Montana
Mental health crisis in Montana: A conversation with the editor – Daily Montanan
Mental health isn’t an unfamiliar topic in Montana.
For years, the Treasure State has been at the top of lists for states with the most severe suicide rates.
Even under the best circumstances, mental health care providers are limited, if not scarce. And, a host of factors make mental health a difficult, persistent problem.
This year, journalism students at the University of Montana School of Journalism tackled the multi-faceted challenges of mental health under the Big Sky. The Daily Montanan, in collaboration with the students, will be publishing a series of articles from the students’ publication, Byline magazine, every Sunday through March, in an effort to highlight the important work of the journalists and the timely topic of mental health in Montana.
Daily Montanan editor Darrell Ehrlick sat down with Byline editor-in-chief McKenna Johnson for an interview about the reporting challenges and findings the team discovered while working intensively on the subject.
Please note this interview has been edited for length and clarity:
Daily Montanan: Tell me a little bit about the genesis. Where did you get the idea for this particular topic?
McKenna Johnson: I’m not entirely sure who came up with that idea. We ended up settling on mental health in Montana, specifically we wanted to focus on just stories in Montana. And we had thought, ‘You know, we could go broad; we could go more specific,’ but I think this is what is going to serve our audience best if we focus on mental health in Montana. We wanted to focus on stories that we didn’t see as much.
DM: Did it take a lot of convincing the staff that this was a good topic, or was there a hunger for this topic? Because it’s sometimes a tough topic to report and cover.
Johnson: I don’t think it took much convincing at all. I think if there were any people who weren’t super convinced they didn’t show it, or it was really easy to find different niches within that topic. I think once people got into the process, they realized there are so many different ways you can go with this topic. There’s so much that we mentioned that we talked about that we didn’t get to put in the final magazine, and I think that’s really a testament to just how how eager everyone was to dive into these stories. Kind of the hard part was really picking and choosing where to focus our attention. You know, we have a classroom situation. We only have a semester. We had so much interest in so many specific topics to choose from within the realm of mental health and I think part of that, too, is our generation specifically. I think the conversations we’re having around mental health are becoming a little bit more free flowing, and people want to talk about these stories. And some of it was we maybe thought there was a story that was done on a topic that we thought was done really well and we wanted to dive deeper into it. And then there were stories that maybe we didn’t see published and so we wanted to go write those ourselves. You’re right: It can be a really hard topic to talk about. And so we decided we were going to break it down a little bit, have that experience of reporting on something hard that makes sense.
DM: It’s interesting to me that you would choose that topic because to me that’s a really hard topic. It can be nuanced. It’s not exactly always an uplifting topic. I mean, the first story you did was on isolation and suicide. Did you have any hesitation as the editor or did the staff have hesitation about covering a topic that, I think as you mentioned it in your column, has a taboo surrounding it?
Johnson: We had a lot of conversations on getting kind of the whole picture on mental health. This was the state of mental health in Montana. Like you said, that first story by a reporter was about isolation and suicide and all of the factors that you know, make Montana kind of a unique situation in that regard. We wanted to do those hard stories, but I think we talked a lot about balancing out with, like, for example, in the print edition right after that story is a little bit of a lighter piece about crisis line workers and one of the callers. We talk about what works for a crisis line and talk about methods that people are doing to uplift — maybe that wasn’t quite the right word — but like, combat some of the harder stuff with mental health. So we wanted that to be representative in our coverage.
DM: What were you most surprised to learn about mental health in Montana?
Johnson: One of the facts that I was most surprised to learn in this came from a guest speaker that we had come into the class while we were kind of early on in our pitching stage of the magazine. It came in from NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Health, which talked about in Montana, how two of the most at-risk groups for mental health challenges are Indigenous men and then kind of middle-aged, most often, white ranchers. And so that was that was one of the statistics that kind of sparked that first story about what are all of these factors that go into mental health in Montana? Those are two demographics that you might not know.
DM: So after doing this and really studying the issue intensively, what do you think you can say definitively about mental health in Montana as it currently is?
Johnson: I think there’s always something we can do to provide more resources, more open conversations and reaching out to communities who don’t have those resources. People in general, they’re just so resilient. And you know, I think I mentioned it to in my editor’s column: Everyone can be susceptible to mental health challenges. We should have and be able to have these open conversations about it, while also recognizing like how hard it is to deal with it. I think that was something that just from multiple sources in every story that kind of shines through is just the resiliency of people, especially here in Montana.
