Montana’s Flathead Valley Sees Influx Of Extremist Groups
Flathead County, Montana, on the western edge of Glacier National Park, is one of the most rugged and breathtaking places in the country.
It attracts thousands of visitors every year, and is now also drawing ultra right-wing extremist settlers.
Those who have come include April Gaede, of the white supremacist group Pioneer Little Europe and Chuck Baldwin of the Constitution Party, who say the region’s strong libertarian streak and weak state gun control laws make it the perfect place for like-minded people to join them and establish a whites -only, anti-government enclave.
David Holthouse, a journalist at Media Matters, told Here & Now’s Robin Young that the extremist groups have put a call out for others to come join them in Montana.
“If you move to the Flathead Valley region, you’re gonna have a place to stay. They’re gonna get you a job, and they’re also gonna reinforce your beliefs,” he said. “They’re gonna give you a sense of community that you may have been lacking in your life otherwise.”