Just imagine what you
would do
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August 24, 2011 |
On Mother’s Day, May 8, 2011, 33 year old Jeremy
Hill was enjoying this special occasion with his
family.
He had no idea that his life was about to
change; and all because he did the right thing.
After his guests had left, four of his six
children were outside playing and shooting
baskets in front of the house. His 5 year old
daughter Aspen, the 8 year old twin girls
Mercedes and Sierra, and his 11 year old son
Cameron were engrossed in their play not
realizing that three grizzly bears had come onto
their property from the trees through the yard
at the back of their home, not 40 yards away
from where they were playing.
Luckily for the children, the bears went after
their four pigs in a pen on the side of their
log home. Two of the pigs were for the kid’s 4H
project and the other two were being raised for
food. Jeremy was just getting out of the shower
when his wife Rachel saw the bears out of their
bedroom window. Rachel started screaming for the
children to come into the house even though she
could not see them in the front of the house
from her vantage point. Jeremy then saw the
bears and the only weapon anywhere nearby was
his daughter’s .270 unloaded rifle buried under
blankets on a shelf in the laundry room. Neither
Rachel nor Jeremy could hear any of their
children while they were shouting for them to
come into the house, and knew that their
children were in serious danger. Jeremy’s heart
was in his throat as he located only three
bullets to load the rifle with and stepped out
onto the back deck from their bedroom. Rachel
had laid their six month old baby girl Bristol
on the bed and headed to the front of the house
to get to their children, filled with panic and
fear for her children that no mother should ever
have to endure.
One of the grizzlies was halfway into the pig
pen and Jeremy did not know if his kids were
safe but knew that if they were, they wouldn’t
be for long if the bears charged towards the
basketball hoop where the children had been
playing when he had gone into the house to take
his shower. Rachel continued her race to get the
children to safety, not knowing what she would
find when she got to the front door. When she
found all of them uninjured from the bears, a
moment of thankfulness and gratitude to God
coursed through her heart and soul when she saw
that they were safe. While she was getting the
children into the house, Jeremy took aim at the
grizzly that was closest to him while it was
attempting to get to one of the pigs and took
his shot. The crack of the rifle shot scared the
other two grizzlies that were on the opposite
side of the pig pen away from the pigs and they
ran towards the trees behind the house. No shots
were fired at the two retreating bears as they
would not be a threat as long as they continued
on into the forest and away from the house.
The grizzly climbing into the pig pen was hit
and tumbled off the top of the pen’s fence.
Jeremy was not sure where the bullet had hit but
the bear got up and left the pig pen limping
slightly and headed to the back of the house
with the family dog following the bear and
barking at it as it started in the same
direction the other two bears had gone.
Just when Jeremy was about to take a sigh of
relief, the wounded bear stopped, turned and
started charging towards one of the large
basement windows under the deck where Jeremy was
standing. With a new jolt of fear, knowing there
was nothing to stop the bear from entering the
house except a large windowpane of glass; Jeremy
fired another shot at the grizzly as it charged
forward. The bullet hit the bear and it rolled,
trying to get up and then stopped. A shaken up
Jeremy, thinking that their ordeal was over,
came back into the house, picked up his baby off
the bed and went to check on his family. The
young children were frightened and crying
despite Rachel assuring them that the bears
could not hurt them and continued trying to
sooth them.
As the family started to calm down, Rachel got
the phone book for Jeremy so he could call the
Idaho Department of Fish and Game. While looking
for the phone number, Jeremy looked up and saw
that the bear was trying to crawl off into the
woods. Despite the two bullets in the bear, it
continued to make its way towards the kid’s play
area and trampoline positioned on the opposite
side of the house from the pig pen, near the
house and next to some trees and bushes. The
bear stopped behind a tree, wounded but not
dead. Jeremy had already put the rifle away, but
retrieved it with its one last bullet and
carefully made his way towards the bear now in
the bushes, unsure whether the bear was dead or
would try to attack him. Greatly concerned to
have a badly wounded grizzly bear in the area
threatening others, Jeremy located the wounded
bear and used his last bullet to shoot the bear
a third and final time, thus putting the animal
out of its misery and suffering and eliminating
the danger to others.
Jeremy then immediately called the Idaho
Department of Fish and Game and left a message
about the incident. Senior Conservation Officer
Greg Johnson from IDFG called back and came out
to the scene approximately two hours or so
later, along with biologist and conservation
officer Brian Johnson and biologist Wayne
Wakkinen. Jeremy explained what had transpired
and Greg Johnson had Jeremy accompany him to the
location of the downed bear and had him come
armed with a different and loaded rifle. It was
determined that the bear was deceased and
Johnson assured Jeremy that there should not be
any issue as he was protecting his family and
property. The IDFG brought two bear traps that
they placed next to the pig pen, ignoring the
Hill family’s objections. Jeremy had asked them
to place the traps elsewhere as he did not want
the grizzlies to come anywhere near his home
again. The Idaho Department of Fish and Game’s
attempt to bait the grizzly bears back onto the
Hill family property for capture was ultimately
unsuccessful. The location of the other two
grizzly bears is unknown.
