The Missoula County Sheriff’s Office reports one woman is dead after an assault in Clinton on Sunday.
Deputies responded to a report of an assault in the 5600 block of Donovan Creek Road just after noon.
On scene, deputies found Delphine A. Farmer, 88, unresponsive. Farmer was pronounced dead at the scene.
Officials say a person has not been taken into custody in relation to the homicide and there is no risk to the public at this time.
While I’m glad the mouthpiece for the Sheriff’s Office thinks the as-yet-to-be-detained assailant who allegedly beat an old woman to death doesn’t pose a risk to the public at this time, I’m going to remind readers that the Sheriff’s Office is led by an elected official, which makes the determination of “public risk” a political one, not one based on consensus reality, where us regular people live.
Irregular people, like the homeless sex offender (and the Sheriff’s Office who has been protecting him these last few years through non-enforcement) is what I went on KGVO yesterday morning to talk about, and TALK I DID! It was so nice to be back in the studio with Nick and Peter. You can click here and listen for yourself…I believe my part starts around the 26 minute mark.
On the raising kids front, it’s been particularly hard for a lot of reasons, and some of those reasons I discussed with Debra of the Debra Gets Red Pilled podcast earlier this month. It’s episode 152, titled It’s All Legos! which I think is more than appropriate.
I’ve had my own podcast on the back-burner for too many months now, and that needs to change, so hopefully that will be coming soon, in some form.
So stay tuned, and thanks for reading! It’s been quite a week.
Let me first explain why I consider the window I received into the assault on MDT staff (Montana Department of Transportation) by a homeless sex offender on September 8th to be “unauthorized”.
You see, there’s this little designation the authorities in Montana get to use in order to protect criminal justice information, and that’s the CCJI statute (Confidential Criminal Justice Information). If this statute didn’t function as a double-standard tool to shield authorities from public scrutiny regarding their systemic failure, then I might be ok with it. But double-standard tool it seems to be, at least in practice.
In this particular case I was happy that a Missoula County Sheriff Deputy told me about the state of mind of one of Todd Spence’s assault victims. I guess, for the Sheriff’s Department, defending the charging decision outweighed the victims’ right to privacy.
I won’t spend a lot of time rehashing what happened on September 8th because the result was just ONE misdemeanor assault charge with a $585 dollar bond. That means after climbing heavy machinery, punching the operator several times in the face, then throwing a rock at another MDT staff, and hitting him, Spence spent a grand total of 5 days in jail.
When I made calls later that day (September 8th) I got Sheriff Deputy Jessop on the phone and it was he who explained that MDT staff just weren’t fearful enough to justify a more serious charge. Deputy Jessop further explained, having been one of the four deputies involved that day, that he would not have wasted the time of the Mobile Crisis Unit because Spence was not in the right frame of mind for their mental health services.
Huh?
Since I wasn’t satisfied with this line of reasoning that CCJI normally wouldn’t have afforded me, I decided to take my dissatisfaction to a local radio program, which you can tune into at 9am this morning.
This local news source told me, when I stopped in to schedule my appearance, that they didn’t initially report on the assault BECAUSE it was only a misdemeanor, and it’s their policy to only report on incidents serious enough to warrant felony charges. Could this factor be part of the equation when considering how to hold a homeless sex offender accountable for using fists and rocks to defend his illegal encampment?
Another call I made that day, before getting Deputy Jessop on the phone, was to the Missoula County Attorney’s Office. I got a nice chuckle from the person I spoke with when I said the incident had just occurred earlier that day.
“Well,” I was told, “there’s no way it would be on our desk that fast.” The “it”, I’m assuming, is the report that’s filled out by law enforcement.
I don’t have to see that report to know what’s NOT in it. My eye-witness account detailing how Todd Spence was swinging around a metal rod and threatening to cause MORE harm after assaulting two people was never taken into account. I don’t think any other witnesses, other than the two victims of Spence’s initial barrage of punches and rock-throwing, were interviewed either.
What does that mean? It means, were the case to actually make it to the Missoula County Attorney’s Office, the full impact of Spence’s behavior wouldn’t have been collected by the would-be investigators of this crime.
Let me step back from my frustration and try to see it from law enforcement’s point of view. It must be hard to reassert this thing called “the law” when you, as the law, have been ignoring violations of the law for years.
