by Travis Mateer

On August 3rd a 28 year old man by the name of Naoise McMahon was arrested on felony charges for holding a machete to a woman’s throat at the Poverello Center. From the link:

The male, later identified as 28-year-old Naoise McMahon, was detained by other officers after initially refusing multiple commands to stop running and get down on the ground.

“Officers were able to catch up to McMahon and take him into custody,” Arnold said. “Officers were able to retrace McMahon’s running path and they gathered evidence of the incident. The victim wasn’t physically injured by the machete being held up to them. However, while McMahon was seen holding the machete to the victim, he was making comments about causing severe bodily injury or death to the victim.”

The victim said McMahon stole her wallet the night before and she went to the Poverello Center to get it back. McMahon refused to give the victim her property back and put a machete up against her throat. At one point, McMahon said, “you don’t’ want to mess with me. I know where you live.” He also said, “I am going to kill you. I will start with your hands and end at your feet.”

In Missoula, through our 10 YEAR PLAN TO END HOMELESSNESS, we are supposed to have the ability to screen people in order to identify their needs.

Maybe we should ALSO be screening people for being dangerous fucking psychopaths. I mean, we keep creating MORE government positions to deal with homelessness, like this one at the County, but no one seems capable of using Google to take a quick look at the background of some of these poor homeless people in need.

If they had with this asshole they would have discovered some interesting things, like how he and his buddy, Kevin Ward, like to roll:

Two probation officers ended up in a life-and-death struggle recently when they encountered a wanted man in a local motel.

Kevin James Ward, 30, was charged with felony assault on a peace officer after he allegedly attacked both officers and tried to grab one of their sidearms.

Ward, who was booked into jail Dec. 2, pleaded not guilty Dec. 10 in Flathead County District Court. He is being held on $200,000 bail.

According to a charging document, motel staff reported suspicious comings and goings from one of the rooms. The officers ordered two men, Naoise McMahon and William Hughes, out of the room.

This incident occurred in December of 2019. Last month, this dude was booked in Flathead County. How did he get released and find himself in Missoula?

What a pleasant “homeless” man. I’m sure glad he can find a safe space in Missoula to threaten to kill a local Missoula woman with his little machete. I’m sure this instills much confidence among homeless women in Missoula that the Poverello is a safe space for them to stay.

And please, Pov, NEVER consider doing anything rationale and preventative, like installing metal detectors, because that would unfairly stigmatize homeless people, creating the inaccurate impression that sometimes psychos exist among this population, like the guy who beat Lee Nelson to death in the middle of the day in downtown Missoula.

For me, this is further proof that community members need to take a more active role in creating the public safety we want for our community, because when we leave it to the cops and homeless service providers, this is what happens.

Thanks for reading.