There are few symbols in human history more universally recognized than the swastika. It is a symbol tied to genocide, fascism, white supremacy, antisemitism, and some of the darkest atrocities humanity has ever witnessed. So naturally, when swastikas appear publicly in Idaho — whether on a Holocaust memorial or a gubernatorial campaign sign — outrage follows almost immediately.
But in 2026, outrage is no longer the only public reaction these incidents generate.
Now, they generate suspicion too.
This week, Eagle Police announced they were investigating after a swastika was spray-painted across a campaign banner belonging to Idaho gubernatorial candidate and Old State Saloon owner Mark Fitzpatrick. According to reporting from KTVB and Yahoo News, surveillance images allegedly tied to the incident show a masked individual riding a bicycle near the sign in broad daylight.
Fitzpatrick wasted no time publicly framing the incident politically.
“So this just happened… and it happened because Leftists lie about me and defame me,” Fitzpatrick wrote on Facebook. “That includes LEFTISTS that call themselves Republicans!”
Later, while speaking to KTVB, Fitzpatrick claimed he has become used to being called a Nazi because he is “standing for what’s right and true.” He also offered what many local residents interpreted less as sincerity and more as political theater, telling the alleged vandal:
“Why don’t you, instead of doing that, come on inside? We can sit down and have a good conversation.”
And that’s the point where much of Idaho collectively rolled its eyes.
Because for many people across the Treasure Valley, Mark Fitzpatrick is not some misunderstood moderate trying to “have conversations.” He is a man who has intentionally built a public brand around outrage politics, provocation, culture war rhetoric, and inflammatory controversy for years now.
Whether it was the disastrous “Heterosexual Awesomeness Fest,” his association with far-right media personalities, anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, immigration outrage campaigns, or posts involving rewards and beers for information tied to ICE reporting and political opponents, controversy has never exactly harmed his visibility. If anything, controversy is the visibility, and Idahoans know it. Interestingly enough, Fitzpatrick is not an Idaho native despite his ‘good old boy’ routine. Instead, he’s a California transplant who set his sights on the humble city of Boise to outstretch his exploitative tendrils and try to grow successful businesses without the taxes and oversight California is known for.
This, paired with his constant hateful rhetoric online and connection to other homophobic and racist individuals such as David Pettinger, is exactly why the public reaction to the swastika incident did not unfold the way many political consultants might expect. Instead of widespread sympathy, local comment sections on Reddit, Instagram, and Facebook were almost immediately filled with skepticism, mockery, and distrust.
One Reddit user wrote, “Wouldn’t be surprised if Mark paid someone to do it.” Another commented, “Staged for clout, clicks, and sympathy.” Others referred to the incident as “the call coming from inside the house,” while some questioned why the symbol appeared unusually clean, centered, and visible for an alleged act of impulsive vandalism.
To be absolutely clear: there is currently no public evidence suggesting Fitzpatrick staged the incident himself, and claiming otherwise as fact would be irresponsible. But the public skepticism surrounding the story is very real — and frankly, it did not emerge out of nowhere.
It emerged because Idahoans have spent years watching political outrage become performance art. That is the real story here. From Liberty Dogs crying crocodile tears on live to Pam Hemphill turning off the camera to talk to protestors and then turning it back on and claiming she narrowly escaped, Idaho has a right-leaning deception problem that is ever-present in politics, community, and law enforcement across the Treasure Valley.
For many residents, it immediately brought back memories of another swastika incident in Idaho that carried far more symbolic weight and generated far less apparent urgency in terms of public resolution.
Back in December 2020, Boise’s Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial was vandalized with swastikas and antisemitic propaganda. The memorial, one of the few Anne Frank memorials in the United States, was defaced with Nazi imagery in an act that sparked national and even international outrage. Major outlets, including NPR, CNN, NBC News, CBS News, AP News, and Boise State Public Radio, covered the incident extensively as Idaho once again found itself publicly confronting extremism within its borders.