DM: Is there something about Montana that makes this series of stories different than what they would be in other states?
Johnson: We tried to choose stories that were very specific to people in Montana, and some of the stories might be a little bit more broad, but specific to a Montana angle. I think in some ways, yes. And in some ways, no, because I think Montana is such a special place. We have the great outdoors, and then with that comes some of the struggles. We keep coming back to isolation, for example, that you might not get if you’re going to do a mental health magazine in a state like New York.
DM: Was there anything the staff really wrestled with when it came to covering a particular topic or aspect of mental health in Montana?
Johnson: I think one thing that we wrestled with was we didn’t want to have the whole magazine be like: Oh my gosh, the state of mental health in Montana is horrible. And it’s never gonna get like we want it to be And one of the things that we kind of realized going into it is that not every story, but a couple of the stories, tended to center on suicide. We kind of wrestled with whether that is gonna be like a deterrent for some people because it is such a hard topic to cover and report. And we also really recognized it’s a hard topic to read about, too. Some of the stories maybe didn’t set out to be about something like that, but that’s where the source landed. And that’s where the stories ended up going. And so we wanted it to be honest.
DM: How did you overcome the kind of idea that talking about suicide, or mental health might be damaging to an audience? You know, there’s always been that, ‘If you mention it, it might happen?’ Or you might you might be giving suicide or mental health too much attention.
Johnson: I don’t think we spent too much time worrying about it because we had made the decision that we were going to tackle some of those hard topics. We brought in a couple of guest speakers. And we looked at how do you cover these while being sensitive? We sat down a lot with reporters and the faculty advisors when we were looking at some of those suicide stories. We really looked at, are we covering these in a sensitive way? Are we being respectful to the sources? Are we doing this in a way that is going to reduce harm and also tell the truth? I feel like we talked about a lot of that in journalism school, and so we knew we wanted to cover those topics. And so we didn’t necessarily shy away from them. It was more of a question of: OK, how do you do this right?
DM: So, I mean, you you asked the question: How do you do it right?
Johnson: I mean, it’s hard. I don’t know if I have have a wonderful answer. And, you know, I still wake up and think about it sometimes. I really think it comes down to reading it and thinking, ‘OK, if I was the source, how would I take it, reading this, or if I was someone coming at this like from a completely blank slate? How would I read this, and thinking about it from different angles, and really having having empathy in your reporting — we talked about that a lot, too. So it’s hard and I don’t have an easy answer.
DM: How did you make sure that you were taking care of the staff’s mental health because reporting on mental health can be a challenge to your mental health?
Johnson: For me as a leader, I tried to check in with people and tried to have open lines of communication. I think one thing we tried to convey to our staff is like, ‘You guys, we are people first, this is really hard to report on mental health.’ We brought in right at the beginning some guest speakers who had covered very mentally taxing topics, and they talked about their coping mechanisms and, and things like that, that we can use. We tried to have some open dialogue, open conversation about it, and recognize that this is gonna be a really hard thing we’re doing. Also, we were like, it’s fine not to be fine all the time, if that makes sense.
DM: Let’s talk for a moment about if you could have a magic wand or you could be a policy director, high up in the state, what would your recommendations be to improve mental health in Montana?
Johnson: One of the things is the Mental Health Commission (being led by Rep. Bob Keenan), being very aware of the power of this commission and using it correctly. I really think another thing that is talked about is mental health in Montana is something that a lot of people struggle with, it’s just a stigma. And I think anything that people can do, to just bring about open conversations and try to decrease that level of stigma that people have is one thing that people can do to make the situation better because it’s really hard to offer resources and help people without breaking down that stigma.
DM: Did you find that it was as much of a stigma as you thought? In other words, was it hard to get people to share their stories?
Johnson: Depending on the story, some of them were a little bit harder. Some needed a little bit more time and being patient and letting people be comfortable with the idea of opening up. I think what a lot of people found is a lot of people want to talk about their story, right? And so when somebody comes and says: We want to hear your story, we want to tell it, what what can we do to help tell your story? I think people in general found that people were very open to talking about your story, and it can be hard sometimes to ask, especially when you’re talking about such a tough atopic, but I think sometimes we can, as reporters, get in our own head and believe they might not want to talk about it, but I think in our experience, people were very open to sharing their stories.
DM: What has been the reaction of people who have read the magazine?
Johnson: It’s still pretty fresh out there. But so far, it’s been pretty positive.
DM: So what do you hope for this publication? What do you hope people take from it?
