Militia – It Matters How You Stand

Idaho 3 Percenters seek ‘friend of the court’ status in Oregon refuge occupiers’ appeal of federal convictions

Montana resident Roger L. Roots, a convicted felon who was allowed to serve as a volunteer paralegal for Ryan Bundy in the Oregon standoff case, filed the friend-of-the-court motion on behalf of the “Real 3% ers of Idaho,’’ and the “Idaho Political Prison Foundation.’’

The Idaho Political Prisoner Foundation provides money, obtained through donations, to inmates in jail or prison resulting from what it calls “non-violent Constitutional protest and activism,’’ according to the motion.

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WVU Professor’s Book ‘Up In Arms’ Takes a Look At Militia Uprisings | The Intelligencer

“People in the mainstream were like, “What the hell? These people are crazy,’ is the first reaction I get,” Temple said. “That’s just a very dismissive way to look at it. You’re never going to understand someone else’s viewpoints if you don’t ask the question, ‘Why are they doing this?’”

Temple, 49, who also wrote about the opioid crisis with “American Pain” that was released in 2015, offers another unflinching view of the state of the country with “Up In Arms.”

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Brian “Booda” Cavalier, 47, of Mesa, Arizona, was told he won’t serve any more time

Brian “Booda” Cavalier, 47, of Mesa, Arizona, was told he won’t serve any more time than the 20 months he spent in federal custody between his arrest in early 2016 and his guilty plea in October 2017 to two charges of conspiracy to impede and injure a federal officer.

Navarro also sentenced Cavalier to one year of federal supervision, ordered him to undergo substance abuse treatment and prohibited him from communicating with other people connected with the standoff.

Cavalier also pleaded guilty to a weapons charge in Oregon and was sentenced in 2016 to time already served in federal custody in Portland for his role in a 41-day armed occupation of a wildlife refuge with more than two dozen people including Bundy sons Ryan and Ammon Bundy in January 2016.

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The State of Hate | Is the Southern Poverty Law Center, judging hate fairly?

The SPLC’s definition of a hate group is “an organization that — based on its official statements or principles, the statements of its leaders, or its activities — has beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people, typically for their immutable characteristics,” including race, religion, ethnicity and sexual orientation. It’s a standard that is in line with the latest thinking among scholars of hate, and also one that intentionally parallels the FBI’s definition of a hate crime.

Does an alliance of lawyers with conservative Christian leanings that has won nine cases before the U.S. Supreme Court in the past seven years meet that criteria? According to Heidi Beirich, director of the SPLC’s Intelligence Project — which produces the hate list — the decision to put the Alliance Defending Freedom on the list for 2016 was a judgment call that went all the way up to top leadership at the SPLC.

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Ammon Bundy Leaves Militia Movement After Criticizing Trump On Immigration Policy

Editor Note: I was contacted by the Buzzfeed author of this article earlier this week. We chose not to respond. I chose this because I did not see the confusion between the definitions of refugees and illegal immigrants to be enough to personally be concerned about. I did, however, make a public comment after it was brought to my personal attention that Ammon Bundy was actively soliciting financial support for Refugee families from his supporters via an online Google document.

I am a devoted supporter and friend of the Bundy Families and the Patriot Political Prisoners that came to their call for help as well as their families. The leaders and many of the followers are now free and trying to get their lives and finances back to some kind of normal.

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In his first wide-ranging interview, Dwight Hammond Jr, shares his thoughts

BURNS — Three-and-a-half hours after pardoned Oregon rancher Dwight Hammond Jr. arrived home, he gathered with his wife and sons around his dining room’s large circular table and got back to business.

They hooked him into a live feed of an auction in Nevada where Hammond Ranch Inc.’s 155 calves were on the block.

Hammond could have called in to participate in the annual sale but he held back, not wanting to jerk the reins from his daughter-in-law and others who have run the family’s cattle ranch while he and his son Steven served arson sentences in federal prison.

“We’ve had to trust them. No use to question their judgment now,” the 76-year-old said later, sitting in his living room, back in his trademark Wrangler jeans, brown cowboy boots and a blue button-down shirt that matched his eyes.

