Bukcaek Resigns - Pro-Militia Activists Direct Hostility Toward Health Board

COVID-19 cases are finally waning in the Flathead Valley, which should give the health department a break after months of organizing vaccine clinics, performing contact tracing, and publishing accurate updates and information for residents. Unfortunately, local anti-mask and anti-vaccine groups connected to anti-government and pro-militia groups in the county have launched an attack campaign against the health board and county health officer Joe Russell. 

Misinformation about masks, vaccines, and other aspects of COVID-19 have been rampant since the start of the pandemic, when extremist Annie Bukacek recorded a video making false claims about the death rates from COVID-19. Bukacek was appointed to the health board just before the pandemic began in 2020, but just announced her resignation on Thursday, March 17. It appears that she has used her position to try to intimidate other health board members and pressure them to appoint an anti-science health officer when Russell’s contract ends. 

Pro-militia activity

We knew from posts in the private anti-mask group Flathead Unmasked and the extremist blog Montana Daily Gazette that Bukacek was heavily involved in anti-mask activity in 2020 and 2021. She participated in or organized anti-mask and anti-vaccine rallies, an attempt to recall all seven Whitefish school board members, and misinformation about vaccines. In January, we found direct proof that Bukacek was involved with all of these groups. 

The proof came from Nick Ramlow, a leader in a local chapter of Ammon Bundy’s People’s Rights groups. These groups started popping up in the Mountain West as violent extremist Ammon Bundy, who has been involved in two armed standoffs with federal agents, tried to use confusion during the pandemic to spread his militia propaganda. The People’s Rights militia network now includes more than 33,000 supporters and almost 400 leaders across 33 states. 
You can read a full report on this movement here and here, and see the profile of Nick Ramlow  in the report here. 

Hostility in health board meetings

A few days after the health board meeting on January 18, Ramlow published a piece on Bundy’s People’s Rights website that was reposted in the extremist blog Montana Daily Gazette. This blog post bragged about how, during the meeting, members of a local pro-militia group Flathead Liberty Coalition shouted at County Commissioner Pam Holmquist, Russell, and health board member Ronalee Skees. Ramlow also praised Bukacek, which wasn’t surprising given that the two of them have been working together since the beginning of the pandemic. Ramlow’s  piece made it very clear that all of these factions were working together to try to intimidate health board members. 

Ramlow’s piece is a clear example of the ways that extremists utilize public comment periods with intentionally disruptive behavior designed to intimidate and harass public officials. You can see this kind of behavior in this video (public comments are at the beginning of the meeting).

Since that meeting, Ramlow, Flathead Liberty Coalition supporters, and supporters of Flathead Unmasked have been coordinating to disrupt every health board meeting. They shout down or boo public comments that they disagree with, and a few people have brought weapons to meetings. It is clear that they are taking strategies from Ammon Bundy’s playbook as they try to get their way using division and anger instead of civil conversations. 

According to health board member Ronalee Skees, the behavior has gotten so aggressive that people are sending threatening text messages to her phone. She said that one person texted that they were going to follow her home and “remove her from the community.”

In other locations, this kind of hostility has worked. The Sanders County Commission asked health officer Nick Lawyer to resign after residents objected to his recommendations to wear masks and get COVID-19 vaccines. About 17 county health officers in Montana left their positions due to “constant negativity, push-back, disregard and lack of support” for evidenced-based public health best practices. 

Early in the pandemic, Ramlow tried to intimidate local officials by stating that he would arrest any government official who tried to enforce COVID-19 business closures. He even threatened the Flathead County Sheriff, claiming that he and his fellow militia supporters formed a “bigger army” than the county deputies.Now he is running for justice of the peace in Flathead County, even as he participates in Ammon Bundy’s extremist network. 

We are also concerned about these menacing “wanted” flyers featuring Joe Russell and Kalispell Public Schools Superintendent Micah Hill that have been appearing in Kalispell. We’re not sure who’s behind the flyers, but we are concerned that these false accusations would be very dangerous.

What can you do?

The behavior from these pro-militia groups has made health board meetings unsafe for community members who don’t share their views. We expect that this will continue after Bucacek’s resignation. It’s very important to email or call the county commissioners and health board members and let them know this kind of behavior is unacceptable. 

Talking points

  • Tell them you support health officer Joe Russell and reject the aggressive behavior and lack of decorum at recent health board meetings. 

  • State that you don’t feel safe coming to health board meetings because of the actions of anti-mask and pro-militia groups like Flathead Unmasked (a private Facebook group) and Flathead Liberty Coalition.

  • Tell them that all public officials deserve to serve without getting threats from individuals who are trying to divide the community and destroy the good work that the health department does for the county. 

  • Insist that future board members have experience and/or education in some area of public health. The health board should not be wasting its time listening to conspiracy theories from a board member. 

  • Thank the current board members for their service. 

The health department has a lot of important work to do. That can’t happen smoothly and effectively if pro-militia activists disrupt meetings and threaten public officials. It’s up to us to remind county commissioners and health board members that we’re paying attention and that we deserve well-run meetings and county services.

Contact information

Health Board members

You can send one email to all of the health board members through health department staff member Janelle Grau at jgrau@flathead.mt.gov, or you can email them individually.

Flathead County commissioners

Randy Brodehl (Commissioner chair) - rbrodehl@flathead.mt.gov

Brad Abell - babell@flathead.mt.gov

Pam Holmquist (also a health board member) - pholmquist@flathead.mt.gov

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email us at info@loveliveshereflathead.org. 


Cherilyn DeVries