I am using the "Tier System" outlined in court by Judge Peggy Leen reported in the Pahrump Valley Times December 16, 2016. Much confusion has resulted in publishing errors in print and media continue. I think it was by design to create infighting and making it hard to find the information regarding these cases.
Get Caught Up On Tier 3 Trial #2
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Your Source For Trial Coverage and Updates Including, Articles and Source Documents
As jury selection begins today everyone should be aware of some of the actions taking place in Nevada. As in Oregon, the defendants and their families are being subjected to cruel and unusual punishment by the government and its contractors. Some of what they have had to endure while awaiting their "un-speedy" trial are, being housed with 96 or more men in a pod, being left in isolation cells for hours and sometimes days without food, access to bathroom facilities, denied clean clothing and showers, hazing by prison personnel, US Marshall's and the like including sexual assault and "Abu Ghraib" style torture. the prison prevented a group meeting between defendants, attorneys, and private investigators.
Two attorneys and four private investigators waited for hours until the prison informed them that only visits permitted would be one-on-one. Three of the four defendants from Idaho traveled to and from the Bundy Ranch Protest together. Their cases are inseparably relevant one to the other ; they need to have as pretrial meeting.
Further, nearly all of the evidence in discovery is in electronic format. The prison does not have a PC accessible to prisoners that can review the material. Late developments related to the Bundy Ranch Tyrant and motions to preclude certain evidence mandate a need for access to technology.
Parker’s attorney notified the US Marshals the day defendants transferred in to Pahrump. The US Marshals, thus far, refuse to accommodate the request.
The defendants have been denied visits and their family members have been made to suffer punishment and harassment by prison personnel. Many of the latter are just coming to light, but have been going on for some time. Law Suits are being filed in these cases. Here are just a few examples.
Briana Bundy (Mel Bundy's wife) and children denied visit and harassed at Pahrump Nevada Prison
Briana Bundy's Report of Some of the Prisoner Abuse
Please call and make a complaint and insist ALL prisoners are treated fairly and their Constitutional rights are protected.
Nevada Southern Detention Center
Customer base: U.S. Marshals Service - Facility Type: Medium, Owned since 2010-
2190 East Mesquite Avenue,Pahrump, NV 89060
- Get Directions to this Facility
-
T: 775-751-4500F: 775-751-8763
John Lamb reports on more political prisoner abuse in Nevada
There is a lot to learn about Cliven Bundy and those who came to support him, including that in this link. See the governments case against the protesters here.
Documentary by David Michael Lynch can be seen here, he was at the event in Bunkerville.
As with the Oregon Trial, this page will update as soon as I can gain access to the information, including video. I will post the most current information at the top, just under this initial information. Come back often as I will do my best to bring you the updates.
Tier 3 Defendants include: Ricky Lovelien, Todd Engel, Gregory Burleson, Eric Parker, O. Scott Drexler and Steven Stewart.
When Shawn Perez rose to give closing arguments for Ricky Lovelin used the analogy of "Where's Waldo" telling the Jury, "the FBI spent THOUSANDS of hours looking through photos and could only find 8 photos which contained an image of Ricky Lovelin". Perez told the Jury "he was never seen assaulting anyone, and no threats were made. He was made a co-conspirator for running security for the Bundy's". Perez told the Jury that Lovelin had many things on Facebook, but they were re-posts/Shares, and when someone on Facebook inquired about the militia going to Bunkerville Lovelin took the initiative to tell the person the point of the militia going to Bunkervill was to prevent violence NOT to start it! Perez reminded the Jury Lovelin never pointed a weapon and provided evidence that he was not on the bridge until 2:45 p.m. Using a quote from Eric Parker Perez said, "we hopped into a truck of a guy we didn't know", reminding the Jury that none of these people knew each other. Perez told the Jury, the only reason Ricky Lovelin shared Operation Mutual Aid posts on social media was to let people know who to contact if they wanted to help, as organization was becoming paramount.
Terrence Jackson stepped forward to give the closing statement for Greg Burleson reminding the Jury how Charles Johnson of Longbow Productions offered him alcohol, while Johnson did offer alcohol to the other interviewees, they may have had prior knowledge of Burleson's weakness for alcolhol, since being employed by the FBI as a paid informant prior to the events at Bunkerville. Jackson asking, "why would they give a man alcohol it they new they were going to interrogate him and wanted him to reveal the truth unto them? But, you would give alcohol to someone you were trying to get inflammatory statements from". Jackson stated, "the video evidence shows that the governments narrative is untrue"!
Todd Leventhal, Attorney for Scott Drexler, next approached the Jury saying, "these men did not go to Bunkerville because of cows"! This is the point when he presented the Jury with the video evidence of Margaret Houston being thrown to the ground, Davey Bundy being assaulted for taking pictures on the side of the road, Ammon Bundy being tased and attacked by a K-9 and the First Amendment Zone. Leventhal read the news article of Nevada Governor Mark Sandoval voicing disgust about the First Amendment Area, (linked to below), Leventha actually got to read the story, not just show the headline saying, "no amount of cows gives you the right to use guns and intimidate people", referring to the Bureau of Land Management. Leventhal told the Jury about the rally on the stage where Sheriff Gillespie was present in which Cliven Bundy made a list of demands saying, "anyone could have got up on stage and said I want all the metal detectors taken down, I want all the Marshalls disarmed, and I want free food in the cafeteria because the people are hungry"! Emphasizing, that's obviously not what's going to happen, it's just a statement! Leventhal told the Jury, "the government has not produced one piece of evidence that linked Drexler to the conspiracy". Leventhal reminded the Jury that the head of Las Vegas Metro or the Sheriff did not come to testify at this trial, asking the Jury, "why is that"? Leventhal read another statement by Governor Sanduval saying, "no cows justify the amount of intimidation that is going on, the road closures and heavy handedness of the BLM". Finishing up with, "there is overwhelming doubt in this case! Did the court order to gather cows give the BLM the right to use force"? Leaving the Jury with a quote from his Dad, "if you don't stand for something you'll fall for anything. Don't fall for this" pointing at the Prosecution.
Steven Myhre for the Prosecution ended by telling the Jurors the men were not keeping the peace, they were threatening law enforcement and keeping them from fulfilling a court order saying, "these men are not noble protectors of the Constitution. It makes them nothing more than vigilantes...common criminals! They took the law into their own hands".
An update of Micah McGuire, he was assigned a new Attorney en-lue of representing himself, pro-Se.
Proceedings began today, with the Prosecution objecting to everything the Defense planned to present during closing arguments. Courtroom observers used the word "micromanaging" of the exhibits and so forth the Defense planned on using, denying the Defense a proper presentation of the evidence of WHY their Defendants came to Bunkerville. Courtroom observers say that so far today all they have heard is the Prosecution repetitively re-presenting their evidence thus far presented. The observers say it is so repetitive, trying to present the narrative, of men with guns and camouflage, adnausium even entering a new piece of video as evidence today. It was like Chinese Water Torture listening to Greg Burleson's Longbow video in which the FBI Undercover Agents got the man soused up on alcohol before asking him leading questions which resulted in inflammatory answers laced with profanity and threats. No video of the dead cows and mass graves, no video of Davey Bundy's assault and detention, no video of BLM misconduct, will be allowed. The Judge went as far as to say that there is no evidence whatsoever of BLM misconduct stating, "it was there lawful legal duty" and that they were only doing what they were supposed to do by court order, and all the people had to do was file an appeal! The courtroom observers report that there are some interesting instructions the Jury is being given in their instruction packets, that the Government DOES NOT bare all burden of truth to find the Defendants guilty! Which goes to show, they are just making things up as they go along. The government is trying to claim, in this case, that the internet is a vehicle of "Interstate Commerce", (this kind of stuff is the type of thing that gets Orrin Hatch giddy, Jason Chaffetz too with his online gambling legislation), saying "it's like a building, and you are impeding federal officers if you even say anything that makes them FEEL fear on Facebook or anywhere on the internet". (OK, I can see where all this participation trophy, no red pencil on your graded paper stuff leads to). The Judge, again today, laughed out loud at the Defendants and their Attorney's while filing motions today, making fun of them and telling them she will not risk Jury Nullification through the evidence they want to present. ALL of these proceedings are being conducted without the Jury present. When the Jury is brought into the courtroom Judge Gloria Navarro tells the Jury that the "Defendants have a right to closing arguments, but they don't have the right to ALL the closing arguments". The Prosecution took 3 hours of the time in front of the Jury repetitively presenting their closing arguments so far this morning where they presented one of the most ridiculous propositions to the Jury stating, "you are responsible for others actions while in that act of a crime, even if you show up after the fact"! This goes to the fact that Jerry Delumas showed up on April 13, 2014, yet the government wants to hold him responsible for EVERYONE'S actions BEFORE he arrived! You can't make this stuff up! One good point that was brought out, by the Prosecution was, a statement by Eric Parker saying, "Cliven Bundy fired the Bureau of Land Management". Courtroom observers say it is unjust that the Jury is not able to have the evidence that Harry Reid owns property next to the Bundy's in Bunkerville and has arterial motives for their land. They are not able to hear that Judge Gloria Navarro was appointed by Harry Reid and should have recused herself from this case but is, instead, passing out retribution for not lying down and letting Harry Reid have his way with them. The Jury has been given thousands of pages of redacted documents keeping much of the evidence from them. Also, included in the Jury Instructions, is the governments statement that we as a people have no right at all to stand up against the government! It only takes reading the Declaration of 1776 so verify that we do! But, our founding documents are forbidden from being in the courtroom and the Jury having access to them. The government also said that they set up First Amendment Areas and the rest of the land was closed to the public. "We set up a safe zone, and if you get out of that First Amendment Area, then you are impeding Federal Officers whether you have a gun or not". The First Amendment Area/Safe Zone was located 7 miles from where the protest took place. A group of the courtroom observers got together and conducted their own tour of the Bunkerville Event areas, and at one spot where the BLM/Park Service did their firearms training, they found many bullet casings that are still there three years after the event.
Todd Engel has been giving permission to give his own closing arguments.
Update before afternoon update: Ken Medenbach is being detained after being accosted by US Marshalls for trying to attend court proceedings for the six Defendants on trial before his hearing in the same building at 3:00 p.m. He will be transported back to Oregon as the government says he is in violation of his probation for "squatting on BLM land". Micah McGuire, a Tier 2 Defendant, has a court appearance tomorrow to establish if the court will allow him to represent himself during his trial, to prevent a situation like the one Todd Engel experienced during his Tier 3 trial, where Judge Navarro fired Todd and re-instated his fired Attorney to represent him because Navarro didn't like how Engel was representing himself.
This afternoon Scott Drexler was told he cannot show video to the Jury that will establish why he came to Bunkerville, although, this statement is included in his Longbow interview which has already been entered into evidence, it will not be allowed during his closing arguments, the Judge saying he should have taken the stand if he wanted that evidence brought before the Jury. Also argued was that Steven Stewart would not be allowed to use quotes by Susan B. Anthony, Benjamin Franklin, and the Ferguson Protestors which he shared on his Facebook wall, the governments claiming that there was nothing in his posts that indicated he actually looked up those quotes, he didn't actually think about them, so they cannot be used to buoy up his reasons for going to Bunkerville, I guess saying he has no mind of his own. The government wants to have it both ways, "Facebook is a mindless activity" and "you give someone a thumbs up, chat or share, and you are complicate in any wrongdoing that person ever does".
Some of what went on during the Government's closing statements began with a statement, "they used the barrel of a rifle to make Federal Law Enforcement leave Public Land three years ago today", saying something about the cattle being government property and the protestors not bringing signs to protest by loaded magazines. They did nothing more than block the freeway with a gun, not a protest sign, emphasizing the fact that they brought their guns to a protest. Later Eric Parker's Attorney, Jess Marchese, emphasized the point during his portion of the closing argument that, some people come to protest rally's, even in support of the Second Amendment, toting their guns. The Prosecution continued by showing the actual video footage of Eric Parker prone on the bridge during the tense moments when the government told the crowd over the loud speaker that they would shoot, this time letting the video play without stopping it every second to analyze what Parker was doing, finishing with, "when was the last time you saw anything like this in your life", counting on the fact that the Jury would not be able to judge for themselves the circumstances, but counting on them to judge them harshly indicating who, in their right mind, would stand up against the government? Courtroom observers felt the intimidation aimed at the Jury on this point. Dickerson, from the Prosecution, went through ever count on the charges and tried to prove that the Defendants are guilty on every count, going as far as saying, "just having a weapon is a threat to intimidate and is therefor a crime". Dickerson continued by getting his facts wrong in saying, "Parker and Drexler were prone on a bridge", drawing objection, because Drexler was conversing with Nevada Highway Patrol while Parker and Stewart were covering the crowd while under threat of being fired upon by the Government Forces. Dickerson goes as far as actually showing the Jury how to fill out the forms they will be given for marking their decisions for each Defendant and the counts associated. And, NOT ONE objection from the Defense during any of this dog and pony show! I hope the Jury can see through the Prosecutions condescension!
Richard Tanasi, Steven Stewart's Attorney, stood in defense of his client showing a Meme saying, "He brought his gun to exercise his First Amendment with his Second. He did so, so that he would not be sprayed in the face with Mace, just like this post". Continuing saying, "Dickerson has done a wonderful job of weaving everyone together into a huge conspiracy, and throwing it all at you! It is your job to consider the facts, and separate the people out as individuals and show that you believe their individual guilt, without a reasonable doubt". Tanasi told the Jury about the First Amendment Zone, and how "the government was attempting to heard the people like cattle", further stating, "the First Amendment isn't in a box, the First Amendment is where your feet are at"! Tanasi continued, "Steven brought his gun so his family did not have to make funeral plans", while showing the quote, (linked to below), where a Nevada Government Official said, "the Bundy Supporters Better Have Funeral Plans". Tanasi told the Jury, "no plans were made to assault and officer", asking, "where were Sheriff Gillespie and Tom Roberts"? The Defense would have loved to have added Dan Love to that list, but his name has been strickened from the court by way of Judge Gloria Navarro. Tanasi told the Jury "Steven Stewart was spotting girls not spotting for Eric Parker". He told the Jury that it was the Political Pressure that ended the operations not pointing guns behind the jersey barrier since the governments own evidence showed that operations were ended on April 11, 2014.
Jess Marchese was up next to make closing statements for Eric Parker. Marchese was successful at getting a photo of Davey Bundy's wounds after being assaulted by the Bureau of Land Management, telling the Jury "Dave was assaulted for taking pictures on the side of the road". Marchese told the Jury about Margaret Houston being thrown to the ground by a BLM Agent saying, "the government said that she was in front of trucks but, as you can see in this video, she was not", further stating, "Ammon Bundy then came to the aid of his aunt, was tased several times, and had attack dogs sicked on him"! Marchese told the Jury how Parker had seen posts about the First Amendment Zones stating, "he believes the First Amendment is not a Zone, but a Right! And if he is not secure in his rights, I'm not secure in mine"! Continuing, "they were hurting people, and I tell my kids, that you have to stand up for your neighbor, and stand up for each other, and if I didn't do that I'd be a hypocrite"! "He had a gun, and that's just what guys form Idaho do", said Marchese. Marchese continued to tell the Jury how Charles Johnson of Longbow Productions said he offered the interviewees chips and M&M's along with the alcohol, but you never see anyone eating chips of M&M's on any of the videos, and he kept on trying to put words in other peoples mouths, furthering the narrative saying, "he acted like a used car salesman, selling used cars to senior citizens". Marchese reminded the Jury that during Michael Flynn's video he even said the government said they would use "lethal force" over the loud speaker. Marchese told the Jury how Eric Parker did guard duty when he first arrived, and how Parker greeted people when they arrived and give them parking instructions. Marchese told the Jury how the government forces stayed up all night after they were told that "dangerous individuals were coming to kill them". He reminded the Jury that a Nevada Highway Patrol was given bad information and was told things that made him "fear for his life so badly that he had to call his wife and kids and drive over a 100 miles per hour to get out to a wash that people weren't even in yet"! Can anyone say "kill-zone"? Marchese brought up the fact that the photos of Eric Parker wearing his black hat with white insignia, with his firearm went viral yet, not one government official mentioned him in their reports! Marchese concluded with, "to believe in something and not to live it is to be dishonest".
Todd Engel was up next to make his closing statement. The Government Prosecutors were brutal in their 19 objections during his statement, just trying to rattle him, and show him "who's boss"! The majority of the objections were that Engel was using "first person" instead of just testifying to the evidence, although courtroom observers report that the Prosecution brought up things that were not entered into evidence and used speculation as to what the Defendants were thinking and doing. Engel recovered by going through each indictment and telling the Jury point by point, "they want to say I was in a conspiracy, I didn't know these people! They want to say that I intimidated people, I herd 'disperse' I ran over to the police to tell them, these people are pointing guns at me! I stayed there for an hour, and when I left, the officers patted me on the back and said, 'thanks for your help'". Engel reminded the Jury that evidence shows that he did not go toward the bridge, that he went to the Nevada Highway Patrol. Engel told the Jury he showed up at 11:29 a.m. and was in the parking lot not doing anything for 20 minutes, until a lady said they are pointing guns at protestors, reminding the Jurors that that statement was heard in the Michael Flynn video and Alex Ellis testified to that fact. Engel told the Jury it was then he ran to the bridge to see what was going on, having his camera at the ready, not his gun! Engel then reminded the Jury that in the Shelaka's video footage you could see he ran the other direction to Nevada Highway Patrol where he spent the rest of the day with law enforcement. Ending his statement with, "I don't know what more I could have done to help it end peacefully"! Courtroom observers reported that Todd Engel "drop-kicked" the Prosecutions today, even with all the objections and trying to rattle him. They said his statement was compelling and heartfelt.
That ended today's statements. Tomorrow we expect to hear from Scott Drexler, Rickey Lovelin and Greg Burleson, with the government having the last word with Steven Myhre wrapping up. It was evident, once again, that the Prosecution and the Judge have been in complete control, disallowing the Defendants their witnesses and their evidence that would prove their evidence, thereby furthering their narrative that you should not stand up to the government or we will have our way with you, even in court!
Questioning of Parker began showing a photo and asking, "see the individuals in the tan uniform? Do you see the trucks here? You see they all have light bars? And you know these guys in green in between the ranger trucks"? Parker answered, "you mean the guys pointing the guns at people? Yes I saw them". The Prosecution asked, "so this happened when you were standing on the bridge? You knew the Bureau of Land Management were in the wash"? Parker said, "no, I knew there were people in the wash, but I did not know they were BLM". A video was them played were the protestors can be heard saying, "open the gate, open the gate, and the BLM talking about court orders". Saying, "you heard what they were saying on the loud speaker"? Pointing out 12 times in the same short video "black hat", asking him to identify himself each time the video was stopped, also asking him in which direction his gun was pointed as he aimed over the jersey barrier, emphasizing to the Jury Parker was armed and pointing his gun in the direction of the BLM/Park Service/Mercenaries, with not one objection from the Defense! Next the Prosecution showed another photo of the wash saying, "here you see Greg Burleson"? Parker saying, "I don't see him, the arrow is pointing to some guy in a white shirt". There was an objection that was sustained by the Judge. The Prosecution moved on, "here you are on the Northbound bridge in the prone position with your gun pointing toward law enforcement, with your eyes in the iron sight"? Answering, "no, I was looking at a reporter". Prosecution, "your finger is near the trigger"! Parker clarifying, "you mean on the gun up above the trigger area"? Questioning continued with, "now you are no longer confused at this point"? Parker emphasized, "YES, I am still confused! I still do not know who these people aiming their weapons at women and children are"! At this point the Prosecution shows many of his Facebook posts. One of the photos produced show Parker in the prone position with his arm resting on a backpack telling the Jury that Steven Stewart brought the backpack to Parker. Parker clarified that Stewart went for water and it was then I asked him for my backpack that was packed with water! Another photo was presented with Steven Stewart, Scott Drexler one standing, one crouched and Eric Parker is in the prone position looking down at them. Next they showed a photo of Scott Drexler with a post from Eric which said, "an ongoing weekly tribute to men and women who showed up and were not me". The Prosecution then asked, "did you show force on a bridge in Nevada"? Parker answering, "YES! I showed up with my body, and that's a force"! Prosecution, "and your long gun"? Parker saying, "and then the cattle were released"! "Just like Cliven Bundy told you to do"? the Prosecution continued. Parker said, "no one told me to do anything, sir"!
Nicholas Dickinson from the Prosecution after questioning the witness, Eric Parker, turned his back to the Defendant and the supporters, would raise his eyebrow, smile like "I gotcha" and turn to his colleagues to gloat, very vindictive and purposefully arrogant. Erick Parker himself was very calm and collected and very determined to get the truth out, showing his ability to get the truth into questions the Prosecutors asked allowing the Jury to hear the truth the government was trying so hard to conceal, and the Jury otherwise, would not hear. Observers said Parker's testimony today was awe-inspiring.
On re-direct the Defense talked about the discovery and what Parker understood on April 12, 2014 and how that was completely different than what he understands today because he has seen so much of the discovery evidence being in a position where he was surrounded by many people, and bringing up the point that although there is a conversation going on 15 feet form where he was at, doesn't mean he knows what is going on over there, and if you produce a video of that conversation it doesn't mean he had firsthand knowledge of it and agreed to what was being said, or conspired with them. At some point a photo of the protestors at the wash was shown again, and although the Prosecution was trying to depict it as an armed standoff, if you had just been shown the picture of the protestors you would not have described it in that way. Jess Marchese asked Parker, "three years ago do you believe you heard them say lethal force over the loud speaker"? Parker answering, "yes, I heard we have been authorized to shoot if you take another step, and that's when I got down and took cover"! Marchese then asked, "what did the Sheriff say on the stage"? Parker saying, "it's about what he didn't say on the stage. If he had said, there's a bunch of people over there in battle gear and foxholes waiting to shoot you, NONE OF US WOULD HAVE GONE"! Marchese tried again to enter into evidence the video of Margret Houston being thrown to the ground by the BLM agent, but it was again denied. There was another video of this event from a different vantage point that was submitted, but it only shows Houston already on the ground NOT her being picked up and thrown to the ground. It was the other vantage point of the same incident that Eric Parker saw before he made the decision to travel to Bunkerville, and the Judge won't allow it! Marchese continued by asking, "when you were arrested and transported you were read your rights and you gave an interview to the FBI without a lawyer. You heard the whole video interview UN-doctored in any way. Your interview was taped on March 3, 2016? Marchese motioned to have this statement in it's entirety entered into evidence, not clips, but the whole 2 1/2 hour interview. Judge Navarro refused to allow the evidence. Marchese argued that it must be submitted in it's entirety because it shows that Parker's testimony is the same on the video as it has been in the courtroom and the day he was arrested showing consistency. Judge Navarro saying it was "improper and inadmissible under 801-B" then denying it.
The Prosecution did some re-cross examination about the speech Cliven Bundy made on the stage, but the reporter fails to give details.
It was very evident during this case that the governments whole case was based on communications in the social media realm and the government WILL use it against you in the worst possible way. It is just genius that the government invented the bainchild of the CIA in order to collect everything you think and say to use it to convict you of any crime of conspiracy! It's part of their agenda to "master the human domain". Making a giant leap from your 140 character post/comment to reading into it the most outrageous idea imaginable! An example was given in court using an Apple iPhone where someone asked Siri "when was the last time the government backed down"? And, a photo of Eric Parker on the bridge in Bunkerville popped up. It can, and will, be used against you in a court of law! If you look at what the Prosecution did with Eric Parker on the stand today the Jury might be let to believe that Parker was an army of one! And, it is just disgusting that none of the defense attorneys did not take control of the situation and let Parker take control of the narrative. The hard work was done for them. The evidence was presented and they only needed to ask Parker a few simple questions and let him go. Eric would have known what to say to convince the Jury otherwise.
Other courtroom observers said they were very disappointed with the Defense during proceedings today. The Defense was also very disrespectful while in the courtroom and even during Eric Parker's testimony, many times talking amongst themselves. They say it would have been forgiven had they used their gab sessions in coming up with a defense! The Defense Attorney's sat on their hands for the most part and were disinterested at the very least! There was such a great opportunity missed in getting Eric Parker's perspective in every piece of evidence presented where the Prosecution played "gotcha"! The evidence was already there, the Defense just needed to use it! Any lay person who had knowledge of the proceedings could have done a better job! It was disappointing that these men have to pay these Attorney's for the shoddy job in court today. It was also disappointing the other Defendants did not take the stand in their own defense! With only 4 Defense Witnesses, one a government plant, another Eric Parker they only had two witnesses to present their case, Shannon Bushman and Michelle Arnett. You would have thought their attorney's would have been pleading with the Defendants to testify! It was an opportunity lost, as they could have refuted all the government evidence against them, now it's going to have to be left to the Jury to decide. One reporter reminded us that some Defense Attorney's forfeited their opportunity to make an opening statement also stating, "it was FREE TIME, time freely given to present how your client will prove his innocence. Mind-boggling! It is just so sad that these Defendants Attorney's are so inexperienced at doing trial work. They are taught how to coerce Defendants into plea bargaining in order to save the Attorney time and effort of preparing a court case. They just want to take the money and run! We must ask the obvious, why were not the witnesses, announced to the Judge, NOT brought in to testify? Garrett Frenner, although he was intimidated in open court and behind closed doors, said on social media that he would testify. Why did they not present Mary and Stanton Gleave's testimony? They were there in the wash on the 12th of April 2017! Why, at the very least, did these Defense Attorneys NOT stand up in court and cry witness intimidation for all the hear? I wish for boldness, and even so far as leveling charges against Judge Navarro if she and the Prosecution continue their tactics! The courtroom observers where smart enough to know this was exactly what was happening, and to just sit back, panic, and let it be played out before their eyes is unbelievable! Let's go all the way! Let's insist that the US Marshalls take these people into custody!
Other subjects to be argued today are Jury Instructions and Jury's decision on The Conspiracy and which element of Conspiracy, the Jury must be unanimous in their decision. Wednesday April 12, the three year anniversary of the Stand Up At Bunkerville known as Bundy Ranch, closing arguments will be heard.
Eric Parker spent the afternoon on the stand. First up, analyzing Eric's Facebook page and what he saw on Facebook that made him want to go to Bunkerville arriving April 12, 2014. Eric testified to the fact that he saw the video of Margaret Houston being assaulted and thrown to the ground. He herd about Davey Bundy being assaulted for taking pictures on the side of the road and Ammon Bundy being tased multiple times and having the attack dogs sicked on them saying, "that is when I felt an emotional connection to the situation. I grew up in Nevada, in a place just like that and I kept thinking, what if that was my aunt being thrown to the ground"? Eric posted on his Facebook, "NDAA here we go again"! He was asked to explain what he meant by that? Parker explained, "the NDAA is when they say your a terrorist and they can do anything they want to you". This has become prophetic, as the agenda of the governments NDAA is being played out in real time in these patriots lives. Parker made other posts of "main stream media stories being full of lies". Parker also shared many of the posts coming out of the event taking place at the Bundy Ranch making the decision to go to Bunkerville on April 10, 2014. In the Previous update it was reported that the video of Dave Bundy's assault and detention would be introduced into evidence, but Judge Gloria Navarro only allowed a photograph of Davey's face to me submitted into evidence. (You can see the assault video down below on the February 14 video evidence and February 15 has the video interview of Davey after release and shows the wounds on his face. This also includes the sniper and spotter at Davey's assault are seen on February 27 day evidence below). The Defense entered statements by Governor Brian Sandoval and another statement, (referenced above) from another Nevada elected official which could have been Peter Goicoechea in support of the Bundy's. Parker testified that seen these statements from Nevada elected officials made him think of Martial Law and the above referenced statement about "Bundy supporters better have funeral money and body bags", was submitted. Eric Parker said, "I'm not looking for a fight, but I'm not going to be bullied from exercising my First Amendment Rights. We were going to protest, and the cows were not as much of an issue for me. If I was going to do anything, I was going to protest outside of the box of the First Amendment Zone, the First Amendment goes with me, and it is not a zone"!
