Superior man charged with assaulting boy who was 'disrespecting the national anthem'

Curt James Brockway was arrested by Mineral County Sheriff's deputies around 11 p.m. Saturday. Montana Department of Justice records show he is registered as a violent offender. Brockway made his initial appearance in Mineral County Justice Court on Monday, and was scheduled to be released on his own recognizance on Tuesday.

Taylor Hennick was at the Mineral County Fair and Rodeo on Saturday, and told the Missoulian she had just stopped at the entrance to the fairgrounds in Superior to pause for the national anthem when she heard a "pop." 

"There was a little boy lying on the ground," she said. "He was bleeding out of his ears, seizing on the ground, just not coherent." She said she recognized the boy as a family member's neighbor.

A press release from Mineral County Sheriff Mike Boone stated the boy is 13.

The boy was transported by Superior Ambulance Service for initial medical treatment at a local hospital before he was flown to Sacred Heart Children's Hospital in Spokane, according to Boone. No further information was immediately available on the boy's condition.

Hennick said the man, who she had by then identified as Brockway, tried justifying the assault as bystanders moved in on him Saturday evening. 

"He said (the boy) was disrespecting the national anthem so he had every right to do that," Hennick said. 

Montana Department of Corrections records show Brockway, born in 1980, is serving a 10-year probation sentence for an assault with a weapon charge in 2010. 

Brockway's arraignment has been set for Aug. 14 at 10 a.m., with District Judge John Larson presiding.