WEEK IN THE CAN

Woman Jailed for Joining Armed Anti-Mask Protesters Outside Health Official’s Home

Diana Lachiondo left a health board meeting early when the protesters surrounded her home while her two sons were inside.

An Idaho woman who joined a crowd of armed anti-mask protesters in surrounding a local public official’s home in 2020 has been sentenced to jail time. Susan Lang, 52, was sentenced to a week behind bars, but should be getting out Monday due to time she’s already spent in custody. Her crime, which carried a jail sentence of up to six months, was disturbing the peace outside of a former Ada County commissioner and health board member’s home in 2020 when the board convened to vote on a mask mandate in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic. Diana Lachiondo, who is no longer a public official, left that meeting early to go check on her sons at home, where armed protesters yelled, blew air horns and accused her of “tyranny and cowering inside,” she said on Facebook following the incident. “Susan Lang’s efforts to harass and intimidate local officials and their families are profoundly disturbing,” said Amy Herzfeld-Copple, the Western States Center’s deputy director of programs and strategic initiatives.