Johnson: If we can bring a little bit of understanding of the state of mental health in Montana. If this magazine reaches someone who maybe is struggling but doesn’t have the resources or you know, the knowledge to maybe recognize they’re struggling or or reach out and talk. They might see story like this and maybe resonate with someone in the magazine and maybe that will help them in their situation. Or maybe they’ll give it to someone who will relate to it or get them someone to read and go, ‘Oh, I’m not alone in that situation.’ Like I said, there were so many things that we didn’t get to cover. But if we can bring a story to someone that might make them think a little bit more about mental health and how they think about mental health and how it plays a role in their lives, maybe they’ll want to read even more about it and educate themselves even more.
DM: Do you think just having the conversations, being out there having a publication, having photographers, having editors, having people research it, do you think that is beneficial in and of itself?
Johnson: It’s very beneficial having those conversations, I think, but coming back to stigma, hopefully this magazine we’re putting out does, just even if it’s just a little bit, chip away at that stigma. At least it’s something people can go to that will hopefully inspire people to have have conversations
DM: Do you think it is becoming easier for us to talk about mental health, mental illness?
Johnson: I think it’s definitely becoming easier. I definitely don’t think the work is totally done, and I don’t know if it will ever be done. I think it’s becoming easier to report and just easier to talk about. In general even, not in a journalistic sense, if I’m just talking with my friends. Especially after doing doing a project like this, I feel a lot more comfortable talking to people about mental health than I did when I started. Even if when I when I started this at the beginning of the semester I thought I felt really comfortable. Now, on the other side of it, I’m like, Oh my gosh, I feel so much more comfortable talking about mental health to people than I did before.
MISSOULA — Tilde Bjerager ran a school-record time of 57.79 in the 400-meter hurdles on Saturday to lead a group of 15 Bobcat winners on the final day of the Cat-Griz Dual/Al Manuel Invitational.
The Bobcats combined for a total of 17 event wins and 13 improvements to the program’s all-time top-10 list over the course of the two-day meet as the women tallied 81 points to finish first and the men posted 67 points for second place at the Montana-hosted meet.
Bjerager crossed the finish line with a converted time of 57.79 to shatter the school 400m hurdles record by 0.14 seconds, securing the victory in Missoula. Her time ranks fourth in the NCAA in the young outdoor season. She also matched the third-fastest time in program history in the 100m hurdles, crossing the finish line in a converted time of 13.63 to win the event. Millie Hubbell finished close behind with a time of 13.94 for a runner-up finish.
Sydney Brewster opened her outdoor season with a mark of 17.12 meters/56 feet, 2 inches to win the shot put. The mark came on her fourth throw and came within six inches of her own school record. Emma Brensdal finished with a mark of 15.01m/49-3, and Maggie Hillis took fourth with a throw of 13.83m/45-4.50.
Jaeden Wolff came within 0.01 second of tying the school record in the 100-meter dash, crossing the finish line with a converted time of 11.60 to place second in the event. She improved her own No. 2 time in school history in a strong start to her outdoor season. Peyton Garrison finished seventh with a time of 11.97, and Ave Roberts crossed the finish line in 12th with a time of 12.51.
Caroline Hawkes took over sole possession of the third spot on the program top-10 list in the 200m, clocking a converted time of 23.77 to earn the victory in Missoula. Giulia Gandolfi finished fifth in the event with a time of 24.43.
Xavier Simpson equaled his own No. 3 time in school history with a runner-up finish of 10.51 in the 100m. Malikye Simpson finished close behind in third with a time of 10.61 while Billy Cunningham (10.90) and Preston Wysocki (10.94) crossed the finish line in eighth and ninth, respectively.
Easton Hatleberg finished runner-up in the shot put with a mark of 18.09m/59-4.25 on his fifth throw. The mark was his personal best outdoors and helped him improve from ninth to fifth in program history in the event. Talon Holmquist (6th) and Matt Furdyk (7th) also competed in the event, recording top throws of 16.44m/53-11.25 and 16.27m/53-4.50.
Gandolfi clocked the No. 5 time in program history in her outdoor debut in the 400m, crossing the finish line in 54.26 to win the event to start her outdoor season. On the men’s side, Jett Grundy clocked a time of 47.09 to complete the sweep for the Bobcats.
Jordan Lasher cleared 5.22m/17-1.50 to win the pole vault, moving to sixth in program history with the mark. The clearance came on his third and final attempt to help him set a new personal best.
