Pastor and adventure missionary Jesse Boyd and family have been walking across the United States carrying a small cross, and at times an upside down American flag, since they left from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina on March 1st. Jesse has walked over 5,400 miles within the last calendar year handing out Bibles and preaching the gospel. He has not had any encounters like he did on Saturday, November 12th.

Jesse's 18 year old daughter Bethany, 12 year old son Josiah, and two other support staff, Eric Trent and Carter Phillips, were traveling between West Yellowstone Montana and Ennis Montana on Saturday when a local rancher pulled his truck in front of a vehicle driven by Carter and Bethany. They were a short distance ahead of the others who were walking. The rancher got out of his vehicle and began yelling insults at Carter and Bethany. He told them they were not welcome in Montana and to leave. As Jesse and the others approached the vehicle the rancher became more confrontational. The situation escalated as Jesse and the others walked up to the parked vehicles. The rancher then attacked Jesse pushing him into the truck and beating him to the ground. He proceeded to pin down Jesse, knocking his sunglasses off and breaking them, while continuing to assault him. During the assault Jesse's leg was cut and he began to bleed. He finally was able to free himself and he and the others went into the vehicle and called 911. They waited for the sheriff a couple hundred feet up the road away from the rancher in order to deescalate the situation.

The Madison County sheriff's department arrived. They told Jesse to wait in his vehicle until they talked to the rancher. After a brief talk with the rancher, several armed officers returned with guns drawn and ordered them out of the vehicle at gunpoint. Jesse, Bethany, Josiah, Eric and Trent were all placed face down in the snow and were handcuffed. Jesse, Bethany, Carter and Eric were then arrested on felony assault charges. Madison county does not have a jail so Eric was held in Jefferson county jail, Jesse and Carter in Gallatin county jail, and Bethany in the women's facility in Gallatin county. Josiah was placed in the custody of Child Protective Services foster care. His whereabouts were unknown for some time after arrest. The rancher was not charged.

From Jesse's blog >" In Communist Mongolia back in 2012, I was witnessing and giving out Bibles in downtown Ulaanbaatar, the nation’s capital. Like here in Madison County, Montana this past Saturday, I was approached, threatened, and assaulted by a stranger who I had never seen in my life. I was forced to defend myself. Local police detained me and found a pocket knife in my pocket. It’s illegal in Mongolia to carry a knife (unbeknownst to me at the time). It was a sentimental instrument given to me by my dad and very special. They confiscated it and questioned me about the incident. I remonstrated with them, and these Communist officers released me and gave me back the knife since it was a gift from my father. Foreigners in Mongolia are very much frowned upon. Everything was against me in those moments in a nation where I had zero political or civil rights. And yet in 2012, I was treated better and with more respect by Communist officers in Mongolia than by Sheriffs deputies in a Montana County who had sworn an oath to uphold a Constitution and its inherent rights for one to protect himself and his family."

https://fpgm.org/thelongwalkusa

(The pictures of Jesse, Bethany, and Josiah were taken on November 11.)