The most recent disregard for ENFORCING the law by the Sheriff’s Department came this January, when the owners of this land, the Montana Department of Transportation, did their due diligence by posting visible signage that enforcement would begin. Here is one of those signs located by an unfortunate house that sees the encampment foot traffic all day, and night, long:
For the land owner (MDT) it gets even worse. They’ve been under threat of getting serious fines by the County Health Department for over two years. Here’s an article from August, 2020:
The Montana Department of Transportation could face fines if trash under the Reserve Street bridge isn’t cleaned up.
In early June, the Missoula City-County Health Department gave MDT a “Notice of Violation letter that requires them to take two corrective actions, in order to avoid fines of up to $500 dollars a day.
To give you an idea of how financially problematic this could be for MDT, it’s been around 784 days since this article came out. At $500 dollars a day, that would be $392,000 dollars. I’m not sure what kind of budget MDT has, but shit isn’t getting any cheaper, especially with the carnage in the bond market.
But there is that prospect of the Sheriff’s Office getting $4.4 million dollars in that GOB (General Obligation Bond), so maybe they’ll share if the Health Department follows through on the financial threat.
This is just one anecdotal story of a failure to properly charge, or even really investigate, what could have been, at the very least, TWO misdemeanor assaults. And for Missoula County Attorney, Matt Jennings, I’d like to point out how many problems can exist in anecdotal stories like this one BEFORE a judge can become your scapegoat.
I don’t think I’ll get all this into an hour packed with commercials, but I’m excited to answer the questions that people might have. So stay tuned, and thanks for reading!
I am VERY excited to read that $23,548 dollars of the $62,922 dollar grant, called the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant, will go to outfit SWAT with night vision goggles. From the link (emphasis mine):
The award of $62,922 came through the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG). Missoula Police Chief Jaeson White presented to the Missoula City Council on Monday evening about what the money will buy.
This includes $17,550 for the second year of the department’s online warrant program used in conjunction with Missoula’s municipal and district courts, White explained. It allows warrants to be processed electronically.
A second year of the department’s subscription to online training and records will also be expensed.
“That was something we implemented a year ago that consolidated all of our training records from three historic systems into one,” White said. “(It) allows us to provide current, modern, updated training to our officers every day in briefing through this national service.”
The remaining $23,548 will be for night vision systems for the department’s SWAT team.
Ah, that’s right, these aren’t just see-in-the-dark goggles. No, they are night vision SYSTEMS. That must account for the cost.
Part of my excitement comes from that SWAT incident at the end of August that was totally not a training, but an unfounded something or other. I bet, if law enforcement had this night vision SYSTEM, the unfounded-ness of the incident could have been founded quicker.
Another thing to be excited about is the prospect of city police sharing their new toy system with the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office. Why? Because they might be having a hard time seeing how to respond to the weirdness of 5 potential homicides.
Huh? Is there a possibility that FIVE homicides happened in Clinton on Sunday? To clarify what might have happened, here is some perspective from a Missoulian reporter:
I sent an email yesterday to the person who gets paid to disseminate information, but as of this writing, nada. I also drove to Clinton yesterday and stopped at a few places to ascertain what the rumor mill knows, and the rumor mill doesn’t know shit.
Very odd.
Another thing to make note of is the lack of additional context to that officer involved shooting near the airport on August 27th. But I think that happened during the day time, so no need for night vision there.
What else could night vision be good for? Let’s say you’re at an evening gathering, could wearing this night vision system allow one to see potential threats to one’s political future? Or would that be a crystal ball?
I’m no fortune teller, but Thursday morning I predict you won’t need your visual faculties to get the information I’ll be dispensing, just some functioning ears and a radio dial.
Before writing this post, I scanned every name on the jail roster to make sure Simon is being kept out of jail. Was he yelling crazy shit by the library yesterday? Yeah, but there’s nothing illegal about that. Did he pull a knife while chasing someone last week in broad daylight? Sure, but I’m sure he had his reasons.
While I don’t think street anarchy is the ultimate goal of Missoula’s Jail Diversion Master Plan, I read Martin “Gomer” Kidston’s article because I knew it would make me laugh, and I wasn’t disappointed.
Take it away Gomer!
Efforts to reduce crowding at the Missoula County Detention Center and divert offenders to other resources have shown progress in recent years, saving taxpayer’s money while getting low-level offenders help, the county said.
Sure, this might save money for the COUNTY, but I suspect costs from “diversion” just shift to other things, like city police responses. I’m sure that’s just me being unnecessarily cynical. Let’s continue (emphasis mine):
The Jail Diversion Master Plan was written and adopted in 2016 and included roughly 40 recommendations across a number of categories, such as pre-sentencing and behavioral health.