The Idaho Department of Fish and Game notified
the United States Fish and Wildlife Service
(USFWS) as the grizzly is on the “endangered
species” list and considered a protected animal
by the federal government under the ESA
(Endangered Species Act). It was approximately a
month before the USFWS showed up to do their
investigation.
As our 40th President Ronald Reagan said:
“The nine most terrifying words in the English
language are:
‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help’.”
After the Feds had completed their
“investigation,” Jeremy was “offered” a plea
bargain if he would plead to a misdemeanor and
pay a $6000 fine. Jeremy feels now and felt then
that he did not do anything wrong by shooting a
bear that was a threat to his children. He felt
that pleading guilty and paying a fine would
damage his reputation and go against his
principles. It had been indicated to Jeremy that
the Feds were not going to pursue the case any
further.
On August 8th, the following story was posted on
the Spokesman-Review:
Subject: Bonners Ferry man charged with killing
grizzly
Posted by Rich
Aug. 8, 2011 4:45 p.m. • 0 comments
POACHING — Jeremy M. Hill, 33, of Bonner’s
Ferry, Idaho, has been charged for killing a
grizzly bear, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson
announced today. The information filed today in
United States District Court alleges that on May
8, 2011, Hill shot and killed a grizzly bear
that was on his property in Bonner’s Ferry. The
grizzly bear is classified as a threatened
species in the Lower 48 states, according to the
Endangered Species Act of 1975, and protected by
federal law.
The charge of killing a threatened species is
punishable by up to one year in prison, a
maximum fine of $50,000, and up to one year of
supervised release.
The case was investigated by the Department of
the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Wendy J. Olson, the United States Attorney that
filed the charges against Jeremy, was appointed
by President Obama for the District of Idaho
less than a year ago on June 26, 2010. According
to her bio at
http://www.justice.gov/usao/id/meetattorney.html
Ms. Olson is married with two children and
resides in Boise. I can’t help but wonder that
if Ms. Olson’s two children were threatened by
three grizzlies, would she just stand back and
do nothing rather than protect her own children?
Jeremy did not even know that he was being
charged by Idaho’s U.S. Attorney Wendy Olson for
the grizzly bear incident until a friend of his
called him and asked him about the charges after
reading about it in the Spokesman. Jeremy
received notice of his arraignment hearing on
August 12th, four days after the news article
came out. Jeremy was notified that he had to
appear in federal court on August 23rd at 10:00
am in Coeur d’Alene.
Jeremy Hill took the following actions for which
he should be commended, not prosecuted for:
Jeremy protected his family; he called the Idaho
Department of Fish and Game to report the
incident; he explained what happened and was
told by Greg Johnson that this would not be an
issue as he was protecting his family and
property; he cooperated in the federal
investigation; and to this day, he does not
understand why the federal government is trying
to prosecute him for his actions. What kind of
message does that send to those of us who have
always believed in the rule of law?
I met Jeremy and his family for the first time
on August 13th. Jeremy showed me around his
yard, describing what had happened, showing me
where his kids were playing, where the bears had
been by the pigs and where he was on the deck as
he tried to protect his children and where the
wounded bear was as it went towards the basement
as well as it’s final resting place.
I could tell that this was difficult for him to
talk about as it brought those horrific memories
right back. No words had to be spoken to
understand that this could have been a tragedy
of unparalleled proportion for them if the bears
had gone after his children rather than the pigs
when the three grizzlies came into his yard. I
was impressed with Jeremy’s soft spoken humility
and gratefulness that, with all that his family
had gone through because of this experience, his
children had not been harmed and he was not
worried about his pigs, and as he told me, “they
can be replaced; my kids can’t.”
I was invited inside and offered a glass of ice
water as we settled onto comfortable chairs with
Rachel and the kids joining us in the
wonderfully decorated living room. There were
groupings of beautiful photos of the children,
now sitting around me, as I noted the word
“FAMILY” on the wall. 9 month old Bristol was
crawling around on an immaculate floor, sat back
and looked up at me with beautiful, big blue
eyes, and smiled at me. Two of the girls were on
the sofa and one of them was cuddling a new
puppy they had just gotten. 14 year old Jasmine
stood next to her Mom with her arm around her
Mom’s waist. The only thing brighter in the room
than the sun shining through the wall of glass
windows was the love and devotion this family
has for each other.
