Two Marion men were charged Tuesday with felony malicious intimidation after a weekend attack on migrant workers that authorities say appears to have been racially motivated.
Edward L. Hubbs, 26, and Daniel J. Devine, 25, are accused of brandishing a baseball bat and tire iron while using racial slurs against migrant mushroom pickers from Asia who were at a Marion convenience store. The men, who are white, were arrested Saturday night.
“Their intent was definitely to intimidate based on race, and there was definitely some hate-natured slurs,” Flathead County Sheriff Mike Meehan said. “But I do feel it was somewhat of an isolated incident, and not some kind of organized white supremacist type of incident.”
Authorities said that during the confrontation at the convenience store, one of the mushroom pickers took a gun from his vehicle, fired two shots in the air and the parties separated.
About two hours later, deputies say Devine and Hubbs attacked migrant workers at a campground, allegedly hurling racial slurs and beer bottles. Meehan said Hubbs fired several rounds from a rifle into the air to intimidate the migrants.
Hubbs and Devine remain jailed in Kalispell each on $50,000 bail. They are scheduled to appear in court July 31.