What happened with the death threat to Young Americans for Liberty

During MSU’s Spring Career Fair on March 2, University Police issued two warnings for disorderly conduct after a “heated argument” occurred at an MSU Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) club recruitment table.

YAL is a “conservative libertarian organization that mostly works on student rights and campus policies,” according to Rachel Stevenson, current president of the MSU YAL chapter and State Chair for Montana and Wyoming.

According to YAL member Dylan Dean, the club had set up a recruiting table outside of the Student Union Building on Thursday afternoon, during MSU’s spring career fair. An unnamed student approached the table and asked the club members if they liked guns, because of the presence of pro-second amendment signage at their table, Dean said.

When the members said yes, the student responded “‘Oh, I should shoot you in the head and blow your brains out’ then mimed like he was taking a gun out of his coat,” Dean said.

This threat occurred on the heels of threats sent to MSU’s Queer-Straight Alliance in February, and was ultimately discussed in a statement released by President Cruzado about the incidents after controversy surrounding MSU’s response to them.

According to Dean, the student left the table, but YAL members wanted to determine if the student would return. Dean said he shouted at the student and asked him “Is that a threat, do I need to call the police?” to which the student responded yes.

Dean said that he was concerned the man would leave and return with a weapon. “This guy just threatened to shoot us, and he’s walking away,” he said. “So, we [didn’t] want to let this guy leave.”

“We got in a bit of a shouting match,” he said.

An unaffiliated bystander called the University Police Department (UPD) and reported a “heated argument” outside the Strand Union Building (SUB), according to MSU spokesperson Michael Becker.

According to Becker, officers immediately investigated. However, the student had left by the time officers arrived, Dean said. According to the police report filed by the UPD, officers interviewed five remaining witnesses and Dean. The YAL members reported to the UPD that the student had threatened to shoot them, according to Becker.

From the police report, the man who threatened YAL was described as a tall older male in his 50s, wearing a green hoodie or jacket, black glasses and was carrying a brown bag and wearing a cloth hat. He was last seen heading towards Wilson Hall, said the report.

The police report states that officers involved on the scene initially failed to locate the male.

According to Dean, the student returned to the YAL table about half an hour after UPD’s initial response. YAL members called UPD a second time and officers caught up with the student between Norm Asbjornson Hall (NAH) and the SUB. The police report confirms that at around 3:10 p.m., officers received a dispatch that the individual had been seen again at the SUB Ask Us Desk.

Officers ultimately stopped the man outside of the south end of the SUB, according to the report.

According to Becker, officers determined that the student who allegedly made the threat and a YAL member were involved in a heated political argument. The student denied making any threat to YAL members. Both of the students involved in the argument admitted using antagonizing language, he said.

Officers determined no weapons were present and there was no legitimate threat of violence posed, Becker said.

According to the primary narrative of the police report, the incident escalated into a verbal confrontation between Dean and the man. According to an interview gathered by officers, one witness said they heard yelling going on between Dean and the individual from around NAH, which is on the south end of the SUB.

The witness also said that the individual “was up in [Dean’s] face.” The witness believed that the man was the aggressor, so they called the police because they “[were] worried someone might get hurt,” according to the police report.

The following Monday, March 6, Dylan Stokes, YAL’s social media manager, said he was followed by the same student who had approached the YAL recruitment table on March 2. Stokes was walking back to his car in the parking garage when he noticed the student following him. “I was like, that’s really weird. I need to get out of here. I felt pretty intimidated,” Stokes said.

Stokes worried that the student was targeting him because he had filmed the second interaction between the student and the YAL table on March 2, and he had the video on his phone.

Stokes said that he has not seen the student since March 6, but did not report being followed to UPD. “I reported it to Dylan Dean, who then reported it to university police. UPD told us to get the police report, and they recommended an order of protection against him,” Stokes said.

However, Stokes and Dean did not attempt to place restraining orders against the man because they said UPD did not provide them with his name.

“I don't see how you can get a restraining order against an unnamed person,” Dean said.

MSU Chief of Police Michael Stanley said that if anybody went to the Law and Justice Center and inquired about applying for an order of protection, a name or physical police report would not be required for staff to access the information needed for consideration. The information about this incident was in the system and available for access on March 2, he said.

“In most cases we do not release the names of the other people involved and would not release any additional names in disorderly conduct incidents — this is consistent with practice,” he said. “To reiterate, if any of the individuals involved in this incident wish to file a protective order, all local law enforcement agencies and criminal justice support units have all the available information needed to process or refer such a request.”

According to Dean, UPD notified the office of Matt Caires, dean of students, about the incident. YAL members met with Caires the following week, Dean said.

“I think the response should’ve been more immediate,” said Dean, who said he feared the student would also target him. “I was the one who he was shouting at, an inch and a half, two inches from my face. So if he remembers anyone, it's me. It’s not a great position to be in.”

When asked about the allegation that the university should have taken more immediate action, Dean of Students Matt Caires said that he can’t speak to specific student conduct cases, but students do have a foundational due process during the student conduct process. “We work through our cases as quickly as possible, but adequate due process does take time,” he said. “During the first week of March, I can tell you that due to staff illness, our student conduct meetings were delayed by one day.”

From what Caires understands of the incident, he said UPD responded immediately after the threat was reported in the SUB with three officers, and he wasn’t sure how they could have responded faster.

“If YAL members continue to have concerns about their safety, they should contact University Police, which would be the same direction we would have given to any YAL student or any other student,” he said.

According to Stevenson, the club sets up recruitment tables very regularly. The club wishes that more measures were taken by UPD and MSU administration to ensure their safety, according to Stokes.

“If someone feels threatened on campus, they need to take it seriously. They need to get involved in the incident and figure out what happened,” Stokes said.

According to Becker, UPD’s response to the incident was a serious one. “Three UPD officers immediately responded to the call on March 2 and investigated. The investigators spoke with multiple witnesses and with those involved and ultimately issued warnings to two individuals for disorderly conduct. That is a serious law enforcement response,” he said.

“If members of YAL continue to feel concerned about their safety, they should contact University Police and make law enforcement aware of their concerns. That's the same approach we urge to anyone who is concerned about safety on campus,” Becker said.

The officer who filed the report wrote that he ultimately determined both parties to be at fault. “My investigation revealed [the man] committed Disorderly Conduct at Dylan Dean for having a gun supporting booth, saying he should shoot him in the face and making a finger gun motion,” the report states. “Dean committed Disorderly Conduct by calling [the man] a p*ssy and a “variety” of other things. He antagonized [the man] into returning and participating in further quarreling which led to other students’ peace being disrupted.”

Even though the investigation revealed that both Dean and the other student committed Disorderly Conduct during these interactions, the officer filing the report elected to release both parties with warnings.