Around several hundred Flathead Valley residents participated in the nationwide May Day protests against the Trump Administration on May 1.  

About 250 demonstrators marched from a parking lot outside of the Flathead Food Bank in Kalispell west along U.S. 2 until stopping at a grassy bank that looked out over the U.S. 93 Bypass. 

Dozens stood in a row along the bank, each presenting a letter that together spelled out “depose Trump” and “starve the oligarchs, feed the people.” 

Several protesters waved American flags and others flashed anti-Trump signs criticizing the current administration for jeopardizing democracy and gutting federal programs.  

The demonstration placed a particular focus on protesting potential cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, according to organizers, who partnered with the national 50501 movement.  

Neither Medicaid nor the food program have been put on the chopping block, but local food banks have expressed worry in the past over funding cuts to programs that give federal dollars to low-income families to pay for food.  

Montanans received $169.5 million in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits in 2024. According to the Montana Nonprofit Association, 37,655 Montana households received help through the program. 

Gus and Sky Shockley flashed signs along the highway. The two Kalispell residents are nurses at Logan Health Medical Center.  

“I see people all the time come in to get health care treatment at the last minute because they lost their Medicaid or their insurance,” said Gus Shockley. 

Sky Shockley added that the great majority of their patients benefit from both programs.  

“We fear that without those services, like for us, the health care costs will just continue to rise,” she said. “We just know in the health care world this won’t save us any money as a country, this will cost us money, and it’ll cost people’s lives.”  

Montana received $1.89 billion in Medicaid funding from the federal government in fiscal year 2023 and 52% of the state's counties are more reliant on the federal program (as a percent of personal income) than the national average, according to a report from the Montana Nonprofit Association.  

As of 2024, 268,000 Montanans were enrolled in Medicaid, according to the Montana Healthcare Foundation.  

Other demonstrators showed up to protest the Trump White House.   

"I guess we’re just trying to make a change,” said 19-year-old Cassandra Carver, who was attending her first protest with her two friends.  

“I just feel like most of the things that the government is doing is unjust and that democracy doesn’t really exist for poor people anymore,” added her friend Tylah Apgar, 20. 

Reporter Jack Underhill may be reached at 758-4407 or [email protected].