A man was charged with disorderly conduct after he loudly and aggressively confronted nonviolent protesters in Whitefish, Montana.
The entire scene was captured in a nearly three-minute video and posted to Facebook, where it went viral.
As in several cities across the United States, residents of Whitefish, Montana have taken to the streets. They've called for an end to systemic racism in their local community, specifically within the police department.
During one demonstration outside Whitefish City Hall on June 3, things became hostile. One demonstrator used their phone to capture the heated moments as a white man, later identified by police as 51-year-old Whitefish resident Jay Snowden, accosted protesters.
The video, which currently has 6.8 thousand reactions on Facebook, showed Snowden screaming expletives in the faces of several people in the crowd.
He cycled through the following outbursts.
"F** you!"
"F*** you guys!"
"F*** all you guys!"
He also physically swatted signs out of people's hands at various points in his rant. Nonetheless, protesters merely grew louder and continuously chanted "Peaceful" throughout the tantrum.
NBC Montanareported that city prosecutors met with police before meeting with Snowden the following morning, at which time they charged him with disorderly conduct.
The Whitefish Police Department also released the following statement.
"Protests over the death of George Floyd have been ongoing in Whitefish since Monday night. Crowds of approximately 60 to 70 individuals have been peacefully protesting adjacent to Whitefish City Hall and at 2nd and Spokane."
"During last night's protest an individual became confrontational with the protestors and police intervened, removing the individual from the scene."
"The subject, Jay Snowden 51 of Whitefish, was charged with one count of disorderly conduct this morning after Whitefish Police consulted with the Whitefish city prosecutor. Snowden has an initial court date of June 17, 2020."
"The City of Whitefish is dedicated to protecting the First Amendment rights of individuals to peacefully protest and ask all who are involved to respect each other's rights and protest peacefully."
Snowden was demolished in the comment section beneath the Facebook video.
Several offered up their visceral anger at his behavior.
Cisiro Yvette Harris/Facebook
Rose Marie/Facebook
Stephany Miranda/Facebook
Hank Jubilee/Facebook
Other comments interpreted the moment as an illustration of the systemic problems at the very heart of the protests.
Catherine Doty/Facebook
Jones Ain Nailah/Facebook
Another common response was to focus on the positive behavior of the protesters rather than his actions.
Billy Callas/Facebook
Nasima Ruf/Facebook
NBC Montana also reported that protests were planned for the multiple days following Snowden's rant. Safe to say that his powers of persuasion were utterly ineffective.
