Local support for
Jeremy Hill goes global
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August 30, 2011 |
Editor's note: In the original version of
this article, I erroneously reported that county
commission chair Ron Smith turned down an
interview with a national radio station based in
Mississippi ... and I misspelled "Mississippi,"
though if you think about it, "Missippi" rolls
off the tongue easier and doesn't waste so many
esses. Those errors have been corrected in this
version, updated August 31. I also learned that
Darrell Kerby's effort to raise contributions
for Jeremy Hill's defense topped $10,000 today
... and there are very credible reports that the
fund continues to grow daily.
I also received a call today from Jeremy, giving
his heart-felt thanks to everyone for the
overwhelming support he and his family have
received, but saying that the media attention
has proven overwhelming and brought considerable
additional stress to a situation that's already
tremendously stressful. He has his defense
and his future to think about, and reporters
calling him from every corner of the globe
detract from what's most important to he and his
family. I sincerely apologize for contributing
to his family's stress.
Knowing media, I know that this story will
continue to grow; it has become a "cause"
drawing voice on every side of a divisive issue
and raising a clamor sufficient to overlook the
effect on the very real family at the center of
the controversy. While I will continue to cover
this story as it develops, out of respect for
Jeremy, Rachel and their children, this
particular small-town publisher, partly
responsible for "breaking" the story to a global
audience, will henceforth limit coverage of this
case to developments that occur in public forum,
as released by attorneys on either side or as
witnessed in federal court.
As a small town media, News Bonners Ferry
recognizes that I don't have "sources," I have
neighbors. While my intent was pure, I regret
any undue hardship my reporting has brought upon
the Hill family. MW
The story of a Porthill man who not only
admitted he killed a young male grizzly bear to
protect his family May 8, but who reported it
before the carcass cooled, and who now faces
federal prosecution for the indiscretion, is
facing a conditon that has gone viral, and in
most polls, those who support his actions that
Mothers Day outweigh those who think there were
other, less lethal alternatives, more than
75-percent to 25.
If you Google "Jeremy Hill," you'll get 303,000
hits, but many of them regard a baseball player
from Louisiana State University charged with a
sex crime. You have to look down a few spots to
find the Jeremy Hill from Idaho.
If you add the word "bear" to the search string,
the number of hits goes down to a mere 132,000
... and the places you'll find articles specific
to "our" Jeremy Hill range from the Huffington
Post to news journals across the country and
around the world; the Houston Chronicle, the
Washington Post ... journals in England,
Singapore; blogs and specialty sites from nearly
everywhere else.
Local people who "have Jeremy's back" see the
attention as a good thing, hoping it will show
federal prosecutors that they're fighting a
battle against strong public opinion, but
according to those closest to Jeremy, 33, his
wife, Rachel, and their six kids, wish, as
they'd been convinced on the day of the shooting
by Idaho Fish and Game officers, that this "was
justified," despite the fact that the silvertip
male shot is listed as threatened by the
Endangered Species Act, and that life for them
had never gone from normal to so dizzily and
decidedly abnormal.
They wish it would all just go away.
For a quiet, friendly man who was born and
raised with the North Idaho ethos so many up
here admire ... no regular job to go to, no
office or factory floor to clock into ... just a
committment and dedication to do what has to
be done, when the season allows, be it bucking
trees, hunting game to stock the family larder,
running heavy equipment, building roads, plowing
ground or bringing in a harvest.
With the help
and support of his family, he's earned them a
good living, providing what they need during the
time it's available. They have a beautiful but
modest home on 20 acres ... they use those acres
to do what most of us have forgotten is possible
... grow their garden in season and put up the
fruit of their work. Raise the hogs and other
animals to put meat on the table.
For them, the grocery store isn't a necessity,
but a convenience. With what they earn through
all their other endeavors ... family endeavors
... they don't have to mill the wheat they grow
to make bread, others can do it faster and
cheaper. They can enjoy a soda pop, or an ice
cream cone. They know how to churn their own
butter, turn what they have into things they can
use. Likewise, the hardware store. They might
have to buy a manufactured product for their car
or truck, but they haven't forgot how to forge a
hinge, or weld.
There aren't many people like that left ... but
if you think back, it's just such people who
built this country.
And then there's "us."
Using every tool at his disposal, Darrell and
Patty Kerby have helped raise, as of 12:30 p.m.
today, $9,739, having matched a thousand dollars
in donations for the first thousand raised in
$10 increments ... but contributors refused to
stop, and the total will go well over $10,000
tomorrow ... there's more to be counted and more
coming in.
After county commissioners' published a simple
comment, they were beseiged with calls and
requests for interviews; Ron Smith got a call to
be on the radio today by a national station in
Mississippi ... and he spent more than 14
minutes on the air asserting what was they said
from the outset; Jeremy Hill had not only the
right to defend his family, he had an obligation
that he lived up to admirably. (Their comments
can be read
here.)
 His
comments were preceded by someone with perhaps
even more fame than his own, rock legend
"Terrible" Ted Nugent, an avid hunter and a very
vocal outdoorsman, who added a star's
endorsement.
Boundary County Prosecutor Jack Douglas thought
he was writing for a local audience, but the
media response his words garnered came as a surprise.
"Who are these people?" he asked after his
office manager handed him a stack of "while you
were out" notes asking for interviews and
television appearances.
"I said what I'm going to say in my release, and
I have nothing more to say," he said.
"As of 12:30 p.m. today (Tuesday) you have sent
and I have received either directly by you
bringing money into the office, or mailing to
Jeremy Hill Benefit Fund, P O Box 882, Bonners
Ferry, Idaho 83805 or through you sending your
matching donation directly to Wells Fargo
including the $1,000 match from Patty and I
makes the current total .....drum roll ...
$9,739 (see comments at top ... it reached
more than $10,000 today ... on top of what
Jasmine's pig,
Regina, brought at local auction); and many of you have told us your check
is stiil in the mail ... stay tuned!" former
Bonners Ferry mayor Darrell Kerby wrote on his
Facebook page, after offering to match donations
up to $1,000, a goal reached at breathtaking
speed.
"Thanks, Darrell and Patty," Linda Alt said.
"You're doing such a positive thing for the
community. Best part is some of those donations
are coming in from people across the country,
who were raised in Bonners Ferry and know what a
great place it is and how compassionate and
helpful the residents are." |
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