Efforts made in the latter category have had measurable impacts, according to Chelsea Wittmann, the county’s safety and justice challenge coordinator.
“What’s most impressive about the progress we’ve made since 2016 is that much of it resulted from inter-connected system work,” said Wittmann. “When offices come together, lasting and mutually beneficial changes happen.”
Are you ready for the impacts? It might be hard to see, but I’m sure they are there, somewhere. Let’s take a look for them.
The average length of stay of a defendant held in the county jail stands at around 28 days while the daily jail population hovers at around 184 – a figure that has stayed relatively consistent in recent years.
Yes, I emphasized the part where it sounds like things have stayed relatively the same. I guess that is, by definition, a measurable impact, right?
The next part is even funnier because the only significant change Gomer references is the one forced on the jail by the pandemic, not the “master plan”. I think that’s funny (funny emphasis mine):
But in 2021, the county, courts and law enforcement agreed not to accept people into detention who have been charged with a non-violent offense but not convicted – a move that effectively altered the jail population.
Only non-violent offenses such as resisting arrest, multiple DUI arrests and other extreme circumstances stand as the exception. The change was largely due to the pandemic and without it, Wittmann said the jail would have become “uselessly overcrowded.”
Cool, so those changes were imposed last year, and now we have a “felony holding facility” that we’re somehow expected to believe is following “best practices”. The quoted phrases will be emphasized in Gomer’s hilarious article, which just keeps on giving.
“What’s important is that the composition of our jail has changed drastically,” she said. “Our jail at this point is largely a felony holding facility. We have very few misdemeanants held for any length of time. It keeps our inmate population down and follows best practices on who should be held in regional jails.”
I don’t know about jail best practices, but a best practice for a journalist should be accuracy. If Gomer followed best practices, he wouldn’t produces inaccurate crap like this (emphasis mine):
Efforts to divert offenders from jail altogether have emerged as a leading preference. On that front, Wittmann said, a number of public services have been launched while others are set to come online in the coming year.
The new programs include the Crisis Intervention Team at the Missoula Police Department and the Mobile Support Team at the Missoula Fire Department. The latter serves as a first line of contact for a person experiencing a behavioral health crisis.
The first bold part is just not true, the Mobile Support Team is now at THE POLICE DEPARTMENT. The second bold part is misleading. The Mobile Support Team can only be brought in AFTER contact from law enforcement. That is my understanding, and I’ll be speaking with someone more knowledgeable hopefully later this week about it.
Near the end of the article two new programs coming online soon are referenced. I’ll be curious to see how they operate:
Other programs, such as a crisis receiving center at Western Montana Mental Health, and a navigation center at the Trinity apartment project, will join the programs soon.
These two options are supposed to be the solution to the Harley predicament.
the Harley predicament
The chronically intoxicated also reduce the availability of law enforcement and other local services. The crisis receiving center is expected to help on that front and was identified as a local gap in service needing filled.
“If someone is under the influence of some substance where we can’t properly do a mental health evaluation, those people are brought to the ER or possibly jail. Those are our only options, but they’re not the best options,” said Missoula County Commission Josh Slotnick. “With a crisis receiving center, they can come back to themselves and emerge and meet with someone to help take that next step.”
The bold part is where I start getting confused. Come back to themselves? Harley WANTS to be downtown, drinking himself to death.
One of my suggestions for either of these two facilities is this: have a good walk-in shower/bathtub for hazmat situations, because Harley will make sure you’ll need that kind of infrastructure.
UPDATE: I received a message that I have conflated TWO separate David Bell’s. If true, I apologize for the mismate.
Donald Trump is an amazing weapon. The psychological wreckage this one individual has caused is without precedent. As just one example of this man’s impact, the daughter of Darth Cheney, Liz, is gonna do whatever it takes to keep him from the Republican nomination in 2024.
What does that mean? And how many other people in positions of power feel the same way?
To assess the political landscape, Americans really do need a functioning media, since they’re kinda busy surviving and stuff. Instead, they’re increasingly being treated to an openly biased crusade FROM the media claiming journalists should completely abandon the pretense of impartiality, like this suggestion from Washington Post columnist, Jennifer Rubin:
“The Kabuki dance in which Trump, his defenders and his supporters are treated as rational (clever even!) is what comes from a media establishment that refuses to discard its need for false balance that it has developed over the course of decades.”
Now, with that national noise in the background, let me try describing what schism Republican politics looks like in a liberal town that lost its Mayor and went through a VERY SLOPPY process of City Council selection for our NEW Mayor earlier this month.
