Welcome conclusion to a sad saga

A federal jury in Missoula last week gave David Burgert exactly what he deserves - nothing.

Burgert, formerly of Evergreen and now a federal prisoner, sued for about $7 million for the torture and indignities he claims he suffered at the hands of various officials including federal agents, the state of Montana and its Adult Probation and Parole officers and Montana Highway Patrol officers, Flathead County, the Flathead County commissioners, Sheriff Jim Dupont and two deputies, the city of Kalispell, Kalispell Police Chief Frank Garner and three Kalispell officers, Missoula County, the Missoula County commissioners and Missoula Sheriff Mike McMeekin, the Missoula County jail and about a dozen Missoula jail employees.

The judge and jury found no merit to any of his claims.

At trial, Burgert presented himself as a meek man who worries every day that he will be killed by law enforcement, but as years of public experience have shown, Burgert is just a bully.

He and a group of friends formed a group that trained with illegal machine guns and, according to previous testimony in the same Missoula courtroom, compiled "intel sheets" on police officers, their families, and their schedules. The wife of one of the group members told officials that Burgert had said at one of their meetings that they should "kill them all, even their wives and children." He was talking about local law-enforcement officers, she said.

At another incident, in which he was pepper sprayed and charged with obstructing an officer and resisting arrest, he told officers, "I'm going to make sure everyone of you [expletive] who did this to me is going to get worse."

Things came to a head after Burgert jumped bail and disappeared.

Although his family implied that he had been killed by police, Burgert was actually staying in the woods and at the home of a female member of his group. A judge issued a bench warrant for Burgert's arrest, and he was eventually spotted driving west of Kalispell. Officers attempted to stop and arrest him, but he fled into the woods, leading SWAT team members on an overnight standoff, peppered by Burgert's threats and taunts.

Eventually, he put the barrel of his gun under his chin, threatened to kill himself, surrendered, and was arrested by the police he still alleges want to kill him. Not a shot was fired.

When it came right down to it, Burgert wasn't as tough as he talked. But he hasn't learned the error of his ways either.

Serving time in a federal prison for weapons violations, he continued his bullying with the civil-rights lawsuit he filed. Officers who were found to be justified in what they did had to sit in a courtroom and answer to Burgert, who acted as his own attorney.

As offensive as that scenario is, it is one of the safeguards of our judicial system that someone like Burgert can level accusations on the assumption that there could be a kernel of truth to it.

Well, maybe so, but there also ought to be some way to protect the public from frivolous lawsuits that waste huge amounts of time and money. Perhaps a judge could request affidavits from the various witnesses, and make a summary judgment on the legitimacy of the charges and whether there is any reason to proceed with the trial.

It wouldn't satisfy Burgert, but nothing will.

He has already promised to appeal the matter. Let's hope it doesn't get past the appeals court screening. Enough is enough. We hope this is the last we have heard of Dave Burgert.