Summary Evidence Shows Lawfully Armed Protesters
Document shows anyone photographed with a weapon…
The Government’s absurd narrative surrounding the Bundy Ranch Protest just went to the next level. Lawfully armed protesters are now items of evidence in the case. Sixty eight (70) unnamed citizens, along with forty three (43) others identified by name appear in the document (ECF No. 1317). The purpose of the document appears to be a mechanism to bolster the embellished claims of a “massive armed assault”.
Most of the seventy (70) citizens have the label (“UNSUB”), or unknown subject. In addition, two have the label (“FNU LNU”), or first name unknown, last name unknown. Images with arrows pointing at their weapons frequently appear throughout the document.
By the numbers…
The document also exhaustively tallies types of weapons present during the protest. In addition to the types of weapons, the document groups together the location of the citizen in possession of the weapon during the protest. Consequently, there is an assertion of presumption that anyone lawfully armed was a participant in what the Government describes as a conspiracy to assault, threaten, extort, and impede innocent Federal Agents acting to execute a lawful court order.
For example, the document lists 109 individuals with firearms. Since some citizens had both handguns and long guns, the document cites a total of 118 weapons. Subsequently, 74 were handguns, 44 were long guns. In addition to weapon tallies, the document enumerates the number of citizens present both at the bridge and in the Tuquop Wash.
Nineteen named defendants…
Of the forty three (43) named individuals, only nineteen (19) appear on the indictment. As such, there are twenty three ( 23 ) others who did not come under indictment. The math is not wrong because Schuyler Barbeau is (still) under pre-trial incarceration for a weapons violation in Washington. The document does not give any relevant clues explaining their exclusion. Consequently, there is no way to know if their inclusion is of any significance beyond statistical analysis. This has always led defendants to wonder if the indictment is tantamount to selective prosecution.
Lawfully armed protesters, just exercising rights…
The Government’s assault on the Second Amendment is plainly obvious. Individuals in lawful possession of a weapon are now subject to being evidence to support barely plausible claims of conspiracy. As a result, the choice to lawfully carry a weapon while exercising 1st Amendment Rights can give rise for the Government to find room to either indict a citizen or use them as evidence against another; for nothing more than lawfully possessing a weapon.
We are well past “When tyranny becomes law…”. The Republic is on life support.