Having watched the Mayoral selection in person, I took note that night when Mike Nugent got a supportive online comment from Adam Hertz, a former City Council member in Missoula and State Representative. I also took note that another young conservative, who shall remain nameless, texted me that Jordan Hess, the eventual winner, would be easier to beat in 15 months.
Now, let’s back up for a moment and ask ourselves this question: who are MAGA Republicans in Missoula? Are they well-intentioned working class church folk who back the blue? And are they big enough suckers to consider voting for a shitty Sheriff as Missoula’s next actually ELECTED Mayor?
I don’t know, maybe ask the guy to the left of our outgoing Sheriff, T.J. McDermott.
left, David Bell, Republican King-Maker?
Or you can ask a Democrat who works at Montana State University and who likes books and bipartisanship.
David Parker
If there is a scheme to run T.J. McDermott, it makes sense the guy who proudly helped host a reelection party for McDermott 4 years ago would have an inkling. From the link:
A group of high-profile Missoula Republicans on Thursday night hosted a re-election party for incumbent Missoula County Sheriff T.J. McDermott, a Democrat seeking his second term in office.
The event, which included some of the city’s top Republican king-makers, joined a handful of Democrats in promoting McDermott as the right candidate for the job, citing his experience and achievements in office.
But they also agreed on something else: The nation must move past the current rancor of public discourse and work more closely together in accepting differences of political opinion.
Yes, that rancor was an opportunity for Republican “king-makers” to back McDermott, a Democrat. Here’s more:
Both parties, they agreed, are often to blame for the dangerous tone in politics.
“Hopefully this county will emerge from this (election cycle) seeking unity more than an absolute position on policy,” said David Bell, a Republican who helped organize Thursday’s event. “Eventually, I hope that people will be more willing to concede on certain issues in the interest of finding middle ground, and making progress together rather than trying to find an absolute position.”
…
And most are looking for a reset and a change of discourse.
“This is what we need in our community these days, recognizing that it’s not about partisan politics in a lot of cases, but about the office and the leadership of the position,” said David Parker, a Democratic campaign manager. “We need to regain some of that civility that we’ve lost. It’s okay to have different opinions, but it’s not okay to be mean, and it’s not okay to cause harm and support violence.”
For more on the David who identifies as a “D”, there’s all kinds of impressive accolades you can read here about his essential services. I’m going to skip over some of that so you can hear how essential David Parker himself sees the services he provides:
Parker views his work as an essential service, not only to students but also to all Montanans. Moreover, his reputation as a trusted nonpartisan voice is crucial to his success, particularly in today’s polarized political landscape.
“I think it is incredibly important as a professor at a land-grant institution to help citizens understand the process of democracy and our institutions,” Parker said. “That’s part of the reason I became a professor to begin with. Without an informed citizenry, we’re lost as a democracy. So that’s why I take my role in the public realm as critically important, especially as a nonpartisan analyst.”
These two Davids are impressive. How do they have the time to do their day jobs AND engage in politics? Especially David Bell, with a pedigree like this?
Wow, presenting to the Council on Foreign Relations. That’s something. Along with the ALPS title and other stuff, no wonder this guy considers himself a kingmaker.
Another thing David Bell is involved in, if it’s the same Dave Bell, is local anti-trafficking efforts. Here’s an article about the Red Sands Project. From the link:
“Human trafficking has been in Missoula for years and a part of the country, indigenous persons were 10% of the population but we represent 40% of human trafficking victims,” said Beaumont.
That’s why the Volunteer Chairman with the Missoula Human Trafficking Task Force Dave Bell, says the county’s efforts to shine a light on this global issue will continue to be a part of their initiative within the Red Sand Project, providing awareness, education and resources to those who need them the most.
“We have a strong community that is dedicated to eliminating human trafficking, it’s a big task but we’re on it, 100% in,” said Bell.
Sure, Dave, and so are a bunch of other valiant warriors, like chaplain and LifeGuard Group head honcho, Lowell Hochhalter, AG, Austin Knudsen, and our proud Governor himself, Greg Gianforte.
Oh, did I forget to mention Gianforte lent his support to McDermott all the way back in 2018? Hmmm, that might be significant. From the link (emphasis mine):
Thursday night’s function included representatives from Sen. Steve Daines’ office, and former Missoula County Republican chairwoman and electoral college voter Thelma Baker. City Council member Jesse Ramos was there, and Rep. Greg Gianforte lent his support via a short statement.
I don’t know how the MAGA rubes fit into all of this. I guess if they can’t be used for votes, they can always be intimidated by the stand-up patriots at the FBI.