At the time, political leaders condemned the vandalism strongly. The community rallied around the memorial. Residents mourned the symbolism of Holocaust-related imagery being desecrated with hate symbols in the capital city itself.
And yet, despite the magnitude of the incident and the national attention it generated, no rapid arrest publicly materialized in the same way many Idahoans now expect from protest-related or politically beneficial incidents.
That inconsistency becomes even more difficult to ignore when placed beside what happened only months later during the 2020 protest wave in Boise.
During demonstrations tied to racial justice protests, local activist Terry Wilson was arrested in connection with chalk graffiti placed near the Lincoln statue in Julia Davis Park. According to reporting from KTVB, Idaho News 6, and the Idaho Freedom Foundation, authorities moved quickly, arrests were made, and the incident became another example of aggressive enforcement surrounding protest activity in Idaho. Not to mention, the reports stated that the protestors permanently defaced the statue, left human excrement at the site, and violated several city and state laws. However, when none of this was found to be accurate, no amendments to the claims were made by either the press or local police. And this is where many Idahoans begin asking uncomfortable questions.
Not because vandalism should not be investigated (of course it should), but because the apparent urgency surrounding different cases often feels wildly inconsistent depending on who the victim is, what political narrative is involved, and how useful the outrage proves to be publicly.
When swastikas appeared at the Anne Frank Memorial, the public was told investigations take time. When chalk appeared near the Lincoln statue during protests, arrests reportedly followed within hours. Now, with a swastika appearing across the campaign sign of one of Idaho’s most controversial political figures, surveillance photos and investigative attention once again appeared almost immediately.
Naturally, people are noticing the pattern. And frankly, people are exhausted by it.
At some point, modern political culture stopped feeling authentic and began to feel algorithmic. Every outrage cycle now follows the same predictable structure. A controversy erupts. Social media explodes. Politicians claim persecution. Media outlets amplify the spectacle. Supporters rally. Opponents rage. Engagement skyrockets. Then the underlying issues quietly disappear beneath the noise itself.
In many ways, Mark Fitzpatrick has become one of the clearest local examples of this transformation of politics into performance. His public persona thrives on conflict. The outrage is not incidental to the brand — it is the brand. The more controversial the statement, the more visibility it follows. The more attention generated online, the more political relevance is maintained. Whether it’s anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, inflammatory immigration commentary, or increasingly divisive culture war positioning, the strategy remains remarkably consistent: provoke outrage, frame criticism as persecution, and turn the backlash itself into political oxygen.
That is why so many Idahoans immediately distrusted the story surrounding the sign. Not necessarily because they believe it was staged, but because the entire incident felt perfectly engineered for the modern outrage economy we now live in. It also doesn’t hurt that this incident would occur right as Democratic candidates Terri Pickens and Maxine Durand are gaining more positive sway from both parties than many of the other 17 candidates online. Furthermore, looking at the data, Fitzpatrick experienced a massive uptick in site traffic on the day the news was released, thus proving its value for his campaign and his brand sentiment overall.
What is the most suspicious of all, however, is likely the positioning of the sign as well as the positioning of the cameras outside of the Old State Saloon, pointing directly at the unattended sign for weeks now. Many Idahoans online speculate that this is because the entire event is staged solely for attention by the shock-jock candidate. And that should concern all of us far more than one campaign banner outside one bar in Eagle.
When communities no longer trust political narratives, media framing, institutional priorities, or even the authenticity of public outrage itself, something much larger has already begun to fracture beneath society’s surface. Distrust becomes instinctive. Cynicism becomes the default. Every incident begins to feel less like reality and more like marketing. This is the first sign of tyranny in a country and is the same kind of misinformation we can see before any nation’s decline throughout history.
At some point, the public stops reacting with shock and starts reacting with suspicion, and quite frankly, they are right to do it in a country that continues to whitewash history, sweep atrocities under the rug, and commit war crimes against their fellow man.
And maybe this doubtful and cynical reaction says more about our country’s political climate than the vandalism itself ever could.