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Charlottesville32 Settlement and Public Statement – George Curbelo

As the New York Light Foot Militia State Commander, I am speaking officially on behalf of myself, George Curbelo – State Commander of the New York Light Foot Militia, Christian Yingling – State Commander of the Pennsylvania Light Foot Militia, Gary Sigler – State Commander of the Maryland III% People’s Militia, and the 29 other members of the 32, under the Command of the Christian Yingling and myself on August 12th 2017, who were at the unite the right rally in Charlottesville Virginia. On May 16th of 2018 we entered into a Consent Decree with the City of Charlottesville, settling the lawsuit against the above mentioned defendants. We have kept the 29 unnamed members of the 32 anonymous despite requests from the plaintiffs, the public and they will remain nameless. The 32 that stood on Market street, now known as the Charlottesville32 (C32), remain blameless. The C32 maintained a measurable amount of peace on the 12th, were well-disciplined in a very hostile environment until they were overwhelmed, assaulted, and could only administer medical assistance to the wounded among the general public and themselves. This settlement conclusively resolves, and is final with respects to, all claims arising out of the event on August 12th 2017 between the parties. Yingling, Sigler, and myself, all felt that this settlement answered our need to protect the Charlottesville32 from any further action.

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Prosecutors to recommend Oregon refuge occupier Blaine Cooper be sentenced to time served

Prosecutors will recommend a sentence of time served, plus three years of supervised release and that Cooper pay $7,000 in restitution, according to court documents.

The government will ask that Cooper, 38, participate in a mental health program as a condition of his release, but Cooper’s lawyer objects to that requirement.

Cooper, who pled guilty in the Oregon case in June 2016 and became a government witness at a trial against refuge occupiers Jason Patrick, Darryl Thorn and two other co-defendants in 2017, has been on pretrial release since October 2017.

“During that time he participated in a mental health assessment, and it was determined that he was not in need of any further treatment,” his attorney Krista Shipsey wrote in a sentencing memo filed this week.

Cooper has acknowledged that he agreed to cooperate with the government in the hope of reducing an earlier, recommended six-year prison sentence. He also pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy in the Nevada case.

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3% Stand With Snake River Ranchers

The 71-year-old rancher has become the focus of a legal effort by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Spokane, which is asking a federal judge to sanction Riley for “trespass, encroachment, damages” and make him pay the legal costs incurred by forcing Riley to abide by the rules on ground purchased by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers some 53 years ago.

“The government just has too many employees and too much money,” said Riley’s nephew, Chad Lindgren, who works Riley’s River Ranch. “They are not going to back down. They are not going to give in unless we make them give in.”

And, he noted, the yearslong dispute is being funded by taxpayers: “We are basically paying those people to be a pain in our ass.”

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AG Sessions orders examination of Bundy case after mistrial over prosecution bungling

Attorney General Jeff Sessions stepped into the Bundy prosecution after Wednesday’s mistrial, ordering a third-party examination of the case in light of the latest government snafu.

“The attorney general takes this issue very seriously and has personally directed that an expert in the [Justice Department’s] discovery obligations be deployed to examine the case and advise as to the next steps,” said Ian D. Prior, the department’s principal deputy director of public affairs, in a late Wednesday statement.

The decision to intervene came after Chief U.S. District Court Judge Gloria Navarro declared a mistrial over the government’s “willful failure to disclose information” to the defense, saying it would have been “impossible” for the four co-defendants to receive a fair trial.

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Prosecutors ordered to share reports on any camera, armed officers’ surveillance outside Bundy ranch

LAS VEGAS — Prosecutors in the Bundy trial must provide information by noon Saturday on all armed federal officers who did surveillance outside the Bundy ranch and any cameras capturing images of the Bundy home between March 1 and April 12, 2014, a judge ordered Wednesday.

The information must be turned over to the defense.

It could help Cliven Bundy, sons Ammon Bundy and Ryan Bundy and co-defendant Ryan Payne challenge the allegation that they used “deceit and deception” to encourage supporters to come to the ranch by saying the house was surrounded, federal snipers were outside the home and the family felt isolated.