Jeremy and Rachel are still afraid that the
bears will come back and for the first week
after the bear attack, the children were not
allowed to go outside. The only thing the kids
are afraid of now is what is going to happen to
their Dad. Rachel told me that all the children
wanted to be at their father’s arraignment
hearing, including Jasmine who would turn 15 on
that date. My heart ached for this family as I
listened to them and could see the toll they
were paying from the stress and emotional
turmoil the federal government was inflicting on
the Hill family, especially after what they had
all lived through just three months prior. I
assured them that I would be there as well to
support the family during this unnecessary
arraignment hearing that they would be going
through.
We hear about injustice in our country and the
world all the time, but when it happens in your
own community we can either ignore what is
happening around us, or we can try to do
something about it. As a mother and grandmother,
my choice has been to do something to help this
Boundary County family. I know what I would have
done if it were my kids or grandkids being
threatened by three grizzlies. What would you
have done?
On June 14th, after a presentation by Guy
Patchen from Idaho for Wildlife, the Boundary
County Republican Central Committee voted to
assist Jeremy Hill by contacting the Governor
and U.S. Representative Raul Labrador. I drafted
a letter to Governor Otter but since I had been
advised on June 18th that the charges were being
dropped, my letter was not sent and Jeremy did
not want to pursue any further action. Aaron
Caulkins, Raul Labrador’s north Idaho Regional
Director out of Coeur d’Alene, was at our
meeting and he made contact with Raul the
following morning. Jeremy has been in constant
contact with Labrador’s office since that time,
but I have been told that even Raul is being
shut out by the US Attorney’s Office.
At our BCRCC meeting on August 9th, the day
after the Spokesman-Review article hit, we
reiterated our support for Jeremy. I said I
would gather further information and determine
what needed to be done to help. After contacting
Kevin Kimp from IFW, I asked to meet with Jeremy
which I did as described. It is obvious to me
that Jeremy has been unfairly targeted by the
Feds for killing a grizzly while protecting his
family. The article posted in the
Spokesman-Review made it sound like Jeremy was
“poaching” which was ludicrous to say the least.
What a wonderful community we live in. On Friday
evening, August 20th, during the swine auction
at the Boundary County Fair, “Regina,” Jasmine
Hill’s 4H pig, was auctioned off 15 consecutive
times, raising a total of $19,588 and then
“Regina” was given back to Jasmine who had
raised her. I was not at the auction, but had
received a phone call early Saturday morning
telling me about the auction. As tears welled up
in my eyes when I heard the story, it made me so
proud to be a part of this generous and caring
community. The full story of the auction can be
accessed at:
http://www.newsbf.com/news/1108/20regina.html
The day started early for everyone on Tuesday,
August 23rd, especially for the Hills. I arrived
at the U.S. Courthouse in Coeur d’Alene a little
before 9 am, right after Jeremy, Rachel and the
kids had arrived. As we entered the fairly new
and imposing courthouse, purses and a diaper bag
were surrendered for inspection by U.S.
Marshalls, belts and shoes removed including the
kids’ and some received extra attention with the
use of a wand if they set off the metal detector
portal. Photo identification for all adults had
to be presented before being allowed past the
metal detector. All the kids were troopers as
they submitted to the instructions of the three
U.S. Marshalls.
We were all greeted by Jeremy’s attorney Marc
Lyons and a U.S. defense attorney. Jeremy was
then escorted along with his sister upstairs.
Rachel stayed with the kids downstairs and
greeted all the people that started showing up
to show their support. I would estimate that
there were about 70-75 folks who came. It was
nice meeting the Hill’s relatives, neighbors and
friends that made the trip to Coeur d’Alene.
As I sat on a wooden bench in the foyer talking
to Sierra, one of the twins, I noticed across
the room and behind a glass wall, the three foot
high words “We the People” and about 6” high in
script the rest of the preamble of the U.S.
Constitution: “ of the United States, in Order
to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice,
insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the
common defence, promote the general Welfare, and
secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and
our Posterity, do ordain and establish this
Constitution for the United States of America.”
The irony was not missed by me that here we were
in a United States courthouse looking for
justice, only to soon be disappointed by a
system that seems to value the life of a bear
over the life of a person, and in this case,
four children; and all because a father did the
right thing to protect his family.
After about 45 minutes we were escorted upstairs
to the courtroom. As the pews quickly filled up,
it was obvious that not everyone was going to
fit. One of the court clerks stated that the
judge wanted the doors closed, so she had the
larger courtroom opened and we all moved down
the hall. By squeezing together, everyone was
able to sit down in the courtroom. Linda Hall
apparently missed the small sign upon entering
the courtroom prohibiting any photos, and after
she stooped down to take a picture of both
galleries of supporters with her cell phone, a
U.S. Marshall quickly escorted her out of the
courtroom where I understand she was questioned,
instructed to remove the pictures from her
phone, told to provide her identification and
warned that if any photos from the hearing
showed up in the media that she could face
prosecution.
