Special Report: BIPOC leaders meet with Mayor Engen
Reported and produced by Madeline Broom, additional reporting by Noelle Huser
Audio Transcript
About a hundred people lay on the grass outside the Missoula County Courthouse in protest of the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis Police officer on on June 5, 2020.
photo by Madeline Broom
This is a KBGA special report. My name is Madeline Broom.
George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer on Memorial Day two weeks ago. Since then, millions across the country and around the world have poured into the streets in protest of police brutality and racism. Floyd’s death came on the heels of the murder of Ahmaud Arbery in February by two armed white men, the murder of Breonna Taylor in her home by police in March and numerous other officer involved deaths of Black people in police custody.
In Missoula, hundreds have joined the global protest by gathering outside the courthouse everyday, rain or shine. And while the protests have generally been peaceful anyone who goes downtown will notice the presence of armed individuals near the courthouse. Many say they are there to protect the protestors from outside agitators. One man named Mark, who wouldn’t give his last name, said he’d been told Antifa was coming to Missoula to create chaos and infiltrate peaceful protests. Some social media posts have identified him as Mark Belden. Mark's friend, Anna Smith, who’s also been attending the protests armed, joined in on our conversation. We talked to them Saturday outside the courthouse.
KBGA has been in contact with those organizing the protests in front of the courthouse, including the one Mark mentioned Evie. She declined to comment, instead inviting us to the next protest to speak with leaders.
Last week the Montana Human Rights Network said in a statement that there was no evidence of any Antifa demonstrators on their way to Missoula describing it as a “Antifa Fantasy.”
Travis McAdam, executive director of the Montana Human Rights Network released a statement saying, “I can tell you these militia folks have very itchy trigger fingers and are excited by the possibility of ‘protecting and saving’ their communities. When Antifa hasn’t shown up, the armed militias are taking credit for scaring them away, even though the caravan never existed.”
On Friday, long time local organizers, who are mostly Black, indigenous and people of color, brought their concerns to Missoula Mayor John Engen during a phone conference call. The call, set up by activist Daniel Carlino, to talk about the Sunrise Movement’s fossil fuel pledge, instead turned into a meeting about the concerns of people of color in Missoula.
Carlino told KBGA he’d gotten permission from Engen’s staff to invite others to the call and informed the mayor that he'd rather talk about “the militia in town and police brutality.”
KBGA was able to get on that call. We’ve decided to play that call now. It has been edited for length and clarity. The audio can be hard to hear or understand at times, but we’ve tried to clean it up as much as possible.
Mayor Engen has not yet responded to the concerns raised during the call Friday.
About 30 minutes before the call occurred the Mayor’s office released a statement on the Black Lives Matter protests saying, “I and my team, along with the Missoula City Council, firmly believe that the Black Lives Matter movement is providing critical advocacy in the face of systemic racism and police violence in the United States. And while I continue to have full faith and trust in the women and men who swore to protect and serve all residents of Missoula, our police department, like every other department serving our community, can and will get better through intentional efforts to improve policies and procedures.”
The letter goes on to respond to the more than 150 emails the mayor had received before Friday concerning reforms for the Missoula Police Department. That letter can be found on the city’s website.
Chief Jaeson White and Mayor Engen will be attending the June 10 meeting of the city council for continued discussion on these issues. The meeting can be accessed virtually with more information again on the city’s website at ci.missoula.mt.us.
Protests in Missoula, and around the country, are expected to continue this week. KBGA will continue to report as this story evolves.