A reality based independent journal of observation & analysis, serving the Flathead Valley & Montana since 2006. © James Conner.

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22 January 2021 — 0421 mst

Rosendale, the Oathkeepers, and
that 2014 2nd Amendment rally

Rep. Matt Rosendale was one of five Republicans running for the nomination for the U.S. House of Representatives when he spoke at a 2nd Amendment rally in Kalispell that April. It wasn’t enough; he finished third, behind Corey Stapleton and winner Ryan Zinke.

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But his presence there behind a huge Oathkeepers banner — documented by a photograph I made at the rally, and reported in a post on Flathead memo — has dogged him since. Was he suckered into lending his good name to the Oathkeepers, or did he speak knowing full and well he was lending his good name to a group too fond of firearms and insufficiently respectful of government?

That’s a fair question. At The Montana Post yesterday, Don Pogreba, was skeptical of Rosendale’s claim, first reported by NBC’s Maritsa Georgiou on 20 January, that Rosendale didn’t know whether the Oathkeepers organized the rally:

Rosendale was photographed speaking at an Oath Keepers’ Second Amendment rally in Kalispell in 2014. NBC Montana asked Rosendale if he has any ties to the group and why he spoke at the 2014 event.

Rosendale said he didn’t believe the group actually organized the event but participated.

“I have zero connection to Oath Keepers, and an event that I spoke at in 2014 was in Kalispell, and it was for the Second Amendment — to support the Second Amendment,” Rosendale said. “I don’t have any affiliation with them, I have no communication with them, but I do support the Second Amendment.”

When asked if he denounced their involvement in the Jan. 6 attack, he said he absolutely denounces anyone who participated in that attack and has been very public about denouncing any political violence.

I learned about the rally a week or so in advance of it when a conservative activist I met by chance at a grocery store asked me whether I was going to the 2nd Amendment Rally. “No,” I replied, “where and where?” At Depot Park on Saturday, she replied.

I arrived few minutes late. Derek and Ronalee Skees gave me friendly waves. I began taking photographs with my Nikon P310, a small but high quality camera that does not set off alarm bells in a potentially hostile crowd.

There was no doubt the event was an Oathkeepers affair no matter whose name was on the permit to use Depot Park. Rosendale’s claim “he didn’t believe the group actually organized the event but participated” is absurd. The only question is whether he knew the extent of the Oathkeepers’ involvement before he arrived. The instant one arrived, one knew it was an Oathkeepers affair.