Idaho coffee shop owner defends ejecting pro-life group from his business after backlash

Idaho Coffee Shop Owner Faces Wave of Death Threats After Confrontation With Pro-Life Group Goes Viral

The owner of a coffee shop in the small Idaho town of Driggs says he and his wife have been bombarded with death threats since a confrontation with a pro-life advocacy group inside his café was recorded and spread widely on social media.

Jim Sheehan, who owns Wydaho Roasters, told Cowboy State Daily on Wednesday that the threats have been "nonstop" in the days since the incident. The episode has sparked a fierce national debate over the boundaries of free speech, private business rights, and political tolerance.

According to Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America, a group of roughly fifteen people gathered at the shop to discuss a pending ballot initiative that would legalize abortion up to 24 weeks in Idaho, where the procedure is currently banned in most circumstances. Hawkins said her sixteen-year-old son, Bear, a fellow with the organization, organized the meeting to recruit local volunteers and talk about supporting mothers and families in the rural area.

Hawkins posted video of the confrontation to social media on Monday, claiming she and her group were kicked out after Sheehan learned of the meeting's purpose. In the footage, Sheehan is seen telling the group they are not welcome to hold their gathering at his café and suggesting they relocate to the local public library.

"This is my place of business," Sheehan says in the recording. "I did a lot of work to get people on the ballot so women would have the right to choose in the state of Idaho, and this is something I do not support, nor does my wife, and it's our business. So we have that choice."

When Hawkins asked whether he was asking them to leave, Sheehan replied, "Did I make it very clear that I did not want you here?" He went on to draw a sharp comparison that has since drawn particular scrutiny.

"It's like, if the KKK asked to meet here, I would say 'no,'" Sheehan said in the video. "In my world, it's the same sort of concept."

Speaking to Cowboy State Daily two days later, Sheehan acknowledged that the comparison was poorly chosen and said he "didn't think through that analogy." He maintained, however, that he had the right to decide which groups meet in his shop.

Sheehan also pushed back on the characterization that he had ejected the group. He told Fox News Digital that he had politely responded to a Facebook post on Sunday in which Hawkins announced the meeting would be held at his business, asking them not to use his café for the event because the organization's mission conflicted with his own values. He said the group arrived anyway.

"Sunday she announced on a local community page they were holding this meeting at our business naming it — I responded to the post politely asking them not to use our business as the agenda of the organization does not align with us," Sheehan said. "They showed up anyway."

Hawkins told Fox News Digital that the group had not seen Sheehan's reply before showing up for the meeting. Students for Life has also alleged that Sheehan turned up the café's music after the exchange in order to prevent the group from continuing to talk, a claim Sheehan has not publicly addressed.

In his interview with Cowboy State Daily, Sheehan said his shop is openly progressive, noting that it flies a pride flag and regularly hosts LGBTQ coffee meet-ups. He said the decision was not about the group's politics broadly but specifically about what he viewed as a cause fundamentally at odds with his beliefs.

"It's not a surprise where my stance is on something like that," he said, calling abortion "one of those black-and-white issues for me."

The fallout has not been limited to Sheehan. Hawkins said she was stunned by the hostility she encountered in Driggs, a community she described as liberal-leaning but generally warm.

"I think it was shocking to see somebody who had obviously said multiple times and in social media posts and has been out in the community saying that they were a community organization, coffee shop — you know, everyone's welcome sign and his rainbow flag is not welcoming to anyone who is a Christian or who is pro-life," Hawkins said.

The Idaho ballot measure at the center of the dispute would, if approved by voters, establish a constitutional right to abortion up to 24 weeks of pregnancy. The state currently prohibits most abortions under a law passed after the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade.

The incident has drawn attention well beyond Driggs, a town of roughly two thousand people near the Wyoming border known more for its ski slopes than its politics. It comes at a time of heightened tensions nationwide over abortion, reproductive rights, and the willingness of private businesses to host politically charged gatherings — a debate that has played out in coffee shops, bookstores, and event spaces in communities across the country.

Neither Sheehan nor Hawkins indicated plans to pursue legal action. Sheehan has continued to operate Wydaho Roasters as usual, though he said the volume of hostile messages has made life difficult for him and his wife.