ACLU affiliate says legal panel reviewed complaints after Missoula Hells Angels weekend; board to decide in two weeks

An ACLU Montana representative said the affiliate has received a small number of requests for legal help tied to police and street actions during the recent Hells Angels weekend in Missoula, and that the organization’s legal panel has reviewed the complaints and made recommendations.

"There have been a few people from the incidents of late July and early August who have contacted our office and asked for legal representation," the ACLU Montana representative said. "We don't enter into any of this quickly. We enter into it democratically. Our legal panel has reviewed the complaints. They've made recommendations. Our board will meet in another 2 weeks and decide whether or not our organizational resources are, best spent being engaged representing the people that come forward."

The representative said the affiliate sought cooperation with the Jeannette Rankin Peace Center when organizing a showing and discussion of a film about 1960s protest politics because of shared ties to the history of Jeanette Rankin and concern about framing the subject constructively after recent local unrest. "I sought out the leadership from the Jeannette Rankin Peace Center because I've got a lot of respect for them," the representative said, adding that the panel hoped to focus on "models for engagement, cooperation, and responsible citizen oversight of our government."

Panelists and audience members raised broader civil-liberties questions tied to the events that prompted the complaints. The ACLU Montana representative reviewed the affiliate's stance on constitutional protections: "we've ended up defending anti war protesters, but we've also had to defend the rights of people like the Nazis to be able to march or assemble," the representative said, emphasizing the organization's effort to remain "neutral on the content of the people whose rights we represent." The representative also described the range of views within ACLU affiliates on the Second Amendment: "The national organization has taken the position that the Second Amendment calls for a collective right to bear arms under a well regulated militia. ... Our affiliate has never been able to agree on a position."

Speakers at the event — which included local activists and longtime organizers — stressed the role of public protest and the need for community healing after confrontations. Janet Roboto, introduced as a "leader in native [affairs]," reflected on how policing and protest affect Indigenous people differently: "If you talk to us as Indian people ... our folks are, beaten and ... tormented and, they don't always have, they certainly don't have the ability to, protest like we do here." Activist Bill Chiluca and other panelists discussed tactics, intergenerational protest, and organizational steps normally taken before street actions, such as building membership and exercising group power.

No formal legal action or litigation decision was announced at the panel; the only next-step timeline offered was the affiliate board’s meeting in approximately two weeks to decide whether to use organizational resources to provide representation. The representative also noted alternatives to litigation, including political and educational avenues, saying those options would be considered alongside any decision to pursue legal representation.

The panel and audience discussion provided local context for the complaints under review but did not produce a formal directive from city officials or law enforcement during the event. The ACLU Montana representative encouraged people concerned about civil liberties to review affiliate positions and board deliberations: "If you go to our web page at aclumontana.org ... you'll see all of the issues that ACLU takes a position on."