BUTTE — A group of Butte residents, including two teenagers who happened to be passing by, gathered outside Montana Sen. Tim Sheehy's local office on July 27 to honor more than 60 people who have died from actions of the federal government since 2025.
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About a dozen members of Indivisible Butte created a memorial of candles, flowers, photos, and a list of over 60 names outside the senator's office.
14-year-old twins Cayden and Hayden Barry were passing by when they stopped to take part.
"It's most innocent people that are being killed by ICE," Cayden said.
"Yeah. I feel like they don't really have to be killing," Hayden said.
One organizer noted during the memorial that the list had grown significantly in recent months.
"The last time I had updated this was in February, and I had to put 17 new names on it today," the organizer said.
Denise Herman is one of 700 members of the Butte chapter of Indivisible, a nationwide activist group that has been hosting protests, rallies, and memorials across the nation.
"When people are being killed in Texas, and in Maine, and in Minnesota by our own government, they're having their rights violated. If their rights can be violated, so can ours," Herman said.
Herman said the group's focus is on the Constitution.
"It's important for us to make sure to remind people that we do have a Constitution. Our elected officials have sworn an oath to uphold that Constitution, and our law enforcement officers have also sworn that oath, and it's up to us to hold them to it," Herman said.
Members of the group did not specifically speak against Sen. Sheehy, but I reached out to give him an opportunity to add to the discussion, asking if he is concerned about the deaths and treatment of those interacting with ICE, U.S. Border Patrol, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
In an email, Sheehy called those gathered "radical protestors" and said they should honor people who have died of fentanyl, violence, or criminal activity, adding that he stands with law enforcement unequivocally.
“Senator Sheehy stands with law enforcement unequivocally. These radical protestors should put up a memorial for the Americans who fell victim to deadly fentanyl, savage violence, and criminal activity thanks to the reckless, open-border policies of the last administration. They should recognize the countless children and innocent American citizens kidnapped, trafficked, raped, and murdered by the vicious criminal enterprise that was fueled by an open border. The consequences of these policies harmed rural, urban, and tribal communities alike,” said Tate Mitchell, communications director for Sen. Tim Sheehy (R) MT.
Herman said members of her group are simply working to defend the Constitution.
"That is our primary goal. We're a nonpartisan group that just supports what our country was built to be," Herman said.
Hayden said his concerns are about innocent people.
"It's just grown adults being ripped away from their children, and I don't think it's right. If people came here to like leave their country to be safe, then I feel like that's one thing, but if they came here to like do crimes, then I feel like they should be taken away," Hayden said.
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