Whitefish won't allow guns at neo-Nazi march

The city of Whitefish will use a state law to forbid participants from carrying firearms in a neo-Nazi march that may be held in Whitefish sometime in February.

A proposed march and rally scheduled for Jan. 16 by The Daily Stormer neo-Nazi website was postponed because an incomplete application for the event was submitted, but organizers indicated they would pursue a similar venue at a later date.

Whitefish City Manager Chuck Stearns sent a letter to Robert Ray and Andrew Anglin with The Daily Stormer on Jan. 12, citing the Montana law that allows local governments for public safety purposes to regulate the discharge of firearms.

The law gives cities the authority to “prevent and suppress the carrying of concealed or unconcealed weapons to a public assembly, publicly owned building, park under its jurisdiction or school.”

“So while they may be able to march in the future, given their freedom of speech and freedom of assembly rights, they will have to do so without weapons,” Stearns said in a memorandum sent to everyone on the city’s email list on Tuesday.

Stearns’ letter to The Daily Stormer further advised the specific requirements for assembling and marching on East Second Street from Memorial Park to City Hall.

“As there is no place to assemble at the City Hall site (which is under construction), we will need you to load up your buses and leave the City Hall site at the conclusion of your march,” Stearns wrote.

The group also will be required to provide 10 portable toilets on East Fourth Street at the assembly site to accommodate the proposed crowd of 200-plus attendees.

The Daily Stormer led a “troll storm” recently encouraging its followers to target Whitefish businesses and Jewish families with harassing phone calls and social media posts.