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What kind of Flathead Valley do we want to call home? In the not-so-distant past, we became an unwilling host to ideologies steeped in violent threats and the dogma of “The National Policy Institute.” Our community observed, scrutinized and emphatically rejected the abject convictions of Andrew Anglin and Richard Spencer. Action overcame indifference, and resolve surmounted the threats. “We the people” resoundingly let them know that neither their teachings nor their postures were welcome in Montana or the Flathead Valley.

Enter the Bundys.

We all are familiar with the hostile standoff in Bunkerville, Nevada, and the armed occupation and documented destruction of public property at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near Burns, Oregon, places that are owned and, yes, managed by “we the people.”

In January of 2018, Cliven and Ryan Bundy, along with their cadre of home-grown body guards, came to Paradise, Montana, for a “Freedom and Property” rally. They seized an opportunity to espouse their agenda of individual sovereignty and divestment of public lands with the endorsement of American Lands Council CEO and Montana Sen. Jennifer Fielder. Promoted as an open public event, I — along with a number of members of the Montana Chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers — attended.