More Facebook posts were brought up in court, the next being, "get the cows back by any means". Parker clarified what he meant by this by saying, "I thought I would go camp outside until they released the cows or, go down and stand with their signs and flags until they released the cows ". Next Parker talked about when he went to the wash, and when he was up in the parking area he didn't even know there was a wash area below. Parker said he was just milling around with the people in the parking area, until a lady came up to the parking area and was yelling and pointing saying, "they are pointing guns as protestors in the wash"! Parker described how he couldn't understand why they were pointing guns at protestors or who "they" were. Parker, in his testimony, told about the helicopters and the drones. Parker talked about another lady coming up with a telescope and showed Eric that there were snipers on the Mesa. After hearing the woman tell him about what she had seen through her telescope, Parker walked over to the bridge and that was when he could see the wash and everything that was happening below him. Parker said, "I had no idea people were even going into the wash because he was up by the road, and they were traveling to the wash from the back of the parking lot, so he actually didn't know that they were going down there. As soon as I got up to the bridge I could see, back in the background as someone had given him their binoculars, I could see all the vehicles and people pointing guns". Parker testified that "the first few vehicles look like they could be BLM, but they were in olive combat gear, and looked like they were ready for war". Parker pointed out another vehicle and said, "this vehicle had guns all over it, but they were in plain clothes and body armor". Parker then pointed to another vehicle, and this vehicle were in full camo saying, "I was completely confused as to who they were"! Parker was then asked why he got down behind the cement barrier? With great emotion Parker explained that he got down, but couldn't pick a target. Parker got down because he heard on the loud speaker that they had the authority to shoot he believed the snipers were aiming at him and were going to take him out, and that's why he got behind the barrier! Describing how he was watching for people down in the wash because he believed they were going to be shot! Parker said, "I was very concerned for their lives. I was concerned about the situation that was unfolding. I stayed down in that position for maybe 10 or 15 minutes". It was after Parker got up that Michael Flynn approached him with his video camera rolling, and that's when Flynn captured the interview, (seen in the video evidence below). Parker explained to the Jury that Flynn kept on trying to get people to say how the situation was "bad", but Parker thought the situation wasn't "bad" because they were standing up for their rights. Immediately after the incident was over Eric Parker and his companions immediately left for home.
The Prosecution approached Parker for cross examination. Courtroom observers say that the Prosecution tried every tactic to twist Parker's words around trying to make them fit the government narrative. They say Parker did a really wonderful job at explaining himself saying, "no! That's not what I meant"! The Prosecution said, "you said show of force, and that means bringing your guns. You wanted to show them that you were going to have guns too". Parker clarified saying, "no! Show of force means the amount of people"! Prosecution emphasizing, "you said if they have 20 men we need 200"! Parker reiterated, "it still goes down to the amount of people, it has nothing to do with a weapon". Parker told how he had been to many protests, and he doesn't go to a protest without a weapon because he doesn't want to be hurt the way that Dave Bundy was hurt! or the way Margaret Houston was hurt! Parker told the Jury that when the protestors started to show up with their weapons, what was happening in the previous days, was not happening anymore.
Courtroom observers, again, said what a good representative of the facts he was. Parker has been an honest witness, as every government witness was not. Parker was even honest when he said, "this happened three years ago, and I'm trying to do my best to remember the facts". When Parker was viciously attacked on the stand by the Prosecutors he was clam. Parker although he was emotional at times during questioning, over all, he handled it well. During questioning by Jess Marchese, his Attorney, Parker was asked, "do you know what Martial Law means"? Parker answered, "yes! It's when the Constitution is put aside for a time. And, that's what I thought was happening at the Bundy Ranch". It was also in the face of everyone, that the Prosecution has no moral standing as Steven Myhre stood up to begin his questioning of Parker, boldly, and loudly, and aggressively, uttering a cuss word, which observers would not even spell, saying, "what the _______ were you thinking"! It was really uncalled for and out of place. Parker kept calm and, throughout the questioning by Myhre said, "yes sir". Judge Navarro didn't counsel Myhre, and he received not even a reprimand. Courtroom observers continue to question the attentiveness of Juror number 9, she seems to be sleeping. She slumps over in her chair a lot and rolls around, at the very least, disinterested. It was reported that there were some media sources in court today.
Court will resume on Monday morning.
Court began with the first witness for the Defense, Shannon Bushman. Many are familiar with the treasure trove of photos he took during the events of April 12, 2014. Shannon is CEO of Peek Promotion and Development turned turned documentary photographer on the spot in Bunkerville. He's most known for his off road filming and lives in Marysvale Utah. Many of his photos were exhibited in court today. He was pretty heavily grilled by the Prosecution during cross examination, reported to have been asking a lot of irrelevant questions just to burn the clock. Courtroom observers say he did a good job and answered all the questions very professionally. The Defense Attorneys are on top of their game today. One question asked Bushman was, "after you heard Cliven Bundy and Sheriff Gilespie speak on stage what do you believe you heard after that"? This drew objection saying, "he cannot get into that". After some continued questioning the Judge spoke up and said she would reverse her last sustaining objection, which left Bushman open to discuss more freely his experience. Bushman told of how he was on the Northbound Bridge where "there were only 8-10 people there, BLM trucks with around 30 men ready for war, army men in green suits". Bushman said that he was surprised to see this as the Sheriff he had spoken to said they were gone. Bushman said he then went to the Southbound Bridge he said, "all the BLM and Park Service were dressed in green suits looking like they were ready to have a war". Bushman describes taking photos there and saw BLM/Park Service point their weapons at him three different times telling the Jury "he could see that they had binoculars. If they were trying to view me to see if I had a gun or not they could have just looked through their binoculars, but instead, they were pointing weapons at me three different times"! Bushman told the Jury he was very scared knowing he was in their sights also making him very nervous. Bushman said that because he knew he was in their sights he asked several people standing around him to leave the area for fear they might shoot them also. During questioning from the Prosecution they asked Bushman, "if you saw them pointing their weapons, why didn't you ask people to leave"? And, Bushman responded "that he did". Bushman was asked if he had a weapon? Bushman told the Jury he did not he only had his camera telling them "I turned sideways many times to let the men pointing weapons at me know I was only equipped with my camera". Bushman said the more he found himself in their sights the more scared he got and, "they should have been able to see I did not have a gun". Bushman told the Jury at one point he was so afraid that he started to look for a place to hide when the shooting started staring, "I was afraid I would break my camera if I was forced to jump over the barrier to get out of the line of fire". Bushman's testimony also included him telling the Jury that the two bridges were not cemetrically lined up, that they were off set and they must consider this when looking at the photos.
The Prosecution's cross examination of Bushman consisted of trying to confuse the Jury by showing obscure photos of the BLM/Park Service and showing other photos of protestors and asking questions such as "what are these men wearing? Does it look like they are ready for war"? Bushman could not see some of the minute detail in the photos such as badges/patches. Bushman told the Jury that he could distinguish between a man in shorts and a ball cap and men wearing uniforms, riot gear and helmets, emphasizing "it's not apples to apples here". The Prosecution started hounding Bushman about what he heard over the loud speaker. Bushman said he could not understand what they were saying over the loud speaker he "only heard a mumbled noise". (Maybe our government/law enforcement should re-think using these if no one can understand what is being said)! Bushman demonstrated before the Jury what it sounded like to him, putting him hand over his mouth and making muffled sounds. The Prosecution showed some video clips that had the example of the government talking over the loud speaker asking Bushman, "can you hear that? What was being said"? Bushman answering "no I can't hear that". The Prosecution did this several times asking Bushman to decipher the commands, telling the Jury "I can't make it out, I don't know what they are saying". The Prosecution asked Bushman "Is it possible that they were pointing their weapons at something behind him"? To which Bushman stated, "no, I know they aimed directly at me multiple times. If they were aiming behind me, they were aiming at traffic, truck drivers and tourists. There was no way they were aiming at anything behind me". There was some questioning about down in the wash and the gate. Bushman stated that the protestors did move forward to the gate but the BLM/Park Service did not, leaving the door open to the possibility that the BLM/Park Service had their guns trained on the protestors ready to shoot and found no need to give up their cover and move closer to the protestors.
The Defense tried to bring up their next witness Ranger Carpenter but he could not be located to testify at that moment, so the court took an early lunch. This makes only one witness so far today. Judge Gloria Navarro has put a deadline on the Defense to conclude it's case by the end of court Thursday, so it is not known just how many Defense witnesses will get on the stand, and court Thursday is being delayed until 11:00 a.m. Courtroom observers are hopeful they will be given more time to present their case, looking forward to Eric Parker taking the stand in his own defense.
The afternoon session began amidst commotion and public denial to the court proceedings. Angie Bundy, Ryan Bundy's wife, has been attending the proceedings from time to time, but today was turned away by Federal Court Employees. Joshua Martinez has obtained a photo ID and tried to attend court and was told by Federal Court Employees that he can not be there, because he is trespassing, Las Vegas Metro was flagged down and escorted him off the premises and gave him a citation. A man named Christopher Lamb showed up on the courthouse steps in a display of inappropriate behavior, yelling and name calling and egging on the DHS/Homeland Security trying to impersonate the patriots and give them a bad name, (probably an FBI plant) being also led away by "authorities", but it's all really a mystery to everyone who witnessed it.
"Ranger Carpenter" was called by the Defense to the stand. It was not said who called him from the team of lawyers. Ranger Carpenter supposedly wore a body-cam at the events at Bunkerville and was a dog handler. Carpenter was claimed to have been the one who was present at a discussion between Dan Love and Pete Santilli. The Defense was told yesterday by Prosecutor Steven Myhre that this body-cam footage was from the camera Ranger Carpenter was equipped with on the meeting that took place on April 11, 2014. The Defense was duped by the Prosecution as when questioning Carpenter, Carpenter denied it was his body-cam footage, so therefore, the evidence from the camera could not be entered into evidence and shown to the Jury. At this point it is very confusing because the courtroom observer then said the Defense did show some footage to the Jury. They also reported Ranger Carpenter's testimony was damaging to the Defense. While being "cross examined" by the Prosecutors they moved for "completion" which meant they wanted to show the whole footage involving Carpenter. It is reported that the Prosecution then turned Carpenter into a hostile witness by turning everything that was depicted in the video against the Defendants. The courtroom observers reported that up to this point in the whole 6 weeks of the Prosecutions case, the Defense has brought up the "completion" argument for all the FBI taped interviews, the fake documentary footage take by Longbow, the body-cam and dash-cam footage from Las Vegas Metro and the BLM/Park Service and the Judge has denied it, and by some miraculous feet, NOW she will allow the whole footage to be played. This witness is definitely a plant! Maybe we should look to Greg Burleson causing chaos again? At the very least, Carpenter should be charged with Purgery, as Myhre himself was the one who suckered the Defense into believing it was his body-cam footage, but as noted before, Judge Gloria Navarro will be the judge of that! It was brought out during questioning of Carpenter that the forces of the government had their weapons "up at the ready" looking for "the target" and that they were in full battle rattle because they were at war. It was also clear that the audio depicted the government forces were making jokes about the protestors at the very moment they were taking up arms against them.
The Defense team then calls Michelle Arnett to the stand. Arnett traveled to Bunkerville on April 12, 2014 with 7 or 8 different people, rode in different cars. Arnett was present at the stage. Arnett's testimony included what she heard the Sheriff say "the BLM were ceasing operations and that they were leaving". Arnett spoke of going into the wash to watch the cows come home, but that was not what happened once she got there. Arnett testified that she saw snipers up on the plateau, and that made her fear for her life, she looked at the cement barrier saying she could hide behind it if needed. Arnett told of how "everyone was happy after the Sheriff spoke. Everyone waited for an hour and a half". Then Arnett told of how the cowboys came up on the hill saying, "it was an awe inspiring moment! There was joy all around when we went to watch the cows come home"! During cross examination Arnett was grilled on "crowd control", I'm assuming the Prosecution was taking about the show of force exemplified by the amount of BLM/Park Service, Las Vegas Metro, Nevada Highway Patrol and government operatives on scene. At one point Arnett posed a question to the Prosecution, "are our parks that crowded that they need militarized control "? The Prosecution grilled her on the camouflage clothing the men were wearing close to the stage that Cliven and Ammon spoke at. Arnett finally saying, "what does that matter? I have camouflage pajamas! Arnett continued to paint the scene upon her arrival in Bunkerville when seeing the government forces "it looked like something you'd see on TV, it looked like a scene out of Afghanistan"! The Prosecution then showed her several photos asking, the same question they asked Shannon Bushman, can you see the badge on this individual? Arnett said, just as Bushman said, "I can see it now in this photo, but there is no way I would have seen that across the two bridges". Arnett told the Jury, "this seemed like overkill just for rounding up cattle", since the Sheriff said it was over and they were leaving and they went to watch the cattle be released. Arnett stated that, "it seemed like Cowboys and Indians, but there weren't any Indians". The Prosecution continued to have a rapid fire session of looking at photos asking questions such as, "did you see this person with a firearm"? Arnett saying, "I see the firearm, I didn't see that person". Prosecution, "do you see what I circled here"? Arnett responding, "I can't even see that's a gun! I see the man has a dog and that that is a backpack, but it's entirely blurry to me"! The courtroom observers have been telling us all along that these Prosecution photos are blurry and indistinguishable, and Bushman and Arnett also testified to this fact during there appearance in court today. The Prosecution followed up with several questions about guns, to which Arnett questioned, "don't we still have our second amendment rights"? She then felt the retribution of Judge Gloria Navarro getting a lecture from her for talking about Constitutionally protected rights and telling "the whole truth, so help me God"! Navarro told her, "you are only to respond to the questions". The Prosecution continued questioning Arnett saying, "did you not drop off supplies to the supporters after the event was over"? Trying to control the narrative by labeling the protestors as Militant Militia. Arnett testified that she didn't know the Bundy Family before she went to Bunkerville, but became friends with them while at the protest. The Prosecution produced a photo of the woman because she was wearing a "Don't Tread On Me" T-shirt, trying to make her testimony and actions irrelevant to the Jury. Arnett then went into an in-depth explanation of the "Don't Tread On Me" symbol and explained the history behind it.
During exhibit evidence arguements, courtroom observers said Judge Gloria Navarro told the Defense that the same rules do not apply to the Defendant Witnesses as it does to the Government Witnesses. (Rule 104). Navarro continued, "the government is allowed to bring in more evidence to prove their case than the Defendants to prove their case. The Defendants can not bring more evidence. The Government has a higher standard of proof". And, you wonder why we are now calling it the "Injustice System"?
Witnesses for the Defense tomorrow are expected to be Eric Parker and Marty and Stanton Gleave from Utah.
As a final thought I say to the Defense, just conduct a slide show then of all the photos taken during the event showing how the protestors were out gunned and had the high ground and euthanized animals and rounded them up with helicopters. Show the video of the convoy of government vehicles and contract cattle rustlers on scene. Show the video of Dave Bundy, Margaret Houston and Cory Houston and others being assaulted by the BLM and government crony's! Don't say a word! Just show the social media posts of the government operative with their alias' posting to incite violence! Even though only Eric Parker has been cleared, interviewed and threatened by the the Judge to testify on his own behalf ALL of the remaining 5, I'm not counting that Turn Coat Burleson I don't know why he remains a Defendant anyway, SHOULD take the stand and go for broke and tell the truth despite the threats and intimidation! This is the only chance we have with the Jury. The Jury has a difficult time un-hearing something the Prosecution objects to. Test the system! The courtroom observers mentioned a case from Idaho, George Hansen. (I referenced his story in one of my older blog posts about the abuse the patriots are experiencing, namely Joe Robertson, and "Diesel Therapy"). Please read his story in the link provided, it will turn your stomach! PLEASE do your part! Get educated and do what you can to inform others and pass this along! And, according to what courtroom observers said about what Judge Gloria Navarro and the Prosecution said, you are powerless against the government and it's troops! The obscure Third Amendment just bit the dust!
Richard Tanasi began the proceedings pleading to the Judge that there have been Brady violations and not being able to cross examine witnesses properly including the witness yesterday who divulged that one of the Defendants, Greg Burleson, was a paid FBI informant. Tanasi said that "to learn Burleson was a paid FBI Informant for the first time yesterday was unimaginable". Tanasi argued that they want one of two things a dismissal and possibly a mistrial to which the Judge says, "I don't think that is exculpatory evidence". Tanasi continues to argue that the Defense has not been given all the information/evidence against them in order to properly motion to the court on their Defendants behalf, they have been pleading this throughout the proceedings and motioning that the Prosecution, when presenting its evidence, has not provided it to the Defense. Jess Marchese argued that had he known of this evidence it would have changed his process during Jury selection stating, "it would be imperative to know which Jurors have a bias to undercover agents" and that it would have changed much of his questioning during the trial had he known there was a wolf in sheep's clothing among the seven Defendants. The Judge continued to argue that "it is not the Prosecutions duty to give all the evidence to the Defense" clearly a violation of Brady vs Maryland. Judge Navarro said it is up to the Defense to take some time during the 9 day recess and scour the information they have in order to make valid motions when trial resumes on April 3, 2017.
Prosecution resumed their evidence obtained by the fake production company Longbow Productions with Greg Burleson's segment although they said they would resume Eric Parker's segments, "Charles Johnson" alias, on the stand. Before beginning, the Prosecution submitted additional clips, probably not provided to the Defense in advance, Charles Johnson admitted to providing alcohol to the interviewees, although Burleson was the only taker. Johnson went into the "huge plan" to bring about everything Burleson says in his interview. Multiple times in Burleson's video interview he says "he went to Nevada to kill federal agents that turned their back on their oath and the constitution. He's always wanted to die in battle. He went there to take out federal agents for abusing we the people". He said in his video tapped interview he "grabbed three guys to go under the North side skirt abutment, they were giving hand signals to each other. This information was used throughout the trial to signify to the conspiracy that there was a plan and they were directing it. Burleson then goes on to talk about the different plans, the militias and the pre-planning of the Arizona Militia before coming to Bunkerville and the fact that Burleson did not make it to Bunkerville before the incident at the wash on April 12, 2014. The whole Longbow interview with Greg Burleson is very incriminating to the conspiracy, but that was the plan! That's what he was hired for! That's what he was paid to do! Burleson in his interview said that he heard people voicing their pleasure that "it all ended up peacefully, but that he was disappointed because he wanted a fight"! Tanasi immediately stood after Greg Burleson's portion was finished and, again, asked the Judge that the evidence presented against Burleson only be applied to him, and him alone, including his Facebook posts. But, THE JUDGE DENIED IT because it went to supporting the conspiracy!
One of the Defense Attorney's when cross examining Charles Johnson asked, "why didn't you call your documentary 'Til The Cows Come Home' instead of America Reloaded? This was about the people and cows? Isn't it because you were trying to attract certain types of people to give you information acting like you were on their side"? Another Attorney said, "this was a fake documentation, it was fake all the way around, it was a fake name! He asked Johnson, "did you pay taxes? Did you get a business license? Did you sign up with the Better Business Bureau"? Charles Johnson replied "no" to all these questions. The vehicles and equipment and even snacks and food, were all provided and paid for by the FBI Johnson disclosed and if they made any money, they did not pay taxes on that money.
Greg Burleson argued that he didn't want to be a part of the other Defendants because their goals were different than his. Burleson said his militia AIM, came for a fight! Burleson claimed the other militias were not brave enough to be "part of them. Even the Oathkeepers were chickens! They went and got hotel rooms. We were there to stand! I came to put some BLM agent 6 feet under"! All Burleson was doing was playing the part the FBI paid him for to egg people on to follow their agenda. In contrast Eric Parker's statement in his Longbow interview was, "I came for a peaceful end. I support the militia but, I'm not part of a militia". Parker also stated that at one point, on the bridge, when guns were being pointed at them, he was very scared and he didn't think he was going to go home so he knelt down and prayed. Even Scott Drexler's interview with Longbow contained good principles. Drexler said, "there were Americans there that needed help that needed someone to stand for them and he wanted them to stand for him if ever the occasion arose, and it was all peaceful".
Cross examination of Charles Johnson began with Terrence Jackson reidderating that he and the crew went undercover, gave them alcohol, Johnson had training in interrogation they constructed a script, you were leading them to say what you wanted them to hear! "Do you know, Johnson, how many drinks Greg Burleson had before he got there? Did you know that Burleson had epilepsy or know how drinking would effect his epilipsy"? Jackson asked Johnson about the release form the men were asked to sign, Johnson did not bring a copy, nor did the Prosecution have a copy, for the Defense to see or use for questioning. What a sloppy job by the Prosecution! Jackson got Johnson to disclose that there were 6 to 7 agents in the room while every Longbow interview was done, none were armed. That Johnson solicited them, but they came voluntarily. "Did you imply he would be paid to do the interview? Did you suggest he would become famous or get anything for doing the interview"? Johnson answering "no" to every question, although Andrea Olson Parker told us that when Eric did his interview saying, "when the film is released we'll fly you to California for a "Red Carpet" event etc. So, Charles Johnson committed pergery on the witness stand.
Todd Leventhal was next to approach the witness and plays Scott Drexler's video again. Leventhal stopped at the portion where the six FBI agents and Anna interject while questioning Drexler in which Johnson can be heard in the background asking the questions and Anna is heard outing "Steve", Drexler's friend that he didn't want to name, saying, "oh! We know Steve. He didn't want to be there because it was his daughter's birthday, and that's why he wasn't able to show up", and all this was recorded on the video footage played in court today solidifying the fact that they were intelligence gathering and making sure they implemented everyone these men had a connection to weather they showed up in Bunkerville or not. Another FBI agent posing as a cameraman also mentioned "Steve" even after Drexler said he didn't want his friend mentioned. More questions during the Longbow interview questioned them about guns. Drexler, in his interview, mentioned he had an AR-15. At that point one of the FBI agents says to the crew, "did you hear that? He said he took an AK-47"? Leventhal pinned Johnson down on the fact that he and his crew were trying to misrepresent Drexler's statement about his AR-15 as an AK-47, trying to control the narrative and get it on record because they were confident the men would not challenge them on anything. Johnson, at this point says, "I always told them, don't let me put words in your mouth, if it's not what you said, please correct me", but that's exactly what he and the other FBI agents were doing. Leventhal continued, "what was your plan by asking these questions over and over again"? The reporter doesn't say what the answer was, but I'll say, entrapment! Leventhal said to Johnson, "even with the thousands of hours of video you already gathered you STILL felt the need to go undercover and interview these people under this false narrative"? To which Johnson answered "yes"!
Jess Marchese played more of the Longbow video interviews of Eric and Scott. Marchese emphasized the fact that Eric did not go for violence, he said he was not part of a militia. Some are fine and some are racist crazy people who are scary and want to blow up the government. Marchese asked Johnson why, after Parker said he was not part of a militia, did you continue to hammer away at him, asking him more questions about it? Johnson's defense was that, "he kept giving us contradicting answers"? No! You were just trying to get him to say something incriminating to use in your little witch-hunt! Johnson said Parker would say things like he was not part of a militia but he was going to camp with the militia. He doesn't like militia but he went and trained with the militia sometimes.
John George, Todd Engels court appointed Attorney asked Charles Johnson, "how many people did you interview"? Johnson answered "several", and George didn't press for a more defined number, which Engel would have been sure to do. George finished with, "did you interview my client"? The reporter gives no detail on the answer.
The Prosecution approached on re-direct asking questions about calling and setting up appointments for the interviews asking who's assignment was that, in which Johnson indicated someone else did that and that all calls were recorded. The Prosecution asked Johnson if Burleson seemed impaired, mentioning that Johnson was a Police Officer in Oklahoma before becoming an FBI Agent, and Burleson didn't seem to be impaired. He said, "I'm used to seeing impaired people and I was sure Burleson was not". Johnson was asked if they did a blood alcohol test on him to see how much alcohol he had had and Johnson said "no".
Terrence Jackson, under re-cross examination asked, so it was your statement he was not impaired? You didn't do any blood alcohol test, Burleson was armed in the room and other agents were not armed? Johnson admitted that they gave the only armed man in the room alcohol and that once they discovered Burleson had epilepsy that stopped feeding him alcohol. Through questioning Jackson established that Johnson could not tell how much alcohol they fed him, because if it was in a large tumbler they could have called that one drink. Johnson admitted that Burleson was a large guy and that he became excited as the interview process moved forward.
Before court went to recess Jess Marchese mentioned Juror number three and that if the Defense had known in the beginning that Greg Burleson was a paid FBI informant it would have made a difference in Juror number three. Also, Charles Johnson has filed a "seal unto motion" to the court that no one else has read BUT Mr. Jackson, Greg Burleson's Attorney, the motion to seal was recorded August 1, 2016. It was noted that the Defense has been "kept in the dark" about a lot of the things pertaining to this case, the Prosecution and the Judge have not been transparent in this case. There were also 10 FBI agents for the Prosecution in the courtroom today. The Defense also had more support after an invitation to come and show support even people from as far away as Washington and California, which really brought smiles to the Defendants today in court. Some mother's that home school their children brought them by the courthouse today to show gratitude and support and received a pocket Constitution from the patriots on site. The US Marshalls allowed the pocket Constitution in the courtroom today if they turned it around backwards!
The Defense continued today with cross examination of Agent Willis. Todd Engel was first up today informing the Jurors that Agent Willis has been in the courtroom for the duration of the trial. That Willis has been able to listen to all the witnesses and has seen all the evidence. Engel asked Willis if he read the Press Release the Bureau Of Land Management put out the evening or morning of April 11,2014? Willis responded "I do not recall", I guess he was reminded of all the other government employees using this phrase. Engel asked "if he was there when Hugh Georgeon said the BLM was going to shoot him for no reason? When Dennis Michael Lynch said the BLM was going to shoot them, and Alex Ellis yelled, they have weapons pulled on unarmed protestors"? The Prosecution objected, and no answer was given. Engel presented video footage from three different cameras having to do with what he was doing at the time, and the fact that the US Park Service was in a 'stacked formation' beside the truck asking, "would you agree that the people on the Northbound Bridge could see that they were 'sacking' next to that truck"? The Judge helped Engel at this point to find words to better describe what he wanted to ask the witness suggesting, "say, did you have a vantage point from the Northbound Bridge, not can I see from the Northbound Bridge". Engel was very frustrated trying to find the right words to form his questions with the Judge telling him, "don't be discouraged". Willis conceded that people, if on the Northbound Bridge, would have been able to see the Park's Service in the "stacked formation". Engel asked, "do you see me moving away from the people as he's working with the Nevada Highway Patrol"? Engel through his evidence proves that the BLM/Parks Service had their weapons pointed at protestors for a very long time! He established the timeline as 12:05-12:50 p.m. Engel spent almost 2 full hours drilling down on his evidence presented during the questioning of Willis. Engel tells the Jury that, during his video of the BLM leaving, he was very upset at the time which accounts for some of his colorful commentary. Engel shows some of his Facebook posts where he doesn't actually use curse words, but instead opts fo "F##k" instead of spelling the word out, showing he was censoring himself, that his is trying to be mindful to keep his language clean. He tells the Jury, "during my video commentary I was just too emotional". Engel, again, reminded the Jury that no one was throwing "rocks, water bottles, mole-toff cocktails, blocking or impeding movement in any way". This drew objections from the Prosecution. Engel moved on to produce evidence of Dave Bundy's assault and arrest on April 6, 2014. Drawing objection from the Prosecution, not "relevant". Engel next brought up the fact that a Grandma (Margaret Houston) was "body slammed" on April 9, 2014. Objection from the Prosecution. Engel told the Jury "voting is a form of resistance, "writing your senator is a form of resistance", drawing objections again as Engel told the Jury why he posted "they're cutting the head off the resistance". Engel finished by asking Willis, "isn't it true that Dan Love is under criminal investigation"? The Prosecution stood up to object to this one they were so infuriated Dan Love's name was brought up in court.
The Jury, at this point, was led out of the courtroom. Myhre Attorney for the Prosecution stood up to plead to Judge Navarro saying, "Todd Engel knew the question about Dan Love was not to be allowed before the Jury, and said, Engel laughed as he turned and walked to his seat"! Judge Navarro chastised Engel and reprimanded Engel by saying, "you can no longer represent yourself in these proceedings. John George will represent you. I will decide if I will allow you to give your closing argument". The proceeding recessed, but after the break Jess Marchese, Todd Leventhal and Richard Tanasi all argued through motions to let Todd Engel continue to represent himself because John George has not been involved in the trial, and that it will effect all of the Defendants if George starts representing Engel. It was unclear if Judge Navarro will just ban Engel for the rest of the day or through the rest of the trial, but Engel was allowed back into the courtroom after the Judge banned him, which caused the emergency recess.