The Bobcats claimed the top eight positions in the women’s 1500m, led by Eva Koos’ winning time of 4:23.84. Claire Rutherford moved to sixth in program history with her converted time of 4:27.27 to place second in her outdoor debut. Kalei Moravitz (4:32.60), Annie Kaul (4:33.48), and Kaitlyn Skinner (4:35.08) rounded out the top five, while Sophia Miller (4:36.50), Madi Siana (4:39.06), and Stella Diaz (4:42.09) finished sixth through eighth.
The Bobcats posted the No. 7 4x100m relay times in program history on both the women’s and men’s side. Peyton Garrison, Hawkes, Jadyn VanDyke, and Jaeden Wolff posted a converted time of 45.32 while the men’s squad of Noah Barbery, Xavier Simpson, Drake Wilkes, and Malikye Simpson clocked a 40.67 as both teams finished second in their respective events.
Jackson Fagerlin crossed the finish line in 1:50.60 in the 800m, moving into the No. 10 slot in program history in the event, to secure a runner-up finish. Mario Oblad joined him in the top five, clocking a time of 1:51.69 to finish fourth in Missoula.
Hannah Perrin opened the Bobcats’ day on the track with a win in the 3,000m steeplechase, crossing the finish line with a converted time of 10:47.86. She defeated her closest competition in the event by 51 seconds. Rob McManus followed with a victory on the men’s side with a converted time of 8:50.52. Quinn Newman (3rd) and Ben Saelens (4th) also finished in the top five with respective times of 9:11.03 and 9:13.77.
Trystin Chapel and Billy Cunningham completed the one-two sweep in the long jump, posting respective marks of 7.22m/23-8.25 and 7.14m/23-5.25.
Nash Coley helped the Bobcats sweep the 400m hurdles, crossing the finish line in a converted time of 52.49.
Libby Hansen opened her season with a win in the pole vault, recording a top clearance of 3.85m/12-7.50. Tatum Richards finished fourth with a clearance of 3.70m/12-1.50.
Sophia Miller earned a win in the 800m as the Bobcats swept the top four in the event. Miller crossed the finish line in 2:14.84 while Jada Zorn (2:15.71), Kaitlyn Skinner (2:15.92), and Iris Rogel (2:17.02) finished second through fourth.
Koos won the women’s 5000m with a converted time of 17:36.99, leading a trio of Bobcats who finished in the top three as Hailey Watkins finished second (17:42.44) and Diaz took third (17:46.58).
Griz break five program records, three stadium marks
The Montana track and field team picked up right where it left off at the end of the indoor season on Saturday as the team set five new program records, including three that were Dornblaser Field records, in an impressive start to the outdoor season.
The Grizzly men also won the Griz-Cat Dual for the second time in the last four years by a final score of 99.67-93.33. The MSU women won 100-75. The Cats were picked second in the Big Sky in both preseason polls with Montana third.
Montana picked up 13 event wins on an action-packed Saturday afternoon.
The biggest roars of the day came from the men’s shot put. Missoulian Alex Shields, a graduate of Hellgate HS, missed the indoor season with a health issue. He had not been lifting or throwing regularly throughout the fall and winter.
He was cleared to resume competition for the outdoor season, but the coaching staff still debated letting him rest and redshirt this year. They decided to let him go out on Saturday, and the move paid off.
Shields broke the Montana school record with his first throw of the day in the men’s shot put. It would be the worst of his five measured throws as he saved his best attempt for last to win the event.
Shields trailed Montana State’s Easton Hatleberg going into his final throw. He uncorked his best attempt of the event, throwing it 59-8.5 to win by over four inches and shatter the previous program record from 2019.
It’s a huge step for someone that entered the outdoor season not knowing if he would be able to throw. It’s been a long journey for Shields to get back to full health
Freshman Astin Brown finished 3rd in the event with a throw of 57-10.25 and got the energy going early in the event and Titus Jeffrey finished 5th with a throw of 54-4.5. Shields shouted out every single one of throws group teammates by name when talking about his success on Saturday.
The men’s and women’s 4×100-meter relay teams got the record breaking going early with times of 40.23 and 44.78 to win both races. The women broke a Dornblaser Field record that had stood since 2019 in the process.
The women have Tara Ohlwiler, the defending 100m and 200m Big Sky Champion, running the opening leg with freshman Callie Wilson, this season’s 60m and 200m indoor Big Sky Champion, running the anchor.
