A Kalispell woman was sentenced in Whitefish Municipal Court last month for throwing a piece of plywood in front of a U.S. Border Patrol vehicle during a protest outside of the Whitefish U.S. Custom and Border Patrol office on Sept. 15, 2025.  

Danielle E. Tuhy was found guilty on misdemeanor charges of public nuisance and obstructing a peace officer or other public servant. Two other charges were dismissed.  

Tuhy initially pleaded not guilty to all four charges in October but later pleaded guilty to two. Under the plea deal, Tuhy was fined $1,085 and received a six-month suspended sentence. 

Demonstrators were staging a round-the-clock protest, which began Sept. 14, following the detainment of Luisa Torres and her 17-year-old daughter, Fergie Diaz, when the incident occurred. 

According to court documents, approximately 10 to 12 people were involved when Whitefish Police officers responded to the station at 11:16 p.m. on Sept. 15. 

In a surveillance video posted to the U.S. Custom and Border Patrol Spokane Sector’s Facebook page, Tuhy can be seen on the night of Sept. 15, standing in the path of a Border Patrol vehicle on U.S. 93, holding a body-length size of plywood. Tuhy releases the plywood toward the hood of the truck and steps out of its path. Videos were also posted to Flathead Democracy’s Facebook page. 

Three other protesters, Leanette Galaz, Colton Little and Aggie Putnam, were also sentenced earlier this month for similar charges related to the protest.  

The protesters believed the Border Patrol vehicles were transferring the mother and daughter to an ICE facility, and thus, according to Galaz, they “knowingly blocked a Border Patrol vehicle in an act of civil disobedience. We did so to bring attention and awareness to the detainment and eventual detention of a mother and her child.”  

Little said after his sentencing Feb. 18 that he was “willing to accept the consequences” because it “is morally right,” and cited his concerns with the potential for human rights violations in detention centers.