by Jasmine Taylor | Oct 23, 2023 | Militia and Hate Groups
Yesterday a group of NeoNazis demonstrated outside of the Chabad Jewish Center in Missoula. As usual, they carried signs with racist messages, preaching White supremacy and hatred towards refugees. Their clear intent was to intimidate and threaten the Jewish community in Missoula.
There are multiple NeoNazi organizations in the northwestern United States, and this particular demonstration brought in some out of town guests. (I use the term “guest” loosely. These assholes were certainly not invited, nor are they welcome in our state.) The small group of incels were soon outnumbered by counter protestors whose video documentation was quickly shared on Twitter. [We’re not gonna call it X. Fuck Elon Musk. But I digress.]
Citizens were quick to identify one Nazi who lives in Washington. Larkin McIntyre, a White man of below-average intelligence and terrible fashion sense, was seemingly arrested. Although booking information is not yet available, those in attendance note that the Nazis moved their protest from the Jewish Center to the courthouse. Larkin allegedly had a weapon, which, spoiler alert, is not allowed on courthouse property. Photos of Larkin’s arrest are included below.
Why, you ask? Because now that Larkin has visited Montana, we want to be sure that his employer knows what he’s been up to. Larkin works for the Shoreline School District. Although Larkin certainly has a right to free speech and protest, typically breaking the law is not a protected activity. Further, it is of grave concern to allow a White supremacist contact with students. Larkin potentially poses a safety risk to any student that falls within his wide umbrella of hate, to include: Jewish people, LGBTQ+ people, refugees, and all Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. Basically, if you aren’t a straight, White guy who hates his neighbors, Larkin and his cohorts are a danger to your safety.
We’ve emailed the Shoreline School District to inquire how they’re assuring student safety while employing a known Neo-Nazi, and if there are any rules which prohibit staff from engaging in unlawful activity. Read our email below, and maybe consider sending one of your own to express your concerns.
The email reads:
“To: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
Good evening,
The attached photos have been circulated widely on social media. They appear to show an employee of your school district, Larkin McIntyre, being arrested. McIntyre was participating in a Neo-Nazi rally in Missoula, Montana. Arrest information is not yet available, but counter protestors have reported that after harassing people at the Chabad Jewish Center of Missoula, Larkin and the NeoNazi group moved their demonstration to the courthouse. Some attendees claim that Larkin was seen with a weapon, which is illegal on courthouse property, and potentially prompted his arrest.
Our blog, which covers local happenings in Montana, is running a story about this Neo Nazi activity. As such, we have a few questions.
Firstly, what protections are in place for students and co-workers that interact with McIntyre?
Although employees certainly retain their right to free speech and protest, does the school district have any policies which preclude staff from engaging in unlawful behavior?
Are school district employees and parents aware of the potential safety risk McIntyre poses to any BIPOC, LGBTQ+ Jewish, or non-White students and staff?
Please note that we are not asking for any protected employee information regarding McIntyre. We have already received information (attached) showing the employment relationship between himself and the Shoreline School District. Rather we are asking what steps the district is taking to assure the safety of those affected by NeoNazi ideology, and what policies and procedures would apply to a situation in which a school district employee is arrested.
We are happy to answer any questions you may have as to this request. If there is a more appropriate party to provide this information to, we would request to be provided that contact information as well.
Thank you for your time.
What The Funk 406 Blog Team”
UPDATE 10/24/23
We received the following response from the Shoreline School District
“Hi Jasmine,
Thank you for bringing this issue to our attention. We take allegations of discrimination seriously, including thoroughly investigating the allegations and taking appropriate steps to ensure that the District is safe and welcoming for students, staff, and community members. While the District has a general policy of not commenting on particular personnel matters, the District is responding and taking appropriate action.
Thank you,”
Response received by WTF406 from the Shoreline School District.
WTF406 sent this email to Shoreline School District.
In this photo shared across Twitter, it appears McIntyre is being handcuffed and detained by Missoula PD.
McIntyre was quickly identified by citizens who shared his photo across social media.
by Jasmine Taylor | Aug 24, 2023 | Militia and Hate Groups
Mere days after celebrating beautiful new murals in downtown Great Falls, residents and business owners awoke to find a very different addition to the scenery. Over the weekend, White Lives Matter plastered an estimated 200 stickers throughout town. Stop signs, traffic lights, and even art installments were vandalized with racist propaganda.
What is White Lives Matter?
