that is dictated by the Old Testament. To those who follow laws of the government, Pastor Bratchar promises the apocalypse. Every one of the big powerful nations that exist today, it is referred to in Revelations. What are they trying to destroy in this nation?
The foundation upon which it's built. In Jesus' mighty name, let all God's children say amen. When the government hinders the freedom of his followers, this Ku Klux Klan pastor believes it is his duty to take up arms. Father Lord God, we just thank you for this day. And you're ready to fight this? I'm ready to fight all time. God called me to be a warrior.
Not to be asleep. There's a difference between a pastor and a shepherd. A shepherd is willing to lay his life down for the flock. We're prepared to take on the wolf when he shows up or the bear or the lion. And if you're not prepared to do that, then you can't be the you can't be a good shepherd. On earth as it is in heaven, Pastor Bratchar promises protection and salvation to his followers. In the battle he is fighting, he has made an alliance with Clyde Tinley. He and his men are in charge of security around the parish.
Evil can be everywhere. So, we just make sure that they don't get in here. And God willing, we never have to put our skills to use, you know. So, but we're certainly ready to do that. To defend their vision of America, the two men are ready to die as martyrs with their arms in their hands. In Pastor Bretches' garage are more than 30 large guns, some of which he assembled himself. Yeah, this one that I built for my years ago for Cindy, Winchester double barrel made 1927. Well, I like the Colts. This is an old Colt.
This is Fred. He hadn't been fed lately. Hi, Fred. The pastor also has two semi-automatic assault rifles. But it should be extremely accurate. The long range match rifle. Uh, are you impressed? Always. You know how to do it. Do I? No. A little bit. But nothing to this level. Both men like to practice. It's on. With their families around. Carrying a firearm is a sacred right for them. The Second Amendment in my understanding is to protect us against a tyrannical government. It's to protect us in case
like what's happening in our country right now. Exactly. That's why they want to disarm us. Because what they're doing they would get shot for. Clyde belongs to a militia group active in the area, the North Idaho Militia. He won't say anything more about the activities of his group, but here's what you can find on their website. Photos of their training sessions where one learns how to handle how to survive in extreme conditions and the basics of military medicine practiced on dead animal parts. You were going kind of beside it too high. There's a lot of folks around here that like to keep it a little bit closer to the heart,
you know. This isn't a show-off thing. It's not a prideful thing. It's not a anything like that, you know. We're just trying to protect what we have. Nice. That's why we're not traveling a way to go engage other groups and stuff like that. We're here, you know. They're going to have to come in. And that would be an extremely important decision for them to make for their lives. This threat is taken very seriously by the authorities. At the police station in Spokane, one of the largest cities in the region in the neighboring state of Washington, Detective Mark Feiklander is the head of the domestic terrorism unit.
So, we received a tip uh came in of a possible militia training site at this uh property here, 239 11 West Manila. So, we're going out soft. So, this is the It's a fairly rural environment. Perfect place to uh to do some training, actually. Perfect place to do training. The training site is 45 minutes from the city center in the countryside. Yeah, there's it's There's a lot of room to maneuver and operate at some of these places. So, yeah, it uh a lot better positioned to do what you want in private. All right, some old rundown cars. Dressed in civilian clothes, the inspector starts searching the premises. In this area, he searches about 10 isolated plots of land like this one. So, that's So, right here is a
good area, particularly depending on what the training is. It's almost a defensible position. Clearly, we can see people have been walking around out here by the way the vegetation's laying down. So, there has been fair bit of activity. We saw that coming in through the buildings. We see that potentially at the tent here. See some other vehicles here, so we'll see what those are about. What's this? Objects like ammunition would prove that this place is used as a rear base. Nothing conclusive at this time.
This abandoned house looks more like a squat than a militia headquarters. Mark mustn't overlook any leads. For some time now, extreme left-wing groups of African Americans have been arriving from big cities on the West Coast, Seattle and Portland, to fight the local far-right. We've seen over the years a significant amount of white supremacy ideology that's kind of been historically that we what we've seen, but we tend to see a lot of at least rhetoric or open conversation about anarchy and antifa as well. So, it has become kind of a spot that is a clashing of different ideas. A violent clash is what Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich, Inspector Mark Voigtlander's superior, is worried about.
