How Idaho legislators responded when a man testified in brownface, costume

Carolyn Komatsoulis, The Idaho Statesman on Feb 24, 2026

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BOISE, Idaho — What should the Idaho Legislature do when someone’s testimony is offensive?

That’s what lawmakers grappled with Monday when a local conservative provocateur came to testify on an immigration bill wearing brownface and a sombrero and speaking Spanish.

As David Pettinger began speaking, Rep. Steve Berch, D-Boise, cut him off. He signaled to the House Business Committee’s acting chair, Rep. Josh Wheeler, R-Ammon, that the man’s performance was inappropriate. Wheeler agreed.

But when the man didn’t stop, Rep. Brent Crane, R-Nampa, asked to pause the committee and lawmakers left the room to discuss options.

Ultimately, the committee let Pettinger finish the final minute of testimony. Crane said they decided to ask him to speak in English, and he complied.

However, local groups like the American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho, Latino and Immigrant communities group PODER of Idaho and Planned Parenthood condemned the man’s actions and said lawmakers should have gone further. The House Business committee’s guidelines prohibit demonstrations and signage and ask testifiers to be courteous.

“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,” said Ruby Mendez-Mota, interim advocacy director for the ACLU of Idaho, in a written statement. “What this committee did here is support racist behavior, and it’s absolutely unacceptable.”

The reactions of those involved ranged from contrite to defensive.

Wheeler said lawmakers didn’t discuss asking Pettinger to take off his brownface. Crane said that didn’t even cross his mind.

“That would have been good, frankly,” said Wheeler, who told the Statesman that one could make the argument the man’s demonstration was against the rules. “If I had more time, and the presence of mind, I would have preferred that.”

But Crane, who said he didn’t know if what happened was racist, told the Statesman he wouldn’t do anything differently. Crane is a member of the House Business Committee and chair of the Ethics and House Policy, and State Affairs, committees in the House.

“What you should be saying is, ‘You know what, chairman, you did a great job de-escalating the situation and still ensuring an individual’s First Amendment rights were upheld,’ ” Crane said. “We maintained order, we maintained decorum and we exercised his First Amendment right.”

The ACLU called out Wheeler and Crane for laughing during the man’s testimony. Wheeler told the Statesman it was uncomfortable laughter. Crane took a different approach.

“Mr. Pettinger, again, tries to make a point through humor,” Crane said. “And I’ve got a pretty good sense of humor.”

Crane, who has served since 2006, pointed to House Rule 26, which says all regular meetings are public and any person can attend.

He said there are no rules that prohibit anyone from wearing brownface or blackface or any costume, but it’s up to what the chairman wants. House Rule 26 says that people who disrupt a meeting to a certain extent can be removed.

Pettinger is known to produce similar antics. In May 2025, he tried to burn a Pride flag on a cross outside Boise City Hall after the Boise City Council made the Pride flag and an organ donor flag official flags. He was unable to set it ablaze with his lighter.

The incident at the Legislature showed how people conflate Latino Idahoans with immigrants, ACLU of Idaho spokesperson Rebecca De León said. The man came to testify on an immigration bill aiming to prevent the hiring of undocumented workers. Over 80% of Idaho Latinos are U.S. citizens, and many more work in the U.S. legally.

“We are all kind of considered eligible for being targeted for something that isn’t actually targeted toward us,” De León, who criticized lawmakers for not stopping the testimony, told the Statesman. “It sends a message to the entire Latino community that we are a joke to them, that we are not worth defending, that our humanity and our dignity is not worth defending.”

Some members of the committee said they supported the actions Wheeler took. Majority Leader Rep. Jason Monks, R-Meridian, told the Statesman that “we’re not doing theater here.”

“I’m absolutely sure that somebody would look at that and go, ‘Yeah, that’s pretty offensive.’ And again, one of the reasons why we stopped it,” Monks said. “Unfortunately or fortunately, freedom of speech allows people to be offensive. Some people I think take advantage of that situation and are intentionally offensive to prove a point. … We’re going to try to maintain as much decorum as we can.”

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