The Real Dynamics Behind The “Emerging Issue” Of Youth Gang Activity

by Travis Mateer

Law enforcement in Montana should be good at investigating gangs, since they are one, but whether or not the public is accurately informed HOW our gang deals with rival gangs is an entirely different question, one which I’ll be exploring in this post.

This gang question is getting some local digital ink NOT because a concerned mother has been shouting for months about gangs infiltrating our homeless community and high schools on Facebook, but because some youth shot a gun after allegedly flashing gang signs downtown while driving a stolen car.

This happened on a weekend, which means that plenty of college students were downtown that night killing brain cells with alcohol when the gunshots rang out.

Why is the presence of college students important to note?

Because, for our city leaders, college students are like little golden geese, and these geese represent a very important financial pillar propping up our mountain town. If college students get spooked by the idea of urban gun violence breaking out on the streets of Missoula, Montana, then that coveted “word of mouth” marketing that brings more of them to our valley could get polluted with reality, and who wants that?

The local reporting on this incident is a cooperative show of force between two entities that share the same goal, which is narrative control. If you thought “equitable enforcement of laws” and “accurate reporting of news” is what they respectively do, then I think you are cute and adorable and, also, very wrong.

Here’s STATE MEDIA (Montana Public Radio) making the mistake of distinguishing the investigators as separate from the other gangs allegedly involved (emphasis mine):

Missoula police say a shooting incident last weekend involving several juveniles was part of an ongoing dispute between rival gang members.

Nobody was hurt, but at least two people were arrested. The investigation continues and more charges may be pending.

Police say it’s not an isolated incident and they’re investigating several recent cases of gang activity involving young people who claim different gang allegiances. Missoula officials describe local gang activity as an “emerging issue”.

Our local officials, who also act as critical cogs in the machinery of narrative control, should pay CLOSER ATTENTION to people like Brandi, who had this to say recently on her Facebook page:

Instead of giving Brandi credit for actually TALKING to those living in the meth colonies our retarded officials insist on labeling “urban camps”, one City Council member texted Brandi about ME last September with incredibly UNTRUE and defamatory claims, claims that will have to be litigated at some point. For now, that card will remain in my hand of unplayed cards in this bullshit game of controlling how stories emerge and WHO they implicate.

I like implicating Detective Guy Baker in LOTS of my stories, which is probably why he texted me for a meet-up awhile back, which I declined. Some of the cards in my fucked up hand include the collection of anecdotes I’ve gathered about Baker with my SHIT TALKING ECHO-LOCATION strategy, which I commissioned a pal to make an image of (before I started getting to know ChatGPT)

When you’re part of a GANG task force in the 90’s, shaking down high school weed smokers, it’s AMAZING how many of those former high school kids are now adults with NOT fond memories of the Guy nick-named GAY BIKER.

One story I’ve mentioned publicly (and privately, in more detail) is the story of a dead body found hanging from a tree on October 4th, 2023, in the expansive Reserve Street area, a former homeless encampment zone that was a disgusting, fire-prone disaster area. This dead body was hanging, I believe, from an electrical cord, and he had neck tattoos. Isn’t that interesting? And I’m sure probably just a suicide and NOT some gang-related activity.

Part of the narrative control regarding this “emerging issue” will be to relegate it to youth. If you can imagine a narrative quarantine zone, then think in terms of words like YOUTH and GANG getting medical clearance to be released to the public. The word CARTEL is too infected with fear, though, so that word must stay quarantined.

Sticking with the medical analogy, a form of treatment being prescribed for this YOUTH/GANG “issue” is to ask PARENTS to do surveillance then, if need be, snitch on their kids (emphasis mine):

Local police urge parents to monitor their children’s social media activity for indications of gang involvement. Those include posts involving gang graffiti, threats of violence or a focus on specific colored clothing or bandanas.

Police say minors involved in gang activity have also gained access to guns, primarily from family members or stolen vehicles.

Fuck me, where to begin with this bullshit?

