Montanans never voted for a police state. Montanans treasure our individual liberties and appropriate limits on government power.
Imagine if our city police or county sheriff’s deputies suddenly took to wearing masks to hide their identities. We wouldn’t put up with that. Why should we tolerate that with ICE?
Montanans value our gun rights. Recently in Minneapolis, ICE tackled, disarmed, and then shot a man who was merely filming them from a sidewalk. Authorities labeled him as a “domestic terrorist” because he had a legal, properly permitted handgun. The man was merely exercising his First and Second Amendment rights.
If police can grab a man and execute him simply because he is recording on his cell phone from a public sidewalk, what keeps them from persecuting people for what they say, the church they attend, the clubs they belong to or how they vote? Nothing. If one political party gets away with this in the present, what keeps another political party from doing the same in the future? Nothing.
This is not the America we want. Nor does it represent the ideals so many fought for. What happens in Minneapolis can happen in Montana. Police are supposed to protect our rights and keep us safe. ICE is doing the opposite.
Montanans want law and order. That includes from the police. It’s time for Sen. Daines, Sen. Sheehy and Rep. Zinke to rein in ICE, before more blood is shed and more rights are squandered.
Ben Long
Kalispell