The men’s team ran with two true freshmen, Romin Saleki and Ben Bliven, with Brody Thornsberry in the lineup and Big Sky Indoor champion Karsen Beitz running the closing leg. Fraley wasn’t sure how fast the team would go being so new to collegiate competition and to running as a unit.
Wilson anchored the women’s record breaking relay team and then showed off the individual speed in the women’s 100m. Wilson broke the Dornblaser Field record set by Weber State’s Emily Morgan in the 2019 Big Sky Championships with a time of 11.49.
Her time is also a Montana program record as she beat her teammate Tara Ohlwiler’s best mark of 11.53 from last season.
In her first ever outdoor meet at Montana, Wilson put on a show for the Grizzly fans in attendance.
Wilson wasn’t the only Grizzly to break a women’s stadium record. Erin Wilde has long been the standard for high jump in the Big Sky Conference but she reached a new and impressive height on Saturday.
Wilde, a six-time Big Sky champion in the event, cleared 6-0 for the first time outdoors to break her own program record and become the first woman to ever break the 6-0 mark at Dornblaser Field.
For Wilde, the height is something that she’s had her sights set on for a while. She has cleared 6-0 multiple times indoors, including at the 2025 Big Sky Indoor Championships. She checked that box on Saturday.
The men had five wins on the track and Karsen Beitz played a part in three of them. He anchored the record relay team and then picked up a pair of individual wins in the men’s 100m and 200m.
Beitz ran lifetime bests in both events, winning the short sprint in a time of 10.44 in a highly competitive field and following it up later with a time of 20.93 in the 200m to hold off teammate Braden Ankeny.
Morgan Amano won the men’s 800m from behind, flying down the final straightaway for the win in a time of 1:50.82, which was a lifetime best
The men’s final win on the track also sealed the dual victory as the teams were nearly dead even entering the 4x400m relay. Montana’s team of Ben Antley, Braden Ankeny, Cadence Waller, and Taylor Johnson coasted to a four second win to bring the title home for Montana.
The field events made a big contribution as well two event wins and eight top three finishes on the men’s side to contribute to the point total. Freshman Sam Henderson won the triple jump with a mark of 48-8 to go with Shields’ win in the shot put.
The Grizzlies went over a decade without a dual win over MSU. They’ve now taken the title twice in the last four years on the men’s side.
Wilde and Wilson were joined in the winners circle on the women’s side by Ainsley Shipman and Lillian White.
Shipman had the top triple jump of the day on the women’s side with a mark of 38-6.25, and she also finished 3rd in the long jump 18-5.75. White won the women’s discus with a throw of 154-10 in her first meet as a Grizzly.
Montana has had many entire seasons pass without five school records falling. They were able to knock off five records on Saturday alone in just the first meet of the outdoor season. The Grizzlies should only get better from here.
Following weeks of uncertainty as to whether the state would allow another large No Kings rally on the state Capitol steps, more than 1,000 people stood on the lawn as they protested what they said is creeping authoritarianism in the United States.
Montana poet and author Chris La Tray, along with former Gov. Steve Bullock headlined the event, with stark criticism of President Donald Trump, the Gianforte Administration and attacks on voter rights.
Event organizers scrambled as the state Department of Administration went back-and-forth on a blanket ban of weekend events at the Capitol that was eventually nixed after pressure from legislators and the public.
“When the current governor tried to silence your voice to make it so that you could not gather here on the steps of the people’s house, you stood up and said, ‘No, that’s not who we are,’” Bullock, a Democrat, said. “Today, Montanans and Americans are finding their voices.”
More than 30 No Kings rallies took place across Montana, drawing more than 10,000 to Missoula and at least 5,000 in Billings, according to organizers.
In Helena, Bullock was sharply critical of state Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen, now a Congressional Candidate in the western district, saying, “We still don’t know what she’s given to Trump’s DOJ (Department of Justice).”
Former Montana Poet Laureate La Tray spoke about bringing people together and how that’s both important to him, but also sees it important within the bounds of his Anishinaabe culture, specifically pointing to his nation, the Little Shell Chippewa — a tribe that was not federally recognized until 2019.
After speaking about the complicated relationship he has with the American flag, he pointed to the Little Shell flag, which flies along with Montana’s other sovereign nation flags on the steps of the Capitol, and spoke to the nature of the rally.
“We are a sovereign nation, and we are here to build this future with everybody else,” La Tray said. “So what does that look like? I don’t know, but I think this is where we begin to see it.”
