Month: September 2022

by Travis Mateer

My interest in multi-jurisdictional trainings is only increasing after the Public Information Officer for the Missoula POLICE department responded to my email inquiry regarding the SWAT incident on August 31st, an incident I was told by a Red Lion staff member was, in fact, a training.

Here’s the response:

So far, only the police PIO has responded. Jeannette Smith, who acts in a similar role for the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office, has not responded to my email as of this writing.

Since the implication Lydia Arnold is making is that I was given a false story by the Red Lion staff, I returned to the scene of the training unfounded incident to see what additional information I could glean.

The person I spoke with this time seemed much more prepared (read: reluctant) to discuss what happened, but when I said IF there was a training, that maybe next time the guests could benefit from a heads up, since flash grenades were apparently used, she responded with “they didn’t tell us they were going to use flash bangs”.

The reason I used the word trainings (plural) in the title of this post is because I heard, through the grape vine, that another training, which included law enforcement, occurred just a few months back at, or around, the Rocky Mountain Eye Center (RMEC)

To confirm this I called RMEC, left a message with HR, and heard back later that same day. The woman I spoke with acknowledged a multi-jurisdictional training did indeed occur, and her main contact was out-of-state. What agency, I asked? The FBI, I was told.

This isn’t the first time I’ve taken an interest in how jurisdictions prepare to respond to a crisis. On June 2nd, 2021, I wrote about the strange use of the Incident Command Team to respond to homelessness. The following month, after speaking with Adriane Beck, I wrote another post to clarify the limited scope of what was done, during that time period, to select an outdoor homeless site for the official encampment that turned into today’s private-security-run shit show.

Having recalled this earlier interest of mine, I called up the Office of Emergency Management and spoke with Nick Holloway after leaving a message with Adriane Beck. Holloway hadn’t heard anything about the West Broadway incident being a training, but said I should reach out to the Sheriff’s Office. I said I had, but hadn’t heard back.

If Lydia Arnold is correct, and Red Lion staff are wrong, that still doesn’t bode well for how law enforcement got suckered into a massive response to an “unfounded” threat. Kind of like that time a Missoula patrol cruiser had its window shatter and the immediate assumption by the officer was that he was being shot at. From the link:

The officer was traveling northbound on the 400 block of Woody Street around 9:45 a.m. Wednesday when he reported the back window of his patrol car had been shot out, Welsh told reporters at a press conference Wednesday afternoon. The officer immediately sought cover and prepared to counter the suspected shooter.

“He was not able to see anybody in the immediate vicinity or anyone who presented a threat to him,” Welsh said.

Law enforcement flooded into the area and snipers took to the rooftops. City and county buildings went on lockdown, as did Providence St. Patrick Hospital two blocks away. Welsh said police began interviewing witnesses and scanning the area for evidence, including surveillance footage that may have captured the incident, as the area remained on lockdown. Coordinating the investigation, as well as downtown morning traffic, made the search for evidence particularly complicated, Welsh said.

Was a suspect located? No. Was a bullet located? No. And the reason is simple: no one was shooting at law enforcement that day. But just to be on the “safe” side, a lot of different agencies got involved.

Here’s how our recently departed Mayor described the incident from his “command post”:

In a statement late Wednesday, Missoula Mayor Engen said assisting law enforcement agencies included Missoula County, the Montana Highway Patrol, the U.S. Marshal’s Service, U.S. Department of Interior, Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks and the FBI. Missoula Emergency Services was also on hand.

“From my view in the command post, our law enforcement professionals in the Missoula Police Department acted swiftly, appropriately and professionally to ensure the safety of our employees and of the larger community,” Engen said in the statement. “Fortunately, no one was physically injured, and that’s a remarkable outcome in itself.”

At least with the no-bullet window shattering, we, the public, got some nice pictures to look at. With the “officer involved shooting” that happened on August 27th, there has been virtually nothing said by anyone after the sketchy first reports. Sure, there was some pretty strong chokecherry shade thrown out by the Missoulian editorial board, but that was on September 2nd. It’s now September 7th, and as far as I can tell, not even the name of the deceased has been released.

This morning I’m going to follow up on my promise to give City Council a personal update on the alleged training that’s officially not a training, but maybe a red flag to have every badge involved tested for illegal substances, and I’m not even taking about meth.

And, since we’re talking about red flags, this link I clicked on from a Reddit thread comes to mind:

I’m just throwing out some data points, people. And asking some questions. And getting some really unsatisfying responses.

Stay tuned, and thanks for reading!

by Travis Mateer

Since Clark Fork Valley Press reporter, Monte Turner, stopped responding to my texts, I can’t ask him how exactly he thinks “high-tech dash cameras” will produce the result the opening line of his article hilariously claims:

It just became much tougher to be a criminal in Mineral County.

In order to back up this conventional impression of decisive law enforcement using technology to catch the bad guys, here is an image of Sheriff Toth pointing at something.

And here is how this tech will supposedly help facilitate the outcome of catching bad guys who do bad things like steal cars:

“These dash cameras automatically scan license plates, run them through the system and instantly display on the laptop screen if the vehicle has been stolen. They have a 90-degree angle so when driving through a parking lot they are scanning both sides of the patrol unit. Then while driving, it catches every license plate up to 4-lanes over,” explained Mineral County Sheriff Mike Toth. 

Toth worked with an earlier model when he was with the Seattle Police Department and was impressed then with the capabilities.

High tech cameras was not the only thing about Toth’s police work in Seattle that impressed him. The excitement of seeing someone shot ALSO seemed pretty engaging for this wannabe actor:

After five years, he accepted a position with the Seattle Police Department which was a huge eye opener for Toth. 

