The Gillette City Council narrowly passed a hate crime ordinance on first reading Tuesday night. It faces two more readings before becoming law, and both the council and greater community are closely divided over whether the ordinance is necessary.
According to reporting from the Gillette News Record, residents packed the City Council chambers to express their opinions regarding the ordinance. If passed, it would establish penalties for crimes committed based on bias, hate or discrimination.
Local resident Karin Ebertz said it would make Gillette safer and more welcoming.
“Hate Crimes are dangerous, heartbreaking and traumatizing for the victim. But if not charged as the hate crime that it is, there's a ripple effect,” she said.
Other commenters noted that they feel personally unsafe – or have faced harassment and property damage – because of their identity. In recent months, stories about Gillette include white supremacist propaganda being found in mail boxes, commenters expressing anti-LGBTQ rhetoric at public meetings and the Campbell County Public Library facing a controversy over its books.
Some residents said that these types of stories make the city look bad and could hurt its economic development long-term.
“We need to make sure Gillette is welcoming to all. This ordinance will help ensure that all Gillette residents can feel welcome to lead their lives as they see fit without fear,” local resident Kathy Halvorsen said. “Words have consequences when people choose to denigrate others because of their race, religion or gender identity.”
Council member Billy Montgomery initially brought forward the ordinance, which passed 4-3. Those against it expressed worry that it was unnecessary, unconstitutional and not specific enough. Resident Casey Cook said the public already understands what a crime is, and a law like this would “create new classes of crime and victims.”
“We don't need to virtue signal to the woke corporatocracy. We don't need that here,” Cook said. “For people who like that, there's paradise just a few hundred miles south of us in Denver.”
Specifically, the ordinance would bar people from “injuring, threatening to injure or inciting violence against another person or their property based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, ethnicity, national origin, ancestry or disability,” according to reporting from County 17.
State Sen. Troy McKeown (R-Gillette), also weighed in against a local hate crime ordinance, arguing against its constitutionality.
“What actual crime will this stop? That, once again, isn't already on the books,” he said. “We're going to find another way to take people's freedoms and liberties away in the name of the greater good of all.”
Wyoming is one of just two states – the other being South Carolina – without a hate crime law. Four other cities in the state – Laramie, Casper, Cheyenne and Jackson – already have a local ordinance.