When court was back in session Todd Engel and the rest of the Defendants were led back into the courtroom wearing shackles after Judge Navarro reprimanded him for his question to Willis about Dan Love. Shawn Perez was first to cross examined Willis saying, "my client ( Ricky Lovelien) had no communication with, Steven Stewart, Todd Engel or Greg Burleson before April 12, 2014". (Why is Burleson still sitting at the Defense table? Why has he not been dismissed since being "outed" as a government informant)? Perez reminds the Jury that Lovelien was not even friends on Facebook with these men. Photos that depict the bridges and the BLM were "there was no clear line of sight from the Northbound Bridge to where the BLM trucks were".
Next, Terrence Jackson stood to question Agent Willis asking him about the thousands of hours he spent looking at Facebook pages saying, "so, you were paid to sit and look at Facebook pages"? Which was objected to.
Todd Leventhal was next to question Willis asking, "were you aware that the protestors knew that there were snipers on the Mesa"? The reporter fails to give a response here. Leventhal proved using Michael Flynn's and David Michael Lynch's video that the BLM pointed guns at the protestors BEFORE there were people on the bridge or down in the wash. He formed a question to Willis to have him confirm the evidence but Willis answer was "no", he would not confirm this was the case, although Engel had proved through meticulous effort lasting over 2 hours that this was the case as his timeline began at 12:05 and lasted until 12:50 and Lynch moving forward to the gate in the wash proved this point.
Prosecution on redirect tried to point out that the time-stamps don't line up with the evidence but, if their "expert witness" knew what he was doing maybe the times-stamps would! The governments excuse for Willis' discrepancies was, "he was viewing multiple videos on different devices using different media players to get the clearest picture". What A Crock! Note: The Defense was not given this evidence, The different media players to view Willis' claims. Like in science, they could not reproduce the circumstances under which Willis obtained his proof, and this process was not demonstrated in court! Remember the bloody leather glove in the OJ Simpson trial? "If it does not fit, you must acquit"!
Charles Johnson will be on the witness stand after the lunch break. Charles Johnson was the Producer of Longbow Productions. This is the man, who's name is an alias, whom Pete Santilli's Attorney is trying to get unveiled before his trial so he can have due process secure his right to face his accuser. This is very important because, if there is damage done to any of the Defendants in these three cases, they have a right to because, that is how the system is intended to work. That is how we keep people honest! One other man is supposed to round out the Prosecution witnesses before they will rest.
Before court was recessed for lunch Todd Engel stood before the Judge pleading, "I should have the right to call in a witness that is against me, you have refused this witness to come to court. The Jury needs to hear this witnesses case against me so they understand". Judge Gloria Navarro just ignored Engel, did not address his plea, stood and left the courtroom.
Some other interesting facts brought up about this session of court. Prosecutors objected during Engel's cross examination presentation 52 times! 1/2 Million Facebook pages were viewed by FBI Agents on April 12, 2014 alone! Close to 200 witnesses have been interviewed by the FBI and their names have not been disclosed to the Defendants and their Attorney's. John Lamb, the man who's pocket Constitution was taken out of his pocket by a US Marshall without his permission, smuggled a Constitution into court today. Three of the political prisoners are being held in Solitary Confinement for refusing the constant strip searches even before they are allowed to out into the yard. These men are Ryan Payne, Ryan Bundy and Ammon Bundy. They are telling us and their Attorney's they are being strip searched multiple times a day, the men are refusing this constant abuse for no reason and have therefore been cast into solitary only affording them one hour out of their cell. Andrea Olson Parker reports her husband Eric Parker and the other Defendants are being abused in this same way. The men are strip searched a minimum of four times a day. They are strip searched when they leave the jail for court, when they get to the courthouse, when they leave the courthouse and when they get back to the jail. All these body cavity searches are only used to abuse and humiliate the prisoner. Anyone who knows anything about the drug availability in jail/prison know that the contraband is furnished to the prison population by the corrupt prison guards themselves. This abuse must stop! Maybe if the guards were subject to strip search it would.
Happenings in the afternoon session. The session began without the Jury present so the Prosecution could get some ground rules established as they plan on start presenting their case in favor of Longbow Productions, consisting of government employees acting as Documentary Producers in an effort to coerce protestors from the Bundy Ranch Protest to voice disdain for the Federal Government and use their statements against them in a court of law, which is against the Fourth Amendment and the Fifth Amendment. Jess Marchese, Attorney for Eric Parker, made a motion to have the entire documentary footage allowed before the Jury, not the "cherry picking" the Prosecution wants to present in a select 18 sound bites they plan to present. He argued this should be done in an attempt of "completion" as to provide context and motive of Longbow Production staff. A half an hour was dedicated to arguing the Longbow issue and it sounded like Judge Gloria Navarro is not going to let the footage be entered unedited by the Prosecution.
Next up to testify for the Prosecution was 18 year Phoenix Assisant Special Agent Michael Caputo, Judge Navarro said his testimony will only apply to Greg Burleson not the other 5 Defendants, which is why having these stacked trials is unconstitutional because once the Jury hears this testimony you can't un-hear it for the other defendants! The Prosecution began by asking Agent Caputo several questions in regards to Greg Burleson. It was established during questioning that Burleson has been working WITH the FBI since 2012 as an INFORMANT! It was disclosed in court that Burleson made several phone calls to the FBI as late as 2016. These phone calls were recorded by the FBI and some of those calls were played in court today. Burleson had two FBI "handlers" since 2012. Both of Burleson's handler's have testified in this trial, one of which was Adam Nixon who testified in court on March 15 and 16, in which Terrence Jackson, Burleson's Attorney asked Nixon about informants, how many, and if they used them to infiltrate Burleson and his Facebook account, and who his boss was, to which Nixon gave limited information or didn't seem to recall information. The other handler is this Michael Caputo on the stand now. THIS is why the Prosecution made the distinction of the testimony only applying to Burleson so the other Defendants and their Attorney's could not cross examine this witness! Only Terrence Jackson would have that privilege. Caputo, through questioning from the Prosecution, told the Jury Burleson has been working for the FBI as a paid informant since 2012 on several cases besides the Stand Up at Bunkerville. One of the recorded phone calls played in court was in regards to the Bundy Ranch Case. The phone call included information on how Burleson had become "Facebook Popular" and how much of what he posted/said went viral including the Bundy Ranch Protest which included "weapons and guns" talk, which is referenced in Adam Nixon's testimony, as that was his "expertise".
Terrence Jackson questioned Agent Caputo in regards to Burleson contacting him, or his previous handler about his involvement in Bundy Ranch and the monetary compensation he would receive. Jackson asked Caputo if they discontinued working with his because Burleson became unreliable? Caputo claimed not to know the answer and told how he transferred Burleson to Adam Nixon at that time and some months after the transfer to Nixon [they] decided to stop "using him". Jackson asked Caputo if he told Burleson he was being recorded in the phone calls, Caputo answered "no". Jackson then asked Caputo if Burleson "had a problem with alcohol? Did he have tendency to exaggerate? And, was he paid to help you and Nixon"? Caputo said he "didn't know" about the alcohol problem. The answer to the "exaggeration" was objected to by the Prosecution, but answered in the affirmative to compensation in the form of cash. Jackson then asked Caputo, "did Burleson want to impress the FBI so he could continue to work with them in hopes to continue to be paid by them"? It is suggested that his may have been the reason for one of these recorded phone calls.
It was evidenced by the courtroom observers that all, including the Defendants and their Attorney's were SHOCKED to find out Greg Burleson was a paid FBI Informant, and that the government's informant has been sitting at their table in the court, has been priviy to all the pretrial meetings and strategy sessions! Could this explain some of his courtroom medical theatrics? Where they staged in order to pass important information regarding the Defense strategy? A ploy to tug at the heartstrings of the public in order to gain sympathy and support for his "supposed" mistreatment by the US Marshalls? During the testimony of Caputo all of the other counsel was congregating to discuss strategy due to the BOMBSHELL they had just discovered.
The Prosecution then called to the stand "Charles Johnson", alias of one of the two men who headed up the Phony Longbow Productions who is an Undercover FBI Agent. Courtroom observes say that "Johnson" was giving special treatment, being led through a side door unlike any of the previous witnesses with tight security and protection. The Prosecution asked "what the did to create their undercover team including website, phone numbers, email"? Although this information does not exist of their website now, Johnson and his team created fake project for people to see to make themselves look legit if people were to contact them on the web. Prosecution asked "what was your pitch going to be"? Johnson said, "we just wanted [them] to know, this was a way for them to get their story out". The documentary they had planned for the Protest at Bundy Ranch was "America Reloaded". Johnson disclosed that he had an assistant named "Anna", she was responsible for contacting people and setting everything up. The Prosecution began by playing Scott Drexler's Longbow interview first. The interview was conducted at Red Fish Lake in Idaho which included Scott saying "there was no plan, they went to Nevada because of the First Amendment Zone set up by the BLM, they were not there for violence. They were there to match force for force. We went there to protect the protestors, because they had a right to protest". Eric Parker's interview consisted of "I always take my weapons when I protesting, because I don't like having pepper spray sprayed in my face. Parker also mentioned the First Amendment Zone set up by the BLM, why and how they went to Nevada". Parker talked about arriving at 1:00 a.m. and immediately being put on guard duty from 2:00 a.m. to 4:00 a.m. Parker said the only planning they had was a little meeting in the morning about the militia escorting the Bundy Family to the stage as the ONLY plan. Some of the questions asked the men by Longbow were pretty much the same across the board like, "were you willing to take a life"? With Parker saying, "I've never thought about it". Another question by Longbow, "who was in charge? Were you there to get the cows back? Who opened the gate"?
Eric Parker's Longbow interview was diced into small sound bites cutting the video short when Parker was about to say something with constitutional moorings saying, "no one wanted to die that day"! Parker did not have optics on his gun and it was "situational", he would only be able to make "cover fire" and that was not a good plan. Eric Parker's interview included him relating how they had a conversation on the bridge before everything went down, that if there was teargas shot into the crowd, this was not cause to shoot, that it was not the same force saying, "we need to stand up united". Parker brought up "Carol's statement" and he was willing to "stand up for the Constitution". Another Longbow question was, "do you thing the BLM was scared"? Eric's reply was, "we were all scared"! Longbow emphasized questions about the BLM being scared and anti Federal Government questions during their interviews asking them several times in different ways trying to get a "reaction" out of the interviewees. There was questioning ferreting out how the BLM had 3 SWAT Teams, drones an snipers. The people on the bridge possibly not making it home. Longbow asked, "what was the most inspiring moment of that day"? Eric Parker, with great emotion said, "watching the cows go home on the range, it was American! Free cows, happy cows taste better, not as bitter". Which brought laughter to the Jury, a welcome relief for everyone in the courtroom as they were hanging on every word during the men's interviews. Parker ended his interview testimony saying, "we were willing to die on that bridge". Demonstrating that they were men of principle, not boastful, not wanting to shoot anyone, just wanting to accomplish a goal with a peaceful resolution, standing my their neighbor and to live free as American's. To ensure the First Amendment was upheld and not limited to one area or prohibitive protest in redressing an overreaching government. In Scott Drexler's video interview he said, "this is what I would do in the military. I would do the same thing to protect the people there where I was deployed". It was made clear by the men's interviews that if they hadn't come to Bunkerville there would clearly have been bloodshed.
Courtroom observers reported that they were please with the outcome of the interviews by Longbow played in court today. It showed the men were principled, with the exception of Greg Burleson. That an Attorney who was sitting in on the proceedings today said the Defendants have a great case for a mistrial in this case saying there are a lot of things that were hid from the Defense as the government presented its case and these should be included in the motion. That the Prosecution is going out of its way to HIDE the evidence. It was also observed that many of the Jurors left the courtroom in tears today because of the powerful testimony by the Defendants played in court today. Tomorrow will finish up with Eric Parker's Longbow interview and then Greg Buleson's.
Today's shenanigans included US Marshalls confiscating pocket Constitutions from the those attending court today. The US Marshall told them, "take it to your vehicle, give it to someone outside the courthouse or we will throw it in the trash. It is not allowed anywhere in the courthouse"! John Lamb reported that the US Marshall actually walked up to him and just pulled his pocket Constitution out of his pocket without even asking him to do so. This is how braisen our government law enforcement has become. The Constitution is dead to these people, although it protects them too, but they don't need it because they are carrying the "big stick".
Courtroom observers report that there were approximately 30 FBI Agents in the courtroom today and 12 US Marshalls including the 15 Jurors and alternates on the Prosecution side of the room. There were only 7 supporters for the Defendants. Judge Gloria Navarro made it a point to face the 7 supporters and the defendants "you can not make any facial expressions, smile, or body language". It is definitely a two way street because the Prosecution side of the courtroom was allowed to read noisy newspapers, laugh, visiting with one another, coming in and out of the courtroom at their leisure which was very distracting to the courtroom observers.
This afternoon court continued with Agent Joel Willis assigned to the Bunkerville Case. Agent Willis has been attending court proceedings everyday throughout the duration sitting in the courtroom gallery. Before Judge Navarro came into the courtroom Willis was up flipping through his exhibits up at the table. Willis continued to present his screen shot evidence to the Jury taken from news footage and video from Dennis Michael Lynch and Michael Flynn. Although he's been touted as the government expert on meta data, Willis can not testify on time stamps and location etc. because there isn't any, so he's guessing using areal footage and traffic at the time, even though there is no traffic in many of the photos, many of which are taken in the middle of the desert noting on one photo that had a portion of a tire in the screen shot, "this tire is from a three wheel bike and that's how I determined the time". IN WHAT WORLD? In all, there was an estimated total of 80 different screen shots. Noted, the Defense objected to every piece of evidence presented, to no avail.
Cross examination began with Richard Tanasi asking Willis, "did you view anything that went viral? Do you know what 'viral' means? Did you view videos that went viral of the Bundy Ranch? To which Willis responded, "yes". Tanasi asked, "did you see the video of Ammon Bundy being tased"? Willis answered "yes". Tanasi continued, "so it was relevant for you to view it as part of the case"? Willis answered "yes". Tanasi then moved to bring in the video of Margaret Houston being accosted from behind and thrown to the ground by a BLM Agent. Judge Navarro denied this evidence. This incident was included in the footage of Ammon Bundy being tased, yet Judge Navarro said this portion was not relevant to the case. Richard Tanasi argued that if it was relevant enough for the chief investigator on the stand to view as an investigator of Bundy Ranch, it was relevant to the Jury in this case. The Judge denied the motion. Tanasi moves forward in questioning the witness asking, "how many BLM and other Agents were in the wash at the time"? Willis testified to 40. Tanasi asked or clarification as to where, "the wash, Post 1, Post 2, etc.? Does it include other agencies including Las Vegas Metro"? Willis' answers get convoluted and he finally says, "I do not recall". The Defense takes all the screen shots form the photo video evidence refreshing the memory of Willis, showing screen shots he claimed were taken within minutes of each other and pointing out discrepancies as to exactly who is in the photo referring to, "black hat man (Eric Parker), tan hat (Scott Drexler), blue shirt (Steven Stewart)". Tanasi points out in many of the photos that there are a lot of black hats, a lot of tan hats and a lot of blue shirts and these individuals are in totally different positions. Then questioning moved specifically to Michael Flynn's videos. The defense established that Michael Flynn had an interview with a case agent and at that time handed all of his video footage over to the agent before committing suicide. During Willis' testimony he discloses that they are using Flynn's video time stamp to override all the other time stamps from BLM body-cam/dash-cam, Las Vegas Metro body-cam/dash-cam despite evidence otherwise stating, "the reason I used Flynn's video as president is because his footage was taken from all over the place, in the wash, on the bridge, it's at the rally, it's driving on I-15 following the Las Vegas Metro". During questioning Willis admits he does not know if the meta data has been changed, "but to my knowledge it had not been changed". Tanasi then brings up the screen shot of the Park Service in the "stacked formation". The Jury has already seen the video footage of the portions Willis is testifying to in screen shots! Willis continues to tell the Jury he knows why people are moving and in what direction they are moving. Tanasi wonders, "why can't we just watch the video"?
Jess Marchese, Eric Parker's Attorney, approached the witness questioning Willis about his time stamps and screen shots sighting the exhibit numbers and pointing out time after time that his evidence does not match the photo evidence. Marchese moved to remove 5 of Willis' slides, before the Judge ruled she asked Myhre what he had to say about it, in which Myhre says, "we can hold that until redirect". To which Judge Navarro withholds her ruling until she hears what Steven Myhre comes up with in redirect a day from now. Marchese gets Willis to divulge his equation to get the screen shot time stamp to match with Michael Flynn's video time stamp testifying that sometimes he had an over two minute discrepancy. Marchese established the fact that Michael Flynn didn't have footage of the ICP, the bridge or parking area. Willis testified to the claim that Flynn's video was the most complete of any footage that exists including body-cam and dash-cam footage taken by the BLM and Metro when it was not. Marchese displayed one of Willis' screen shots showing Eric's finger was not on the trigger. The Defense pointed out to the Jury that Willis just wants them to "take his word for it" and that he did not demonstrate HOW he was able to validate the time stamps and meta data.
The courtroom observers are reporting more heavy-handed tactics by the security personnel at the courtroom scanner. Andrea Olson Parker's purse was emptied and scrutinized several times refusing her right to bring her purse into the courtroom because it contained a necklace of a bullet casing with a precious stone in it and a eyeglass repair kit, although she has had the necklace in her purse everyday she's attended court! Visitors and their belongings are being screened twice before every session.
Special Agent Joel Willis, a 13 year veteran of the FBI and currently assigned to the Domestic Terrorism Squad of the Las Vegas Joint Terrorism Task Force wherein the following description, "This task force specializes in investigations targeting individuals and organizations who may pose a domestic threat to the United States". Need I say more? Joel Willis was the author of the criminal complaint used to indict Cliven Bundy and 18 other co-defendants. Can you see why this testimony must be objected to? He wasn't there, he took no photos, video or wrote any account of what transpired. He was brought in after the fact to create a paper trail which was used in charges being brought against everyone in these three trials! Joel Willis was also allowed to sit in the gallery in with other courtroom observers while discussion of his testimony was going on. Willis testified that he spent over a 100 hours into his search for open source, anything viewable to the general public, later obtaining a search warrant for Todd Engel. It was observed that all other FBI witnesses were assigned to investigate any of the Defendants, even by warrant, from the state win which they resided, but this was an obvious break in protocol as Todd Engel was concerned. Willis' testimony against Todd Engel included posts throughout the event in Bunkerville including, information about the Bundy Ranch, as he's leaving to drive to Bunkerville, who he is bringing, encouraging support for the Bundy Family and inviting people to come. He continues to post while he is driving commenting on cell towers being down and rumors he had detected about what was going on. Engel continued posting from the time he arrived at Bunkerville up until the event at the wash concluded which established his own timeline. One post included, "heading out to block the freeway and take the cows back", which according to a mapping of event, was right after Cliven Bundy made his directional speech on the stage. At this point the Prosecution presents a string of links to the Jury. The Prosecution does not have the actual links to display, they only present them as verbal evidence. They don't have the photo that is contained within the link. The Jury and the Defense have NO PROOF of evidence in the links they mention, yet we are supposed to believe Willis IS AN EXPERT! It is mind boggling how any of this is tolerated in this case! THEY HAVE NO EVIDENCE! A video that Todd Engel shot was then shown to the Jury that contained the words of Engel as the BLM/Government Operatives left the ICP in which Engel can be heard saying, "f**k you! Dick! You muzzled women and children! Eat Shit! while flipping off the BLM. How many cars do you need. Look at the army, look at the army. We will in the end.". Although Engel does voice an apology at the end of the video, the video still stood. Next the Prosecution submitted posts from Todd Engel's Facebook where he made many posts about what happened at Bundy Ranch after he returned home which included, information on the snipers on the plateau and how it was too far away, he told about the person who reported on guns being pointed at protectors, saying, "it was a Mexican standoff". He posted how he had a conversation with a Las Vegas Metro officer and even yelling at him at one point. He also posted about how he thanked the 2 Nevada Highway Patrol who helped him. The Prosecution follows with comments Engel posted to other people's posts which they presented backwards from after the standoff to April 11, 2014. In Todd's defense it was brought out that he had contact with Las Vegas Metro on many occasions trying to relay information and offer suggestions and help. Earlier you remember the Prosecution recanted all the Ruby Ridge references they may bring up? True to form, the Prosecution did enter a post Engel made referring to Ruby Ridge which now allows it to be spoken about in open court, saying " I am 20 miles form Ruby Ridge truck loaded". Then Willis testified to Engel's report of cell towers down, the possible roads blocked, "I'll be boots on the ground at 4:00 a.m.", asking about directions to Bunkerville. Evidence is introduced of Engel relaying information that the cell towers were are working and the air space was closed, the military is forming peacefully and disproves some of the rumors he had been told. Prosecuting Attorney Steven Myhre stood before that court and made a correction to a time stamp and not one objection resulted from it, which proves, you can make this stuff up as you go along. More comments from Engel's social media were presented like, "I-15 is a disaster, please stop the rumors, it the threat level rises I will let you know, I will receive a test about it". Which drew an objection. The Judge proceeded to help Myhre through the objection process again proving the fact that the Judge in not an impartial Judge but is working for the Prosecution. There was discussion of Engel's fear that the BLM would return to Bunkerville. It is noted at this time that the FBI Agent Joel Willis seems to be stumbling around a lot. At his point Terrence Jackson objected stating, "it is a first amendment right to comment on things". The Prosecution shows a video of Todd on a porch in which Engel talks about Dan Love. The courtroom observers indicated that this video was edited into approximately 5 segments in which Engel says, "do not comply" and "if you'd like to get trained I know some guys, I'll make some calls and they'll come and visit you". Willis now testified to the fact that the arrest on the 3rd of March 2016 and the indictment was obtained the March 2, 2016. The Prosecution then shows a video in which Todd Engel was in his vehicle talking about Jerry Delemus being arrested and Eric Parker being arrested. There are objections from the Defense, but no action is taken to stop the video evidence from being shown. The Jury is reported to be writing furiously during this video. Engel's commentary continued about, "Eric in gun battles as he stood that day between Feds and Patriots". The expert witness for the Prosecution, Joel Willis, could not testify if the video recording was done live or was recorded and posted at a later time. Just what expertise does this man have? Engel continued in his video commentary stating, "I will communicate throughout the day via Facebook so people would know he was safe". There are objections at this point to which the government says that it is conjoined with the conspiracy. The Defense objects again stating, "exactly when does the conspiracy stop because at this point Eric Parker was already arrested"! There was a lengthy discussion on this subject, and in the end, the Judge allowed all of it as she determined it was directly to the conspiracy and claimed that the information regarding Eric Parker was not widely known yet and by Todd Engel relaying the information to the public from a conspirator and thereby continuing the conspiracy. So this information is being used against Eric Parker at this time in court although Eric was already in custody for his portion. There are more objections to the majority of the photo evidence Willis is testifying to because Willis used a photo editing program to add colored arrows, boxes containing names and testifying as to who the people in the photos were even thought the photos were taken at such a distance you can't see any detail and the people, license plates and vehicles were unrecognizable, including the fact that Willis was not there and did not take the photos and could not authenticate who took the photos. Willis' testimony continued as he testified as to which direction the people in the photos were facing and the direction they were heading, although these were still photos and he was not on scene! The Prosecution continued with Willis' testimony asking, "here is Ricky Lovelien, how do you know it's Lovelien? Willis presents Lovelien's booking photo and photos of his tattoos" none of which you can see in their evidence photos on scene. There was testimony to Shannon Bushman's "drop"(?) account, (maybe in reference to his many photos he took and shared with the world), then more testimony of meta data on the evidence produced throughout the trial.
It was noticed by court observers that one of the Prosecuting Attorneys (DOJ) was absent from their table, when they noticed the man who's name was not given, in the back of the gallery chatting and laughing with the woman who was in charge of all the witnesses who would be appearing during trial. They reported that they were using exaggerated hand and body movements that would not be tolerated by Judge Navarro as she's been known to throw people out of the courtroom for a simple head nod, and has been notorious for scolding people from the bench warning them, "they will be kicked out if they continue"! This seemed very unethical and inappropriate to them and wondered what would happen if the Defense Attorneys caught sitting in the gallery with the defendants supporters. I'm sure there'd be hell to pay from Judge Gloria Navarro! Observers also say that this woman, "Nadia" is normally seated at a desk in a different part of the courtroom.
The Prosecution disclosed in court that they only have three more witnesses, and now, they expect to close Wednesday or early Thursday. Charles Johnson is brought up vowing to only enter small video clips from he and Ron's work, he is the undercover witness who's real identity the government will not disclose under any circumstances, even though the Sixth Amendment affirms that they shall be informed of the witnesses against them. Charles Johnson is being unduly protected by the government for posing as "Longbow Productions", a documentary front group set up by the US Government to entice the protestors in these three trials, giving them alcohol to intensify the men's "courage", to making derogatory statements about the US Government. During this discussion, Jess Marchese, Eric Parker's Attorney asks that Eric's video be played in it's entirety, not snipped into bits by the Prosecution to parrot their narrative. Judge Navarro refused to rule on the objection by Marchese at this time, so predictable! During all this discussion of evidence and witnesses the current witness, Joel Willis, is again seen sitting in the gallery with the courtroom observers! Seems there's no rules for the government and it's witnesses whatsoever! The Defense then stands to request a "dark day" Thursday if the Prosecution wraps on Wednesday, which the Judge says no, because the trial is running on to long for her, denying the defendants there Sixth Amendment Right to obtain witnesses in their favor. The Defense informs the court that the Defense is only planning to take a week to a week and a half to present their defense. Richard Tanasi, Attorney for Steven Steward, then moves to sever from Engel because of the evidence from social media presented in court today. THIS is why you don't have people tried in groups! This violates the Fifth and the Sixth Amendments! And EVERYONE should protest this from the housetops! Courtroom observers suspect that the Defense table, consisting of "Appointed Public Defenders" does not have their witnesses lined up or their case ready and will fall far short of the defense these men deserve. The Prosecution has been presenting their case for five weeks, and the defense deserves at least one week for each defendant. In the law of averages, this only allows each defendant ONE DAY to put on a defense and this is NOT OK! Judge Gloria Navarro also made a decree in court that this trial will be over by the end of April, addressing a concern among one of the Jury members having another commitment in April. Courtroom observers are confident that Judge Navarro will use this as an excuse to silence the Defense. Judge Navarro also confirmed the fact that she will not allow Daniel P. Love in court to testify for the Prosecution and courtroom observers are not confident she will allow him to be called by the Defense. Dan Love is why this whole debacle started! He commissioned his forces to gather in March 2014! He was the one who lied in the Grand Jury Indictment! That is why the Prosecutions case is solely dedicated to social media, photo and video evidence, BECAUSE THEY WON'T LET THEIR TAINTED GOVERNMENT CRONY TESTIFY, because of his being dismissed for misconduct!
Courtroom observers reported that, although the text above doesn't show it, each piece of evidence discussed was objected to multiple times by multiple attorney's, and these objections fell on deaf ears! They were not even acknowledged to by Judge Navarro.
March 16, 2017
The trial continued today with Adam Nixon, Special Agent FBI, "Open Source" Investigator assigned to investigate the state of Arizona, and in this case, the Arizona organized militia and Greg Burleson. Nixon continued in his testimony for the government against the people. His testimony began with a Facebook post in which, I'm not sure who because the reporter forgets to tell us, someone says, "bring your gas masks and prepare for attack dogs, bring hot dogs and mace". The Prosecution shows and exhibit where you can see "someone's" Facebook posts even after the individual deleted their post, validating the fact that the CIA brainchild known as Facebook captures and archives EVERYTHING! Fourth Amendment be damned! It also is proving the fact that the government considers you a suspect even if you are just a friend of an individual they decided to go after, and if you add a comment on their post or are involved in a chat with that person, you will be dragged into court with them. The Prosecution submits several photos into evidence of posts made to Facebook that Greg Burleson was tagged in. One of these photos was of a group of cowboys at Bunkerville with a white horse without a rider. Nothing was said about the photo at this point. A photo of Greg in the bushes and under the bridge with someone sitting next to him holding a firearm. Agent Nixon was asked to identify Greg Burleson in the courtroom. Agent Nixon tells the Jury about a post Burleson made about criticizing the government, the Jurors took note of this as they all recorded this in their journals. Nixon then testified to the next peace of evidence where he made a post referring to Las Vegas Metro as, "pussy cock-sucking bitches". Again, getting the attention of the Jury. Nixon then testified that Burleson pointed his gun at the Metro as Burleson said, "they were pointing their weapons at men, women and children". Another Facebook post was entered into evidence where Burleson is quoted to have said, "if you arrest even on militia member, we will burn you to the ground, including your wives and children". The Jury making note of this also. Another of Burleson's Facebook posts was submitted to the court in which he says, "people are still needed at Bundy Ranch in order to help build a garrison". Courtroom observers report that there were not objections during Nixon's testimony because the Prosecution and Judge Gloria Navarro required the Jury to leave the courtroom while this battle over this evidence went on, this way the Jury would not see the objections from the Defense and the Prosecution could present this evidence without a whisper from the Defense. The Prosecution submits another post from Burleson quoting him as saying, "protests are for pussy's. Bundy Ranch is not a protest". Agent Nixon also has Ammon Bundy's Facebook page subpoena for a search warrant. Next the Prosecution submits more photos from Bundy Ranch in which Ammon Bundy is tagged in, but these were not Ammon's photos, they were just posted on Facebook by others. In court is is established that EVERY photo you upload to Facebook reveals information as to which phone it was taken from, the time and GPS/location information, again violating the Fourth Amendment! The Prosecution then submits evidence of Nixon's investigation of Arizona State Militia introducing evidence mentioning Jason Woods and Micah McGuire showing photos of the two in front of the stage at the rally area and he testified to "AR Assault Riffles" being held by anyone they could sag a photo from. The reference was used as a tool to influence the Jury just like the parade of government planted firearms at the protest in Burns Oregon.
