From left, Ira Tankovich, William Tankovich and Frank Tankovich.
EXCERPT: A unanimous Idaho Court of Appeals has upheld the conviction of Frank Tankovich for malicious harassment and conspiracy after a 2009 incident in which he and his two brothers, in a truck festooned with a swastika, harassed a man of Puerto Rican descent outside his Coeur d’Alene home.
“We find ample evidence to support the jury’s finding that Tankovich was motivated by racial animus,” Appeals Court Judge Karen Lansing wrote in the decision …
Frank Tankovich and his brother William were sentenced to probation and community service for the incident, while his brother Ira was convicted of conspiracy to disturb the peace and possession of a gun by a felon, and was sentenced to up to nine years in prison. … the three brothers drove past the home of Kenneth Requena, who was standing in his garage with his wife, Kimberly. The brothers, whose truck had a swastika drawn in dirt on one side and “Born 2 Kill” on the other, squealed to a stop and backed up to park in front of the Requenas’ driveway, where Frank Tankovich, the driver, began yelling at Requena and all three brothers got out of the truck and approached him … Requena again asked his wife to retrieve his gun and call 911. When police responded, the brothers loudly and repeatedly yelled profanity, racial slurs and threats against Requena, calling him a “beaner” and a “terrorist,” and demanding that he be arrested for displaying a firearm.
Read the full story by Betsy Russell in the Spokeman Review.
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