The "Bowe is Back" celebration was shaping up to be a showdown, with protesters bombarding the city with angry phone calls and threatening to flood the tiny Central Idaho town during the annual June event, previously called "Bring Bowe Back."
"We just don't have the facilities," said Hailey Police Chief Jeff Gunter after a press release Wednesday announced the event's cancellation.
The planned venue for the event was Hop Porter Park, which can accommodate up to 5,000, Gunter said. But it appeared to organizers and city officials that many more than that might show up.
"I received one call today from a (veterans group in California) that wanted to bring up 2,000 protesters," Hailey Police Chief Jeff Gunter said Wednesday afternoon. "They were asking about lawful assembly, and how we handle it."
Gary Pringle, a resident of Lubbock, Texas, called the Statesman Wednesday morning to warn that he was rallying hundreds of veterans to make a trip to Idaho.
By Katy Moeller and Zach Kyle
Idaho Statesman