Cross examination began with Terrence Jackson asking Agent Nixon, "where did you become connected in the investigation into the Bundy Ranch"? Objections from the Prosecution were many during this line of questioning, Nixon does say, "prior to April 12, 2014. My assignment was to focus on "militia extremism" and could only investigate extremism, not just militia. Nixon testified that he was only one of a team of investigators. Jackson asked him several questions some of which were "how many were on your team, and who was your boss"? Which were objected to. Nixon disclosed that he "wrote no reports before the protest began", but passed on information he had obtained that lots of the people he was previously investigating and collecting information on were gathering together at the ranch. Jackson, Greg Burleson's Attorney presented evidence that Greg was not a member of the Arizona State Militia at the time he was at Bunkerville Jackson established, through the evidence presented by the Prosecution, that only two of those posts were prior to April 12, 2014. Jackson asked Nixon, "did law enforcement have a lot of civilian informants working for law enforcement"? There were many objections to this language, so Jackson edited his question to "non law enforcement personnel", to which Nixon replied "yes". Jackson, "did they have informants on the internet"? Nixon replied in the affirmative. "Did you have informants on Greg Burleson's Facebook account"? Nixon claims to "not know", and after further questioning regarding comments, friends and tags, that, "it's possible, ya, I guess so" admitting that informants also made posts to Burleson's account as comments. Jackson posed some questions regarding peoples posts when under stress and how those posts differ than when under "normal" circumstances saying, "they can say things that they don't mean and wish, at a later time, that they hadn't". Objections immediately flew from the Prosecution. Thankfully, Judge Navarro actually reprimands the Prosecution for objecting so much that the witness can not even reply to the questions, which is the whole point in the Prosecution objecting. Judge Navarro must have taken the "red pill" today.
Todd Leventhal was next to approach Agent Nixon for cross examination establishing the fact that, his client Scott Drexler, was never a member of the Arizona State Militia. Leventhal asked Nixon if he know who Mark Kessler was? Adam Nixon said, "I know his name but was not aware of him being an informant, and that I was aware of Kessler being an 'informant handler' during this investigation and that there were other 'informant handlers'", which concluded the Defense's cross examination.
The government introduces it's next witness, Sarah Draper FBI Idaho. The Jury hears about her investigation of death threats to the Bergdahl family after Bowe Burgdahl returned to Idaho. Sarah Draper was also the person who served Eric Parker's family with a search warrant. Draper's assignment was to search Facebook accounts for Eric Parker, Scott Drexler and Seven Stewart, all from Idaho. The Prosecution presented evidence that Eric Parker shared news articles on his Facebook account trying to establish the connection between conspiracy against the government and any articles you may share with others on social media, jumping to conclusions and ready to indite you. Eric only shared articles in his posts, no comments, just shared. The Jury seemed to respond well to this evidence. A test from Parker was submitted saying, "Got a neighbor in trouble in Nevada, what are you gonna do when shots are fired" posted with a link to the article "Bundy Ranch, US Feds Going After Last Rancher Standing". Another read, "government assault, government terror attack at Bundy Ranch". Another read, "citizens of the US states fought the toughest battle in the army in 1776 and we can do it again". Evidence is submitted of a post Eric Parker made with a link to an article about fracking and the reason that the government wants the land from people like the Bundy's. Courtroom observers noted that the Jury was writing during the presentation of this evidence. Evidence of a YouTube video and a "wall post" on Eric's Facebook page were presented to the Jury. Parker himself then made a post on his Facebook wall on April 12, 2014 at 3:00 p.m. which read, "we have cows happy cows, free cows, raised in the open range and not in a cage". The government rescinded the search warrant on Eric Parker's Facebook account after July 14, 2014 and the Prosecution presented no more social media posts from Parker's account. Evidence from Steven Stewart's social media posts will next be presented to the Jury after the afternoon break.
When the afternoon session began the Jury was not present as the Prosecution tried to introduce evidence against Parker saying, "he was bragging in his posts and was intent to keep the movement going". This garnered objections from the Defense, but was sustained by the Judge allowing the Prosecution to connect the evidence to the protest in Burns Oregon and Ammon Bundy. Judge Gloria Navarro is allowing the Prosecution to include events before the events of April 12, 2014 through the standoff at Malhuer and beyond, but won't allow the Defense to include incidents prior to April 12th including the snipers on the hill and the assault and abduction of Davey Bundy or the assault of Margaret Houston, clearly playing favorites and depraving the Defendants of Due Process contained in the constitution. During this time there was a motion to sever by the Defense, stating they wanted to exclude the evidence of Greg Burleson as it would be detrimental to the other clients. The motion was denied. The Defense will bring this up again later, and the Judge said, "there is not spillover effect from any violation, just because they didn't speak to one another, doesn't mean they are not a part of the conspiracy". IN WHAT WORLD? The government said, "Drexler, Ammon and Parker were communicating well up until their arrests". Andrea Parker reports that, "Scott Drexler and Eric Parker did not know Ammon until just before the protest in Burns Oregon, and that there was only a small amount of communication then.
The Jury is then brought back into the courtroom and Sarah Draper continues her testimony, this time, on Scott Drexler, with more of the same. They submitted to the court two pages of Drexler's Facebook posts, all of them are "shared links" of YouTube videos and a comment on a shared photo of Eric Parker saying "nice photo Eric". Drexler shared a link to an article "Cliven Bundy Bundy Celebrates Win As BLM Leave and Cattle Were Released", and a comment saying, "it looks like we may have to go back". Evidence during Draper's evidence presentation show communication with statements like "careful, bridges are choke points" and "that's why we use them to shut down the freeway".
Next the Prosecution presents evidence on Steven Stewart, to which Sarah Draper testified, showing evidence, that Stewart just posted links to articles on his Facebook with comments such as, "sick of this sh!!", not even spelling the word out. Another read, "heading to Nevada right now", when friends posted "are you still in Nevada" Drexler responded, "I was only in town for the weekend. Helped Cliven get his cattle back and went straight back home with 2 hours of sleep in-between". On the morning of April 12, 2014 he posted that things were going slow and there was confusion. Andrea Parker was then discussed in court because she commented on a Facebook post from Steven Stewart saying, "hell ya"! The comment was posted April 15, 2014 trying to implicate Andrea as an UN-Indited Co-Conspirator. A text from Steward in which he was quoted as saying, "bullshit, I feel like crap that I'm not on my way already". Draper then testified that Stewart posted photos of the "First Amendment Zone" on his Facebook wall stating, "where did these signs come from, do we still live in America"? The Prosecution then introduces a video into evidence that Steven Stewart made when the BLM were leaving in which Drexler makes comments such as, "good bye, bye bye, here goes another one, here goes the BLM incident command center, why does the BLM need an incident command center"? Draper testified to a link posted to Drexler's Facebook about Lloyd D. George, after which the Federal Courthouse his trial is being held is named after saying, "these people thing they own us".
Cross examination of Sarah Draper begins with Richard Tanasi reminds the court that Steven Stewart, his client, lives in Idaho NOT Arizona or Montana. Tanasi also points out that the first Facebook post about Bundy Ranch was on April 10, 2014, the group travel a day, get there, and are there less than a day. Tanasi submits into evidence that Steven Stewart posts on social media, "I don't watch TV or news, I only here about what's going on here at Facebook". Tanasi received objections to several other questions not mentioned by the reporter. Draper was asked if she was aware of the "First Amendment Area" set up by the government in Bunkerville? Draper answered, "yes". Tanasi then asked Draper if she thought Stewart might be acting like a "wise ass" while cracking jokes in his video, or did he sound violent at the time? Draper responded, "well, if you're just giving me those two choices, I'd have to say he was being a wise ass". Tanasi brings up a portion of his video where he tells about how "the government was going to use gas on them, and if anyone had died they would be martyrs" not "we're going to shoot and kill everyone". Draper was asked, "did you see anywhere on Stewart's Facebook wall where he threatened to shoot anyone", to which she responded "no". Tanasi entered into evidence Facebook posts Stewart had made about his mother saying, "thanks Mom, love you Mommy", which brought tears to Steven's eyes.
Jess Marchese was up next to question Sarah Draper asking, "how she drafted the search warrants to look at Eric Parker"? The reporter gives no information about how the question was answered. Marchese demonstrated to the Jury how Eric's first post about the protest were on April 10, 2014 only sharing news articles and links. On April 11th he is making his decision to go and talks about a route to the protest. He shows the Jury several links Parker posted about, "Marshall low in Bunkerville Nevada" and "assaults on citizens" and another, "armed Feds are surrounding my farm". Marchese then asks, "did you hear Mr. Parker's arrest interview"? The reporter gives no answer. Marchese tells the Jury about the Clark County Officials say that, "Bundy Ranch supporters better have funeral money and body bags", reminding them the men were in Bunkerville less than 24 hours. Marchese referenced the video of the BLM leaving, and reminded the Jury there are not rocks or bottles being thrown, no guns being pointed at law enforcement, as all the other government witnesses swore to.
Todd Leventhal approached the Agent Sarah Draper asking, "when did your investigation begin"? That drew objections from the Prosecution. Leventhal was able to establish that investigation was going on from March until July and that after July Draper only had access to public information on Facebook and that Scott Drexler only had two pages of information the government said was conspiratorial. Leventhal also got Draper to admit that the majority of posts were sharing of news articles and that these three men were not in the Arizona Praetorian Guard State Militia. Leventhal presents a photo of Eric, Steven and Scott and defends the men in open court saying that although they have patches, guns and radios they are not part of an organized militia.
The Prosecution brings up their next witness, Bridget Pappas, Public Affairs Specialist. Pappas testifies to the Jury that her duties are "media related" and she sets up appointments for the FBI, she deals with the media and concerns herself with the way the FBI is perceived by the public. Pappas's office is in the J. Edgar Hoover Building in Washington DC. Draper was brought into open court to testify about the news and media in this case where these defendants are being tried for sharing news and posting it on media, further advancing the case of NSA spying and NDAA going to war with it's own people. There is discussion about video evidence associated with Bridget Pappas' testimony, but it's not introduced at this time. The Prosecution wants to dismiss the witness without testimony. The Defense motions to keep the subpoena for Pappas in effect for later questioning, but the Prosecution objects stating, "she lives to far away in Washington and she needs to get back there and it would be inconvenient for her to return". But, just imprison a bunch of men before a trial, throw away the key and abuse them, and that's OK!
Despite Bridget Pappas not giving any testimony, Terrence Jackson approached the witness to make some attempt to question her before she runs off the DC and is never seen, or heard from, again! Jackson asked, "did you deal with the media personnel directly when she was gathering evidence"? Pappas' answer, "no". "Do you know who prepared them"? "No". "Were you to collect all media, local and national as it pertained to the Gold Bute Bundy Ranch, and what criterion did you use when selecting the data that you kept and passed on"? Pappas said, "I was looking for images of armed people, law enforcement, protestors including interviews". Jackson asked, "did you look in foreign media"? Pappas answered, "no". "Did you limit it to local or major news lines"? Pappas, "yes". During Jackson's questioning Pappas testified to the FBI subscribing to a media service in order to do their investigation.
Todd Leventhal is next to question the witness asking, "how many news coverage's did you get"? Pappas responded, "hundreds". Leventhal asked, "how did you choose the pertinent information"? Pappas testified that she only collected one media source per headline and ignored all the other sites that just parrot the information. "And, you turned it all over to just one FBI Agent", Leventhal said. Leventhal followed, "did you save them all"? Pappas testified she saved 75 - 100. Leventhal established that Pappas did not search YouTube, and she could not recall if she saw the "Kelly Files". And, she collected the entire story on the Bundy Ranch but did not collect the additional stories from the news. Leventhal then addressed the Judge saying that the Prosecution did not collect all the media files and hand this evidence over in the discovery. Prosecuting Attorney Steven Myhre stands to tell Judge "yes we did", he claims they gave the Defense over 60 media files the woman collected.
The Prosecution is expected to wrap up their case Monday or Tuesday at the latest. Courtroom observers say that the Prosecution have evidence to show from their "undercover film crew" Longbow Productions where they gave people alcohol and goaded protestors in to saying derogatory/inflammatory statements. This evidence will be brought up in the next session of court.
March 15, 2017
Court began today without the Jury so the video of Todd Engel misrepresenting what Cliven Bundy said on stage at the rally could be played. This video was snuk in by the Prosecution at the last minute yesterday, but was objected to by the Defense. Judge Gloria Navarro is allowing the video to be played before the Jury is seated for further discussion. The Judge finally denies the Prosecution from submitting it into evidence.
It was also revealed officially that Carol Bundy is considered a Co Conspirator, not an UnIndited Co Conspirator as has been alleged by the Prosecution. They discussed photos from Shannon Bushman and email from MOA.
The Jury is brought in to the courtroom and cross examination of FBI Agent Mark Sealer began. Shawn Perez asked Sealer to explain the Facebook evidence that was presented in court yesterday. In doing this, the Judge is not allowing anything that has a "legal definition" into the record, this includes the Constitution, as it has a legal definition. Yet, when the Agent is asked a question about one of the defendants holding a weapon and "the government agency's response to it", the Judge allows the Agent's statement of, "the presence of a weapon was disrupting the agents in this event". When the Defense objected because it goes to "legal standing", the Judge sited "it's a legal definition so it is allowed"...how convenient, when it suits you! It is learned during Sealer's cross examination that he was in Las Vegas April 2014 watching video, the areal footage from the FBI areal surveillance and live streams from people like Pete Santilli. Perez asked if Ricky had an alias, and there was questioning about if he could see someone's Facebook post and their name or alias, and if they used that information to look into another persons posts, as it relates to yesterday's discussion about Ricky Lovelien. Sealer responded that, "yes" this is the case.
Richard Tanasi asked the witness, "did Steven Stewart know Ricky Lovelien"? Sealer, "no".
Jess Marchese stepped forward to ask Agent Sealer, who was present at the arrest of Eric Parker stating, Eric went cooperatively, you interview him in the van while being transported, he spoke to you with no animosity, he told you about his wife and kids, he described to you why he came to Bunkerville, he told you why he "did what he did" at Bunkerville. The interview you did with Mr Parker was 2 1/2 hours long, and you played less than 1% of that interview for the Jury? Marchese had made his point and sat down, next the Judge scolds him in open court saying, "what you are leaving is very misleading for the Jury, this is wrong". The Judge goes on to tell the Jury WHY the entire video will not be played for them and not be included in the evidence.
Todd Engel was next to cross examine the witness, "prior to April 12, 2014, were you investigating these groups and these individuals"? Answer, "yes". "Were you with Robyn Kirkham"? Sealer's answer, "yes". "Did Robyn Kirkham open 'alias accounts' on Facebook"? Sealer's responded, "yes". Engel asked Sealer, "do you know what Robyn Kirkham's alias was". Sealer, "no". "So how do you know she was not included in any of these other people listed on the email and Facebook accounts"? Sealer responded, "well, I do know, I just know she wasn't any of those". Engel then asked, "is Mark Kessler an FBI Agent"? Sealer said, "no". Todd Engel asked permission to show a portion of a video that was larger video for the witness, to which the Judge denied, ending with, "you could say that Ryan Payne is an exaggerating blowhard", drawing objections.
Terrence Jackson was next to question Mark Sealer saying, "do you know how many millions of people are on the internet everyday? Do you know how many people are using the internet to commit crimes including hacking, and maybe someone is masquerading as someone else to make a Facebook post?
The Defense is having a hard time getting actual answers to their questions from Sealer. He consistently gives statements in general, evading the questions! FBI/Government training was clearly evident with this witness. He's quite the "tool".
Todd Leventhal steps forward to question Sealer and asked, "did you see Scott Drexler's name on Rick Lovelien's friends list"? Sealer is asked to read the homepage of MOA, and emphasis is put on the statement there that, "member comments/statements should not reflect upon the group or the organization". Then evidence is introduced of Ryan Payne displaying "thumbs up", and what his reason for giving the "thumbs up" was? "Can you tell us if anyone asked Mr. Payne how his breakfast was, or maybe it was the news of hearing that the "BLM" was leaving? Sealer, again, skirted the question and did not answer, we are hoping the Jury gets the message. Then Sealer was asked if Rick Light and Mark Kessler were government informants? His answer was "no, not to my knowledge", but everyone should know that Kessler himself admits this on Alan Colmes Radio Interview.
Up next for the Prosecution is Timothy Dupner (?), Special Agent FBI Oklahoma. They Prosecution begins by entering into evidence Rick Lovelien's booking photos and tattoos (I can't find these online), they may be trying to scare the Jury with Mug Shots. This Agent was present when Richard Lovelien was booked into custody. Agent Dupner (?) was asked to identify Lovelien in the courtroom. Dupner does not pick out the right person, instead pointing out someone in a grey suit, embarrassed, the Prosecution moved on to the next witness.
Next up for the Prosecution is Joseph Wolfson, Special Agent FBI, Assigned to "Open Source" Intelligence, looking for anything, and everything, that has to do with "Bundy Ranch", entering photos and video of anything he finds on the internet into evidence from his searches of "militia", "Bundy Ranch", "standoff", "gunmen" and other inaudible search terms, which is allowed by the Judge. None of this evidence was personally taken by the Agent, and he does not know WHO took them! There is no evidence presented as to when the photos were taken, and they are not time-stamped, void of contacts, no knowledge if they have been edited in any way, if they are original copies. Courtroom observers report that there was a HUGE fight about this evidence, but the Defense was overruled, and the evidence was allowed. The Prosecution asked Wolfson several questions pertaining to a video of Todd Engel in particular, asking, "do you know who this persona is? Are you familiar with this voice? Can you attest to the authenticity of 'the page'"? I think in reference to Facebook. Agent Wolfson said, "[he] assumed it was Todd Engel". Objections from the Defense arose and this line of testimony was shut down for now, but that the Prosecution intends to bring someone in to authenticate the evidence later, referring to the audio portion of the video only.
Cross examination begins with Richar Tanasi asking Wolfson, "can you tell me what time this photo was taken"? Wolfson avoids answering by saying, "I can tell by the minute, but not by the second". An argument then ensues about other photos of the "the crowd" where people in the photo are close and then others where they were far away, Tanasi asking what is the timeline of these photos? Wolfson inserts his narrative of what he "thinks" but cannot prove, Tanasi driving the point home that Wolfson doesn't know for sure what is happening and when. Wolfson testifies that he can tell the timing because of the crowd formation.
Terrence Jackson then approaches the witness asking about Wolfson's "key word" search terms. "How long did you focus your search on militia"? Wolfson answering, "somewhere around a 100 hours in the first three weeks". "How many times did you meet with the US Attorney's Office"? Wolfson disclosed that he met with them 8 times after the event at Bunkervill. 3-4 times a few years ago, 2 times last year and 2 times last week.
Jess Marchese was next to question Joseph Wolfson. Marchese's questioning went to identification of his client Eric Parker. Marchese asked Wolfson to identify Parker in photos and videos. Wolfson referred to him as "the man in the plaid shirt". Wolfson testifies there are numerous photo he's seen of Parker, then Marchese asked Wolfson if he can pick Parker out of some aerial footage submitted into court? Wolfson says, "yes"! Courtroom observers say that you can't see any detail in the footage and would have a hard time pointing anyone out in the footage. Wolfson firmly testifies that he can pick Parker out, not only that, but show where he was on the bridge. Remember, Wolfson WASN'T THERE! He is testifying to photos and videos he saw online in his key word search!
Next up, Todd Leventhal enters into evidence #5046, which is a screen shot of Agent Wolfson's computer screen as he is actively doing his key word search online in real time. Leventhal asked him to authenticate it, Wolfson does. Leventhal zooms in to the bottom of this screen shot where Wolfson's open windows are displayed including, Roxio Photo Editor, and another Photo Editing Program the reporter can't pronounce. Leventhal asked Wolfson what the programs can do in reference to "putting things in, or taking things out", "I didn't take the photos, so I don't know if anything was missing or added". Wolfson admits to "not being an expert" in photo editing software. Objection from the Prosecution arose because Leventhal was asking Wolfson questions about editing photos and the Prosecution said, "he's no expert". Leventhal then argues, "why are any of these photo allowed as evidence because Agent Wolfson DIDN'T TAKE A SINGLE ONE"? The Prosecution was allowed to ask Agent Wolfson a question, asking, "have you ever edited any of these photos"? Wolfson admits to adding "arrows" and other edits to the photos. Leventhal then asks, "do you know if the photos were edited before you got them"? Wolfson can't testify that they were not edited.
Up next for the Prosecution was Adam Nixon, Special Agent FBI, "Open Source" Investigator. Nixon obtained the subpoena for Greg Burleson's Facebook account, also including, Carol Bundy and Ammon Bundy, (maybe he's the one who posted photos on Ammon Bundy's page that he testified were not posted by him during the trial in Oregon)? The Prosecution submits evidence having to do with Greg Burleson's Facebook account, there is some objection by the Defense and the Judge dismisses the Jury. Viewing the exhibits it is very evident that all of the exhibits for Burleson is posted to Facebook AFTER April 12, 2014. The posts contain racist, hate-filled comments and statements like, "they still need boots on the ground at Bundy Ranch". The Defense is trying to prevent the evidence because, it's not just Greg Burleson on trial, this evidence will ge attributed to all the other defendants included in this trial!
Mark Kessler "A Checkered Past"
Mark Kessler "Recent Past"
Mark Kessler "The Screw Turns"
Mark Kessler "Coming Out Of The Closet"
March 14, 2017
Today court continued with Hugh Gourgeon, Sandy Utah, President of Challenger School Foundation on the stand to be cross examined. Gourgeon reminded the court that he went to Bunkerville to see the cows get released. He hitched a ride to the wash in the back of someone's pickup truck. He went there to take photos using his cell phone, but "inadvertently" took video too. He took many photos of the people on the bridge on I-15. He was very mobile on the scene, moving from I-15 to the wash and under the bridge by the Bureau of Land Management barricade gate. He stated that he knew there was a "danger of getting hurt by the BLM because they were pointing weapons at people". He also disclosed that he brought his firearm with him, but left it in his vehicle. Sometime after returning home from Nevada he received a visit from the FBI, not only at home, but at work also stating, "an employee ratted on him" for being at Bundy Ranch. He lawyered up where he was presented a "Property Agreement" before he met with the FBI so his words would not be used against him.
Jess Marchese questioned the witness for the Defense saying, "so, you believe the BLM was organizing a task force to go get the cattle. You go into the wash and witness the protestors praying. Government Riffles were pointed at you, so you hide behind a concrete barrier"? Gourgeon responded, "yes". "While you were up on I-15 hiding behind the concrete barrier you saw the men with riffles"? Gourgeon responded that "I realized I was standing in between the men on the bridge and the BLM, so I went back down the hill to the wash". Marchese asks him to describe the crack in between the concrete barriers, and Gourgeon described it as "very thin".
Todd Engel was next to approach Hugh Gourgeon for questioning. Engel questions Gourgeon about the events at the bridge, the BLM threatening the crowd and giving them demands, and that these words are what caused the protestors to stop and have prayer. Engel got the witness to acknowledge that this was correct and that Gourgeon was still on scene when the BLM backed up to leave, and he was there when Las Vegas Metro arrived.
Todd Leventhal rose before the court to submit Hugh Goureon's Facebook posts into evidence as the Prosecution was very selective in the evidence they submitted, juts submitting photos and video and not the commentary from Gourgeon's Facebook wall. Objections arose from the Prosecution barring the Facebook commentary from the Jury but, the testimony drawn out from him by the Prosecution as their witness in allowed, what he said as his affidavit to the events on Facebook are barred from possibly acquitting the defendants? I guess we'll never know! Another case where the Sixth Amendment is being trampled upon! Leventhal did get Gourgeon to testify again that he was afraid that he would be shot, and that the people pointing guns at him were the BLM. Gourgeon testified that the government edited his Facebook page taking his commentary off and some photos that he had penned commentary on. Leventhal asked Gourgeon if on his was to the wash if he had heard of a "plan" or anything? Gourgeon replied, "no, it seamed like everyone was on their own, it was spontaneous, no one directed me". Leventhal asked the witness, "what made you want to go to Nevada"? Gourgeon said, "some things he had seen on social media". When the Defense tried to get him to mentions the videos etc that he had seen, this was objected to.
Shawn Perez was next to approach the witness beginning again, to get him to talk about his Facebook posts of photos and commentary. All he was able to get him to tell the Jury was that his posts were all done after he arrived back home in Utah, and they were his "personal observation" of what he saw. "There was no media in the wash, and he wanted everybody to know what was going on". Perez then asked, "did you post any impressions you had at the time"? To which Gourgeon replied, "yes". "Did you get a sense of why they were doing what they were doing"? Objections halted the answering of that question, but was able to reiterate that he "felt threatened by the BLM that day, and did not feel threatened by the men on the bridge. I did not get the feeling they would hurt anyone". Perez asked, "did you hear anyone, or see anyone giving orders"? His answer, "no". "Did you see anyone that was "the boss" of the people on the bridge"? Again, "no" was the answer. When questioned about who was in charge in the wash Gourgeon said, "the only time anyone was in charge in the wash was when a man silenced everyone so they could have prayer".
The Prosecution then presented Special Agent Mark Sealer FBI Montana 21 year veteran, introduced as the "Facebook Monitor" of Ryan Payne, Ricky Lovelien, and Jerry Burkhart. The Prosecution brought up the Operation Mutual Aid website for the Jury to see, (the website is currently displaying a "This Website Is Currently Frozen" message, but you can visit their Facebook Page here). Agent Sealer is doing almost no testifying as the DOJ are doing all the talking. Prosecutors spent a lot of time boring the Jury and courtroom observers displaying the MOA website and reading everything on it. The website has been up a long time before any of the events that took place in Bunkerville. Ricky Lovelien looks to be "their target" with this information. The Prosecution is also showing a lot of Facebook posts from Jerry Burkhart to Ryan Payne and also zeroing in on Ricky Lovelien. The Prosecution is making a stretch bringing in Facebook posts of someone in Texas, including this post by a woman referencing BLM in Texas. Most of the Facebook posts on the OMA page have been censored and the links are broken.
The Judge is allowing the Prosecution to now include Carol Bundy as an UN-Indited Co-Conspirator. Courtroom observers are also telling us that "anyone who has been mentioned in court that has not been Indited, will now be added to the list of Co-Conspirators". So, the government is so blood thirsty that they are now broadcasting verbal threats to indite, FROM THE BENCH! Judge Gloria Navarro made the declaration from the bench today! The Prosecution submitted "posts" of Carol Bundy including private messages. Group private messaging including the list of names group messages were sent out to, some have over 200 names on them. The government is using any comments posted against ANYONE involved, even if it only contains one comment. The list had apparently 8-10 names on it who WILL be indited! When will people see that our government IS using it's CIA brainchild Facebook, as a weapon against us! The truth is NSA IS collecting ALL of our communications INCLUDING EMAIL! Clearly a violation of the Fourth Amendment! The First Amendment Be Damned! There was some discussion of what evidence the Judge will allow as evidence against Rick Lovelien. There was some evidence submitted of him "chatting" with several individuals "while he was driving" that may be admitted in later court proceedings. The Judge, to her credit, is asking the Prosecution to prove that Lovelien actually saw the chat thread and responded to it and that he acted upon it, after all he was driving while the group chat took place.