Attendees of all ages stood on the Capitol grounds, including Katy Mays, a Helena woman who had a sign saying “86 47” with a plushie of Kermit the frog.
It became personal to her when the Trump Administration came after public broadcasting.
“They came after PBS, and Kermit didn’t like that very much,” Mays said, who has taken the sign to several No Kings events.
U.S. Senate candidate Alani Bankhead spoke to voters while holding a sign saying “Pedo Hunter for U.S. Senate.” Bankhead, a retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel, has made child protection and public safety a centerpiece of her campaign for the Democratic nomination in the state. She’s also been active in discussions around the city, also giving public comment in favor of an immigration resolution in Helena earlier this week.
Bankhead said she was encouraged by the protests, adding, “I tell people, make your casserole for someone who needs to be encouraged, and drop it on their stoop. That’s just as powerful as running for Senate.”
Across the state, organizers in Fort Benton said they reached 100 people at their event — 8% of the town’s population — adding it was nearly double their event in October. Miles City saw about 135 people, which was in line with their last rally. Havre had 151, according to Indivisible organizers there.
“People are concerned about a lot of issues from the Epstein files, ICE and giving lots of money to Argentina, but not supporting farmers here,” said Kurt Reinhart, with Indivisible’s chapter in Miles City.
Billings: Largest turnout yet
At the Yellowstone County Courthouse lawn and stretching for several blocks north and south, Billings’ “No Kings” organizers estimated 5,000 to 6,000 people showed up, making it the largest protest turnout so far in the “Magic City.”
“Our voices are louder than money,” said event organizer and leader of Yellowstone Indivisible Elizabeth Klarich. “Sign up for something, get involved because this is how we get change.”
The organizers and speakers at the two-hour event coalesced around the theme of registering to vote and boosting Initiative 194, a measure that hopes to drive out corporate spending in campaigning and politics. In Montana, some cities have elections for school board members in April, a primary in June and a general election in November.
The rally also saw a number of younger speakers, as well as speakers who had a bit more gray hair, including those who hearkened back to the rallies they participated during the Vietnam War era.
Billings Senior High School junior Gage Duffy was the youngest speaker of the day, though it wasn’t his first time speaking or organizing. Earlier this year, he led a walk-out of the high school to protest Immigration and Customs Enforcement treatment of people.
“We call on the abolition of ICE not out of hatred, but out of humanity,” Duffy said, who was spending his 17th birthday speaking to the crowd and rallying. “We have to rethink how justice and immigrants are handled. Justice is not just something we celebrate, it’s something we work for.”
Scott Frazier, a Santee and Crow tribal member who is also Quaker, said he was inspired to participate because the Santee people had been rounded up, held against their will, not so unlike the same people who ICE is detaining.
“Those children who are being put in those camps will suffer for the rest of their lives,” Frazier said. “Yes, I am a Quaker, and you may know them for staying quiet, but we have to be talking about peace. The essence of peace is not hating each other, and guess what? It takes work to have peace.”
After speaking, Frazier sung a traditional sundancing song that is used in the morning called “Meadowlark.”
Tom Curry of Billings is a U.S. Navy veteran and brought a sign to protest for his first rally. He said he missed the other two because of medical issues, but said that his service was part of a NATO mission in Italy, and he wanted to show support for both the Armed Services and NATO.
“But there are 100 really good reasons to be out here,” Curry said.
The March 2026 No Kings rally in Missoula drew more than 10,000 people, organizers said. (Keila Szpaller/The Daily Montanan)
The March 2026 No Kings rally in Missoula drew more than 10,000 people, organizers said. (Keila Szpaller/The Daily Montanan)
The March 2026 No Kings rally in Missoula drew more than 10,000 people, organizers said. (Keila Szpaller/The Daily Montanan)
The March 2026 No Kings rally in Missoula drew more than 10,000 people, organizers said. (Keila Szpaller/The Daily Montanan)
No Kings in March 2026 drew more than double the crowd of the first No Kings rally in Missoula. (Keila Szpaller/The Daily Montanan)
Alex King and Shannon Tillotson of Missoula said they fear for their marriage under the Trump administration because King is transgender. They believe Trump’s hatred has led to more fighting and violence in general. (Keila Szpaller/The Daily Montanan)
No Kings in March 2026 drew more than double the crowd of the first No Kings rally in Missoula. (Keila Szpaller/The Daily Montanan)
Two mothers came with their newborns to participate in the “No Kings” rally on the lawn of the Yellowstone County Courthouse in Billings, Montana on March 28, 2026 (Photo by Darrell Ehrlick of the Daily Montanan).
