by Travis Mateer

The man you see with a cool gun and scruffy beard is Bob Franke, a Missoula Detective who I knew as the Downtown Officer working with the shelter-resistant homeless population on the streets of downtown Missoula.

Since I enjoyed working with Officer Franke, you can imagine my disappointment when I realized his role in the death of Sean Stevenson. And what was that role? That is just one of MANY things I would like to know, which is why I sent an email to Whiteny Bennett, the Public Information Officer for the Missoula Police Department.

Here’s a part of that email:

Good morning Whitney,

You haven’t been responsive to my email requests, so I’m cc’ing some people on this email so they know what’s happening with my investigation into the Sean Stevenson case.

I’d like to know how Detective Mitch Lang and Detective Bob Franke knew Sean Stevenson was dying. I have listened to one of Lang’s interviews with Johnny Lee Perry and he tells Johnny explicitly that Franke is in Sean’s hospital room and Sean is about to die. Lang even mentions organ failure. If Sean’s dire situation was known to CITY police, then it’s even more odious that Sean’s family was NOT NOTIFIED of their family member’s impending death until AFTER the Sheriff’s Office removed him from life support.

And here’s a screenshot of the response I got from Officer Bennett:

Yes, the CHARADE that occurred after Sean Stevenson was EUTHANIZED by the Missoula County Sherriff’s Office was a MULTIPLE DEPARTMENT charade, as pointed out by Officer Bennett. Thanks, Whitney!

If it was just ONE case, I’m not sure I would be putting my neck out so significantly to raise the alarm, but it’s not.

The bodies are piling up in Western Montana, and the bullshit narratives that those in authority expect family members to just accept without question are NOT being accepted by everyone, especially when a belief in MAGIC is necessary to accept bullshit narratives, like how ONE chokehold deployed by an intoxicated homeless man can produce MULTIPLE bruises and other physical damage ALL OVER the victim’s body.

Another harsh reality that these grieving families are facing this this: no help from the STATE is coming, nor should anyone expect FEDERAL oversight to produce a damn thing, because it doesn’t exist. And the media? Yeah, right. The media is a BIG part of this by abdicating its duty to hold power accountable.

How else am I supposed to process the fact that black men in Missoula can be euthanized and executed by the Sheriff’s Office and no one is making a big fuss about it three years later as an unpaid blogger risks his own safety and sanity to expose what’s happening here?

When this post goes live I’ll be traveling to a city I’ve never been to before, looking for context to a death that has taken on gargantuan proportions, which is why the pages are stacking up.

Tomorrow’s post will ask WHAT’S IN A NAME as my middle name continues popping up in fascinating places, like the patriarch of the Rockefeller clan, so stay tuned! And, if you’re so inclined, consider supporting Travis’ Impact Fund (TIF), or making a donation at my about page.

Thanks for reading!