Indianz.Com > News > Montana Free Press: Death of Native man prompts calls for justice
Missoulians mourn Brendon Galbreath
About a hundred people rallied Thursday to remember the 21-year-old and demand details from law enforcement.
Tuesday, August 31, 2021
Montana Free Press
MISSOULA — About a hundred people gathered at Sacajawea Park Thursday afternoon to grieve the death of Brendon Galbreath, 21, and demand transparency from law enforcement agencies that released few details about his death earlier in August.
“What we don’t know is what happened,” said Zuri Moreno, a community organizer in Missoula who has been working with Galbreath’s family, during the gathering. “We know that in the early morning of August 12, Brendon lost his life. How did that happen? It is unacceptable, more than a week later, that we do not have answers. It is unacceptable that this family does not know what happened in those last moments of Brendon’s life.”
Galbreath, a member of the Blackfeet Tribe, died following a police-involved shooting after being pulled over for an undisclosed reason. Galbreath drove away from the traffic stop, leading to a vehicle chase that ended at approximately 1 a.m. on Stephens Avenue, where police say both Galbreath and an officer fired weapons. The Missoula Police Department has said officers rendered medical aid until EMS took Galbreath to St. Patrick Hospital at an undisclosed time. Galbreath’s brother has said his parents were notified of his death by hospital staff around 5:20 a.m.
Thursday’s rally took place at the same time Galbreath’s family was holding his funeral in Browning after retrieving his body from Missoula on Sunday. In a statement posted on Facebook, Galbreath’s older brother called for more transparency from law enforcement about the events leading up to Galbreath’s death.
“As I sit here and stare at my brothers body we can’t help but to play scenario after scenario after scenario about what could’ve happened, what did happen and what should’ve happened,” Terrance LaFromboise wrote in part of a longer statement. “We can all create our own narrative and our own reality based off of the lack of information we have.”
Mara Silver covers Montana’s social welfare, criminal justice and legal systems. She also tracks policy and social issues that affect LGBTQ+ people. Prior to joining Montana Free Press, Mara worked at Slate and WNYC, where she focused on radio and podcasts. She got her start in audio journalism as an intern at Montana Public Radio. Contact Mara at msilvers@montanafreepress.org, 406-465-3386 ext. 3, and follow her on Twitter.
Note: This story originally appeared on Montana Free Press. It is published under a Creative Commons license.
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