Kootenai County man Mike Peetoom of North Idaho News contacted the CDA Police and said that Mike Marquart, who owns The Patriot Hangout in Coeur d’Alene tried to swerve and run him over in the parking at Nosworthys.

Through a series of interactions Mike Peetoom knew that Mike Marquart was supporting Dan Wilson for Kootenai County Sheriff while Mike Peetoom has publicized his support of Bob Norris. Not only does Mike Peetoom support Bob Norris for Sheriff, but he’s often seen with Norris, volunteers at his events, and generally hangs around places where Norris is and other people who support Norris.

One morning Mike Marquart was having breakfast at Nosworthys in Coeur d’Alene and sees Peetoom in the restaurant. They exchange a glance and nothing more. Marquart finishes his breakfast and leaves the restaurant.

Things take a turn when Mike Marquart obtains video footage from a neighboring business that showed exactly what happened in the parking lot at Nosworthy’s and it’s not was Peetoom told police.

In that clip you see Mike Peetoom miscalculates his attempt at making it look like Marquart would be moving his vehicle toward him. Peetoom realizes as he starts to cross the parking lot the first time that it was prior to Marquart backing out of his spot. Peetoom then turns around, waits, and makes a second attempt at staging this incident. His timing was still so off that his theatrical efforts at looking startled completely missed the mark.

Who is Mike Peetoom and what would be his motivation for lying about Marquart’s actions?

To understand this fully, it’s necessary to go back a little bit.

Mike Peetoom founded Mike Peetoom Construction in 2012 in Whatcom County outside of Seattle in the Bellingham, Washington area. Since his move to Kootenai County in December of 2021 he is also currently doing business as Lake City Excavation. Mike was a volunteer firefighter and ran for Whatcom County council in 2018 and has seemed to espouse conservative values and Republican veiwpoints.

According to a video interview with Mike’s wife Christie found on the covid-19 oral history project website, Mike Peetoom, his wife and kids moved from Washinton State to Idaho during the pandemic due to restrictions in Washington. Since their move to North Idaho both Mike and his wife have become real estate agents. They are also friends and supporters of Sheriff Bob Norris. In fact, it’s a whole friend group and circle jerk of die-hard Norris supporters that includes so-called Republicans and conservatives who behave badly.

Mike Peetoom and North Idaho News

North Idaho News provides up-to-the-minute information on things like car accidents and other incidents that happen around the area. North Idaho News does not appear to be a registered news organization. It seems to be nothing more than a Facebook page which was created in 2018, but the page following has grown to over 142 thousand making it quite an asset in Kootenai County. Mike Peetoom is one of the page administrators, He contributes to and is a promoter of North Idaho News.

It’s unlikely that North Idaho News was the brainchild of Mike Peetoom. The page itself was established in 2018 prior to his move to Idaho. It’s more likely that Peetoom became one of the page administrators through a local connection and now with his affiliation to it, leverages the popularity of this page to promote things such as his wife’s real estate business and sizzle pieces and positive PR for Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris which you’ll see pretty frequently posted on North Idaho News. The frequent posting of pro-Norris events and public relations, points to Norris having the North Idaho News outlet in his pocket via Mike Peetoom.

Bob Norris’s team, including Kootenai County Commissioner Bruce Mattare understand the power of social media and the ability to control what information regarding Norris and his administration gets pushed out to the public. As it turns out Mike Peetoom and his connection to North Idaho News is a piece to that puzzle. Sheriff Bob Norris and County Commissioner Bruce Mattare scratch Peetoom’s back and he’ll scratch theirs. Now it begins to make a bit more sense as to why Peetoom is so defensive of Norris and why Norris is frequently seen with Mike Peetoom. Peetoom is feeling like he’s in the popular kid’s club and as we’ve learned he’s willing to defend his position because Norris “needs” him and that makes him feel good. Mike Peetoom is on record lying about Wilson and his supporters and has now falsely accused Mike Marquart of trying to run him over in a parking lot.

Mike Peetoom created an entirely false set of circumstances out of thin air. Perhaps he thought he was going to use his “law enforcement” connections to say that an innocent person who was minding their own business attempted to assault him with his car. Mike Peetoom orchestrated this fake incident then used a police report to stain an innocent man’s public record.

The opinions expressed by contributing authors or Op-Ed submissions to the Liberty Without Compromise Network do not necessarily reflect those of the founders of LWC, the hosts of the Liberty Without Compromise broadcast, or Dan Wilson for Kootenai County Sheriff. It is LWC's position to offer a forum for the marketplace of ideas, discussion, and at times, opposing viewpoints. With this in mind, the comment section contained in this website is open for all ideas and viewpoints provided the discussion remain productive and respectful of others.