The people in court today, including the Jury, were bored to tears and falling asleep during Agent Sealer's "testimony", as all he did was read what the DOJ asked him to. And, hopefully, the Jury was thinking about anything and everything they've ever wrote on social media, private messages and email! If they did, I hope to expect an acquittal! It the Jury had never thought about the Constitution, hopefully any tidbit will come to memory so they will do the right thing and put the government in its place by finding their edicts null and void!
The afternoon session continued with Agent Mark Sealer on the stand for the Prosecution. They continued to show social media posts, videos and email, for the most part from people who are not present in the court room and are not included in the defendants for this trial, convicting them in absentia. The Prosecution went so far as to start naming people now being "named" as co-conspirators including Rick's sister! The Defense is objecting to all of these shenanigans stating relevance. The Prosecution brought into evidence communications between Ryan Payne and Texas Militia North Texas, neither of whom are on trial here. It is evident that the Prosecution is editing the evidence presented in court today, trying to strike from the record evidence and testimony, it looks as though they have also come to court unprepared as much of their visual aids are not cued up to the pertinent portions and they say they are being plagued with "technical difficulties". The Prosecution has also been caught by the Defense in submitting evidence without submitting the paperwork to the Defense with the intent to submit, and submitting evidence not disclosed in discovery. The Judge ruled saying they have no standing because if the evidence was included in the giant stock of papers that's all they need, if the Prosecution listed it on their exhibit disclosure.
Courtroom observers report that this whole session is about Ryan Payne, and he's not even on the list of defendants for this case! The Prosecution has been presenting evidence against Payne including New Articles, of which the Jury has been told NOT to read, yet the Prosecution is bringing them up in open court! The Defense has objected to this, but it's like trying not to think about elephants when you're told not to. There was a video from Southern Nevada Watchdogs played during court. The Defense asked the Judge for "the list" of UN-Indited Co-Conspirators so they would know who these people are, they were told NO by Judge Navarro. This whole day was a sham! Evidence that there are NO RULES as far as the Judge and DOJ but, the Defense can only be allowed to do what the Judge and the DOJ say they can do. A CLEAR violation of the Sixth Amendment! Court observers say that every objection the Defense made was overruled.
Court concluded with Agent Sealer relating a conversation he had with Eric Parker that he recorded. The Prosecution tried to submit a one minute segment of the interview, but the Prosecution had not edited the interview to the one minute portion they wanted to play. They had not disclosed this evidence to the Defense prior to court, as usual, but the Judge broke for a few minutes so the Defense could listen to the recording before it was played. Courtroom observers say that this recording was not one minute. There was also another incident when the Prosecution submitted a video into evidence that was not disclosed to the Defense, which was objected to, the excuse..."we just found it"! Only the government can get away with tactics like this! The video clip was shown, I'm sure because the Judge allowed it, of Todd Engel misquoting Cliven Bundy after the 1 hour deadline had passed for the Sheriff to reappear on stage after the people's demands were stated. In this interview Todd Engel said that Cliven Bundy had told everyone to go get their guns and head to the bridge, but he got it wrong, but the portion of video containing Cliven's actual words was not played for the Jury that may have exonerated Engel's misstatement.
March 13, 2017
Court began today resolving the question that hung in the balance last Thursday. Discussion arose about Daniel Paul Love being called as a witness. The Prosecution has no intention in calling him as a witness, although this whole case revolves around him! If it had not been for Dan Love and his actions this would never have happened! He set plans in motion for this whole operation in March 2014! And if that's not a conspiracy against the people, what is! Judge Gloria Navarro said she will not allow the Defense to call him "just to purger him". These men have a right to face their accuser and Dan Love is at the top of the list! Apparently the night before Prosecution approached the Defense outside court proceedings and told them they would allow them to submit into evidence ANY video evidence with Dan Love in it, but do not call him to the stand. Today in court the Prosecution is asking for reasons to bring Daniel P. Love into their defense.
Court began late this morning. Usually the court proceedings begin around 8:30-9:00 a.m. but today began at 11:00 a.m. Myhre, representing the Prosecution, was not in the courtroom today.
On the stand today was Major Jackson, Nevada Highway Patrol. Jackson indicated during questioning that they did a lot of communicating with the crowd to "keep the stress level down". Jese Marchese asked Major Jackson, "you told us you and your officers were not prepared for the hot weather and didn't bring water. Did you ask the protestors for water, and did they give it to you"? To which he answered, "yes". Jackson testified that "the whole environment caused the fear, not just one element".
Todd Engel was next to question the witness. Engel asked Jackson about the four trucks that showed up out of nowhere from the desert out of the East with men in the back? This was a subject brought up in previous lines of questioning. Jackson indicated he had not seen the four trucks filled with men leaving after the protest was over, but he "felt much fear". Jackson also indicated that there was no arrest of these men, and said he had not seen any photo or video evidence of the men in trucks either. Engel asked, "were the men carrying weapons on the bridge arrested"? Jackson's answer, "no". Engel, "but if you felt such fear from these men, why were they not arrested"? Jackson said, "they have a right to carry firearms". Major Jackson also told the Jury that "he needed hundreds of officers to help the protest end peacefully". Engel, "Really"? Jackson said, "yes, if by force, we would have needed 500 more officers". Engel, "Did it end peacefully"? Jackson, "yes". Jackson was asked if any rocks or frozen bottles were thrown? Was any teargas used or riot shields? Any patrol cars burned? Jackson's response was, "no".
Next, called to the stand was Shannon Serena from the Nevada Highway Patrol for the Prosecution. Serena's patrol car was equipped with a dash-cam, and footage from his dash-cam was submitted into evidence during this time. The dash-cam captured images of truck with tailgates down, people sitting in the back traveling down the road. Another portion shows a group of people running up to the freeway barricades and jumping over and going toward the decline on the hill. A second dash-cam video is submitted into evidence that actually shows Officer Serena. Serena testifies he sees an armed man look at him, and how that was "threatening". Yet, LE want us not to fear them with all sorts of weapons strapped to their belts! Serena testified that the man approached him, pointed down into the wash, and told of a green truck filled with protestors with weapons pointed at officers. There was a lot of commotion in the courtroom at this time as Prosecution and Defense Attorneys were both trying to establish who was in the green truck. Prosecutors were saying it was Todd Engel and the Defense was arguing it was the US Forest Service all tacked out in their green clothing etc.
Steven Myhre was back in court for the afternoon session. Greg Burleson was also in court today and was looking much better after his medical emergency yesterday, as apparently much of the testimony from the Prosecution focused on him. Cross examination of Shannon Serena began. During testimony today the Prosecution is changing the narrative by saying that "the people pointing rifles" are now people with firearms slung over their shoulders and having their hands somewhere on their weapons are being defined as "having firearms in their hands". During Serena's testimony today, he told of how he called his ex-wife from the scene to tell her that he loved her and he didn't think he would get out of there alive. Serena also told the Jury that "people" should not have their hands on their weapons when law enforcement is around because, "it makes the officers uncomfortable". Serena was concerned for his safety the minute he arrived on scene which continued until after he had left the scene.
Shawn Perez was up next for the Defense. He began, "when you talked to people you said they wanted to see the cattle free, and from your understanding law enforcement expected that the cattle would be set free. Did you give the people a timeline as to when the cattle would be free"? Serena replied that, "he really couldn't say, but we knew that the cattle would be set free because of the tensions, and to get the BLM out safely". Serena also disclosed that he was called at 6:30 a.m. on April 12, 2014, and was given the assignment of heading to Bunkerville to help Nevada Department of Transportation set up barriers to divide the traffic lanes into separate lanes in order to give the BLM a dedicated lane to exit the scene and, "have a safe and swift exit from the area", later his duties changed to crowd control. So we know that the BLM had planned on leaving that day. Perez then questioned him about the people in the truck with the tailgate down and asked why he felt threatened by them? Serena said that by the man sitting on the lowered tailgate, this was a threatening posture. Perez continued, "what was the guy doing"? Serena testified that he couldn't say exactly but, the truck was moving less than 10 miles an hour and as Serena's vehicle approached from behind the driver pulled over to the side of the road so the officers in his marked vehicles could pass. Serena said he was afraid of "everyone there". When encouraged to clarify he said, "I was afraid of anyone who was not law enforcement". During the presentation of Serena's dash-cam video throughout court they referenced a citizen prevalent in the video as, "citizen of Nevada", so Perez questioned him concerning this citizen during a second showing of the dash-cam video pointing out that the man called "citizen of Nevada" (Todd Engel), was sitting on a concrete barrier on I-15 with his rifle slung over his shoulder NOT with the barrel pointing down toward the road side NOT over the cement barrier into the wash like he testified earlier. Serena testified earlier that this "citizen of Nevada" had something in his hand, but didn't identify it. Perez shows video evidence it was a bottle of water. During the video it showed the man taking his bottle of water out of his pants pocket, taking a drink, and then putting it back.
Terrence Jackson for the Defense then approached the witness. Jackson showed photo evidence of Greg Burleson, what he was wearing including his "Minuteman Hat", Jackson continued by asking, "when you interviewed my defendant"...and Serena interrupted by saying, "I did not interview him, I spoke to him for around 20 minutes". They then talked about what Serena was wearing, a radio/police scanner. During questioning Serena admitted he was very upset and jealous that Greg Burleson was able to hear the law enforcement communications on the scanner Burleson had, and "it was better than the scanner I was given by the department". Jackson then asked, "is it illegal to have a police scanner"? This drew objections from the Prosecution, so Jackson rephrased his question, "can you buy it at the store"? To which he answered, "yes". Jackson asked, "did you ever take a photo of Burleson's scanner"? To which Serena answered, "no".
Defense Attorney Todd Leventhal was next to approach the witness and submitted exhibit #5043 more dash-cam (this may have been body-cam) video footage that included audio that was not submitted for evidence. Leventhal then played a portion of the video for the Jury in which Serena can be heard communicating over his car radio, "everyone is peaceful down here, everyone is happy" In the video you see Serena shaking hands, patting "citizen of Nevada" on the back, when the "armed man in fatigues" (Ricky Loveland), approaches him, he also pats him on the back.
Richard Tanasi steps forward to cross examine. Tanasi's questioning included a briefing at the substation Serena was present for. During the briefing is was the plan to set up "the wall" and they were going to leave at 6:30 a.m. Tanasi asked Serena how many times he met with the US Attorney's Office 3-4 times and had also met with the FBI to prepare his testimony for the trial.
Jess Marcheses was next up for the Defense asking Serena about his testimony "that he was fearful before he even got to the wash", is it true that you were fearful because of the environment and what you were told about the environment, not by the actual people on scene. Next Marchese asked, "would you say that 'citizen of Nevada' was helpful to you"? To which Serena answered, "yes". Marchese said, "in your conversation with 'citizen of Nevada' did he not tell you he was in somebody's cross-hairs and that you should move back? So you indicated in your previous testimony that you were afraid of everyone yet, in your conversation with this man you said you were afraid, but he was helpful to you"?
The Prosecution under re-direct points out that there were not enough officers to watch as the protest moves down into the wash and that the reason Serena patted "armed man" on the back was to relieve tension after the incident was over, and that Serena's fear did increase as he got to the bridge area.
Shawn Perez stood to re-cross examine Shannon Serena. Perez played the video footage for the third time asking Serena to prompt Perez to stop the video when he sees someone do something threatening and show us what these "mannerisms" are that are of a threatening manner. Serena responded, "well, you're not going to see it on the video, it's something that you feel"! This continues throughout the video as Serena's testifies to threatening behavior out of camera shot or when his back is to the "threatening mannerisms".
The Prosecution then calls to the stand Hugh Gourgeon, President of Challenger School Foundation in Sandy Utah, who is French with a really thick accent and was very hard to understand. Mr. Gourgeon took several photos and cell phone video, for which he claimed he didn't realize he was taking video only photos. Gourgeon's photos and videos consisted of getting a ride to the bridge, going down into the wash, filming the prayer before they protestors went the get the cattle. Gourgeon was questioned about children being at the protest. There was a lot of confusion in the court about the testimony about him being under the northbound bridge versus the southbound bridge along with other individuals, it was never clear which bridge they were talking about but, Gourgeon made several trips up and down the hill from the wash topside to the bridge on the road. Gourgeon said he went to the bridge in the wash because "he felt he was going to be shot"! At this point several of his photos/videos were entered into evidence of Eric Parker and Scott Drexler on the bridge and a couple other people kneeling down. Through questioning Gourgeon discloses that the FBI came to his work and to his home to serve a subpoena to get his photos and videos. Gourgeon gave them to his attorney and his attorney gave them to "the government". The Prosecution tried to submit an email Gourgeon received from Carol Bundy talking about the event Georgeon had attended. The Defense objected siting the "co-conspirator statement" classification. The Prosecution argued Carol Bundy is not charged as a co-conspirator but will prove later that she is, siting the Bundy Ranch Blog and the email being sent by her, which Judge Navarro sustained the objection for now.
Today's testimony was instrumental in making the governments case that Ricky Loveland was a "superior" in the conspiracy because he approached Shannon Serena while in conversation with Eric Parker and Eric discontinued his conversation with Serena and, Ricky made a phone call in his presence. The Prosecution, through their witnesses, are trying to establish that Ricky Loveland was "in charge" of everyone on top of the bridge, but all they have as evidence is "feelings" and sighting "body language" of which there is no evidence.
The Prosecution will continue tomorrow with testimony from Hugh Georgeon.
March 9, 2017
Today's court proceedings started out with Todd Leventhal cross examination of Joseph Lombardo Las Vegas Metro. Online Joseph Lombardo's title is Sheriff, who was the undersheriff the day of April 12, 2014. Lombardo was part of the group of Sheriff's who took a reluctant Sheriff Gillespie to the rally in Bunkerville Nevada. After Lombardo stood by Gillesie on the podium he went to protect the Bureau of Land Management in their standoff against the peaceful protestors in the wash. Lombardo says he was instrumental in negotiating release of Cliven Bundy's cattle. A photo was introduced into evidence showing Shannon Kelly (in plain clothes), all of the Metro officers, the Sheriff, the undersheriff, Tom Roberts. In testimony it was divulged that Shannon Kelly was the one who alerted the Sheriff/Metro that the protestors were leaving the stage area after the one hour deadline for the Sheriff to acquiesce to their request had not been met. Lombardo testified that he and his fellow officers traveled with the participants to the bridge. He acknowledged he was with the other officers in the skirmish line. He testified that at some point he crossed the road and approached the northbound bridge to have a conversation with Dave Bundy about deescalating the situation. Lombardo also testified to being present during negotiations with Dave Bundy, Ryan Bundy and Dan Love. Lombardo also claims to have been present for a conversation held between Cliven Bundy and Ryan Bundy over the phone where they were told the cattle would be released. Lombardo claims he requested Cliven come down to the gate so he could be present to pull the pin out of the gate that would allow the cattle access back to the Bundy Ranch. Then video was produced showing Daniel P. Love telling Ryan and Dave telling them that "he did not authorize them to release the cattle, and they are going to be held responsible", Dan Love repeated this several times. The BLM and Lombardo really tried hard to get Cliven to come down to pull the pin out of the gate. Just my opinion listening to this reporters account, the only reason Lombardo and Dan Love were trying to get Cliven Bundy down to the gate was first, a photo opp. Second, to take Cliven into custody. Third, to entrap Cliven into pulling the pin on the governments property and put the wheels in motion to create a news story that would justify ANY action the government operatives would do. The reporter also eludes to this in the report. Lombardo continues his testimony describing a scene where after the negotiation with the BLM and the Bundy to free the cattle and he requested the BLM move back and clear the area, he witnessed the participants continuing to point weapons at he and his officers and they were left defenseless. Lombardo was asked to point to where the people were located that were pointing weapons at them and he said, "up both sides of the wash and up by the bridge by the abutments. Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said, "I would have taken 500 officers to provide security, for the crowd of 300, including weapons". Lombardo said, "the crowd was not passive". Lombardo claimed the only reason he chose to negotiate was because the additional officers he needed would not be able to arrive in time for the assault, so deescalation was the plan. He continued, "the crowd was told an hour, and they were running out of time". Lombardo also divulged in his final statement that, "the protestors gave them an additional 30 minutes, when that half an hour was up, he was advised that that half an hour was over".
Tanasi approached the witness for cross examination asking, "Officer Lombardo, were you aware that the BLM was asked to cease all operations"? His answer was "no", yet he claimed his assignment was to protect the BLM from the protestors. Lombardo disclosed "they were trying to broker a deal with the BLM on April 11, 2014. Tanasi then asked, "were you aware that Sheriff Gillespie had a meeting with Governor Sanduval"? To which Lombardo answered, "yes". Objections for the Prosecution arose quickly, as they said this questioning was not relevant, although Cliven Bundy made reference to this meeting at the stage at one point telling the crowd that Gillespie was hiding under the Governor Sanduval's desk! Lombardo said, "by April 12th I was no longer in charge, until after they went down to the impound site although most his time was spent at Post 1 with his officers in the skirmish line". He said he was "not in fear of the BLM", when asked by Tanasi, "why were you not in fear of the BLM pointing weapons at the protestors", and Lombardo said, "well, there were three groups, the BLM, the Participants and the Las Vegas Metro".
Jess Marchese was next to approach Sheriff Lombardo asking him questions about the escalation and negotiation. Lombardo indicated that the BLM was not negotiating and deescalating and that is why he was involved. During testimony he talked of a Nevada Highway Patroll officer being on the scene. He also testified to walking down into the wash three times, Lombardo was not able to testify to specific times, but said, "the first time I went down into the wash the BLM was already moved back and the crowd was pointing weapons, the second time was when I had a meeting with Ammon, and the third time was when I escorted the cowboys to get the cattle". Marchese then asked Sheriff Lombaro, "did you ever personally fill out any reports"? Lombardo indicated he was interview by the FBI but they filled out the report for him, but he did not personally fill out the reports.
Shawn Perez was up next for the Defense and through testimony found out that the officers had no formal briefing and that when he arrived on scene on April 12, 2014 that the BLM had ceased operations. This information was obtained at a meeting he had at Sheriff Gillespie's home as Gillespie had a meeting with the Bundy Family. Lombardo talked of a meeting he had with Dan Love that took 45 minutes, but it was unclear to courtroom observers if this meeting took place before or after Metro was asked to stand between the BLM and the Protestors. Perez asked, "when you told Dan Love he was to release the cattle, was he resistant"? Lombardo answered, "yes, Dan Love said that they were now Federal Cattle and it would be his decision weather or not to release the cattle". Lombardo made the decision to release the cattle 20 -30 minutes later. Lombardo was then asked, "why did you choose to talk to Dave Bundy from all the other protestors"? Lombardo indicated that he chose Dave because he knew he was a part of the Bundy Family, and Dave was not directing anyone on the bridge.
Terrence Jackson then questioned the witness saying, "you wanted to protect against a bloodbath, you told your officers not to wear their riot gear and vests to deescalate the situation". Nothing was said about his response.
Todd Leventhal then stepped forward but was unable to start his cross examination because Greg Bruleson had another medical episode in which the blind man started shaking and turned white and medical attention was requested. The court was adjourned for two hours, but court did not resume.
This Video Contains Statements From Jenkins and Lombardo
March 8, 2017March 8, 2017
Court resumed today after a day of recess so Defense Attorney's could prepare for cross examination of the surprise witness called by the Prosecution Monday. Court began with Sergent Tom Jenkins Las Vegas Metro. Jenkins began his testimony refreshing everyone's memory of how he and his fellow Metro officers were in tears and crying during the events of April 12, 2014. It was the scariest thing he and his fellow officers had experienced in their law enforcement career and even their military deployments. He said he saw every protestor had a gun, and he rated the Threat Level at a 10.
Reporting on this court session is sketchy since there is very little detail given. Things are spoken in generalities, so I'll do my best to relay the information in the best way possible.
Cross examination included some of the following. The Defense asked Jenkins several questions about his written report filled out days after the event he was asked, "in your report, are you supposed to make it as accurate as possible"? Jenkins answered, "yes". Jenkins said they are supposed to include information on how they felt etc. The Defense asked, "then why did you leave out the fact that you were in fear for your life. That everyone had a gun, and that there were guns pointed at you?
Defense Attorney Jess Marchese questioned Jenkins saying, "you said weapons were pointed at you all day, and when you arrived on the side of the road everyone was pointing weapons at the police convoy, but you can't point out anyone who was pointing weapons". Jenkins then answers, "consistently all day people were pointing weapons, ya, white males were pointing weapons at me all day"!
Next, Richard Tanasi cross examines the witness and asked, "your job was to keep the peace between the protestors and BLM"? Jenkins, "yes". "And the peace could have been broken by either the supporters or the BLM"? Tanasi asked. "Where you concerned about the BLM having weapons"? To which he answered, "no". It came out during questioning that Jenkins felt the bridge was not his concern. Tanasi asked, "did you see the BLM point weapons"? Jenkins response, "no, because he was up between the two bridges, not down in the wash".
Todd Engel stepped forward and said, "let's zoom in on the protestors", which the Prosecution objected to. They did not like Engel referring to them as protestors. He continued, "you say as you were arriving they were pointing riffles". Playing a video asks, "and you say that everyone was armed". Jenkins was asked to point out the people where were armed, and was unable to.
Shawn Perez was next for the Defense asking Jenkins, "where you received the 911 call, did you go to the call with your lights and siren on"? He replied, "no".
Terrence Jackson was next reminding the court that Jenkins and his officers had helmets, vests, bullets, tack gear in their vehicles, but were told not to get it out. Then asked, "did the BLM seem to get upset because of the way Metro was protecting them"? He said, "no, they were very thankful all day that the Metro had arrived".
Jackson on re-direct asked Jenkins about when he arrived with weapons pointed at him by protestors he never mentioned it in his written report, but only when questioned by the FBI. Tanasi also asked this same question on re-direct to drive the point home.
Engel again questions the witness. "On April 12, 2014 there was no one harmed or killed and you rated it as a 10, yet you relate that there was a riot in Las Vegas were officers were injured by people throwing rocks and water bottles and you rated that at a 5"?
Jackson was up again. "So your officers were crying? How many tears did you wipe off your officer's eyes"? Objections arose from the Prosecution, but the point was made.
Court observers say it was obvious Jenkins was heavily coached and was mellow dramatic.
After cross examination, Jenkins left the stand. Several video clips were shown of the protestors at the stage and other parts of the protest showing the contradictory statements of Jenkins do to weapons. There were no video showing every protestor with a gun. There were reportedly 2 shouldered guns in all the footage shown the Jury.
Next on the stand was Dennis Michael Lynch, Reporter, Documentary Film Maker, and FOX News Reporter at the time of the Stand Up. Apparently the questioning of Lynch and viewing his video was so boring the Jury was falling asleep. Lynch was asked questions while showing hours and hours of video. Questions like, "do you know this person? What side of the stage were you on? Who came over the hill? "Why were you zooming in on this person"? Lynch responded to this question, "I was trying to get my camera to focus". The Prosecution makes it a point to point out Ammon Bundy, although Ammon is not on trial here! Court observers have noticed that the Prosecution is putting Ammon and Cliven Bundy rather than the six men sitting in the courtroom. Prosecutors tried to trip Lynch up by showing several photos of the same four men at different times during the protest asking, "did you see these men? Did you see THESE men drive up on the scene? Did you see these men talking? Do you recognize these people" Lynch said, "no". "Does this person have a gun"? "I can't tell", is the answer. But, Lynch recognized the men as the same four men in every photo, and told the Prosecution so, "yes, those are the same four men I saw in front of the stage, yes, I saw them"! Other questions like, "what is he wearing"? Response, "camo". "What's that on his shoulder"? "A radio". Concluding with, "is that your voice"? Lynch, "yes". And the Prosecution played a portion of the video in which Lynch says, "hey, hey, hey, hey"! and asked Lynch, "why did you say that"? This caused a commotion in the courtroom as they were having a verbal battle with Lynch. Lynch pipes up and says, "I'd like to answer the question, you asked me the questions I'm gonna answer it". Apparently the Prosecution didn't want him to answer the question they just asked. Lynch explained that the reason he said, "hey" was because the group seemed to be going in a forward direction and I was trying to stop them. The Prosecution then asked, "why were you trying to stop them from going in that direction"? Lynch replied, "I was afraid for their lives, that the Bureau of Land Management Officers were going to shoot them"! The Prosecution asked Dennis Michael Lynch if he knew what the "wash" was? Lynch replied, "No. I'm from New York, when I think of wash, I think of laundry". The Prosecution shows a portion of video in which the crowd of protestors were in the wash. They zoom in on a person with a long gun on his shoulder. "What is that"? Lynch, "I guess it's a rifle". It appears that Lynch is not letting the Prosecution treat him as a "mindless dope", when Lynch is very self secure and won't be bullied. Lynch has quipped back at the Prosecution when asked stupid questions about HIS video telling them, "I should know, I took the video". It is obvious to the courtroom observers that they are going to keep Lynch on the stand for as long as possible, trying to wear him down, but Lynch knows his stuff and is quite annoyed by it all. At some point the Prosecution played a segment of video where Ammon is speaking. It was a quite poignant peace as it brought tears to many people's eyes and helped prove the point why the protest happened.
Afternoon session begins with several videos played. One clip has audio of someone saying, "get your guns off of us". The Prosecution points out portions of men with guns. Courtroom observers say that there were only 5 people with guns identified in these clips, not the masses the government witnesses are testifying to.
Richard Tanasi during cross examination asks, "did you see a video of Ammon being tased"? Lynch replied, "yes, that was part of the reason why I came". Which drew objections as "not being relevant". The Defense argued that, that's why Lynch came, and that's why my client came! Tanasi continued, "was there an uneasiness that day"? To which Lynch testified, "yes, very uneasy down in the wash". "Could you see the BLM, and did it seem as though they had a lack of leadership" Lynch's answer, "yes". "Did you see snipers in the wash"? Lynch, "no". There was then discussion about Dennis Michael Lynch's report to the FBI. Lynch made a report and signed his name to it, but when Lynch was able to inspect the report last night he discovered there were statements in the report that Lynch did not make, showing evidence tampering by the FBI.
Jess Marchese questioned the witness. "Do you remember when the Metro convoy arrived"? "Yes". "Do you remember anyone pointing weapons at them"? "No". "After they parked, did you see them get in a line"? "Yes". "Did you see the Metro officer's crying"? "No". "When you said, 'wait, wait, wait', why did you say that"? Lynch replied, "because I did not want to see people get shot, or have myself get shot. I did not want people to walk forward because I did not want the BLM to shoot people if anyone walked forward. I walked forward lifting my shirt to show I was not armed". "Did you see a man with a dog point a weapon at the BLM"? Lynch, "I never saw anyone point a weapon at the BLM". "Did you fear being shot"? To which Lynch said, "absolutely"!
Jackson again approaches the witness. "We were shown a lot of video. There was a lot of video not shown. How much video would you say you recorded that day"? Lynch, "what we saw in the courtroom today was maybe half, or less". Lynch was then asked if it appeared that Metro and BLM were working together"?
Todd Engel attempted to cross examine the witness, but objections were flying and he was pretty much shut down. He did ask Lynch if he remember hearing Ammon and others discussing getting the cows back, but Lynch did not remember much of the discussion, and no video evidence was presented to back up this claim. There was discussion of the negotiation at the gate where a man in black said, "it's hard to deescalate a situation when you have guys in helmets and M-16's pointing at you"! And another man says, "get those guns off us"! And, Dan Love says, "that's why we are deescalating this, and gestures to everyone to lower their guns"? There must have been objections, because there is no answer given, but Engel was just proving a point. That the command to lower the weapons was never given, and never obeyed.
Todd Leventhal approaches to question Lynch. "What was your impression of mood at the rally"? Lynch, "I thought it was boring, and I felt like going back home, and explained how Ammon gives him a ride in his truck down to the wash". "When you were at the parking area/rest area, did you see anyone on the the hill"? Lynch responds, "yes". The Defense enters video clip #5036 into evidence showing the sniper on the hill.
