Why were Canadian police officers checking out the Great Falls Gun Show last weekend?  That's what the sheriff of Cascade County wants to know.

560 KMON has obtained a document through the Freedom of Information Act that details what went down.  At around ten Saturday morning organizers of the gun show said there was a suspicious person in the parking lot taking pictures of vehicles at the  gun show.  The man taking the pictures turned out to be officer Richard Kurina who identified himself as a lethbridge Police Officer who was working on a task force with the Canadian Mounted Police.  He says the task force is designed to catch Canadians smuggling illegal firearms into Canada.

When Sheriff Jesse Slaughter found out about the Canadian Police officer doing surveillance work  at the fairgrounds, he told him to leave, which he later did.  In the report, the sheriff says he had serious concerns about the Canadian Police conducting surveillance without notifying his office that they would be there.  The Canadian officer said he was conducting his investigation in conjunction with officer Craig Howe of the A-T-F.  At that point,  Sheriff Slaughter told the two officers that their investigation was over and they had to leave, which they did.  Howe, the A-T-F agent told the sheriff that he does not have to tell the sheriff of any investigation because he is a federal agent.

The A-T-F agent also told the sheriff he was conducting another investigation into an American who was selling guns, adding that the American was not prohibited from possessing firearms.  A-T-F Agent Craig later called the sheriff and told him that he and the Canadian officer had checked out of their hotels and were leaving the county.

The sheriff says by not contacting the sheriff's office that they were conducting an investigation could have created major officer safety issues.

 

The sheriff will be on the 560 KMON morning show Wednesday, September 28th to talk in detail about the incident.  His scheduled time is 8:33am.

 

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