Protesters in Bozeman speak out against U.S. strikes in Iran

BOZEMAN, Mont. – Residents of Bozeman gathered to protest U.S. military actions in Iran on Sunday, voicing concerns over what they label as illegal attacks. 

The protest took place at the Gallatin County Courthouse, organized by the Students for a Democratic Society of Montana State University. Participants wielded signs, flags and megaphones to express their opposition to the U.S.'s involvement in Iran. 

Julian Staggs, president of the SDS chapter, voiced his disapproval. 

“These attacks were completely illegal. They were just a blatant violation of international law. But they're not a surprise coming from the Trump administration, which has just done the same exact thing in Venezuela,” Staggs said. 

The White House shared a video on social media with President Trump explaining the rationale behind the strikes. 

“Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime. A vicious group of very hard, terrible people,” President Trump said. 

In response to the news that three U.S. servicemembers were killed in combat following the strikes, Senator Tim Sheehy released the following statement: 

“We are praying for the wounded and for the families of the fallen American heroes. Any loss of life among our men and women in uniform is tragic, but the hard truth is our leaders must weigh the current risk to our forces and the future risk to our forces in operations like this. For decades, the Iranian regime has targeted and killed American service members around the world. President Trump made the right call, and we must finish the job.” 

Senator Steve Daines also released a statement to NonStop Local: 

“I extend my deepest condolences to the families of the fallen service members. They died defending the country from an evil regime that has targeted the United States and its allies with terror for nearly 50 years, including killing hundreds of U.S. military personnel.” 

Rep. Troy Downing released a statement on Twitter, responding to the White House video, as did Rep. Ryan Zinke.

Protesters at the event expressed their concerns about military and civilian causalities in Iran and unspoken motives the U.S. might have to involve itself in the country. 

“I think it is going to be very difficult. I do think that it opens up potential for good things to happen, but my main worry is that we did it out of desire for their oil, and that we're just going to kind of take over and like, more bad things are going to keep happening,” said protester Katie Harnden. 

Staggs added his perspective on the potential impact of the strikes. 

“Killing off one leader is not going to overthrow the regime. If the regime in Iran is going change, it has to be a legitimate expression of the Iranian people, and the United States cannot do that just with airstrikes,” he said. 

“The blood is squarely on the hands of Donald Trump for getting us into this conflict in the first place. If you are supporting this conflict and you are in Congress, you should be deeply ashamed of yourself and you’re complicit in the war crimes that the U.S. is committing,” he added. 

This protest follows others across the state, with Indivisible Bozeman and Yellowstone Indivisible Resistance Montana hosting similar events in response to the U.S. military actions on Saturday.