On Prosecution redirect, there was some discussion about the BLM saying, "shoot or be shot", which Lynch testified to, but he was questioned about actually hearing that. Lynch explains that there are a lot of things a boom mic will pick up that the natural ear is unable to pick up. It wasn't until watching his footage later that he heard this. This also came to play in some footage on top of the bridge when there was some back and forth between protestors and the man of the loud speaker. The Prosecution then asked Lynch, "you said the first time you approached the gate you feared you were going to be shot, yet you approached the gate a second time with the protestors and horses. Where you not afraid for your life the second time"? The which Lynch responded, "yes! But, I still thought I would be shot, but I still did it".
It is said that Steven Myhre, Prosecuting Attorney, is making enemy's of the Jury, during this session he continues to talk down to the Jury requiring them to listen to clearly heard, clearly visible clips, over and over again. A clear waste of everyone's time. Myhre is coming across as a school yard bully. There are over 60 video clips having to do with Lynch's testimony and they are less than half was through at lunchtime recess. Courtroom observers again, report that they see the Prosecution's intent to carry this case out for as long as they can to wear everyone out! The men on trial were only at the protest for one day, but the government is hell bent on making them and their families suffer, even if just through court!
March 6, 2017
In court today, video of a taped conversation of Pete Santilli and Daniel Paul Love was played, (the content is found in this video). Dan Love can be heard throwing his weight around and egging on the protestors and playing "chicken" with them. The Prosecution was trying to convince the Jury that Pete Santilli was "laying out the rules of engagement" for the whole event! And you know as well as I that they have to do this or they have no case against Pete Santilli and independent journalist who defends the Constitution. The Prosecution also established the government knew about the peaceful protest in Bunkervill on April 12, 2014. The person first on the stand today is the man on the loud speaker making threats and demands on the protestors in which he says, "we have firearms and dogs"..."they're not listening, they're not listening to my commands". This "officer" was also equipped with dash-cam recording this event live. Las Vegas Metro approaches them officer and his vehicle as request that he back up, after the third request the officer complies. Later in the dash-cam video the officer can be seen hunched over the hood of his vehicle with his head on his arms, when asked to tell the court why, he responded, "I had been up for 36 hours straight. I was exhausted, and later I had to seek help from medical at the ICP for exhaustion and dehydration".
Cross examination began with Richard Tanasi, Attorney for Steven Stewart asking, "were you aware of the announcement that the Bureau of Land Management would cease all operations on April 11, 2014"? Answer, "no". In prior testimony this officer's announcement to, "use less than lethal force" was entered into the court record, now Tanasi asks this officer, "earlier in testimony there was a pause before the term 'less than lethal force' was uttered, was that on purpose, because you meant lethal force"? Objections prevented an answer. Tanasi then moved to show a portion of a previous piece of video footage where this officer can be heard in conversation with another officer joking and making comments about a woman protestor who was yelling at them. The officers can be heard saying such things as, "what's she yelling? I don't know. I think she likes you. That scares me, she's not my type", demonstrating that the officers were having fun during this event and if the Threat Level was 10 why were they joking under these circumstances? During questioning this officer, in one of his answers says, "Dan Love knows this case inside and out", possibly laying groundwork for later testimony. The witness was asked why he did not reference the High Threat Level in any of his report? This witness met with the US Attorney's Office four times, October of 2015. Asking who was present at these meetings it was disclosed that several of the Prosecutors were at these meetings, and the FBI was at all of the meetings.
Todd Engel's cross examination begins with reminding everyone that photo/video evidence doesn't support his claim that protesters were in the wash under the southbound bridge and asked, "to you remember when National Park Police were in a 'stacked formation' on the side of his truck"? To which he replies, "I don't recall that". To restore his lapsed memory, a video from the opposite vantage point, with the same time stamp, is shown validating this fact, to which the witness does acknowledge.
At this point Jess Marchese, Attorney for Eric Parker, approaches the witness reminding him of his previous testimony of being sleep depraved and presenting evidence of this man sitting of the back of his truck at the end of the event showing fatigue asking, "who gave the orders during the event? What area did the closure effect"? As previous testimony had established the closure did not effect the roads/I-15, yet this witness is saying it did. Marchese then asks, since the discrepancy, "how much of the bridge did the closure effect"? But, the witness cannot make a distinction. He was then asked, "if he felt in danger when meeting with the FBI"? The reporter could not be understood relaying the response.
During questioning by Todd Leventhal, Attorney for Scott Drexler, shows the video clip in which there was screaming from above the officers position and a woman can be heard yelling, "they are unarmed down there! This is not a video game! What the hell are you doing? They don't have guns"! Next, "you say "you are seeing pistols, riffles and guns", yet from your dash-cam video there is no evidence of that. "Do you see the man in the blue shirt? He looks like press". This video footage was played three times so the witness could respond to each question. Leventhal submits into evidence several video clips from Dennis Michael Lynch's Documentary "A Day At The Bundy's". Leventhal plays the clips, and after each clip asking, "was this a fair and accurate example of the events"? All the while being objected to by the Prosecution as "hear say", although they were the actual events filmed in real time, AND THE GUY ISN'T DEAD! (In reference to Michael Flynn, dead)! There were so many objections and arguments about allowing the video of Lynch that Judge Gloria Navarro dismissed the Jury and pushed forward arguing the case for the Prosecution, only referring to them to ask if they had anything to add? Judge Navarro has abdicated her role as impartial Judge and become a member of the Prosecution team! When lunch break came the Judge had still not finished her argument for excluding the video from being submitted as evidence, as the Defense just used the audio portion for questioning. Courtroom observers have also noticed some of the same tactics employed by Judge Anna Brown and the Prosecuting Attorney's in Trial #1, using body movement to trigger objections and other motions from the Prosecution, and Prosecuting Attorney's using these same sort of body, and facial expressions, to signal the Prosecution's witnesses, when courtroom observers were dismissed and reprimanded by Judge Brown for smiling, nodding, coughing and suspicion of having Skittles! This is NOT a fair trial!
The afternoon session begins with the Judge announcing she will not allow the clips from Dennis Michael Lynch's Documentary to be entered into evidence, but the Defense moved forward playing only the audio again. The witness was asked, "is your written report of the events days after the event in your own words"? His response was in the affirmative, but admitted to adding information to the report submitted to the FBI at their request and their suggestion. Leventhal asked more questions of the BLM Ranger like, "did you stay to protect cows and portal-pottys? What was first, your guns or the protestors"? Drawing objections.
Then the government calls Sergent Tom Jenkins Las Vegas Metro. (Watch the video link in the highlighted text to watch Jenkins use excessive force and violate a citizens rights). The Defense objects to the witness, as his name was never submitted to the Defense on the list of witnesses and they were not given Jenkins written report prior to court proceedings. Although the Prosecution tried to get the Defense to allow the witness, baiting them with the opportunity to cross examine him, the Defense's argument was that the Jury was never presented the witness by name and able to acknowledge if they knew the man or had any bias. And if you've watched the video in the link above I think you could argue that the Prosecution did this on purpose, as Jenkins is quite well known in Las Vegas and appeared on the TV Show COPS. The Judge dismissed the Jury to further discuss the matter, but ends up overruling the Defense and allowing the witness who had several positions throughout his career with law enforcement and the military. The Prosecution began with Jenkins telling how he was part of the team going with the Sheriff and his two under sheriff's to visit Cliven Bundy and "talk at the rally". Jenkins said, "they stopped at a rest area, left half the team, continued with the other half of the team, stopped before they got to the area where the Sheriff would make his announcement, left the other half of the team, as the Sheriff made his announcement and the Sheriff and his two under sheriffs went home". "They were told they were not to wear their ballistic jackets or their helmets, because it would escalate the situation". Jenkins tells how after the Sheriff made his announcement they were all going to head back to Las Vegas, but they received a 911 call and they were requested to give assistance, so they went back to the event. At one point Jenkins admits that [they] did not know where they were, but noticed a lot of vehicles merging on to I-15 in the area, "and they all traveled together". Jenkins says, "they were all armed. They all had weapons. When we arrived, we lined up our cars so no one could get in the impound area in between the two bridges". Jenkins talks about SWAT being there, but were separated from the group having 8 or 9 guys. Jenkins said they "made a skirmish line" and he was out in front of the line in order to talk to protestors before they approached them. Jenkins continued, "there were people all around, some in the 'prone position', armed with automatic riffles, semi-automatic riffles, long riffles, dressed like military with helmets and goggles". Does this sound familiar? This is the same modes-opperendi the Prosecution used in the first trial in Oregon! The Sheriff's Department, the County Judge, the BLM were SO afraid of the protetsors, they had to call in the FBI! Jenkins also estimates the number of protestors at 2000. Jenkins said, "if we had an event with 2000 people, we would make an assignment of 200 officers". Jenkins testifies, "we weren't prepared to be there that long, but the protestors had water, it looked like they were prepared to be there for a long time, so that increased my threat level". Jenkins said he was approached by Ryan Bundy asking him to release the cows. Which garnered objections, but the Judge allows the statement because she says, "it applies to the co-conspiracy charge". Jenkins continues under Prosecution direction that he "was real worried because they were not going to let the cows go" to his knowledge. He then testifies that Ryan Bundy said there is going to be blood on his officer's if they do no let the cattle go. They Jenkins said, "Bundy started to cry, stepped back, and walked away". Jenkins describes how he looked back at his offier's in their skirmish position and "how they looked scared, asking to use their cell phones". The Defense objected to his statement as "hear say". It was sustained. Jenkins describes the protestors disappearing down into the river bed. He testified that he went half way down into the wash to see. "The crowd was angry and pissed off", he said. He said they had no cover, and "they didn't think they would make it home that night". Jenkins testified that after the incident was over he and his officer's gave the BLM a police escort back to their hotel. He said that the protestors lined up in back of them and followed them to the hotel. There were also protestors screaming and yelling at them. Jenkins also testified that when he and his officer's were headed back to Las Vegas they encountered the protestors again on the highway. (Could this be because I-15 was a parking lot for hours during the protest)? He admitted that "no one tried to enter the convoy, but his fear did not subside until he was sitting at home in his living room". The Prosecution then asked him to "rate his fear level" and Jenkins rates it Level 10, although his normal activities in law enforcement were crowd control and riot control. This wrapped up the Prosecutions presentation of this witness, and court is dismissed early so they have time to prepare for Jenkins' cross examination. There will be no court tomorrow, but asked to resume Wednesday morning.
It appears that the government is doing it's best to draw out these court proceedings as long as possible. This is day 12 of the trial and the court has been recessed for 6 days, not including Fridays, because the government closes on Friday. This is a clear effort by the government to wear the people down, and asset strip the families and abuse the defendants further. The defendants are being made to stay in lock down all week, being given one day a week to make a choice of outside time or making phone calls. This is cruel and unusual punishment and violating their right to prepare for their court appearances, and enduring the bias in the court by Judge Gloria Navarro is taking it's toll.
March 2, 2017
Today's proceedings continued with testimony from a government BLM or USFS employee, (who's name was not included in the report I received). It was the Agent who said he had his finger on the trigger and his gun off safety with Eric Parker between the cross-hairs. These was more photo and video evidence presented as the Agent tried to prove Parker was "cocked and ready to fire" at him. The Agent testified that the silent duel between the two took place within seconds, when the evidence proves otherwise since the vehicles recorded behind Parker did not stack up to the testimony. It was clear from the man's testimony that HE was ready to shoot Parker but did not alert his fellow employees of his intentions to do so, by radio, or by speaking to the other men standing in close proximity to him. Apparently, kleenex was needed again today during the government witnesses testimony.
Next up for the Prosecution was Ranger David Keltner with the National Park Service serving as the Set Team Manager/Supervising Ranger, who's team included 8 people. On April 11, 2014 he was stationed between the flat top and the Incident Command Post. He testified that the evening of the 11th [they] got some intelligence that the militia and protestors were going to attack the ICP and take the cattle back. (It has been leaked that Dan Love was responsible for this bogus "security threat". He created it to put everyone on high alert and get them to adhere themselves to his command. Although, the evening of the 11th was when the Communications Manager, Toni, was told to whittle down the Comm Center to half its size including equipment and personnel). Keltner testified that they had been up all night but, the Set Team was a nighttime team. On the morning of April 12, 2014 the Set Team, after being up all night, was told to go back to the Hotel, although this conflicts with others testimony that no one was allowed to leave ahead of events on the 12th. Keltner caught a bit of sleep while at the hotel, but was again summoned to come back to the ICP because of the false intell Dan Love had created of militia and guns to take the cattle back. Keltner testifies of arriving at Post 1, the entrance, he could see two people with body armor on and, "were giving him the thousand yard stare" which he labeled a "threat indicator". Defense objects to this, but testimony continues. Keltner said they were told to "deploy, and come down to the wash". He testified to being 200 yards from the northbound bridge where he was lots of people, flags etc. Keltner says he sees three men standing together wearing "matching camo uniforms". He also testifies to seeing "black hat man" Eric Parker popping up and down. Keltner said, "someone also reports it over the radio", and that [they] were "target glancing", which drew objections. Keltner testified to Parker's firearm being in the "low-ready position". The Prosecution did not spend much time letting Keltner testify, so the Defense got their witness early.
Jess Marchese began cross examination by asking Keltner a yes or no question, "you were out there but on the night of April 11, 2014, but nothing bad happened"? Kelner's reply, "I spent the night in a foxhole in America"! Marchese continues with multiple yes of no questions and continues to get lengthy response back without Judge Gloria Navarro cautioning the witness. Marchese moves forward with questioning Keltner about the situation where the BLM/Park Service were asked to move back by Las Vegas Metro. Marchese asks, "were you there in the wash when the vehicles/forces were asked to move back"? "How far did the vehicles/forces move back"? Keltner's response, "I don't know I wasn't there". Marchese continues, "well, how do you know this was happening"? Keltern said, "well, I saw the video". Keltner was shown several photos of government forces around a US Forest Service vehicle and asked to identify who is in the photo, but can't because the photos are too blurry.
The afternoon session was apparently more exciting than the morning session due to the fact that the governments case couldn't be more boring! It's the same information over and over again! Cross examination continued with National Park Service Ranger Keltner. The "briefing" on night of April 11, 2014 came up several times during this session. Tanasi and Stewart confirmed through questioning, that the cattle "impound" was on hold, and that they were not going to continue with the rustling. It was reiterated that [they] would be attacked by militia, that the protestors were coming. Keltner said he arrived early and they were doing training before April 2014 for crowd control and "ranger recovery". Keltner was asked about "the K-9's" and other details but, on cue, he "cannot recall" and "doesn't' remember" although he had served time on SAT (Special Assault Team).
Todd Engel continued with cross examination by asking Keltner about being called back from the hotel because, "cowboys with guns were at the gate" at Post 1, "but, when you got there, there were no cowboys with guns". Next, the two men in tactical gear who gave the "1000 yard stare" were discussed. "Did they aim their weapons"? At some point during this conversation Engel brought up the Constitution which irritated Ahmed as she lashed out through objections. Engel tried to pose questions to Keltner about, what the Prosecution and Judge refer to as "the marksman team" and the Defense describe as "the snipers". These references are objected to by the Prosecution. Engel asked several questions of Keltner about Constitutional Rights such as, "isn't true that a right to protest is covered under the First Amendment"? There is objection from the Prosecution and no answer was given. Engel receives caution from the Judge and then asks Navarro, "can I say the right to protest is protected under the First Amendment"? To which the Judge responds, "no". Todd Engel continues by going through a string of photographs to have Keltner identify himself if he is present in them. Engel finds one in which Keltner responds to the affirmative and has it submitted into evidence. In the photo are several people and Engel asks him to identify any of his "designated sniper team"? This is objected to and he re-phrased the question to say, "marksman team". To which Keltner answered, "no". Engel continued, "is that because you were already deployed"? Keltner said, "yes", getting the answer before objections. They discussed the shields and battalions do to training they received. Keltner refused to say if he was trained. Engel asked Keltner about his "night in the foxhole", but gave him a "deer in the headlights" look and was silent.
Terrence Jackson was next to question the witness. Jackson's questioning focused in on the "1000 yard stare" saying, "there are other reasons people could be staring. If you were a victim, or if someone was late to their court proceeding, I may stare at them, but that doesn't mean I am going to go home and shoot him"! Which garnered objection. Jackson then asked, "was anyone arrested"? This question was not answered.
The Prosecution came forward for re-direct asking Keltner, "were was the marksman team posted"? To which Keltner testified, "between Post 1 and Post 2 along the edge of the wash". "What kind of optics did you have, range finder, binoculars and scope"? Keltner, "yes, I am in charge of the team, but I don't know what optics are with the team".
The Prosecution then brings their next witness Brandon Novotny, the third person in the stacked formation holding a CES gun, part of the "SAT Team" testified that they are equipped with a variety of guns, and can use them "in parts". Novotny testified the team were wearing a standard uniform which consisted of a ballistics vest a ballistics helmet and their green clothing. The National Parks Service was equipped with a Special Assault Team "snipers" in 2012 according to the witness. Novotny testified that they were told to use "less than lethal force" but "we did not because if we did, we were afraid that we would be shot and may not make it out of the wash". Novotny testified they made repeated requests to "pull back" which were denied. Novotny then tells how his stacked team was watching a "team, moving as a unit, using hand motions and pointing their weapons in 'high ready' then 'low ready' position. Seeing this I knelt down, said a pray, thought of my family and made by peace with God because I did not think I'd get out of the wash", with tears of course! Novotny testified that they moved back after given orders by Dan Love. Novotny said, "they were the last to move out so they could use less than lethal force if the crowd became unruly". During the "bug out" a truck got stuck in the sand, and Novotny wanted to get the truck un stuck and considered ramming the truck, because he feared that if the officer got out of the truck he would be shot, and that "it was better to have a damaged truck than a dead officer"! Novotny did admit that the "officer" in the stuck truck did get out, put his truck in four wheel drive and got himself un stuck from the sand. Testimony then moved on to pulling out and leaving the scene. Novotny complained about having to hook up trailers to trucks and driving through a corridor of protestors yelling at them and throwing things. He said he expected to be "surrounded and attacked", a very emotional performance again from the stand.
Tanasi came forward for cross examination. He started out asking about the briefing on April 11, 2014. This briefing included Novoty's testimony that the FBI were there and the information everyone was given was that, "a large group of people who were on the terrorist watch list were coming to the event". AGAIN! the FBI striking fear into the hearts of "law enforcement" that everyday citizens, now because of NDAA, are on the terrorist watch list! This very thing is what caused a standing army to mount in Burns Oregon! Tanasi tried to question the witness about Davey Bundy being arrested or Margaret Houston being thrown to the ground the Prosecution would object saying, "it's not relevant". Tanasi argued that it was relevant, because the protestors also felt threatened. During further questioning Novotny he confirmed that they were asked to stay on scene for April 12 although the night before they were told the operation would cease and that their assignment was to protect the cattle and other government assets, confirming the fact the government counted the Bundy cattle as government assets. There was more discussion of the "shields and the stacked formation". Novotny confirms they deployed a ballistic shield but also had other shields on scene, and that all officers came equipped with riot gear including shields and batons. The point was brought up that after Dan Love approached the gate, Novotny and others were asked to "take your vest, hats and shields off", to which Novotny refused to do. Novotany was asked to confirm that the Nevada Highway Patrol did not assist in making any arrests that day. It was also established that Novotny met with the US Attorney's Office once in person, and three times on the phone.
Todd Engel was next to approach the witness. Engel establishes the point that the croup of men in tactical formation, who were moving their firearms from "high ready, low ready" were moving behind the pillars and moving up to higher ground. Engel shows a video where Novotny's team was in a stacked formation and how no protestors had crossed the line in front of the gate that was established during negotiations, and that there were no protestors in the high ground at that time. Engel asked him to point out certain people in the video, specifically himself, Todd Engel. Novotny could not point Engel out because, "he could not recall names, only faces".
Terrence Jackson approached the witness and said, "as a law enforcement officer, you work with fear in your line of duty every day. You get training on how to deal with fear and confronting individuals. You get trained on how to manage your fears. You rated this event as a 10 in fear but, at no time were your paralyzed with fear that you could not do your job.
The Prosecution then brings to the stand Tara McBride. McBride identifies herself as the "officer" in the stacked formation in the very front holding the shield. McBrides testimony is a replication of Novotny's testimony, she adds that the protestors on the southbound bridge were throwing rocks and spitting on them, and that under the bridge there were two teams of three that were pointing their weapons. McBride tells the court that the order was given to "fall back" three times, but those requests were denied. McBride testified that her group in the stacked formation then had a discussion amongst themselves and decided to move back on their own. The Prosecution then asks a leading question, "can you barely see yourself in this photo"? Obviously leading the witness. McBride then brings up "black hat man" (Eric Parker). McBride testifies that she did not see him point a weapon. McBride then talked about how her and her team were afraid when Dan Love went to the gate for negotiations, and that they made a rescue plan to go get him if he was taken. That after that, "they were told to go back to the pickup and leave". McBride testified that "she felt in fear because local law enforcement did not support them". She further clarified that [they] were asking Nevada Highway Patrol to arrest the protestors on the bridge and stop the traffic and they were not doing it so everyone was frustrated, and that added to their fear level.
Jess Machese then approached the witness and said, "at no time in your report did you ever mention the man in the plaid shirt and black hat".
Todd Engel went through the same photos and video with McBride that he presented with Novotny showing how the government troops had the high ground while negotiations were going on with Dan Love at the gate. The government on re-direct tried to say that individuals on the southbound bridge were moving down and were posting a threat to BLM/NPS and that's why they were in a stacked formation, while photo evidence shows the people on the southbound bridge were behind the barriers.
At the end of court today was when discussion of Juror number 12 falling asleep was acted upon. The woman was dismissed and an alternate put in her place.
March 1, 2017
The update for today, such as it is, started out with "Michael Johnson's Friend", who ever that is! The man's name is Shalacas (sp?), he was in charge of security and investigation at the Incident Command Post mainly for the helicopter contracts and the contract cowboy/cattle rustlers. This man, "came down with Sergent Johnson to get in touch with the Bundy's. He also had 'the phone conversation' with Ryan Bundy".
The Prosecution started out the proceedings showing a video, "from clear across the bridge on the northbound..." The people in the video are apparently so small you have to struggle to see them. The Prosecution is trying to convince the court that details of the "people with guns, weapons, and military..." These people are so blurry to the court observers there is no way they can see any of the detail the Prosecution claims! While presenting the Prosecution witnesses in previous days, Bureau of Land Management personnel testified that they were on "high level alert", but while watching this video evidence the voiced of those that can be heard on the audio sound calm and no fear can be heard in their voices at all. "There is no alarm in [his] voice, people can be seen walking back and forth sensing no threat." This Agent never uses any radio communication during the whole video. If he was in fear of the people the Prosecution said were carrying weapons, this Agent should have been on his radio pronto! During the Agents testimony he described the people and weaponry calmly and in such detail it appeared the witness had been coached as to what to say. During testimony he tells the court he has no binoculars or spotting scope, just a video camera and describes his position as 200-250 yards away from these people he sees with weapons. Shilacas' assignment that day was to film the video that was presented as evidence in today's proceedings. From what court observers say, "the video was full of random lengthy footage of the Bunkerville Mountains. Las Vegas Metro can be seen on the bridge just wandering around under no obvious High Alert". The video had to be played several times, as no one could see any detail he was testifying to. Apparently, the video was so boring that one of the Jurors fell asleep again today. The courtroom observer said that, "if the video was so filled with drama and people acting as if on high alert, they would have been at the edge of their seat watching the video instead of falling asleep"! Sounds like it is the same woman that has been falling asleep throughout the court proceedings on previous days. It appears that Judge Gloria Navarro does dismiss this Juror #12 the following day for "nodding off" during trial. Here is the article.
It was evidence to most courtroom observers that Mr. Shalakas (sp?) was told exactly what to do and how to do it by the Prosecutors in regards to his testimony, because several times during testimony he asks Prosecutor Ahmed, "do you want me to circle it", to which she responds, "ya". The witness is being told what to do and when to do it, asking repeatedly, "should I do this"? Suggesting that he has been coached very well. The courtroom observers expect a lot of "I do not recall" answers during cross examination despite this witness relating with so much detail during the Prosecutions questioning. It was also noted that when the BLM Agent[s] testify about what kind of clothing officers and civilians are wearing, they describe officers as wearing colors, such as Olive or Brown, and when describing civilians using terms like "camo", obviously trying to instill fear in the Jurors minds.
Todd Engel finished up with detail about "the man with a long gun walking with a German Sheppard" asking, "do you know if that man with the Sheppard is an undercover agent"? Anticipating an objection, Engel just walked to his chair.
We are hearing from courtroom observers that the governments case against these six individuals, using government employees from the BLM against them, is ripe with these supposedly burly, tough, ex-military, ex-secret service, combat theater veterans, shedding crocodile tears on the stand describing the fear and terror hoisted upon them by these everyday Americans who came to stand by their neighbor as they were being terrorized and brutalized by the Bureau of Land Management and the US Forest Service, calling in everyone else to help them as they rustled the cattle, and killed some, took the land and drove the people off! They are testifying to a "Threat Level" of 7, 8, 9, or 10- yet none of the video/audio evidence would indicate any of this! They are clearly coached and perjuring themselves on the stand as they testify of things NOT SEEN in the photo and video evidence, of which there is much. Apparently the end of today's testimony was a BLM Agent crying while describing seeing Eric Parker pointing a gun at him, while this Agent looked through his scope on his firearm back at Eric with his finger on the trigger ready to shoot. The Agent said that also within his view behind Eric was a white van that had artwork of a huge soccer ball, there were multiple little girls, with their faces pressed up against the window looking out. This Agent claims THIS is the only reason he did not pull the trigger and shoot Eric Parker. The problem is, there is no photo or video evidence to prove the van exists or was in the background where Parker was. NONE! It is amazing what government and it's crony's will do to punish it's people, WITHOUT A SHRED OF EVIDENCE!
It has also been disclosed that Dan Love called his band of thieves together in the Bunkerville area days before the events on April 12, 2014 for parties that included tons of alcohol! These parties kept the BLM/USFS employees of the US government awake into the wee hours of the morning. THIS is why they were so sleep deprived! Not because of the "High Threat Level"! It has been disclosed that the garbage the BLM/USFS left behind contained large amounts of beer and liquor bottles. I think if the American people knew that US Government Employees were drinking alcohol on duty while on the "people's business" they would be outraged! This was, according tot he governments case, a very serious situation, that required military style gear and arms. What in the heck do they think they are doing mixing alcohol and firearms with fatigue and dishing it out to normal everyday citizens? We have also been told by several witnesses that the shredded government documents were found in these same garbage collection devices. They didn't even use a secure records disposal for disposing of these very important records that were so sensitive they required shredding on the spot!
Finally, witnesses against the government are being tracked down and threatened if they follow through in testifying with bodily injury, death and more! People scheduled to testify, luckily, are telling others about these threats. We insist that these threats to individuals be investigated and proper punishment assigned as the evidence is brought forward. In this case, government is really fearing the people!
February 28, 2017
Starting out today on the stand was Patrick Apley BLM Ranger, who as been employed at the BLM since 2001. Apley was in the US Military Army (1988-1995) serving in the first Gulf War saying, "under hostel fire", where he had combat medic/nurse experience.. After that served in the Department of Defense as a Police Officer and was given "Arrest Authority" by the Bureau of Land Management, testifying he was originally to provide security of the Incident Command Post.