Laurel Tynes of Missoula showed up to the No Kings rally to defend democracy against Trump. “He’s going to kill us all.” (Keila Szpaller/The Daily Montanan)
A protestor holding a sign at a “No Kings” rally on the Yellowstone County Courthouse lawn in Billings, Montana on March 28, 2026. The sign references Alex Pretti and Renee Good, who were shot by Immigration and Customs Agents in Minneapolis (Photo by Darrell Ehrlick of the Daily Montanan).
A protestor who attended the “No Kings” rally at the Yellowstone County Courthouse lawn in Billings, Montana on March 28, 2026 (Photo by Darrell Ehrlick of the Daily Montanan).
Protestors during the “No Kings Rally” in Billings, Montana on March 28, 2026 (Photo by Darrell Ehrlick of the Daily Montanan).
A protestor at the “No Kings” rally in Billings, Montana on the Yellowstone County Courthouse lawn on March 28, 2026 (Photo by Darrell Ehrlick of the Daily Montanan).
A protestor in an inflatable costume at the “No Kings” rally in Billings, Montana on March 28, 2026. The protestor was pointing to an exchange between President Donald Trump and a female journalist in which Trump didn’t appear to like a question and replied, “Quiet, Piggy.” (Photo by Darrell Ehrlick of the Daily Montanan)
A mother and her daughter walk through the crowd at the “No Kings” protest at the county courthouse lawn in Billings, Montana on March 28, 2026 (Photo by Darrell Ehrlick of the Daily Montanan).
Billie Weston of Billings, Montana holds her sign at the “No Kings” rally on March 28, 2026. She said she had never attended a rally or protest before the first “No Kings” and this is her third (Photo by Darrell Ehrlick of the Daily Montanan).
Protestors holding signs during the “No Kings” rally in Billings, Montana on March 28, 2026 (Photo by Darrell Ehrlick of the Daily Montanan).
A man holds a sign referencing the Epstein files at the “No Kings” rally in Billings, Montana on March 28, 2026 (Photo by Darrell Ehrlick of the Daily Montanan).
Tom Curry, a U.S. Navy veteran, came to protest the war in Iran and the treatment of NATO at the “No Kings” rally in Billings, Montana on March 28, 2026 (Photo by Darrell Ehrlick of the Daily Montanan).
Two protestors at the “No Kings” rally in Billings, Montana on March 28, 2026 (Photo by Darrell Ehrlick of the Daily Montanan).
A woman holds up a sign during the “No Kings” rally along one of the city’s thoroughfares, North 27th Street in Billings, Montana on March 28, 2026 (Photo by Darrell Ehrlick of the Daily Montanan).
Organizers of the “No Kings” rally in Billings, Montana collect current and previous signs for community use on March 28, 2026 (Photo by Darrell Ehrlick of the Daily Montanan).
Over 1,000 people came to the grounds of the state Capitol in Helena, MT, on Saturday, March 28, 2026 for a No Kings rally. (Jordan Hansen / Daily Montanan)
Former Montana Governor Steve Bullock speaks during a No Kings event in Helena, MT, on Saturday, March 28, 2026. (Jordan Hansen / Daily Montanan)
For Kita Mays, a Helena resident who has attended multiple No Kings rallies, it became personal when the Trump Administration went after public broadcasting. “They came after PBS, and Kermit didn’t like that very much,” she said Saturday at a Helena, MT, event on Saturday, March 28, 2026. (Jordan Hansen / Daily Montanan)
The places where he served are now in danger because of the escalating war in Iran, he said.
“That scares the sh—t out of me,” he said. “There was no imminent danger. There was no nuclear threat. There were no missiles that were going to strike the U.S. — there never has been.”
Billings Public Schools Trustee Luke Ashmore, who ran on a platform of no corporate donations, said that sometimes the headlines of news can feel isolating and that’s why he’s participating in these rallies.
“On the worst days, I feel alone, but then look around,” Ashmore said. “But if we rely on each other, and if we stand with each other, and if we join together we can make a difference.”
Billings resident Billie Weston said this was her third “No Kings” rally in Billings. She said that she had never attended a rally or protest before these began.
“I am 67 and had never been to a protest before,” she said.
When asked what made her decide to attend, Weston replied, “How can I not?”
Missoulians protest war in Iran, SAVE Act
In Missoula, more than 10,000 people turned out to protest the Trump administration at a peaceful gathering that started and ended with song.
