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Police: no evidence of outside groups joining Missoula protests

A protest over the death of George Floyd was held for the fifth straight day on June 2, 2020 in front of the Missoula County Courthouse.
Posted at 3:21 PM, Jun 03, 2020
and last updated 2020-06-03 18:00:08-04

GREAT FALLS — Rumors have been circulating on social media that outside groups are coming to Missoula as a result of the ongoing protests over the death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis last week.

The Missoula Police Department said in a Wednesday morning Facebook post that “despite several rumors of violent protest groups coming to Missoula, we have not been able to confirm any such information.”

The protests and rallies in Missoula started last Friday in front of the Missoula County Courthouse following similar events in cities across the nation. The Missoula demonstrations have continued and are now in their sixth day.

The Kalispell Police Department shared a similar message on Wednesday: "We have been contacted by several citizens’ groups desiring to protect the Kalispell Community relating to outside groups coming to the area to agitate otherwise peaceful demonstrations. We are carefully following all intelligence and have no direct information that any outside groups are planning an event in the Kalispell area.
We are in constant communication with other law enforcement agencies in the valley and stand committed to support each other should the events be compromised by groups with ill intent."

While some of the demonstrations in larger cities have been marred by violence, the protests in Missoula and other Montana communities have remained peaceful.

Similar events have also been held in Great Falls, Billings, Helena, and Bozeman over the last several days. All of the events have been peaceful, with no arrests or damage.