Well, Sheriff, so we responded actually we're following down This long work of gathering intelligence on the ground has already allowed them to prevent a disaster, a terrorist attack in the middle of the city by a white supremacist. bomb put on the streets of Spokane a year ago. This could be the case that stops that from happening again. And you still have the atmosphere is kind of explosive? The atmosphere has always been explosive for the last 2 years. Spokane used to have a reputation for being a tranquil place, a college town with no bad reputation.
The sheriff has led law enforcement here for 16 years. In June 2020, the calm was disrupted. In the midst of a presidential campaign after the murder of George Floyd, Spokane was set on fire. The streets became the scene of violent riots. Anarchists and anti-fascists on the one hand and far-right pro-Trump militias on the other. To restore the calm, the sheriff had to in the National Guard. Rocks being thrown, Molotov thrown, uh tear gas. Our citizens, quite frankly, just had never behaved that way before. A white male, white female. I don't know how many times during the protest and riots of 20 that I heard the word revolution.
Um I that I heard the words burn it down, destroy it. The Northwest represents what's to come in the US. The sheriff has never been more worried about his country. We live on a razor's edge that both the left and the right extremes are walking because they both want to tear down this nation's form of government. That is the ultimate goal. This has everything to do with their drive to change the dynamic, to change our form of government. This year, Sheriff Nessovic is throwing in the towel. He will not run for another term.
This situation could lead to a change of political power in the area as the next elected governor of Idaho could be this controversial man. His name is Ammon Bundy, a cowboy who migrated to the Northwest 6 years ago and has made it his stomping grounds ever since. Um you know, when I got this RV, I bought it from a friend and it had 16,000 mi on it. And now it has over 41,000 mi on it. So, and we have been all over Idaho many, many times.
Ammon Bundy is now the embodiment of the malicious political struggle, and he owes his fame to them. He started out as a simple cattle rancher. His family owns a ranch in Nevada and grazes their cattle on public land, which the central government doesn't like. In April 2014, law enforcement surrounded the Bundy ranch and were met with resistance. A videotape of a real wild west showdown. Federal agents clashing with protesters, some from armed militia groups who are arriving now from all over the country to support a rancher in Nevada who's This is the first connection between Bundy and the far-right militias. Two years later in 2016, Bundy would once again find himself alongside angry farmers in a conflict with the federal
state. Back up. Back up, this is what we You guys won't be allowed to come Can you work closer? Back It's the moment This happened in Oregon. The FBI intervention resulted in a death among Ammon Bundy's friends. The situation was filmed live. Following these two confrontations, the farmer spent two years in prison. Since then, he has become a symbol of total and unequivocal rejection of federal power. In Idaho, Ammon Bundy has been given a new opportunity at life. He became an apple farmer. Politics not that fun. Never was that fun to me. But I don't know. You don't do that If you don't watch out for what's happening in your country and government, then pretty soon these apples will be theirs.
They'll say that they need it to feed the poor or something, you know. Ammon Bundy may have changed his profession, but his political views have not changed at all. His 2 years in prison have strengthened his convictions. With his wife Lisa, they have six children whom they raise in the Mormon faith, faithful to the most conservative values of America. What would you want to cook for dinner when you're up there? Family, religion, and a total anti-government stance. Yeah, I was you know, I was you know, almost an event every night. That's true.
The politician wants to end the American two-party system. I'm way more conservative than Republican. In fact, we've seen how the Republicans will use the government to gain power and to control things. We see how the Democrats will use the government to try to push their ideology and beliefs on other people. We see that, right? Um I'm neither of those. I don't believe that's the purpose of government. Purpose of government is to make sure that no one else comes to try to take my liberty away or my property away or to try to take my life away. Neither Democrat nor Republican, Bundy is campaigning under the banner of the Independents. Today he's making a stop in Idaho Falls, the fourth largest city in the state.
Absolutely. With his anti-elite and populist rhetoric, he appeals to America's forgotten people. Um thank you that you're willing to meet with us tonight. We need your direction in this season in our country that we would just hear your voice in the middle of all of this. In Jesus name. Amen. It's no wonder that we here in Idaho are in a fatal battle for conservative soul. We have allowed those who are controlling our state and making the decisions on a state level to push the liberal agenda.
