Snowman With Noose Appalls Idaho Residents

HAYDEN, Idaho -- A white separatist drew complaints from neighbors and a visit from law enforcement officers after erecting a snowman shaped like a member of the Ku Klux Klan on his front lawn.

Kootenai County sheriff's deputies told Markus Eliseuson Wednesday that he could be charged with a crime because the snowman was holding what appeared to be a noose. Deputies were called by neighbors who were appalled by the pointy-headed snowman with two dark eyes.

Hayden for decades earned notoriety for being near the former compound of the Aryan Nations.
Eliseuson could have been charged with creating a public nuisance. Idaho law defines such a nuisance as anything "offensive to the senses" or that interferes with the comfort of an entire neighborhood. The noose has been removed.