Liberal College Town Settles Lawsuit With Christians Arrested for Maskless ‘Psalm Sing’ Protest Against COVID Orders

A sign requesting masks hangs on a doorwat in Tustin, Calif., on March 10, 2021. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

The liberal college town of Moscow, Idaho, recently announced that it had settled a lawsuit brought by several Christians who were arrested in 2020 while staging an outdoor “psalm sing” protest outside City Hall against COVID-19 orders.

Under the terms of the deal, the city of Moscow will pay a total amount of $300,000 to settle a civil lawsuit brought by Gabriel Rench, as well as Sean and Rachel Bohnet.

Rench and the Bohnets sued the city and several city employees for wrongful arrest after they were taken into custody following a gathering that took place at City Hall in September 2020.

All three participated in the protest, which consisted of singing psalms and standing in close proximity to other participants, in violation of social distancing rules that were in place at the time.

The Protest

The peaceful protest lasted around 20 minutes in front of City Hall, where officials had placed yellow dots on the ground six feet apart to signal the social distancing guidelines.

Court documents show that the trio “declined to wear masks or physically distance themselves” from other attendees.

Rench and the Bohnets were charged with violating the city’s COVID-19 health order, with the couple additionally charged with resisting or obstructing an officer because they initially refused to identify themselves.

The trio then filed a motion seeking to dismiss the criminal charges, arguing that the city’s health ordinance had a carveout for religious activities, per protections afforded by the U.S. Constitution on religious liberty.

‘Should Never Have Been Arrested’

A magistrate judge later dismissed the city’s case against the trio, with U.S. District Court Judge Morrison C. England, Jr., writing in a memorandum and order on Feb. 1, 2023, that the “plaintiffs should never have been arrested in the first place.”

Even though the city of Moscow moved to dismiss the criminal charges, the trio had already incurred legal defense fees, and they sued. The court subsequently ordered the parties to participate in a settlement conference.

“It would behoove everyone involved to take a step back from their respective positions and prepare to negotiate in good faith,” the judge wrote in the order.

This led to the settlement announced on July 14, involving the City of Moscow and its liability insurance provider, Idaho Counties Risk Management Program (ICRMP).

“ICRMP determined that a financial settlement in the case was the best course of action to dispose of the suit and avoid a protracted litigation proceeding,” the City said in a statement.

Under the terms of the deal, all claims against the City and named employees will be dropped.

“This settlement provides closure of a matter related to the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic and the City’s efforts to protect the public during an exceptionally trying time,” the City stated.

Wasted Taxpayer Money

Rench reacted to the settlement in a statement obtained by The Epoch Times, in which he expressed relief that the “saga” had come to a close, while criticizing the City for imposing “unconstitutional” orders.

“The liberal cult that runs Moscow has twisted city code and crafted unconstitutional emergency health orders that act like modern Jim Crow laws targeted to harass members of our Christian community and this discrimination needs to stop,” he said.

Rench said he’s glad “this shameful saga is over” but decried that it comes at a high cost to taxpayers. He estimated that, in total, the mediated settlement and related proceedings had cost taxpayers around $500,000 in City resources.

He also alleged that City authorities were carrying out a campaign of “consistent religious discrimination” against members of his church and the Christian community more broadly.

As an example, he said that high school kids protesting his arrest by posting “free speech stickers on city poles” had been cited with misdemeanors while “thousands of others” who had posted similar stickers had not faced any response by city authorities.

A City of Moscow spokesperson told The Epoch Times that the City would not be providing any further comment on the matter beyond what’s contained in the press release.

Government-mandated COVID-19 lockdowns and school and business closures, as well as other non-pharmaceutical interventions, have been the subject of numerous protests and lawsuits.

Some experts have said that many of the restrictions were not just ineffective but had harmful impacts.

“Widespread, economy-wide lockdown policies were a disaster. They had only marginal effects on the ultimate number of deaths, but imposed enormous costs,” says an essay by Douglas Allen, economics professor at Simon Fraser University, and published by the Fraser Institute in January 2023.

Allen previously wrote four peer-reviewed essays on the issue, with his final essay on the subject entitled “Lockdown: A Final Assessment.”

He told The Epoch Times that lockdowns “will go down in history as the greatest of peacetime policy disasters.”

Allen said that when he first started assessing data for his essays, he estimated the costs of lockdowns just in the first year to be “141 times any benefits.” He said this was an “enormous underestimate.”

“During COVID, we did the equivalent of killing thousands of lives ‘to save one,'” he added.

His essay noted that there were no estimates of the effect lockdowns have had on children’s physical well-being, lost education, early development, IQ, and social abilities. However, he wrote that it is generally acknowledged that children and youth suffered under lockdowns.

Marnie Cathcart contributed to this report.