“Within my second or third week being there, my training officer shot and killed a guy in front of me. ‘Wow! I’ve made it to the big show’, I thought. We drew our weapons a lot out there and the culture of carrying personal weapons or firearms is totally different from Montana.”

My interest in what’s about to go down in Mineral County and, you know, who might report on it, is because a letter exists that I teased last week, a letter I still find to be pretty eye-opening.

And here it is, the letter in full. Is it going to be a fun week in Mineral County? Stay tuned.

by Travis Mateer

It’s true, just after recording my Labor Day poem in front of Stockman’s Bank, I heard “give me all your money!” so I looked up and luckily recognized two of the three homeless men strolling drunkenly down the sidewalk.

I think they were kidding. Or they recognized me and decided not to mug me. Either way, it was good to retain the few dollars I have in my wallet! Enjoy the holiday, Missoula!

https://player.vimeo.com/video/746624647?h=21713ad3bc&badge=0&autopause=0&player_id=0&app_id=58479

Labor Day, morale is low
at the bagel shop 
no labor showed
but I saw him
and he saw me
and we conversed 
while we're still free
to examine how
the law pretends 
they are NOT steroid
finger men
but worthy of a deep respect
behind the shield?
we're left to guess

what motivates 
the Teflon vests?
a high desire
to do their best?
or violent fun
and getting famous 
while Gonzo Googles 
old Mandamus?

simple slogan conservative minds
bumper sticker for strong blue lines
while Red Rant Joe channels V
to civil war with Q belief

your alphabet
is fucking dumb
you worship moons
and kill for suns
all for what?
to anchor names?
transform your flesh
to immortal stains?

Labor Day, morale is low
at the bagel shop
no labor showed
but I saw him
and he saw me
and we conspired
while we're still free
to examine how
words abuse
offering choices
you cannot choose

so refuse!

by Travis Mateer

On August 31st I spent some time with my partner-in-investigating-crime scoping out the periphery of an incident involving the deployment of SWAT. Here is how one local news source reported what happened:

UPDATE, SEPT. 1:

Information that led to SWAT response on W. Broadway St. in Missoula Wednesday night has been confirmed to be unfounded.

SWAT cleared the scene around 11:00 pm Wednesday.

The Missoula Police Department says additional information will continue to be investigated.

No additional information has been released at this time.

While conventional media waits around for additional information to be released, I stopped by the Red Lion and was told that, yes, the massive police response to the “unfounded” person barricaded in room 212 was, in fact, a training.

I was further told that, although a brief heads up had been given earlier in the day, the sudden response by law enforcement, including flash-bang grenades, was a bit of a shocker to staff and guests alike, including one person who allegedly had a PTSD response.

If the Missoulian wants to do more than throw chokecherry shade on the information blackout they’re getting from local authorities, then send a reporter out to ask some questions. I didn’t go to J-School, but I think that’s how it’s done.

Maybe they’ll get some pushback from upstairs, or regional, or wherever the publisher of the Missoulian now resides. If that happens then editor, Rob Chaney, should tell them a local, unpaid blogger is actually questioning authorities, like Sheriff Mike Toth, and the Missoulian had to change a headline last month as a result.

Getting back to the SWAT incident that may or may not have been a training exercise, some other details worth noting from my source include the assertion that, despite having a set of master keys, the door to room 212 was damaged. I asked who would pay for the damage, and the staff said that was a good question, because no one has offered to pay.

To confirm this detail, I went back later and took this picture:

The other detail was the SECOND person in the “barricaded” room apparently left the room–before this law enforcement showdown with the door–without being seen by authorities, who were posted in their vehicles in a wide perimeter around the building. I saw some of this directly that night, including a uniformed officer with a flashlight apparently looking for someone in a building across from the hospital.

My partner asked an interesting question: has this incident hurt business? No, we were told, quite the opposite. In fact, someone asked specifically for this room BECAUSE OF this incident. Isn’t that curious? What does that say about the clientele?

In summary, it appears that law enforcement, across multiple jurisdictions, planned a training, gave minimal notice to the private business this training targeted, then proceeded to cause property damage after letting one of the pretend perps escape on a bike.

Oh, and then they lied to the media about it. If I’m wrong, I hope I’ll get a response to this email I just sent:

I know what you’re thinking, why no City Council members cc’d on this email? Well, since I know how much they love hearing directly from the public, I’ll wait for the next City Council opportunity to provide public comment.

Meanwhile, maybe someone who actually gets paid to report the news will do their job and figure out if trainings are being sneakily planned and carried out with unnecessary risk to the public.

Thanks for reading!

by Travis Mateer

Here is the song no one asked for, but I made anyway! Enjoy!

https://player.vimeo.com/video/746194070?h=414d6856f8&badge=0&autopause=0&player_id=0&app_id=58479

activate Dark Brandon?
I laugh and laugh and laugh
half the country terrorists?
fucker, do the math

black and red color scheme
high chancellor would be proud
military backdrop
dangerous, dumb, and loud

oh no Joe, cognition slow
the anger builds and builds 
how much more can we take?
have we had our fill?

de-activate the thermostat 
the emergency is here
Poland hopes for lumps of coal
while psychos harvest fear

energy what will it cost?
how will we survive?
algorithm secret sauce
directing every eye

nothing lasts forever
they took the Bill of Rights
and put it to the flame of
their ungodly light

Odd Fellows and Stone Cutters and
Rosy Temple Dicks
roll around upside down
beneath the crucifix

you have not ascended 
beyond what's good and bad
just hatred for your mother
and anger toward your dad