MISSOULA—A Montana man has been charged with threatening the life of Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester via voicemails left at his Kalispell office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Kevin Patrick Smith, 45, pleaded not guilty Thursday to two felony counts of threats to injure and murder a U.S. Senator during a hearing in Missoula. U.S. Magistrate Judge Kathleen DeSoto ordered Smith held in federal custody at least until a detention hearing set for Monday.
Smith’s public defender, Andy Nelson, said Smith is presumed innocent.
The first count refers to calls made Jan. 30 and the second is for messages left Feb. 10, after the FBI had warned Smith against making any more threats.
The voicemails included threats to “rip your head off” and were laced with profanity. The caller acknowledged in a recording that he was threatening Tester “on purpose,” court records said.
“I would love to see your FBI at the door,” one message said.
The FBI met with Smith on Feb. 1 and told him to stop threatening physical violence toward Tester or any elected official.
However, an initial complaint said threatening voice messages were left at Tester’s office on Feb. 10, 11 and 13 from Smith’s number in which the caller talks about not pulling a gun’s trigger until he knows what he’s aiming at.
“I know who you are,” the caller says.
The criminal complaint, which was later replaced by an indictment, said calls from Smith’s phone number to Tester’s office in Kalispell began in late 2022.
Tester this week announced he was going to seek a fourth term in the U.S. Senate. A third-generation farmer and former music teacher, Tester has leaned on a folksy speaking style and populist-themed messages to overcome Republican opponents in each of his last three elections.
We all are familiar with using a limited palette, but do you use one? Do you know how to use a
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We all are familiar with using a limited palette, but do you use one? Do you know how to use a limited palette to create different color combinations? Are you tired of carrying around 15-20 different tubes when you paint plein air? Have you ever wanted to create a certain “mood” in a painting but failed? Do you create a lot of mud? Do you struggle to achieve color harmony? All these problems are addressed in John’s workbook in clear and concise language!
Based on the bestselling “Limited Palatte, Unlimited Color” workbook written by John Pototschnik, the workshop is run by Maggie Shane and Annie McCoy, accomplished landscape (acrylic) and plein air (oil) artists,exhibitors at the Big Sky Artists’ Studio & Gallery and members of the Big Sky Artists Collective.
Each student will receive a copy of “Limited Palette, Unlimited Color” to keep and take home to continue your limited palette journey. We will show you how to use the color wheel and mix your own clean mixtures to successfully create a mood for your paintings.
Each day, we will create a different limited palette color chart and paint a version of a simple landscape using John’s directives. You will then be able to go home and paint more schemes using the book for guidance.
Workshop is open to painters (oil or acrylic) of any level although students must have some basic knowledge of the medium he or she uses. Students will be provided the book ($92 value), color wheel, value scale and canvas papers to complete the daily exercises.