They came to protest the war in Iran, the SAVE Act, the flagrant disregard for the U.S. Constitution, the erasure of history, attacks on the press, and the enrichment of billionaires at the expense of poor people.
Many veterans showed up to state their disagreement with President Trump’s decision to drop bombs on Iran. Sandy Pisauro, of Seeley Lake, said she is a military veteran who believes in the U.S. Constitution and is tired of seeing Trump fan the flames of hatred.
“Where is the love in our society?” she asked.
Pisauro said she is retired and might be “kind of OK” financially, but she worries for young people who can’t afford homes. She said Trump is creating pain and suffering as he helps rich people make even more money off the backs of others.
“I am sickened by what Republicans have done to this country. I don’t even know how to put it into words,” Pisauro said.
A parade that started at the north end of downtown extended all the way to Caras Park blocks away at the other end, and demonstrators drummed and chanted and even expressed sign envy along the route. Jody Hammond, of Missoula, made eight signs on four boards, including one to which she attached small balls.
“Free Balls For Members of Congress Who Have Lost Theirs,” read one of her signs.
Hammond said she’s so worried for the country, “I can’t stand it.”
She made the signs last week that she and her friends used on Saturday.
“What I worry about more is not so much Trump but the people who know what he’s like and vote for him anyway,” Hammond said.
Penny Bertram, of Florence, drew admirers who stopped to take pictures of her sign: “Trump Sandwich. White Bread. Full of Baloney. W/ Russian Dressing. And A Small Pickle.”
Bertram said she wanted to have fun with the sign despite the attacks on democracy she sees in the country.
“I can’t imagine anything more serious that’s facing our country right now,” Bertram said.
Before the parade started, Laurel Tynes sat in a wheelchair at the head of the No Kings banner, and asked why she showed up to the event, her eyes flickered, and she paused.
“He’s going to kill us all,” Tynes said.
On the parade route, the demonstrators chanted: “Hey, hey! Ho, ho! Donald Trump has got to go;” “No kings. No tyrants. The people will not be silent.”
Previous demonstrations in Missoula have drawn thousands, and the one Saturday, organized by Missoula Resists, Indivisible Missoula and Stand Up Fight Back, was estimated at more than double, possibly triple, the first No Kings rally.
Joanna Morrison, who watched the parade for a few minutes before going to work, described herself as a child of the ‘60s and ‘70s. She said she was arrested in her 20s in front of Malmstrom Air Force Base to protest the nuclear arms race. Morrison said she appreciated the attendance Saturday, both the high number of people and the lack of heckling.
“I’m thankful to see so many people on the same page,” Morrison said.
One speaker, Amber Shaffer of Missoula, said she’s an enrolled tribal member attending her first No Kings rally. Shaffer said she feels like she’s been judged for not participating in the past, but many Native Americans don’t feel secure in the country.
“I just want to acknowledge the privilege that everyone here has to feel safe enough to gather in these spaces,” Shaffer said. “Many of my Indigenous relatives don’t feel that sense of safety in our country, or any marginalized people.”
Lindsey Stout, who came to the rally with her daughter, Morgan Taylor, said she opposed the fear Trump was bringing not just to the country but the world. Stout also said under the SAVE Act, she wouldn’t even be able to vote as a woman who changed her last name.
“I think that’s insane,” Stout said.
Sean Eudaily, a professor of political philosophy and Constitutional studies at the University of Montana-Western, also spoke to the crowd, although as a concerned citizen. Eudaily said he watched his dad, a conservative Republican from western Montana, work on conservation efforts in the Bob Marshall Wilderness and the Rock Creek drainage. He said Montana’s political history offers “good, old common sense wisdom” for people today.
“We were the first state to systematically regulate the influence of corporate money in politics. We were the first state to send a woman to Congress, Jeannette Rankin,” Eudaily said.
He also said when it was time to rewrite the Montana Constitution in 1972, Montana sent everyday people to do it, not politicians, and it has a model document in the country.
“If you let the politicians write the constitution, the people will be sidelined. So that’s not how we do it,” Eudaily said.
Organizers said more than 10,000 people showed up, and possibly as many as 15,000. Rose Zee, with Missoula Resists, said the protests weren’t about political parties, but about protecting the country.
“It is about standing up for what we know to be right and taking action against what is wrong,” Zee said. “Today (Saturday), about 15,000 Montanans came together in Missoula because we can no longer remain silent while our Constitution and our rights are under attack.”
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