Idaho Youth Soccer Coach Receives Racist Letter, Vows to Fight Back

"Your n----- boy made the soccer field unclean by stepping on it. You are no better than the trash families you have. You are trash."

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The owner of an Idaho youth soccer club received a anonymous letter that spewed racial slurs and warned him to "be careful," reports the Idaho Statesman. 

Jeromy Tarkon, the head of Idaho Juniors Futbol Club, says he found the letter on the windshield of his Jeep on Sunday morning after facilitating a weekend of indoor soccer games. Seventy-five percent of the club's players come from minority or immigrant families, including boys from Ethiopia, Kenya, Israel, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Portugal, Bosnia, Ukraine and Russia.

"It’s because of liberals like you that our state is full of [n-word] and wet-----,” the letter reads. “Your [n-word] boy made the soccer field unclean by stepping on it. You are no better than the trash families you have. You are trash.

“Be careful how you coach. One day you might piss off the wrong parent or families. The Juniors are a joke. Quit now before the whole state hates you.

“Be careful.”

Per the Statesman, the letter comes amid a number of racist incidents targeting minorities in the state. Recently, a swastika and racial slurs were spray-painted onto a playground, an Ethiopian woman had the n-word scratched onto her car, and "rapeugess" was written on the sidewalk in front of a Middle Eastern restaurant. 

"This is so much bigger than the Juniors and them targeting us,” Tarkon told the Statesman. “This is something that the community has experienced.”

Local police are investigating the letter as malicious harassment. 

Tarkon said he hasn't addressed the incident with his players and hasn't decided how he'll respond. He's considered having players were armbands to denounce racism, and the club has set up a GoFundMe page that's raised more than $6,000. That money will be donated to an organization dedicated to combating racism. 

“Listen, I’m not big enough to make a difference nationally,” Tarkon said. “But we together are big enough to make a difference in our community, in our backyard.

“That’s what I want to happen. For us to rally with one another and say: ‘Hey, we’re going to make a difference cohesively. We’re going to stand up together, join arms, lock hands, and we’re going to go fight racism."