Defense lawyers said they learned for the first time on Tuesday of two federal officers dressed in camouflage and armed with AR-15 rifles posted outside the Bundy residence at night.

That information was contained in a written report that they received from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in preparation for Wednesday’s hearing on disputed discovery evidence.

“Wouldn’t it be important for the defense to know FBI agents are overlooking the Bundy residence with an AR-15?” asked Brenda Weksler, one of Payne’s defense lawyers. “How do we not have this until yesterday?”

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Is Prosecution Retaliating Against Todd Engel?

Todd Engel is one of the Bunkerville defendants that will face Judge Gloria Navarro in a sentencing hearing.

Out of a 16-count indictment, Engel was charged with 10 counts and convicted of 2 counts after his trial earlier this year.

These are the least serious of all the charges, and do not carry enhancements or mandatory minimum sentencing.

Greg Burleson was also convicted during the same trial, though he was convicted of 8 of 10 charges, including enhancements.

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Eric Parker To Plead To a Misdemeanor

The Trial of the Century has gotten a little bit smaller.

Currently, 6 men are expected to be tried in the Bunkerville Standoff trial expected to begin jury selection on October 30th. Cliven Bundy, his sons Ammon and Ryan, as well as Ryan Payne are ready. Eric Parker and Scott Drexler are scheduled for their third trial, after two previous trials this year resulting in acquittals and deadlocked verdicts.

But Parker and Drexler have been offered plea agreements by the government that will allow them to close the book on this chapter of their lives.

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New lawsuits against “militias” aims to prevent more violence in Charlottesville

Two newly filed lawsuits against the white nationalists and others who descended on Charlottesville during a summer rally aim to prevent the type of violent chaos that unfolded from happening again.

One of the lawsuits was filed Thursday in Charlottesville Circuit Court on behalf of the city, local businesses and neighborhood associations. It accuses organizers of the August “Unite the Right” rally, leading figures in the white nationalist movement and their organizations, as well as private militia groups and their leaders, of violating Virginia law by organizing and acting as paramilitary units.

It doesn’t seek monetary damages but asks for a court order prohibiting “illegal paramilitary activity.”

“Touted as an opportunity to protest the removal of a controversial Confederate statue, the event quickly escalated well beyond such constitutionally protected expression,” the lawsuit says. “Instead, private military forces transformed an idyllic college town into a virtual combat zone.”

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Bunkerville Standoff: Make This Case Go Away!

The pressure from the elected officials and the public have made a dramatic difference in the Bunkerville Standoff case. Plea deals are being offered for multiple defendants this week.

Rumors abound that the prosecution is acting as if they have been told to “make this case go away”. There have been offers of plea agreements given to several defendants, including Ryan Payne, Pete Santilli, Eric Parker and Scott Drexler. There have been NO reports of any acceptance of offers, but negotiations continue.

Speculation is also running on possible plea agreements for other defendants scheduled for trial later, including Mel and Dave Bundy.

Now is the time to double-down on the letters and phone calls! Keep up the pressure! Let AG Sessions know what a miscarriage of justice this case has become. It is working!

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The Bunkerville Prosecution Panic Attack

Late night filings by the Bunkerville Prosecution team has shown there will be a repeat performance of an Unconstitutional trial taking place beginning October 10th in Las Vegas.

As in the previous two trials, of which the jury acquitted the defendants of the majority of charges, the prosecution has filed a last minute 26-page motion to exclude any type of defense these men might attempt.

The prosecution has motioned to force the defense, from the beginning of jury selection, into opening/closing arguments, and including all direct and cross examination of witnesses, to NOT bring up anything they deem to not have any foundation in the law, including Self defense.

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To Agree or Disagree Respectfully. Why is it so Difficult in Todays World?

Our country was founded over 200 years ago after enough colonists agreed that the rule by the King of England no longer made sense for the colonies. They did not agree on every aspect of the how and the why, but they all agreed that it must change. The biggest aspect of agreement and disagreement in the birth of our Nation was the right of each human to agree and disagree. There foremost ideal that drove the creation of our constitution, can be said to be creating a government that could stand for and thrive while maintaining this and other freedoms.