Some of the questions Apley was asked were, "on April 11, 2014 did you receive a briefing"? In which he said, "no. But, we were told we could not go back to our hotel rooms, because if we did, we were going to 'get jumped'". Apley during testimony confirmed the fact that they received very little to no sleep as a result of being told to stay on scene and not to leave. Apley also established the fact that most of the radios were not working, and there were only a few who had "comms". He also received no orders on April 12, 2014. Ranger Apley was equipped with a body-cam, and it was evident while viewing the footage, no one was giving orders, everyone was acting independently. On April 12th Apley was at Post 1, he identifies the silver SUV that Brisco testified to, where a woman who drove the SUV pulled in to "Post 1" circled Brisco's vehicle and stopped, nothing was done to determine what the individual was up to or who the identity of the driver was. The driver did not comply to Brisco's attempt to get the vehicle to leave the premises over the loud speaker. Apley testified to the Las Vegas Metro and SWAT showing up on scene and requesting [they] put their long guns away, to move back and then to move out of sight, which resulted in Metro taking over Post 1. Apley testified that Lauren Good BLM, came to him and asked him to be the arresting officer and erect a "detention area" just past Post 1 where they would not be seen. A video was introduced that showed Apley's body-cam and he and Dan Love talking having a "prisoner cage" in his truck and how his radios died overnight. Chatter about horses coming and people with guns is heard. He said that SWAT was at the detention area but, were not deployed. Apley stated that, "he did not think it was a protest, because in a protest people don't bring guns". This statement leads to objections. Steven Myhre is unable to find success in letting the witness continue with his propaganda so, at this point Judge Gloria Navarro intervenes and leads Myhre into a way he can continue with this line of questioning. Apley continues testifying that he often is present at the Wild Horse and Burrow roundups, which often have protesters present, and they don't bring guns. Further examination of the body-cam footage is heard report of a person with an "F-4", which is a person with an AR15 on the bride with a scope and a Mac. He explained that, "this is a military gun and they have the high ground", testifying that the range on that gun is 500 meters for a "point target" and 600 for an "area target". As his body-cam continues to record, he goes down into "the wash" and pulls his gun out, testifying that he did this "because other officers have their guns out". Apley kept his AR15 in the "low ready" position because he was working in a medical role. Apley also testified that he was not given orders to go down into the wash, but he did it on his own volition, "because if there were injuries he was going to treat the wounded". He labels the wash as a "fatal funnel" as the protestors would be able to easily shoot the agents. At another point during body-cam recording someone can be heard as saying, "it's fairly calm because you have no comms because your radio died". Video shows Apley moving forward to the third closest vehicle to the gate in the wash where Agents Swanson, Richardson and Kyle "G" who were watching people on the bridge through the scopes on their rifles. Other evidence seen on the body-cam was Dan Love walking backward with Dennis Michael Lynch and Davey and Ryan Bundy after they had climbed the fencing for negotiations. Apley told the court that when they were asked to "fall back" he was "still in fear" there were still guns on the bridge and Metro and Highway Patrol did nothing the "take care of those guys". He testified that his fear commenced at "11:55 and did not cease until he got back to Las Vegas". Apley rated the event as a 7 for violence based on his combat days in the military, and an 8 based on his law enforcement days.
Appearantly this body-cam footage of Ranger Patrick Apley was the body-cam footage previously entered into evidence days ago, played many times during testimony, and it was clearly evident to court observers that the Jury is quite board having to repeatedly watch the video.
Cross examination continued with Defense Attorney (?) Moss (I was unable to understand the reporter as to the first name, and no reference to who he was representing. Could not find online), asking Apley, "how many times did you meet with the US Attorney's Office"? Reply, "three times", he also met with the FBI on April 15, 2014. "Is it true you were asked to get your long guns out of sight"? Response, "yes, Ranger Nibles asked me to put away the guns". Moss then asks, "then why do you immediately take out your gun when you entered the wash"? There is an objection, and no answer is given. The Defense has the body-cam footage played again, indicating, "you are now walking in the "fatal funnel" with your back to the bridge, while otherwise having guns pointed at you an you don't even care"? The Defense horns in on a portion of the audio in which Abley can be heard saying, "isn't this fun"? The Defense points out that many other people on sight were walking around in the same area
The session ended with Apley's body-cam video recording the group of protestors discussing weather to have and "impromptu church", in which Apley immediately turned off his body-cam. Apley was asked by the Defense, "why did you turn off your camera so abruptly"? To which he explained that things were going to escalate and he didn't want to record the bloodshed".
The afternoon session of cross examination began with continued questioning of Ranger Patrick Apley and why he turned his body-cam off. The Defense questioned, "body-cams are supposed to record events, and you chose to turn yours off right when you believed an event was about to happen. Officers are given body-cams to record event and to ensure officers are making correct judgements". This line of questioning led to the information that Apley volunteered to wear a body-cam.
Todd Engel rose to continue cross examination with Apley asking, "is viewing people through a scope is common practice"? Objections arose from the Prosecution. Although Engel rephrased the question several times finally asking, "were you ever trained to look at people through a rifle scope"? To which Apley answered, "no". "Was your rifle pointed down range"? Objection again. "Do these people wearing body armor, helmets and carrying rifles look militant"? Objection again. Engel continued, "are you aware of the four firearm rules of safety"? Abley did not answer the questions and was allowed by the Judge to say things like, "I don't see where you're going with this, what is your point"? Engel explained, "well you know, always keep your firearm on safety and, never point your rifle at anyone you are not prepared to destroy"? Objection again arose from the courtroom.
Next up was Shawn Perez, Attorney for Richard Lovelien, Asked the witness, "was there a briefing, where job duties were given out for the day on April 11, 2014"? Apley answered, "yes". "On the 12th was there a briefing"? To which he answered, "no". Apley was asked to identify his supervisor and identified Brisco. "So, anything that you were to do on April 12th, you knew you were supposed to do that on the night of the 11th"? Apley replied, "yes". Apley must have been equipped with a crystal ball also.
Terrence Jackson continued with questioning about the body-cam footage and asked Apley, "were you issued a ballistic helmet, and were other officers issued ballistic helmets"? Jackson continued asking questions along this line like, "if all officers are issued ballistic helmets, why weren't you wearing you helmet, and why were many of the other agents not wearing their helmets if you were all afraid for your lives"?
Todd Leventhal is up next and tried to enter a photo of the Incident Command Post, it was not shown to the Jury or the courtroom. Leventhal established that Apley's assignment was to protect the cattle and the ICP. Leventhal asked Apley to identify the terrain, and Apley says, "this is natural ground in the area". In another photo of the ICP asks, "does this area look right to you"? Objections come from the Prosecution to Leventhal's questioning and also submitting the photos as evidence stating it wasn't relevant. Leventhal argues that it is a picture of the ICP during the protest and depicts items he would like to ask questions to. Myhre from the Prosecution states, "that is exactly what we are objecting to"! Judge Gloria Navarro denies the request to submit the photos into evidence.
The Prosecution steps forward to re-direct asking Apley, "was it illegal for you to have your weapon on you in the wash"? Apley answered, "no, I'm allowed to carry my weapon when I feel it is needed". "Were you in fear of Dan Love and the Las Vegas Metro while they had their backs to the wash walking away"? To which he answered, "yes".
The Prosecution then calls Toni Suminski (I have to be honest, I could not clearly understand the reporter when stating this name. There was no spelling, and I'm not sure if it is Samanski or Scamanski or other. I'm sure the spelling is off, and these government people are almost impossible to find online to verify, so please forgive me. I'll make corrections when I get better information). to the stand, Toni Suminski BLM Communications Center Manager for multiple states including the following agencies, Bureau of Land Management, US Fish and Wildlife, National Parks Service. Her duties are to manage dispatch communications and computer for these agencies as a Command Center. During questioning she told the court when she was told she would be involved with Gold Bute her duties would be counting cattle, keeping track of Law Enforcement Officers and other non law enforcement officers that would be working on the project, for instance, an officer is given an assignment to go fulfill an assignment in a certain location, she keeps track of the officer and notes when he arrives and if he gets there safely. Toni was asked when she arrived and the said, "March 28, 2014". It was disclosed during questioning that her assignment did change drastically one she got to Gold Bute and that [they] didn't bring all the equipment they needed, only that which was needed to count the cattle. The equipment for dispatch, for running plates were not brought to the scene. At the point when she was asked to run plates to tracking individuals, she didn't have the adequate equipment to do her job. She had a team for the day shift which was 4 and the night shift was 1. She told the court the night of April 11, 2014 they started to dismantle the command center to half its size and sent half of the staff home, including a woman who was "not fit to work, she was too stressed out". This woman took the primary and secondary computers and continued to work in Las Vegas because of threats and continued to work up until April 22, 2014. This woman continued to communicate and log communications for agencies like Las Vegas Metro and Nevada Highway Patrol and kept a log of radio traffic between all agencies and making calls to them also. Toni also communicated with the FBI Undercover Agent Robyn Kirkland. Toni said her mode of communicating with Kirkland was Google Chat since Toni was not on site, and that there were BLM Special Agents in the crowd. A bombshell of information regarding communications for the events of April 12, 2014 was released when this Director of Communications discovered that No Audio Communications were recorded, as was the norm, on the 12th because someone had un plugged the hard drive used for this purpose sometime between the 11th and 12th.
While being cross examined, Director of Communications Toni discloses she is the one who was in charge of shredding documents after printing off documents from the various agencies on scene stating, only people with the right security clearance could view them since they contained names, numbers and sensitive information that shouldn't be out. She indicated she, "shredded documents the entire time on the night of the 11th and the morning of the 12th".
Todd Engel during cross examination established that [she] had "under-cover's in the crowd" and that was why the government did not deploy the "less than lethal". Engel asked, "how many under-covers were there"? She said, "she didn't know, that the information was coming from Kirkham".
Defense Attorney Jess Marchese asked how Toni was getting the information? Toni does not recall if anyone said [they] saw anyone pointing a weapon. (I think this is regards to the sighting of Eric Parker, as Marchese is Parker's Attorney).
Terrence Jackson approached the witness and asked if she had law enforcement or FBI training to do the duties? She responded, "yes, but they did not teach her how to set up the system, she learned that from experience. She disclosed that John Foley oversaw communications, and her system was not set up to reach FBI or Law Enforcement, she had cell phones for that.
Over all it was a disappointing session for the Defense as not one of the Defense Attorney's asked Communications Manager Toni who had access to the communications building and equipment? Did you see Dan Love? Was he ever in the communications building? Did you see Dan Love touch any of the equipment? Who was on security detail for the Comm Center? Who had security clearance to enter the premises or access the equipment, and what was the protocol? Was the hard drive dusted for finger prints after it was found to be disconnected in the critical moments of a, according to BLM Agents, Threat Level 7, 8 or 9 event? Was there any investigation done in the aftermath to determine who unplugged the hard drive? Who was the first to discover the hard drive was unplugged? Who was your Supervisor or Commander at the Communications Center while you served as Communications Manager? Who disposed of the shredded government documents, and if so where? How were the government documents disposed of? As you served in the capacity of Comms Manager were there radio checks performed daily to ensure the radios were in working order? What was the procedure in performing these radio checks and replacing inoperative equipment? In your daily Comm duties was there a Daily Threat Level broadcast over the radio, if so, what was the Daily Threat Level on April 11, 2014 when you broke down half of the Comm Center and sent it back to Las Vegas? Who gave you the order to dismantle equipment and send it back to Las Vegas on April 11? It is standard operating procedure to shred government documents and dispose of them during an incident in which there is a High Treat Level in which no one was hurt or injured and no damage occurred? Come on guys! There are enough questions here to go around. Divvy them up and ask these very important questions that went unasked! From the looks of the photo and video evidence this was a big deal! There was a boat load of government agency people and equipment summoned to the scene, and to let this very important witness get off the witness stand so easy is a travesty! The Prosecution must have fed the Defense turkey sandwiches for lunch because the tryptophan must really been at work! Recall the witness and get these questions before the jury, because I guarantee you, they are not doing to like the way these people neglected the people government records and equipment paid for by their tax dollars!
February 27, 2017
Court began today with Todd Leventhal argued before the Judge that Dan Love's material should have been provided to the defense ahead of time, and that this information has been provided to Congress and they are going to hold a Congressional Inquire. The misconduct of Daniel Paul Love include shredding of documents and scrubbing of email. The Defense has NOT been given hard copies, they are only given very limited access to the documents at the Prosecutions discretion and will not have it readily available for cross examination. As the documents were not made available to the Defense as the witnesses as of today, Defense is arguing to have those witnesses return to the stand. All of these tactics are a violation of the Brady Act (which as referred to here is actually related to firearms waiting period), more commonly known in the law profession as the Jencks Act of discovery. This is the case many refered to and is a synopsis of the issue Brady vs Maryland. Immediately Judge Gloria Navarro said that, "the information was given to HER in a timely manner, that she has reviewed it and that it doesn't really have any weight on the case or relevance to the case, and the Prosecution has given permission to VIEW the documents in good faith" a clear violation of the sixth amendment, which she has violated throughout the proceedings. The very fact that Dan Love testified in the Oregon Trial and brought into the court record information about the Stand Up at Bunkerville should give the Defense disclosure of these records.
Cross examination of Agent Logan Brisco, Security Officer for the ICP, continued with both the Defense and the Prosecution questioning. It was re-established that Brisco had no weapons pointed at him or his fellow "officers", to which he responded, "no". During Todd Engel's cross examination the Prosecution objected to many of his questions to the witness sustained by Judge Navarro including, "were two bulls shot"? Engel then turned to the Judge and said, "we may not ask about the cows"? To which Navarro responded, "you may ask about the cattle as long as it relates to the impound of the cattle, the armed assault and the extortion of the cattle", meaning the Defense can not bring up the mistreatment/euthanasia of the cattle and continues to use terms like "armed assault" and "extortion of the cattle" in reference to negotiating their release and return to the Bundy family. Engel continued with his questioning of Brisco asking, "on a scale of 1-10, in what way would you describe the level of violence was at that time in the wash April 12, 2014"? Brisco responded, "8". Engel continued, "so a protest with no violence, no one hurt, no businesses damaged and no shots fired, that would be a level 8"? Objections flew from the Prosecution were sustained. "Did you shred any documents", Engel asked? The answer, "no".
There began talk of a Robyn Kirkham, a woman that gave Agent Brisco intelligence information that he used in making his threat assessment. The Jury was dismissed and Todd Leventhal pressed the court to find out exactly who she was. The discussion led to the fact that in January Robyn Kirkham created an alias, created a facebook profile and started representing herself as a "Bundy Supporter". The Judge said she supports these actions by someone who creates an alias on facebook and promotes and increases the threat level and then provides that as evidence to the government. A ten minute discussion followed and it was then decided that if the Defense asked a question that resulted in a "yes" answer they could move forward with other questions, if the question posed resulted in a "no" answer there would be no moving forward.
Prevalent in today's proceedings again there is a lot of "I do no recall" statements by government witnesses when being questioned by Defense Attorneys, when while giving testimony for the Prosecution they could remember the most minute detail, including seeing men with guns and spotter scopes when even video evidence was presented in which objects were so small and blurry they could no be distinguished. The advice of Dan Love, as exposed in his evidence of misconduct, is working well within this trial. Aslo, Daniel G. Bogden the head US Attorney, is not even present during this trial. He has delegated the assignment of Prosecuting this case to Steven W. Myhre, Nicholas D. Dickinson, Nadia J. Ahmed and Erin M. Creegan. Courtroom observers say the Ahmed seems to be doing most of the objecting and talking for the panel. When the Defense objects Ahmed tells them, "you can't interrupt the witness", when all the while that is exactly what she is doing with HER objections! When the Defense protests this conduct from the Prosecution the Judge doesn't establish any ground rules or cautioning the Prosecution for their behavior, Navarro doubles down tossing off her "scale of justice" and allows the behavior to continue. The Defense could see a glimmer of hope, as in the afternoon session, the Judge even started to be somewhat annoyed with Nadia Ahmed and her continued juvenile behavior.
Mark Allen Brunk, BLM Special Angent with a work history including LE and the Military, was next on the stand. His testimony included his radio communications and his attempt to "count the gunmen" which includes truck-cam video/audio of some of the events on the scene. His testimony includes him describing protestors and what they were wearing and points out Eric Parker in the courtroom. He speaks of how horses arriving on the scene increased the threat level because horses are harder to control, at one point saying, "they have more weapons than we do", although the BLM had more weapons, as not all the protestors were armed. There are some undeniable discrepancies in this area because evidence of from 30 to 50 BLM vehicles have been referred to and every BLM Agent is assigned a car and an AR15, and it was reported by others that more than one agent occupied each vehicle. Brunk also was questioned about how many agents were armed with AR15 or handguns and he stated he "couldn't recall". Brunk also says that the protestors dogs also pose a threat including a statement about a German Sheppard on site, "German Sheppard's are used by Police as weapons, and so could other people". Although the dogs were actually Australian Sheppard dogs used to herd cattle and sheep. Brunk also was equipped with a body-cam but didn't have it recording at all times and "didn't feel it necessary" to record at all times. Although Brunk was asked to rate the threat level and rated it "level 8" he didn't feel the need to record. At one point the Defense played a clip in which Brunk and his fellow "officers" can be heard saying, "here comes Metro, they are gonna get their shoes dirty", laughing and telling jokes, and talking about the protestors, "are these people F***ing Stupid", but we are left to believe the threat level is a level 8? Brunk's defense to his behavior was, "it was a stressful situation, and this was a way to alleviate the stress". This behavior really depicts the state of mind of the federal agents in that, they think they have the advantage and have the protestors out gunned. The reality is that they had the protestors in the wash, under between the I-15 bridges funneled into a "kill zone", a definitely an advantage to the feds position. When video evidence was produced of Dan Love shaking his head to questions of Sheriffs authority and the Second Amendment Brunk was asked, "who has more authority", to which he responded the BLM.
Court continued to be a battle for the Defense as most all of their questions were objected to and overruled by the Judge. Defense Attorney Terrence Jackson asked to approach the bench at least three times and was denied by Judge Navarro stating, "I've ruled, now move on"!
So in this session it was established that tail wags are and carrying a holstered handgun are threatening to a tyrannical government.
The afternoon session began with an Undercover Agent under Michael Johnson from the BLM on the stand, where he was asked several questions in regards to Las Vegas Metro Police in which he testified to there being between 10-20 Metro Police units on scene before [they] went into the wash on April 12, 2014. Todd Leventhal asked the Agent to "evaluate that day in your life, how would you rate it"? In which the Agent replied, "it was the second most violent day I'd ever experienced in my life". He identified the "Arizona Shootings" as the foremost violent incident he'd witnessed, although he had served in the Military, but had not experienced combat. Leventhal continued with questioning, "what day did you get to Bunkerville"? "April 3rd" the answer. "On April 4th, how would you rate that"? Agent, "moderately stressful". Leventhal, "did you see long guns, gas masks and German Sheppards that day"? The answer, "no". At this point the Prosecutions objections were flying and Judge Navarro was loosing patience with Leventhal stating, "this has nothing to do with the 12th". To which Leventhal responds, "we have an indictment, and that indictment covers ALL of these days! So when you are requiring us, in this courtroom, to just focus on April 12, 2014 and the Prosecution is allowed to cover EVERYTHING up to the 12th, that is NOT fair"! The proceeding were allowed to continue amidst lots of arguing with everyone talking over one another including the Judge. Courtroom observers say they had a hard time distinguishing who was talking, it was so chaotic! Leventhal continued his questioning, "were you there the day Davey Bundy was arrested"? The Agent stating, "no". Leventhal then said, "you weren't on the scene? Were you above the scene"? The Agent stated, "yes". Leventhal brought in to question a photo of two men perched high above the scene as evidence asking if he was one of the two people in the photo, to which the Agent answered affirmatively. During questioning the Agent testified he witnessed a protestor throwing a sign and a rock from the Southbound bridge. The Agent was asked by the Defense, "did you take a picture of that rock, did you dust it for fingerprints, did you take the rock into evidence"? That was objected to. He also testified, amongst objection and re-direct, that he witnessed protestors take apart a fence put up by the BLM. Apparently contradicting himself several times during this questioning. The Prosecution then asked the Agent, "were you able to make any law enforcement act that day"? The Prosecutions argument was that Metro showed up and took charge and wouldn't let the BLM control the evidence. During further questioning the Agent said they didn't point guns or use pepper spray because of the children and, "it would cause a war to break out". Leventhal made reference to an interview with an FBI Agent Michael Pratt, in which the Agent testifying identified himself as a "sniper" that day. The statement drew objections from the Prosecution. As he continued asking the Agent how would you rate the 9th? The Judge cut him off and would not let him continue.
A video was played of the Sheriff asking for a "command person" at Post 1. A portion of the video contains audio immediately after the Sheriff's communication stating, "this is a shoot first, ask questions later situation", and another agent can be heard saying, "I'm with you", and the two can be heard laughing at that point. The video had to be played at least 3 times in order for the witness and the Jury to hear the audio as it was at low volume. Leventhal continued to play the video where next could be heard someone saying, "shoot his F***ing dog, shoot his F***ing dog"! It appeared to courtroom observers the sound level/volume of the video was deliberately manipulated to make these derogatory comments illegible, as other portions favoring the Prosecution were easily heard.
The Jury and courtroom observers were delighted at points in the cross examination when Terrence Jackson approached the Agent on the stand and when asking him about pointing guns at the protesters formed a handgun with his fingers and palms, dramatizing the questions before the court, among other things today. It was also evident to the observers that the BLM Agent perjured himself throughout his testimony with no help from any of the Attorney's.
Court Was Not In Session February 20-23
February 16, 2017
Alex Ellis returned to the stand today. He continued to testify for the Prosecution to video evidence he did not take and was over a hundred yards away. He continued to testify as to the fact that he and Michael Flynn were scared out of their gourds of the guns civilians had and the fact that adults brought their children. At one point in the video evidence file posted below entitled "Plight of the People and the BLM" you can hear MICHAEL FLYNN say, "get those kids out of there"! This is important because Ellis testified to the fact, much to the Prosecutions dismay, that he heard the BLM Agent say over the loud speaker, "we will use lethal force"! Judge Gloria Navarro continues to let this evidence into the court trial when Michael Flynn is the owner of it NOT Alex Ellis! Michael Flynn committed suicide in November of 2016 so he was not available to testify. The video portion in the evidence file I posted contains AN EDITED video, the same portion posted on the YT channel of the organization he worked for, the The Independent of Southern Utah. Part of the Defenses problem with this video is that Ellis is not the owner and did not shoot the video and can not prove it was not edited. Remember, Alex Ellis is a reporter at the same news outlet The Independent out of Southern Utah, which means, he has an agenda. Ellis identified people in the video again today. Today he identified Ammon Bundy, Cliven and Ryan. It has been reported that "the Bundy's were on trial again today", for the first half of the proceedings today the focus was not on the men in court with the exception of Eric Parker who also appears in Flynn's video being interviewed after the Stand Off ended expounding on the government tyranny and the right to keep and bare arms, and the fact that militia are independent. An interview with Ammon is discussed as to negotiations between the BLM and the Bundy Family with Metro Police Officer Roberts was present to release the cattle and the BLM were to vacate the premises, which is also included in the video below. In court today it was established that the original video was given by Flynn and Ellis to the FBI and was in the FBI's possession for over a year before being entered into evidence, and the fact is ANYTHING could have happened to the video in the governments possession. Jackson, Greg Burlison's Attorney really fought the "chain of custody" argument with the government.
Richard Tanasi, Attorney for Steven Stewart, began cross examination by asking Ellis a series of questions. "Where did you first meet Flynn"? Ellis' answer was that he met Flynn at a St. George Utah protest that they were both instrumental in. The protest was about the Debt Ceiling and was attended by both in 2013. Tanasi established that, "maybe Ellis' reason for attending the protest in Bunkerville differed from Flynn's reason for attending". Tanasi continued, "maybe the protestors went to Bunkerville Nevada for reasons other than Bundy cattle". Then asked, "do you know why my client Steven Stewart was at the protest"? "Do you believe those carrying firearms had a right to do so"? All of these questions were objected to by Myhre and the Prosecution team, all sustained by Judge Gloria Navarro. Tanasi went forward with questioning Ellis and trying to submit evidence from an FBI report which included statements from Alex Ellis in 2015 that may have impeached is testimony, but the Judge would not allow the report to be submitted into evidence. Her final statement on the matter was that, "she had read the report and would vouch for it on the Defenses behalf and keep the documents from being entered into evidence and that would be the end of the matter", violating the sixth amendment! There was questioning about Ellis' whereabouts during different portions of the video taping of the protest which varied from the I-15 bridge and in the wash below the bridge with his back towards the bridge. Ellis continued on the stand stating, "Cliven Bundy told protesters to 'carry guns'", yet there has been no evidence found or admitted to reflect Ellis' statement is true.
Todd Engel, representing himself, was up next. He continued to cross examine Alex Ellis. His line of questioning surrounded protesters, although the Judge ruled the Defense could not refer to the protesters as such. Engel also questioned Ellis segments of the video produced as evidence of which most was filmed by Flynn, questions about the BLM, Cliven Bundy, the Sheriff and bystanders. It was clear to all present for the trial that Alex Ellis had spent significant time with the Prosecution rehearsing his testimony as the photo evidence of the pickup truck with BLM/Government Operatives pointing weapons towards the protesters. Ellis remembers the BLM pointing their weapons but refuses to remember the fact that the truck was also there. Engel specifically asked him if he recognized the truck, to which Ellis answers, "no". Not only does Ellis not remember the truck but every witness that has been on the stand to this point cannot remember the truck in question, including two federal agents, one being within thirty yards of the truck. Engel, during cross, was successful at getting Ellis to confirm that he heard the BLM Agent, over the loud speaker, say that they "were going to use lethal force". Ellis and Flynn were also heard on the video tape saying there were children carrying firearms, where it turned out the "child" had a beard, and was not a child at all, overreacting in more than one instance.
Todd Leventhal was up next for the Defense. He tried to enter into evidence and article written by Alex Ellis entitled "The United Police State of America". (Note: I have tried to view the link to this article, and have been doing research on the website for several hours now, but I cannot get the article to display on two different browsers and on two different wifi networks without success. It is strange since the first hour I was very successful in my results displaying and now no matter what I do I can't get their site to display anything. Although I posted the link address you may have trouble viewing it also. I am including a link to Alex Ellis articles at SU Independent, although I no longer can get that page to display either). This article brings in to question his testimony in the Nevada trial today, maybe this is why the Southern Utah Independent is refusing to display the article. The Prosecution is also scrutinizing the article trying to block it from being submitted for evidence. (I was able to get the article to display today 3/5/17, I am posting it in it's entirety as it was displayed this day for your viewing pleasure. It is hard to see how they would only allow one sentence, as the whole article has so much to do with this case). The Prosecution/Judge agree to allow only one sentence of the article to be entered into evidence. The Judge during her explanation uses inflammatory language in reference to the Protest and Protestors calling it an Assault! She is also encouraging the Prosecution to refer to the BLM/Forest Service Employees as Law Enforcement Officers! Can you see the flying leap the government has taken? What started out as a land cataloging agency has now become a Policing Agency with Law Enforcement powers! Judge Navarro has also been witnessed to, while on the stand, looking up case law to help the Prosecution in keeping evidence out of the court record. THIS IS PRACTICING LAW FROM THE BENCH! Which is NOT the job of the Judge! Ellis also referred to the Protest as "the Stand Off", and was NOT warned or corrected by the Judge or Prosecution not to do so. So, there seems to be a double standard here. The Judge, Prosecution and their witnesses are able to use any descriptive terms they want, but the Defense can only use language and descriptive terms approved by the Judge/Prosecution. Leventhal questioned Ellis about the video of Margaret Houston, Cliven Bundy's 57 yr old sister, being "clothes-lined" and thrown to the ground by a BLM Agent. He drew a parallel to this incident and the one line allowed into the court record, but it was not stated what he wrote. Leventhal continued, "how many times have you met with the FBI"? Answer, "three times, once in St. George, once in Salt Lake, and once in Nevada". "How many times have you met with the US Attorney's"? He had met with them three times, noting he was asked if he recognized certain people, only to respond yes or no, not to identify them by name.
Logan Brisco from the BLM testifies. He was the agent in charge of the Incident Command Post. He had about 10 people subordinate to him. They had four positions including on, and underneath the southbound bridge, Post-6 (in reference to watch your six/back) north of the command post, and high above the mesa east of the wash referred to as the "observation post". Now, Pete Santilli is on trial during this segment of the proceedings. Video of Pete interacting with Dan Love, among others, was presented and Brisco's testimony included Brisco saying that Pete heightened the threat by telling people to come to the Bundy Ranch and bring firearms, "because a weapon is used to do harm to someone", and to Brisco, this increased the threat level, when what Pete actually said was, "I think Americans should come to the Bundy Ranch, and maybe they should bring their guns". Now people who are familiar with our Constitution and our Founding Principles know that this is NOT illegal! This trial is ALL about an assault on the first and second amendment! This are trying to criminalize our lawful exercise of these rights. They are using scenarios like this to label and categorize Americans exercising these rights as un-lawful and dangerous! Some of the video being shown in BLM "Officer" body-cam footage, which is posted below. Brisco was asked several questions about his body-cam like, "was your body-cam always in your possession"? To which he responded, "no". "If your body-cam was on your body was it always recording"? Answer, "no", although he did have it turned on for the conversation between Santilli and Dan Love. Showing he was being very selective of what he chose to film and the Prosecution using as evidence. Leventhal brought up the fact that [they] could call Dan Love to the court to testify of this conversation between he and Santilli, but the fact is, the Prosecution and the Judge won't allow it, because Dan Love is corrupt and there are ethics charges against him! Now, the six defendants had never met Pete Santilli before. The Prosecution is trying to use Pete as a co-conspirator everything he has said is admissible as evidence against them. The Prosecution will also be allowed to use any and all evidence against Pete for the same reason, that he was a co-conspirator. Pete Santilli was heard telling BLM/Law Enforcement, "no violence will happen" doing what he could do, dispelling fear and danger on all sides. In other portions of the body-cam video Dan Love nods affirmatively as the Protesters plead their case as to their Constitutional Rights, but then objects to the "militia" being referenced he said, "but when the militia is present, that's when violence can be en-sighted, and that would raise a threat". The video between Love and Santilli was used as reference to a BOLO (be on the look out) report of two dangerous individuals, although the two individuals were NEVER named and a statement to a bogus bomb threat to a hotel was mentioned and allowed on the record to suggest it related to Santilli and Mel Bundy.
