A reality based independent journal of observation & analysis, serving the Flathead Valley & Montana since 2006. © James Conner.
Yesterday, District Judge Heidi Ulbricht granted a continuance in the David Lenio case, pushing the trial date back to 19 January 2016 to give his defense attorney and the Flathead County Attorney time to work out a plea bargain.
Meanwhile, the Flathead human rights group Love Lives Here and Glacier Jewish Community-B’nai Shalom are mounting a furious and frenetic campaign to keep the county attorney from agreeing to a plea to anything less than a felony. There’s a rally scheduled for 0900 or 0930 on Monday, 09 November, on the courthouse steps in Kalispell. And through Rabbi Francine Green Roston there’s an email campaign to lobby the prosecutor. Roston says:
Please copy and paste the letter below to a new email message, edit it to reflect your identity and your personal views, and send it ASAP to the prosecutor Stacy Boman at sboman@flathead.mt.gov.
I am grateful to Jonathan Hutson for his advice and vigilance regarding this case. Mr. Hutson is an advisor to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence in Washington, D.C. Jonathan shared Lenio’s tweets with law enforcement and was instrumental in helping to find and charge Lenio. Jonathan also became another one of Lenio’s targets for hateful threats to himself and his family as a result of his advocacy on our behalf. Jonathan will be in town next week for the trial and we are working on a community meeting with Jonathan as well!
Here’s the form letter:
Dear Ms. Boman,
As a concerned citizen of Flathead County, a school parent in Whitefish and Kalispell and a Rabbi to the Glacier Jewish Community/Bnai Shalom, I would like to express my concern regarding the adjudication of David Lenio.
David Lenio has written that grade school kids in Kalispell deserve to die and that he believes that he could kill “12 unarmed sitting ducks in a classroom” and that he wants to kill more kids than those who died at the massacre at Sandy Hook in Newtown, Connecticut, where 20 grade school kids and six adult staff members were massacred.
Lenio also tweeted he would like to put two bullets in the head of a rabbi and shoot up a synagogue.
Every school parent in the Flathead Valley received a phonecall regarding heightened security as a result of Lenio’s threats.
The community was greatly relieved when Lenio was apprehended and his weapons and ammunition were confiscated. While we trust the judicial system, we would not want to see a gun put back into this man’s hands when he has shown his conviction toward hatred and a desire to act on his hateful beliefs. While a community must always be attentive and on guard, we would rest easier if Lenio’s adjudication removed his legal right to own a gun based on his felonious behavior or, if he is found to be dangerously mentally ill, we insist on mental health care and compliance.
We request that you consider the following points:
First, if Lenio is convicted of a felony (whether through a change of plea or if a jury finds him guilty), then he would not be able to pass a Brady background check, and thus could not own a gun legally. That would be a positive outcome that would bring peace of mind to our community. We certainly experienced the threat and law enforcement’s extra efforts to provide security to the schools in light of the threat.
Second, if Lenio is adjudicated as dangerously mentally ill, then he would not be able to pass a Brady background check, and thus at this time, he could not legally own a gun. That would be a positive outcome, although not a permanent outcome. If adjudicated as mentally ill, Lenio would have recourse to be able to seek an eventual reevaluation of his mental state, and attempt to prove that he is no longer a danger to himself or others.
We hope that a ruling regarding mental status would mandate monitoring and verification to insure that Lenio is receiving the treatment he needs and deserves as well as complying with any treatment guidelines. We believe every citizen should be able to receive necessary mental health care. We will not rest easy, however, until we know that the mandated healthcare is being administered and the patient is compliant. It is not uncommon for mental health patients to “fall through the cracks” and continue to pose a danger to themselves and others.
Third, we insist that Lenio should confess how he was able to continue posting hate-filled comments to his PsychicDogTalk Facebook page during his five-month period of incarceration in Flathead County, since inmates are supposed to be denied Internet access. He should be required to cooperate in revealing, for example, whether there are cell phones with Internet access being smuggled into the county jail, and whether he was aided and abetted by Aryan Nations leader Karl Gharst, who visited Lenio in jail, and who wrote about Lenio’s case on the Internet, in an attempt to rally white supremacists to support Lenio. If Lenio wants any special consideration, then he should come clean about the security threat posed by inmates’ illicit Internet access, and any confederates in this enterprise.
As you know, Lenio has a right to his wrong-headed views, but he does not have a right to cross the line between hate speech and hate crime. He has a right to associate with white supremacists, but he does not have a right to engage with his confederates in an illegal enterprise that represents a security threat within the county jail.
As a parent, resident of and rabbi in the Flathead County, I hope you will take my concerns to heart as you work toward a resolution of the case of the State of Montana vs. David Joseph Lenio.
Sincerely,
Rabbi Francine Roston
If Hutson’s in town, he may be among the speakers at the Lock Up Lenio rally Monday. He’s the one reason why the public would benefit from a trial for Lenio. He could be called as a witness, treated as a hostile witness, and under oath required to reveal to exactly what extent he may have goaded Lenio into posting the Tweets and thoughts that led to Lenio’s arrest. The local news media are giving Hutson a free pass in this affair, treating him as a hero, instead of casting a critical eye on his conduct.
Love Lives Here and its confederates are frightened and angry and determined to do something. They’re within their rights to rally and to lobby the prosecutor. Whether they’re so worked up about Lenio that they’re still within their right minds is another question. They believe they’re out for justice. I believe they’re out for Old Testament vengeance and punishment. That’s why they’re applying political pressure to get the judicial outcome they seek. I wonder whether they recognize the irony and danger in their campaign to politicize this case.