Justice for Cole Stump

Cole Stump was murdered by Billings Police officers on October 12, 2020. Bystanders had called police due to what they perceived as suspicious behavior, though he had not committed any crime and was repairing his vehicle at the time police arrived. Police violently pinned him to the ground and claimed Cole had a gun in his possession, then repeatedly shot him while pinned face down on the ground. Cole died at the scene. 

Though Cole was not known to carry a gun, no one else saw him with a gun, and none of Cole's fingerprints, blood, or DNA were found on the gun, BPD insists it was in his possession. A legally required inquest into BPD's killing of Cole was held in early 2022. That inquest had an all-white jury, failed to bring crucial witnesses that described the police officers' behavior as brutal and unjustified to the stand, and the county attorney repeatedly fed statements "correcting" testimony to witnesses on the stand. The jury deliberated for less than 15 minutes and declared Cole's death justified.

Please join Cole's family in honoring who he was as a person, fighting for justice for Cole, and resisting the police racism and brutality that is so common in Billings and Montana. It is our hope that justice for Cole will prevail, and that Cole's story can be part of making positive social change that creates a path for justice for other victims of police violence and ultimately prevents this violence from continuing.