Bullock cancels Whitefish event

Gov. Steve Bullock has canceled today’s press conference in Whitefish, a spokesperson for the Governor’s Office said Wednesday.

The governor had been scheduled to address the media regarding the online harassment of Whitefish businesses and Jewish families have been receiving from neo-Nazi followers of part-time Whitefish resident and white nationalist leader Richard Spencer. Bullock instead is issuing an opinion piece “on a global subject” to area news media outlets.

Ronja Abel, deputy communications director with the Governor’s Office, would not say whether the cancellation was related to reported security concerns, but noted it “was the way things unfolded.”

Whitefish Police Chief Bill Dial said he had communicated with the Governor’s Office, and said there was a “cooperative effort in communications” among the Governor’s Office, Whitefish Police, the FBI and other federal partners. Dial also said he could not directly address the security issue, but added “we told them what our experts say; the FBI told them what their experts say.”

Following an online post by Spencer’s mother, Sherry Spencer, in which she claimed she received threats from a local Realtor who “relayed to me that if I did not sell my building, 200 protesters and national media would show up outside — which would drive down the property value — until I complied,” the Daily Stormer neo-Nazi website urged its followers to “take action” to defend Sherry Spencer. What resulted was a barrage of online harassment, or “trolling” toward Whitefish businesses, the Love Lives Here advocacy group and three Jewish families — one of them the Realtor’s family and another connected to Love Lives Here.

Lisa Jones, a spokesperson for the Whitefish Convention and Visitor Bureau, which has been trying to quell the negative publicity for Whitefish, expressed disappointment over the governor’s canceled event.

“It’s sad we have to be afraid to have a press conference about denouncing hate because of the potential actions of the haters,” Jones said in an email statement.