Business starting including all sex He also relies on groups that have supported him in the past. Even if they have left their uniforms behind, they still support him. He's offering them more than a political agenda. The status quo isn't working. You know, when something doesn't work, you got to think outside the box. You got to act differently. You know, I think what's it a famous quote that the definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over expecting a different result. Well, I'm not expecting the same results if I'm going to act different. It's going to be a lot different if I get if I become governor.
Ammon Bundy may not be elected governor this time, but the ideology he embodies is already impacting American society. Starting with education. On the ground, Viper the Biker has given a task to the latest recruit of his network. Mariana is waging war on the librarians in her area. mean books. It's books with like extolling drug use, extolling a lot of sex, a lot of there's characters who've been raped. That's the whole range of titles. Mariana has gone through hundreds and hundreds of children's books. She's made an inventory of all the passages that she finds shocking that can pervert young people.
Look at all the rainbow insignia. Unicorns are a big symbol of the LGBTQIAS community. And so, you can see that it's threaded out throughout the book very intentionally. So, you're talking about Black Lives Matter. Again, the concept of Black Lives Matter is a great concept. White Lives Matter. All lives matter. Babies' lives matter. So, that's a fine concept until it becomes leveraged as a movement to instill white shame, white guilt, subjugation. What we would like to see is parents get upset. Get a hold of your congressman. Call your even your local officials. Start raising hell. Let's get laws changed. Let's protect kids.
Mariana Viper and other representatives of the ultra-conservative movement lobbied the authorities to have these books removed from libraries. And they got their way. Idaho's largest school district banned about 20 of these books. Among them were The Scarlet Handmaiden and The Kite Flyers of Kabul, books that were very popular but deemed too sexually explicit by Mariana and her friends.
We're not just talking about children. We're talking about our country's future. These children will be adults someday. They will be parents someday. They will be voters someday. They will be business owners someday. They will be politicians themselves someday. So, their world view and their beliefs are what will influence our world that we're all in. So, it's really important what children are being indoctrinated into, what they're being propagandized. A pledge to the ultra-right that doesn't align with the general public opinion.
All right, Evie. What now? We return to Alexandra and her children. Let's put your school supplies in the bag. My desk needs Two months after moving from California, the family has settled into the neighborhood, and for 6-year-old Everest, it's the first day of school. Wait, can I take your guys' picture? Little by little, Alexandra begins to discover the reality of her new home. She's not quite sure she'll like it here. Oh, we need to look at this. Can you find your name? First surprise, in her daughter's class, none of the students seem to be from a diverse background.
We got one. Look it, this is your name. Awesome. Oh, that's so cute. Look at you. You want a popper toy? And then I know that they're all from Idaho. Not as ethnically diverse as it was in California. Um so, that is a downside. You had lots of friends, kids, of names that we'd never heard of in California. Like, what were some cool names you had in your class? You had Tong. You had Milan. You had Biyedi. And you had Barry, but they call him Barry. He's from Israel. And Tong was from China, and like all of our friends were from different countries.
It was really cool, like to have that. Alexandra heard about the censorship that's happening in some of the libraries in Idaho. I don't know if this is a library. Oh, cute. She wants to check something. Okay. You want to take a look around the library? Yes. And this is a good one. This is about the first woman in space as an astronaut. Evie, this is a Kobe Bryant book. He's a famous basketball player.
General I honestly think they've got books. That guy there. I mean they've got wonderful books. I mean already open to diversity and I'm like love I love it. It's like front right when they first walk in they're giving the kids the opportunity to see like the history of Harriet Tubman, Kobe Bryant. They had some Native Americans in here. They had Martin Luther King story. So I love that it's not only in the library but it's like prominently displayed. So this is wonderful. Much to Alexandra's relief, the ultra-conservatives have not yet taken over her daughter's school. Uh we wanted to ask about like how the book situation is here. I know that recently in Nampa there was some banned book issues in
Nampa and here they're not as much. No. Okay, wonderful. We've been able to stay away from that. So books are books and everyone should have access to books. Yes, have the opportunity to all of the books. All kinds of things. Yes. In the northwest of the US, the new colony that the ultra-conservatives want has not yet been formed, but for how long?