We were then all told to rise as Judge Candy
Dale entered the courtroom. The judge read the
charges and statute violations that were being
levied against Jeremy as well as the
consequences that he faced if found guilty;
those being one year in prison, up to a $50,000
fine or both and a year of supervised release.
Jeremy was asked by the judge if he understood
the charges and punishment for killing an
endangered or threatened species, specifically a
grizzly bear in this case and he answered very
respectfully, “Yes, your Honor.” He was then
asked what his plea was and he answered, “Not
guilty, your Honor.” As the judge set Jeremy’s
court date for October 4th at 9:30 a.m. at the
U.S. District Courthouse where we presently
were, to be presided over by Judge Edward Lodge,
a pin could have been heard in that huge room. I
believe that every one of us was held in a
moment of disbelief that what we were hearing
was in fact reality and not a nightmare we were
all experiencing at the same moment in time.
Jeremy looked as though the weight of the world
were balanced on his shoulders as he looked at
his family in the first pew where they were all
sitting. The one good thing? This will be a jury
trial.
The judge then talked about Jeremy being a
flight risk and wanted his passport surrendered.
Marc Lyons then took the floor and explained
that Jeremy was in no way a flight risk and that
the family lives just a short distance south of
the Canadian border; also that the family often
travels to Canada for activities such as
swimming lessons for the children in Creston.
This was debated for a short while and the judge
agreed that Jeremy could keep his passport;
however, anytime he plans to cross into Canada
he will be required to call courthouse services
to advise them when he is crossing the border
and upon his return. Ms. Cooke, the U.S.
prosecuting attorney from Coeur d’Alene, agreed
with the judge on these conditions. Jeremy was
also advised that the rifle used to shoot the
grizzly needed to be surrendered to the court.
As the judge banged her gavel on the bench
telling us that the hearing was adjourned, the
sound reverberated throughout the room. We all
exited the courtroom, myself feeling as if I was
in a daze, trying to understand how this could
happen and wondering how common sense had gotten
so skewed in the world we live in today. It will
take “We the People” to do what we can to stop
this travesty of justice.
Jeremy needs the help of our great community as
well as all Idahoans and Americans that see the
injustice our federal government is inflicting
on this north Idaho family. Now that we know
that Jeremy is going to trial on October 4th, an
experienced and competent attorney that deals
with cases like this is being searched out.
Fighting the federal government that has all the
taxpayer dollars that it needs will be expensive
for the Hill family. Jeremy is a self-employed
excavator and he and his family will need
financial help for the battle ahead. If you can
help at all, even if it is a small donation,
several bank accounts have been set up by Idaho
for Wildlife (and will be monitored by IFW) to
assist Jeremy with his legal defense costs.
Checks should be made out to the “Jeremy Hill
Benefit Account” and contributions can be sent
to:
Wells Fargo Bank
6764 Main Street
P.O. Box 1509
Bonners Ferry, ID 83805
or go to any Wells Fargo and tell them the
account is held at the Bonners Ferry Branch.
Mountain West Bank
PO Box 59
Bonners Ferry, ID 83805
or go to any Mountain West branch and tell them
the account is held at the Bonners Ferry Branch
Panhandle State Bank
P.O. Box 1479
Bonners Ferry, ID 83805
or go to any Panhandle State Bank, Intermountain
Community Bank or Magic Valley Bank and tell
them the account is held at the Bonners Ferry
Branch
In the meantime, I will be working with
organizations to get some fund raisers started.
If you would like to be involved in this
endeavor, please call or email me. Of if you
belong to an organization that would like to
have a fundraiser for the Hills, please let me
know that as well. With God’s help and by
working together we can help the Hills defeat
“Goliath.” Isn’t that what being a good neighbor
in north Idaho is all about? We all need to
realize that this could happen to any one of us.
And most importantly, please pray for the Hill
family and keep them in your thoughts as they
deal with the overwhelming challenge ahead of
them when Jeremy faces the U.S Government’s
criminal charges in federal court on October 4th
for killing a grizzly bear that was a serious
and immediate threat to his children and
livestock.
Please forward this on to everyone in your
address book; not just in Idaho, but everywhere!
Thank you for any help you can provide to Jeremy
and Rachel Hill and their children, Bristol,
Aspen, Mercedes, Sierra, Cameron and Jasmine.
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Donna Capurso
Chairman, Boundary County Republican
Central Committee
Bonners Ferry
(208) 267-6506
DonnaCapurso2010@gmail.com |
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