White Lives Matter (WLM) is a neo-nazi organization of insecure, unsuccessful white men who hate anyone different than them. In typical nazi style, you’ll hear them denying the Holocaust, advocating for the eradication of Jewish and LGBTQ+ people, and claiming their skin color makes them superior to all other races. In reality, you’ll find these are mostly men who have prior domestic violence charges that have never gotten around to accomplishing anything positive in their lives. Instead, they spend their Saturday nights covering their faces and riding around on bicycles, defacing public property in an attempt to recruit other desperate losers.
We at WTF, along with many friends in the community, have spent the week locating and removing these stickers. However, White Lives Matter activity has only increased in the past few years, and it’s very likely that you, dear reader, will come across this sad propaganda as well. So today we bring you:
The WHAT THE FUNK Guide to Removing Nazi Propaganda
Step 1: Gather your supplies.
You’ll need: A Paint Scraper, Gloves, Goof Off Graffiti (available at Aces Hardware), A Step Stool, and a Trash Bag
Step 2: Grab a friend and go for a walk!
Nazis tend to post their stickers on locations like art installments, utility boxes, and the backs of street signs. Take a stroll through the neighborhood. Turn it into a game. Whoever finds the most propaganda gets a prize. Remember, it’s safest to do this during the day, and with a friend if possible. Nazis typically only come out at night- probably because they knew they’ll get their asses kicked otherwise.
Step 3: Document and Remove
When you find a sticker, note the location. Take a picture or throw the cross streets into your notes app. Then, spray that sad bullshit with the Goof Off Graffiti. Wait a few seconds, then presto-chango, you and that scraper just restored a Stop sign to its former non-racist glory. Here’s where your trash bag comes in. After you scrape off the sticker, throw it away. We don’t want to litter while fighting white supremacy. If you choose to post pictures of the stickers, be sure to obscure the QR code and the contact information for their message boards. They use these stickers to recruit new members. We don’t want to give them any more reach by sharing that info.
Step 4: Report that shit
The State of Montana chooses not to track these kinds of incidents. (Crazy, right?) But there is an organization that does! The Montana Human Rights Network has a report form. The link to that form is at the bottom of this article. While you’re there, check out their rapid response guide for great info on how we fight assholes like White Lives Matter.
And that’s it! You’ve cleaned up your neighborhood and you’ve helped stop the spread of nazi ideology. Congratulations- you’re antifa now!
https://mhrn.org/reportingform/
https://www.mhrn.org/publications/fact%20sheets%20and%20adivsories/HateIncidentRapid-ResponseGuide.pdf
by Guest Writer | Feb 28, 2024 | Guest Articles
A Tale of Cats, Cows and Anti-Vaxxers
or
How the John Birch Society Bit Ravalli County and Gave It Rabies
By: Bill Lacroix
First published: https://billlacroix.blogspot.com/
I don’t call my cat “Fatso” lightly. It’s not who she is, it’s where she likes to sit and when, which is on my lap when I’m using my laptop. Her body blobs onto my keyboard and, when I try to write, my minimal hand movements harsh her mellow, which prods her to give the back of my hand a nip of annoyance. That’s endearing, but, not too long ago, one of her love bites broke the skin and became infected, which recalled a ‘70s pop song that should have been killed at birth (“Cat Scratch Fever”) which, in turn, triggered a temporary bout of irrational cognitive dissonance (anger mixed with conspiracy theories), the sort of thing that short-circuits your brain and sends you to an emergency room for drugs because you never know WHO or WHAT is out to get you in Ravalli County. It could be your cat. Or Ted Nugent.
To point: Ravalli County has had a problem with science, for a while. During the Covid-19 pandemic, our local cops couldn’t possibly enforce humane safety protocols to keep other peoples’ grandparents from dying because of other peoples’ conspiracy theories. Alas—and as a direct result—more people died of Covid than in traffic accidents. Paradoxically, these same cops could and did enforce speed limits throughout the pandemic, including ticketing me for going 29 MPH in a 25 MPH zone. Paradoxically-squared: local paranoia over Nazi-nurses torturing transplanted retirees with freedom-smothering N-95 masks birthed the local “Breathe-Free Montana” group, a John Birch-flavored extremist outfit whose adherents recently succeeded in orchestrating a coup against the already-entrenched, already-hard-right-but-apparently-not-hard-right-enough Republican Central Committee that has had a stranglehold on our local politics since that black guy became president.
