Third man charged in mushroom-camp fracas

Attorney says incident was not a hate crime

A third man implicated in what authorities say was a racially motivated attack on migrant mushroom pickers near Marion has been charged with hate crimes.

Flathead County prosecutors allege Karl Trent, 46, was among a group of white men who last week assaulted a group of Laotian, Cambodian and Thai morel mushroom pickers at the Moose Crossing campground in Marion.

Two other men, 26-year-old Edward Lee Hubbs and 25-year-old Daniel James Devine of Marion, are being held in the Flathead County Detention Center in lieu of $50,000 bail.

All three men are charged with felony malicious intimidation or harassment relating to civil or human rights.

According to Flathead County Sheriff Mike Meehan, Trent, Hubbs and Devine were among about half a dozen men who pulled up to the campsite in two pickup trucks and a car shortly after 10 p.m. on July 12 and began hurling beer bottles and racial slurs at the migrant mushroom pickers.

Hubbs is accused of firing six to seven rifle rounds into the air during the fracas.

Vernon Taber, who owns the Moose Crossing campground, told authorities the attack appeared to be motivated by racial hatred.

But Hubbs' attorney, Lane K. Bennett, said Thursday that race had nothing to do with the incident.

"I think this is the furthest thing from a hate crime," Bennett said. "There's a lot of evidence out there that has not been investigated yet, and the initial reports we believe are not accurate."

Bennett also said that his office will investigate the incident independently.

"Once that happens, I think a totally different picture will appear," he said.

The alleged attack at the Moose Crossing campsite followed a confrontation between Hubbs and a group of migrant mushroom pickers at the Bitterroot Quick Stop on U.S. 2 in Marion just before 8 p.m. on July 12, Meehan said.

Hubbs allegedly confronted the mushroom pickers after his sister overheard them threatening to take him outside and beat him up, Meehan said.

But Bennett said Thursday that the mushroom pickers were waiting for Hubbs outside the store because they thought he had said something disrespectful when he asked if they were waiting in line.

The mushroom pickers, however, told investigators they had no idea what sparked the confrontation at the convenience store, said Meehan, who added his office's investigation has been wrapped up and no additional arrests are expected.

If convicted, Trent, Hubbs, and Devine each face up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

Reporter Nicholas Ledden can be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at nledden@dailyinterlake.com