This turned out to be a humongous task and goal. First and foremost the procedure and processes for dealing with disagreement had to be agreed upon. There will always be different beliefs and ideals. However, most of all they understood that in order to have peace while preserving everyone’s ability to exercise their Freedoms, they must have a process and rules for dealing with Disagreement or conflicts of personal Freedoms between all people. This is where the concept of Liberty was created and defined. Liberty, for the sake of our constitution, would be the definition of civility and common agreement on how to deal with Freedoms in all situations, including when there is disagreement.

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Bunkerville Was Never About The Cows

After seeing their God-given and Constitutionally-guaranteed rights being trampled on by the over-reaching Federal alphabet agencies, people across the nation rallied to defend the rights our country was founded on.

(Pictured: Cliven Bundy walks by a first amendment area set up by the Bureau of Land Management near Bunkerville, Nev.)
Videos on network news stations and around the internet depicted an elderly woman being thrown to the ground by law enforcement, a man being tazed repeatedly, and a “first amendment zone” set up miles away for protesters to stay out of the way of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

These citizens rightfully feared another Waco or Ruby Ridge encounter, and believed that citizens showing up in force, with cameras to record and witnesses to confirm, would reign-in the out-of-control government.

The government came heavily armed with hundreds of officers. They carried military-grade weapons and dressed in Battle-ready uniforms. That side of the fence looked like a war zone from Afghanistan.

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Brandon Curtiss, Embattled Patriot-group leader pulled gun on woman serving court summons

BY JOHN SOWELL AUGUST 25, 2017 11:23 AM The founder of an Idaho patriots’ group will avoid jail if he serves a short stint on an inmate work crew for pulling a gun on a woman who served him with a court summons. Brandon Curtiss, 43, who was then president of the 3% of Idaho, was living in a rental home in Fruitland, in Payette County, when an employee of Tri-County Process Serving, of Boise, knocked on the front door. The papers provided Curtiss with legal notice that he had been sued in Ada County by a client of his […]

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* NOT GUILTY * Bunkerville Retrial

Celebrations are dominant throughout the Patriot community tonight. The four men on trial for the second time in Las Vegas, Nevada are being released.

Eric Parker, Scott Drexler, Steven Stewart and Ricky Lovelein heard the jury return 34 Not Guilty verdicts today, out of 40 charges.

Each Defendant was charged with 10 separate charges, with 3 possibilities of additional enhancements. They were facing possibilities of spending the rest of their lives in prison.

For the past several weeks, the prosecution painted as damaging a picture as they could, aided by Judge Gloria Navarro. She shut down these men from putting on any kind of a defense.

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Jury refuses to convict 4 in Nevada ranch standoff retrial

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A federal jury in Las Vegas refused Tuesday to convict four defendants who were retried on accusations that they threatened and assaulted federal agents by wielding assault weapons in a 2014 confrontation to stop a cattle roundup near the Nevada ranch of states’ rights figure Cliven Bundy.

In a stunning setback to federal prosecutors planning to try the Bundy family patriarch and two adult sons later this year, the jury acquitted Ricky Lovelien and Steven Stewart of all 10 charges, and delivered not-guilty findings on most charges against Scott Drexler and Eric Parker.

More than 30 defendants’ supporters in the courtroom broke into applause after Chief U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro ordered Lovelien and Stewart freed immediately and set Wednesday morning hearings to decide if Parker and Drexler should remain jailed pending a government decision whether to seek a third trial.

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Man charged in anti-government bomb plot in Oklahoma City

The FBI has arrested an Oklahoma man on charges that he tried to detonate what he thought was a 1,000-pound bomb, acting out of a hatred for the U.S. government and an admiration for Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, according to court papers.

Jerry Drake Varnell was arrested shortly after an attempt early Saturday morning to detonate a fake bomb packed into what he believed was a stolen cargo van outside a bank in Oklahoma City, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court. He was charged with attempted destruction of a building by means of an explosive.

According to the complaint, over the course of a months-long undercover investigation by the FBI, Varnell made repeated statements about the extent of his hatred of the federal government.

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