Man pleads guilty to federal hate crime charges in Boise

BOISE, Idaho — An Oregon man has pled guilty in the US District Court in Boise to two federal hate crimes.

According to a release from the U.S. Department of Justice, Matthew Lehigh (31) approached a transgender employee at the Boise library, caller her a slur, punched her, then threatened to stab her. Library security intervened and Lehigh fled to the parking lot. The security officer followed Lehigh and attempted to speak with him before Lehigh jumped into his vehicle and tried to hit the security officer with his car.

Four days later, Lehigh reportedly was sitting in his vehicle in a parking lot in Boise where he saw two women walking who he assumed were lesbians. He then shouted slurs at them before accelerating he vehicle towards them and attempted to hit them. The two women jumped out of the way, narrowly escaping.

Lehigh also admitted to other instances of anti-LGBT vandalism and violence, including setting fire to a rainbow "pride" flag in Boise's North End, breaking several windows at a commercial building occupied by a LGBTQI community organization, and punching a grocery store customer after calling him a slur.

Lehigh faces up to 45 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release.

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