So there I sat in a Ravalli County examining room which, in a reality-based county, would be a “safe space,” but, remember, we’re talking Ravalli County. The nice nurse left to “get the doctor” and, less than two minutes later, a Hamilton Police officer barged in unannounced, in “full metal jacket,” demanding that I either surrender my cat to be quarantined for 10 days in kitty jail or that I sign an affidavit that I will do it myself and that, if my cat escaped during that time and caused damage to other peoples’ property, I would be liable. As an example, he cited the possibility that my cat could bite a cow and give the whole herd rabies.
His logic, of course, was impeccable but, as my hand throbbed in my lap, I also thought that maybe I had contracted rabies or some other hallucinatory microbe. I had to get rid of this guy so I could get drugs and, thankfully, cognitive dissonance is usually a passing thing, and so I told him that I would be glad to produce a record of her recent rabies shot. Never mind, he countered. I must either surrender Fatso or sign, which I did. The catch: the affidavit stipulated that, after her 10-day quarantine, I would bring her in to the station to prove she wasn’t a rabid John Bircher yet, which was beauty-cubed, since I thought a conversation with local law enforcement about cows being more important to them than people would be priceless. I have no intention of taking Fatso in for her parole hearing and, to date, we are still on the lam, awaiting a wonderful conversation. BTW: Anyone know a good lawyer who doesn’t have rabies yet?
by Jasmine Taylor | Feb 14, 2024 | Militia and Hate Groups
An out-of-state NeoNazi named Christoper Pohlhaus finds himself without anywhere to get his pump on. After learning that Pohlhaus has been frequenting a local Bozeman gym, What The Funk reached out to the business. It appears we weren’t the only folks to voice concerns. By the time the business responded, poor Mr. Pohlhaus was no longer a member of the facility.
Some might question if it’s wrong to target Neo-Nazis to limit their access to society’s little pleasures. Short answer- Fuck no. Long answer- Neo-Nazis are violent and they preach violence. They venerate Hitler, and seek the extermination of groups they hate. It is not only okay to exclude them from public life, it is necessary. Actions have consequences. Threatening minority groups is never acceptable, and one way we push back is by creating social and economic consequences for such behavior. This resistance is intended to make it harder for Neo-Nazis to spread their hate and violence.
Further, businesses operate for-profit. It is to their benefit to have policies and procedures that prevent liability. Every business should have measures in place to protect their customers and employees from discrimination. That surely means not allowing in a Neo-Nazi who has a well documented history of threats and harassment, including screaming slurs at people, to use their facility.
In their response, the gym also noted that Pohlhaus has left the area. We can’t confirm this information, but heartily hope it to be true. Montana has no room for Nazis.
Read about Polhaus’s prior NeoNazi activity here: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/neo-nazis-florida-march-1234817532/
by Jasmine Taylor | Jan 10, 2024 | Militia and Hate Groups
The Nazi propaganda that has plagued Great Falls over the past year turned up in Bozeman earlier this week. Montana State University has confirmed that NeoNazi stickers were placed throughout the campus, but their response leaves a lot to be desired. MSU did not take any steps to notify students of the event and seemingly did not put any measures in place to provide safety for affected students, claiming that no safety risk was identified. I can’t help but wonder if Jewish students at MSU share this view.
You can read the full story about MSU here: https://dailymontanan.com/2024/01/05/montana-state-university-hit-with-white-supremacist-nationalist-stickers-and-posters/
The Big Sky Active Club has seemingly taken credit for the propaganda at MSU. This group is closely affiliated with White Lives Matter, with a handful of pathetic White dudes participating in both groups. White Lives Matter is the NeoNazi group that has been distributing similar materials in Great Falls.
Most recently, White Lives Matter shared a video of themselves placing White supremacist materials in Great Falls Public Library materials. Great Falls’ response to this event was far stronger, more supportive, and more effective than what we’re seeing from MSU. GFPL and the YWCA launched the “Hate Has No Home Here” campaign, making signs available at both locations. Although Great Falls is not out of the woods yet, there have been no reports of further propaganda since the campaign was launched.
Read more about the campaign here: https://www.montanarightnow.com/great-falls/local-library-launches-hate-has-no-home-here-campaign/article_71df091c-9577-11ee-9156-8f14c6a8c61f.html
While we remain hopeful that a strong community response will prevent further incidents, we also want folks to know what to do should they encounter these materials. Check out this article from last year to learn how to remove Nazi propaganda:
https://wtf406.com/2023/08/neonazis-vandalize-downtown-great-falls/
So remember, Great Falls friends, don’t be like MSU. If YOU see Nazi propaganda, don’t stay silent. Stand up for our neighbors and speak out against hate. We’re a better community when we look out for each other.