I’ll begin with expressing my hope that Detective Smith has become more knowledgeable about graffiti since I talked to him about graffiti. Then, because I love educating people, I wrote about graffiti, knowing a few cops read my shit.

I’ve also written about the allegedly violent young WOMEN engaged in violent activity, including that social media post that freaked everyone out and put my own kids in lockdown.

And then there’s the murder of Lee Nelson (warning, graphic image at post), a brutal act of horrific violence committed SOLELY, the jury was told, by Charles Covey. The jury agreed with the prosecution and ignored the strange claim from Detective Guy Baker that a blunt weapon somehow created TWO different kinds of head contusions, both “blunt force” injuries AND “sharp force” injuries.

Since I attended the entire trial I got to see how Detective Baker directed the investigation as the lead investigator, and I DO NOT BELIEVE that only one person was involved in Nelson’s death. The other suspects (one in particular) all wore a certain color, and the other main suspect, I think, may have received some sort of protection for his cooperation in claiming Covey acted alone. At the very least, he smartly relocated to the other side of the state after the murder.

Another story I’ve told, but not in a blog post, is about the casino near the Poverello Center, on West Broadway. This casino, tired of seeing the obvious drug dealing constantly happening on their property and, I’m assuming, not satisfied with what calling the police had been producing, this private business decided to hire private security, and that security was EFFECTIVE.

Good outcome, right? Except it wasn’t, at least not for elements WITHIN our police department, since pressure was exerted, I am told, behind the scenes, and that contract with the private security company was terminated.

Another aspect of this youth gang story I detect the odor of manure wafting from is WHERE the guns among our youth could be coming from. Perhaps it’s just my cynicism (combined, of course, with direct knowledge) when I hear explanations about an “emerging issue” from the gang with badges about guns primarily coming from Daddy and unsecured vehicles.

If cops didn’t already know this, I would suggest they talk to the Russian criminal element operating in this region about guns, or, to be more specific, how about that youngster I tied to the death of Joey Thompson? My sources tell me he likes to sell illegal guns to teens, but what the fuck do I know? Just the kind of specific name that made a friend’s son face turn WHITE when she found out he had obtained a hand gun and confronted him with my intel.

If I had any faith in the FBI, which I don’t, I’d be interested in seeing what they think about the shit I know, but considering Detective Baker first contacted me years ago on an FBI line when I reported a young girl selling roses on the street in what looked to be a trafficking situation, well, you see my dilemma.

That case, I’ll note, involved an explanation from Detective Baker that this RUSSIAN family from Washington State, who he was able to track down, was doing just fine, and it must be my cultural inexperience that had fueled my concern, which I acted on, unlike the diners outside Pangea, who just saw the scene and worried about it, then thanked me later when they saw what action in that kind of situation looks like.

So yeah, gangs. And youth. Tsk tsk, kids. We can’t have our collegiate geese getting frightened, and don’t even get me started on the HOLY TOURISTS who our cognitively-impaired leaders desire to levy new taxes on in order to provide cover for their terrible TIF addiction.

One final point before wrapping up this screed, and that’s how impressed I am that our Sheriff’s Office took the opportunity of an “emerging issue” of snow falling, and a significant portion of it, so such so that administrative staff got to GO HOME EARLY.

If Sheriff Jeremiah Petersen actually exists, which I’ve been jokingly dubious of, I suggest NOT taking a move like this because it only encourages mouthy citizen like myself to hashtag PUSSIES on social media, and what does that actually accomplish?

In reality one of the BIG problems we have, societally speaking, is that law enforcement should actually be paid MORE, and trained MORE, and, if they deserve it, RESPECTED because of the very real threats they face on more fronts than any human should be expected to be responsible for. They have become a gang with badges because we, as a society, expect them to fight gangs without becoming one, and that’s just not going to happen.

Ok, I think I’ve said quite enough in this post. If you would like to reward my brazen assertions, then Travis’ Impact Fund (TIF) is one way to do it.

Thanks for reading!