As Jackson cross examined Brisco he admitted to working twenty eight hours straight, which resulted in the feeling of a heightened threat level saying, "I was in fear of my life! And that even a week after returning to regular duties, he was still in fear of his life because no one would respect his authority, and was fearful of confronting the average camper".
There was also talk of a Silver SUV being spotted in Post-1 circling Agent Brisco's vehicle, he got onto his loud speaker to announce to them, "they were in a closure area". The woman driving the vehicle did not leave. He did not approach the vehicle to find out who the woman was, but took this as evidence the threat level needed to be increased. It was discovered during questioning that this vehicle not leaving under his command was evidence that the rest of the Protesters would act un-lawfully. When Las Vegas Metro showed up on scene and told the BLM to, "put away your long guns" the BLM ignored the request and proceeded to Post-2 under the bridge in the wash. Brisco admitted that they did not recognize Metro's authority, so therefore, they ignored the order.
As with the Oregon Trial, this page will update as soon as I can gain access to the information, including video. I will post the most current information at the top, just under this initial information. Come back often as I will do my best to bring you the updates.
Tier 3 Defendants include: Ricky Lovelien, Todd Engel, Gregory Burleson, Eric Parker, O. Scott Drexler and Steven Stewart.
Leaked Government Footage Of Criminal Behavior at Bundy Ranch.
April 24, 2017
April 20, 2017
There were more questions from the Jury for the Court this morning. Although the questions are sealed by Judge Gloria Navarro, the courtroom observers have reported the questions are concerning the paperwork they were given. Their First Question is in regards to their Jury Instructions, containing 15 pages, and the Jury Form, which is 11 pages. It appears that the Jury are still troubled about the Conspiracy Charges and their may be some confusion on the way things are worded on this paperwork about that. It may be kinda like this. You know how when there is a ballot initiative and you are to give it an up or down vote? Many times the election board carefully words these questions in order to get a desired outcome, and it may be hard for most people to understand the question without actually knowing a lot about the proposed initiative, heck! Even the politically active may have problems here because of the deceptive way it is worded. This may be some of what the Jury is experiencing. Since the public is not provided the paperwork the Jury received, it is almost impossible to see if this is the case, for we know the Department of Justice and Judge Gloria Navarro are hellbent on conviction. It is very clear though that the Government is trying to get the Jury to convict in obsentia because the Judge gave instructions today telling the Jury to convict even if the conspiracy did not occur among these six Defendants, if the Jury thinks that it exists anywhere outside these individuals, they have to convict these six men! The courtroom observers are reporting that the wording on the Jury Form uses the term "Persons", not Defendants, indicating they are expected to go outside the scope of this case to convict. This is clearly outside the Jury's realm because much of the evidence involving other individuals was not allowed in court, even if these men had a connection to it. The fact that they only had a total of 3 witnesses in their defense should be more than enough proof the Defendants were unable to prove their case. This creates more of a boondoggle for the other trial Defendants, for if THIS JURY pulls a conspiracy charge out of thin air to convict these individuals on trial now, how does this effect the other Defendants in the upcoming Tier 1 & Tier 2 trials. It would be unconstitutional to have a judgement passed on you by a Jury that was not vetted by you and who would not be present to hear the evidence of your trial. In no world does this make sense, but when your the Admiral of your own ship, like Navarro, the Constitution is not allowed on board and you make the rules up as you go along, or you walk the plank! I do hope the Jury understands just how much power they have in their hands right now! I hope they know that it doesn't matter how much paperwork the Government gives them, THEY HAVE ALL THE POWER! They can toss ALL that to the wind and the sales and use their commonsense in the common law and set these people free from an oppressive government! Let's pray someone within that Jury room possesses this knowledge.April 17, 2017
Everyone rushed to the Federal courtroom in Las Vegas Nevada as the Jury hearing the First Trial of the Tier 3 Defendants had a question. All parties were present as the Jury asked a question that was later sealed by Judge Gloria Navarro to keep it out of the eys of the public. It is said by some who where in the courtroom at the time, that the question is regarding if the decision must be unanimous between the Jurors for each Defendant and each charge. Court observers are saying that the question the Jury has now is a good sign. They also report that the subject of a "Hung Jury" was discussed, this not being so good for the Defendants. The Judge saying the Jury is asking "what if" questions, that their scope is too wide and needs to be more focused. This only confirms that the Jury, at this point, is not unanimous in their thinking, which could be to the Defendants benefit. The power is now clearly, in the hands of the Jury, which I'm sure makes the Judge very nervous! It was pointed out by a courtroom observer that the Prosecuting Attorney Dickinson had a crucifix with him in court today and was bowing his head and rubbing his rosary during the impromptu court proceedings today. This would NEVER be allowed by Judge Gloria Navarro if the Defendants or courtroom observers had done this!April 13, 2017
Closing arguments continued today with Scott Drexler's Attorney, Todd Leventhal, Ricky Lovelin's Attorney, Shawn Perez and Greg Burleson's Attorney, Terrence Jackson delivering for the Defense. The Prosecution will get the last word, to close out the proceedings before the case is fully in the Jury's hands, Leventhal's closing got accolades from the courtroom observers. Leventhal was successful at getting some key video played in court today. The video of Margaret Houston being thrown to the ground by a BLM Agent, along with video from Davey Bundy's assault and detainment and Ammon Bundy being tased multiple times and having guard dogs sicked on him. The photo and video evidence of snipers on the Mesa was also allowed before the Jury today as Leventhal gave his closing arguments. Leventhal was also allowed to mention Dan Love's name in front of the Jury today saying, "where is Dan Love in all of this"? Dan Love is the person who brought this case to the Grand Jury through his written reports, but not one of the Defendants has been able to call him as a witness against them. At one point in Leventhal's closing statement he said, "you'll never know what hunger is, or you'll never know what poverty is unless you never experience it. It's the same thing with the Constitution and your First Amendment Right. Unless you need it and don't have it, you'll never know what it's like to be without it".When Shawn Perez rose to give closing arguments for Ricky Lovelin used the analogy of "Where's Waldo" telling the Jury, "the FBI spent THOUSANDS of hours looking through photos and could only find 8 photos which contained an image of Ricky Lovelin". Perez told the Jury "he was never seen assaulting anyone, and no threats were made. He was made a co-conspirator for running security for the Bundy's". Perez told the Jury that Lovelin had many things on Facebook, but they were re-posts/Shares, and when someone on Facebook inquired about the militia going to Bunkerville Lovelin took the initiative to tell the person the point of the militia going to Bunkervill was to prevent violence NOT to start it! Perez reminded the Jury Lovelin never pointed a weapon and provided evidence that he was not on the bridge until 2:45 p.m. Using a quote from Eric Parker Perez said, "we hopped into a truck of a guy we didn't know", reminding the Jury that none of these people knew each other. Perez told the Jury, the only reason Ricky Lovelin shared Operation Mutual Aid posts on social media was to let people know who to contact if they wanted to help, as organization was becoming paramount.
Terrence Jackson stepped forward to give the closing statement for Greg Burleson reminding the Jury how Charles Johnson of Longbow Productions offered him alcohol, while Johnson did offer alcohol to the other interviewees, they may have had prior knowledge of Burleson's weakness for alcolhol, since being employed by the FBI as a paid informant prior to the events at Bunkerville. Jackson asking, "why would they give a man alcohol it they new they were going to interrogate him and wanted him to reveal the truth unto them? But, you would give alcohol to someone you were trying to get inflammatory statements from". Jackson stated, "the video evidence shows that the governments narrative is untrue"!
Todd Leventhal, Attorney for Scott Drexler, next approached the Jury saying, "these men did not go to Bunkerville because of cows"! This is the point when he presented the Jury with the video evidence of Margaret Houston being thrown to the ground, Davey Bundy being assaulted for taking pictures on the side of the road, Ammon Bundy being tased and attacked by a K-9 and the First Amendment Zone. Leventhal read the news article of Nevada Governor Mark Sandoval voicing disgust about the First Amendment Area, (linked to below), Leventha actually got to read the story, not just show the headline saying, "no amount of cows gives you the right to use guns and intimidate people", referring to the Bureau of Land Management. Leventhal told the Jury about the rally on the stage where Sheriff Gillespie was present in which Cliven Bundy made a list of demands saying, "anyone could have got up on stage and said I want all the metal detectors taken down, I want all the Marshalls disarmed, and I want free food in the cafeteria because the people are hungry"! Emphasizing, that's obviously not what's going to happen, it's just a statement! Leventhal told the Jury, "the government has not produced one piece of evidence that linked Drexler to the conspiracy". Leventhal reminded the Jury that the head of Las Vegas Metro or the Sheriff did not come to testify at this trial, asking the Jury, "why is that"? Leventhal read another statement by Governor Sanduval saying, "no cows justify the amount of intimidation that is going on, the road closures and heavy handedness of the BLM". Finishing up with, "there is overwhelming doubt in this case! Did the court order to gather cows give the BLM the right to use force"? Leaving the Jury with a quote from his Dad, "if you don't stand for something you'll fall for anything. Don't fall for this" pointing at the Prosecution.
Steven Myhre for the Prosecution ended by telling the Jurors the men were not keeping the peace, they were threatening law enforcement and keeping them from fulfilling a court order saying, "these men are not noble protectors of the Constitution. It makes them nothing more than vigilantes...common criminals! They took the law into their own hands".
An update of Micah McGuire, he was assigned a new Attorney en-lue of representing himself, pro-Se.
April 12, 2017
Starting off the day with drama orchestrated by the US Marshalls. Ken Medenbach was arrested as he tried to access the court building to witness the trial proceedings today. Medenbach himself, has a court appearance scheduled for today at 3:00 p.m., but the US Marshalls decided they would intimidate the man by arresting him on the spot and charge him with trespassing! Today is also the Anniversary of the Protests at the Bundy Ranch in Bunkerville were the citizens were victorious in securing the release of the Bundy Cattle and getting the government to put their guns down, pack up their battle rattle and cattle rustlers and head home. Half of the courtroom observers left the courtroom in disgust today while listening to the proceedings, there were a reported 60 or so supporters and around 30 left in disgust, one man yelling "TREASON, TREASON"! before being escorted out by US Marshalls.Proceedings began today, with the Prosecution objecting to everything the Defense planned to present during closing arguments. Courtroom observers used the word "micromanaging" of the exhibits and so forth the Defense planned on using, denying the Defense a proper presentation of the evidence of WHY their Defendants came to Bunkerville. Courtroom observers say that so far today all they have heard is the Prosecution repetitively re-presenting their evidence thus far presented. The observers say it is so repetitive, trying to present the narrative, of men with guns and camouflage, adnausium even entering a new piece of video as evidence today. It was like Chinese Water Torture listening to Greg Burleson's Longbow video in which the FBI Undercover Agents got the man soused up on alcohol before asking him leading questions which resulted in inflammatory answers laced with profanity and threats. No video of the dead cows and mass graves, no video of Davey Bundy's assault and detention, no video of BLM misconduct, will be allowed. The Judge went as far as to say that there is no evidence whatsoever of BLM misconduct stating, "it was there lawful legal duty" and that they were only doing what they were supposed to do by court order, and all the people had to do was file an appeal! The courtroom observers report that there are some interesting instructions the Jury is being given in their instruction packets, that the Government DOES NOT bare all burden of truth to find the Defendants guilty! Which goes to show, they are just making things up as they go along. The government is trying to claim, in this case, that the internet is a vehicle of "Interstate Commerce", (this kind of stuff is the type of thing that gets Orrin Hatch giddy, Jason Chaffetz too with his online gambling legislation), saying "it's like a building, and you are impeding federal officers if you even say anything that makes them FEEL fear on Facebook or anywhere on the internet". (OK, I can see where all this participation trophy, no red pencil on your graded paper stuff leads to). The Judge, again today, laughed out loud at the Defendants and their Attorney's while filing motions today, making fun of them and telling them she will not risk Jury Nullification through the evidence they want to present. ALL of these proceedings are being conducted without the Jury present. When the Jury is brought into the courtroom Judge Gloria Navarro tells the Jury that the "Defendants have a right to closing arguments, but they don't have the right to ALL the closing arguments". The Prosecution took 3 hours of the time in front of the Jury repetitively presenting their closing arguments so far this morning where they presented one of the most ridiculous propositions to the Jury stating, "you are responsible for others actions while in that act of a crime, even if you show up after the fact"! This goes to the fact that Jerry Delumas showed up on April 13, 2014, yet the government wants to hold him responsible for EVERYONE'S actions BEFORE he arrived! You can't make this stuff up! One good point that was brought out, by the Prosecution was, a statement by Eric Parker saying, "Cliven Bundy fired the Bureau of Land Management". Courtroom observers say it is unjust that the Jury is not able to have the evidence that Harry Reid owns property next to the Bundy's in Bunkerville and has arterial motives for their land. They are not able to hear that Judge Gloria Navarro was appointed by Harry Reid and should have recused herself from this case but is, instead, passing out retribution for not lying down and letting Harry Reid have his way with them. The Jury has been given thousands of pages of redacted documents keeping much of the evidence from them. Also, included in the Jury Instructions, is the governments statement that we as a people have no right at all to stand up against the government! It only takes reading the Declaration of 1776 so verify that we do! But, our founding documents are forbidden from being in the courtroom and the Jury having access to them. The government also said that they set up First Amendment Areas and the rest of the land was closed to the public. "We set up a safe zone, and if you get out of that First Amendment Area, then you are impeding Federal Officers whether you have a gun or not". The First Amendment Area/Safe Zone was located 7 miles from where the protest took place. A group of the courtroom observers got together and conducted their own tour of the Bunkerville Event areas, and at one spot where the BLM/Park Service did their firearms training, they found many bullet casings that are still there three years after the event.
Todd Engel has been giving permission to give his own closing arguments.
Update before afternoon update: Ken Medenbach is being detained after being accosted by US Marshalls for trying to attend court proceedings for the six Defendants on trial before his hearing in the same building at 3:00 p.m. He will be transported back to Oregon as the government says he is in violation of his probation for "squatting on BLM land". Micah McGuire, a Tier 2 Defendant, has a court appearance tomorrow to establish if the court will allow him to represent himself during his trial, to prevent a situation like the one Todd Engel experienced during his Tier 3 trial, where Judge Navarro fired Todd and re-instated his fired Attorney to represent him because Navarro didn't like how Engel was representing himself.
This afternoon Scott Drexler was told he cannot show video to the Jury that will establish why he came to Bunkerville, although, this statement is included in his Longbow interview which has already been entered into evidence, it will not be allowed during his closing arguments, the Judge saying he should have taken the stand if he wanted that evidence brought before the Jury. Also argued was that Steven Stewart would not be allowed to use quotes by Susan B. Anthony, Benjamin Franklin, and the Ferguson Protestors which he shared on his Facebook wall, the governments claiming that there was nothing in his posts that indicated he actually looked up those quotes, he didn't actually think about them, so they cannot be used to buoy up his reasons for going to Bunkerville, I guess saying he has no mind of his own. The government wants to have it both ways, "Facebook is a mindless activity" and "you give someone a thumbs up, chat or share, and you are complicate in any wrongdoing that person ever does".
Some of what went on during the Government's closing statements began with a statement, "they used the barrel of a rifle to make Federal Law Enforcement leave Public Land three years ago today", saying something about the cattle being government property and the protestors not bringing signs to protest by loaded magazines. They did nothing more than block the freeway with a gun, not a protest sign, emphasizing the fact that they brought their guns to a protest. Later Eric Parker's Attorney, Jess Marchese, emphasized the point during his portion of the closing argument that, some people come to protest rally's, even in support of the Second Amendment, toting their guns. The Prosecution continued by showing the actual video footage of Eric Parker prone on the bridge during the tense moments when the government told the crowd over the loud speaker that they would shoot, this time letting the video play without stopping it every second to analyze what Parker was doing, finishing with, "when was the last time you saw anything like this in your life", counting on the fact that the Jury would not be able to judge for themselves the circumstances, but counting on them to judge them harshly indicating who, in their right mind, would stand up against the government? Courtroom observers felt the intimidation aimed at the Jury on this point. Dickerson, from the Prosecution, went through ever count on the charges and tried to prove that the Defendants are guilty on every count, going as far as saying, "just having a weapon is a threat to intimidate and is therefor a crime". Dickerson continued by getting his facts wrong in saying, "Parker and Drexler were prone on a bridge", drawing objection, because Drexler was conversing with Nevada Highway Patrol while Parker and Stewart were covering the crowd while under threat of being fired upon by the Government Forces. Dickerson goes as far as actually showing the Jury how to fill out the forms they will be given for marking their decisions for each Defendant and the counts associated. And, NOT ONE objection from the Defense during any of this dog and pony show! I hope the Jury can see through the Prosecutions condescension!
Richard Tanasi, Steven Stewart's Attorney, stood in defense of his client showing a Meme saying, "He brought his gun to exercise his First Amendment with his Second. He did so, so that he would not be sprayed in the face with Mace, just like this post". Continuing saying, "Dickerson has done a wonderful job of weaving everyone together into a huge conspiracy, and throwing it all at you! It is your job to consider the facts, and separate the people out as individuals and show that you believe their individual guilt, without a reasonable doubt". Tanasi told the Jury about the First Amendment Zone, and how "the government was attempting to heard the people like cattle", further stating, "the First Amendment isn't in a box, the First Amendment is where your feet are at"! Tanasi continued, "Steven brought his gun so his family did not have to make funeral plans", while showing the quote, (linked to below), where a Nevada Government Official said, "the Bundy Supporters Better Have Funeral Plans". Tanasi told the Jury, "no plans were made to assault and officer", asking, "where were Sheriff Gillespie and Tom Roberts"? The Defense would have loved to have added Dan Love to that list, but his name has been strickened from the court by way of Judge Gloria Navarro. Tanasi told the Jury "Steven Stewart was spotting girls not spotting for Eric Parker". He told the Jury that it was the Political Pressure that ended the operations not pointing guns behind the jersey barrier since the governments own evidence showed that operations were ended on April 11, 2014.
Jess Marchese was up next to make closing statements for Eric Parker. Marchese was successful at getting a photo of Davey Bundy's wounds after being assaulted by the Bureau of Land Management, telling the Jury "Dave was assaulted for taking pictures on the side of the road". Marchese told the Jury about Margaret Houston being thrown to the ground by a BLM Agent saying, "the government said that she was in front of trucks but, as you can see in this video, she was not", further stating, "Ammon Bundy then came to the aid of his aunt, was tased several times, and had attack dogs sicked on him"! Marchese told the Jury how Parker had seen posts about the First Amendment Zones stating, "he believes the First Amendment is not a Zone, but a Right! And if he is not secure in his rights, I'm not secure in mine"! Continuing, "they were hurting people, and I tell my kids, that you have to stand up for your neighbor, and stand up for each other, and if I didn't do that I'd be a hypocrite"! "He had a gun, and that's just what guys form Idaho do", said Marchese. Marchese continued to tell the Jury how Charles Johnson of Longbow Productions said he offered the interviewees chips and M&M's along with the alcohol, but you never see anyone eating chips of M&M's on any of the videos, and he kept on trying to put words in other peoples mouths, furthering the narrative saying, "he acted like a used car salesman, selling used cars to senior citizens". Marchese reminded the Jury that during Michael Flynn's video he even said the government said they would use "lethal force" over the loud speaker. Marchese told the Jury how Eric Parker did guard duty when he first arrived, and how Parker greeted people when they arrived and give them parking instructions. Marchese told the Jury how the government forces stayed up all night after they were told that "dangerous individuals were coming to kill them". He reminded the Jury that a Nevada Highway Patrol was given bad information and was told things that made him "fear for his life so badly that he had to call his wife and kids and drive over a 100 miles per hour to get out to a wash that people weren't even in yet"! Can anyone say "kill-zone"? Marchese brought up the fact that the photos of Eric Parker wearing his black hat with white insignia, with his firearm went viral yet, not one government official mentioned him in their reports! Marchese concluded with, "to believe in something and not to live it is to be dishonest".
Todd Engel was up next to make his closing statement. The Government Prosecutors were brutal in their 19 objections during his statement, just trying to rattle him, and show him "who's boss"! The majority of the objections were that Engel was using "first person" instead of just testifying to the evidence, although courtroom observers report that the Prosecution brought up things that were not entered into evidence and used speculation as to what the Defendants were thinking and doing. Engel recovered by going through each indictment and telling the Jury point by point, "they want to say I was in a conspiracy, I didn't know these people! They want to say that I intimidated people, I herd 'disperse' I ran over to the police to tell them, these people are pointing guns at me! I stayed there for an hour, and when I left, the officers patted me on the back and said, 'thanks for your help'". Engel reminded the Jury that evidence shows that he did not go toward the bridge, that he went to the Nevada Highway Patrol. Engel told the Jury he showed up at 11:29 a.m. and was in the parking lot not doing anything for 20 minutes, until a lady said they are pointing guns at protestors, reminding the Jurors that that statement was heard in the Michael Flynn video and Alex Ellis testified to that fact. Engel told the Jury it was then he ran to the bridge to see what was going on, having his camera at the ready, not his gun! Engel then reminded the Jury that in the Shelaka's video footage you could see he ran the other direction to Nevada Highway Patrol where he spent the rest of the day with law enforcement. Ending his statement with, "I don't know what more I could have done to help it end peacefully"! Courtroom observers reported that Todd Engel "drop-kicked" the Prosecutions today, even with all the objections and trying to rattle him. They said his statement was compelling and heartfelt.
That ended today's statements. Tomorrow we expect to hear from Scott Drexler, Rickey Lovelin and Greg Burleson, with the government having the last word with Steven Myhre wrapping up. It was evident, once again, that the Prosecution and the Judge have been in complete control, disallowing the Defendants their witnesses and their evidence that would prove their evidence, thereby furthering their narrative that you should not stand up to the government or we will have our way with you, even in court!
April 10, 2017
Today in court Eric Parker was once again on the stand. It began with cross examination. Courtroom observers say that the court proceedings were very vindictive and unprofessional, and this includes Judge Gloria Navarro, the Prosecution AND the Defense! It was like a day care center, only the kids had guns. Before the Jury was allowed into the courtroom there was some argument over several Memes shared on social media saying, "Eric Parker has not disavowed himself from the conspiracy and that it is ongoing and he is still in the conspiracy until he was arrested". The Government told the Judge they would not bring up the Idaho III%. The Defense asked for the government to redact the images. Entered into evidence were photos of Eric Parker, Scott Drexler and Luca Zanna.Questioning of Parker began showing a photo and asking, "see the individuals in the tan uniform? Do you see the trucks here? You see they all have light bars? And you know these guys in green in between the ranger trucks"? Parker answered, "you mean the guys pointing the guns at people? Yes I saw them". The Prosecution asked, "so this happened when you were standing on the bridge? You knew the Bureau of Land Management were in the wash"? Parker said, "no, I knew there were people in the wash, but I did not know they were BLM". A video was them played were the protestors can be heard saying, "open the gate, open the gate, and the BLM talking about court orders". Saying, "you heard what they were saying on the loud speaker"? Pointing out 12 times in the same short video "black hat", asking him to identify himself each time the video was stopped, also asking him in which direction his gun was pointed as he aimed over the jersey barrier, emphasizing to the Jury Parker was armed and pointing his gun in the direction of the BLM/Park Service/Mercenaries, with not one objection from the Defense! Next the Prosecution showed another photo of the wash saying, "here you see Greg Burleson"? Parker saying, "I don't see him, the arrow is pointing to some guy in a white shirt". There was an objection that was sustained by the Judge. The Prosecution moved on, "here you are on the Northbound bridge in the prone position with your gun pointing toward law enforcement, with your eyes in the iron sight"? Answering, "no, I was looking at a reporter". Prosecution, "your finger is near the trigger"! Parker clarifying, "you mean on the gun up above the trigger area"? Questioning continued with, "now you are no longer confused at this point"? Parker emphasized, "YES, I am still confused! I still do not know who these people aiming their weapons at women and children are"! At this point the Prosecution shows many of his Facebook posts. One of the photos produced show Parker in the prone position with his arm resting on a backpack telling the Jury that Steven Stewart brought the backpack to Parker. Parker clarified that Stewart went for water and it was then I asked him for my backpack that was packed with water! Another photo was presented with Steven Stewart, Scott Drexler one standing, one crouched and Eric Parker is in the prone position looking down at them. Next they showed a photo of Scott Drexler with a post from Eric which said, "an ongoing weekly tribute to men and women who showed up and were not me". The Prosecution then asked, "did you show force on a bridge in Nevada"? Parker answering, "YES! I showed up with my body, and that's a force"! Prosecution, "and your long gun"? Parker saying, "and then the cattle were released"! "Just like Cliven Bundy told you to do"? the Prosecution continued. Parker said, "no one told me to do anything, sir"!
Nicholas Dickinson from the Prosecution after questioning the witness, Eric Parker, turned his back to the Defendant and the supporters, would raise his eyebrow, smile like "I gotcha" and turn to his colleagues to gloat, very vindictive and purposefully arrogant. Erick Parker himself was very calm and collected and very determined to get the truth out, showing his ability to get the truth into questions the Prosecutors asked allowing the Jury to hear the truth the government was trying so hard to conceal, and the Jury otherwise, would not hear. Observers said Parker's testimony today was awe-inspiring.
On re-direct the Defense talked about the discovery and what Parker understood on April 12, 2014 and how that was completely different than what he understands today because he has seen so much of the discovery evidence being in a position where he was surrounded by many people, and bringing up the point that although there is a conversation going on 15 feet form where he was at, doesn't mean he knows what is going on over there, and if you produce a video of that conversation it doesn't mean he had firsthand knowledge of it and agreed to what was being said, or conspired with them. At some point a photo of the protestors at the wash was shown again, and although the Prosecution was trying to depict it as an armed standoff, if you had just been shown the picture of the protestors you would not have described it in that way. Jess Marchese asked Parker, "three years ago do you believe you heard them say lethal force over the loud speaker"? Parker answering, "yes, I heard we have been authorized to shoot if you take another step, and that's when I got down and took cover"! Marchese then asked, "what did the Sheriff say on the stage"? Parker saying, "it's about what he didn't say on the stage. If he had said, there's a bunch of people over there in battle gear and foxholes waiting to shoot you, NONE OF US WOULD HAVE GONE"! Marchese tried again to enter into evidence the video of Margret Houston being thrown to the ground by the BLM agent, but it was again denied. There was another video of this event from a different vantage point that was submitted, but it only shows Houston already on the ground NOT her being picked up and thrown to the ground. It was the other vantage point of the same incident that Eric Parker saw before he made the decision to travel to Bunkerville, and the Judge won't allow it! Marchese continued by asking, "when you were arrested and transported you were read your rights and you gave an interview to the FBI without a lawyer. You heard the whole video interview UN-doctored in any way. Your interview was taped on March 3, 2016? Marchese motioned to have this statement in it's entirety entered into evidence, not clips, but the whole 2 1/2 hour interview. Judge Navarro refused to allow the evidence. Marchese argued that it must be submitted in it's entirety because it shows that Parker's testimony is the same on the video as it has been in the courtroom and the day he was arrested showing consistency. Judge Navarro saying it was "improper and inadmissible under 801-B" then denying it.
The Prosecution did some re-cross examination about the speech Cliven Bundy made on the stage, but the reporter fails to give details.
It was very evident during this case that the governments whole case was based on communications in the social media realm and the government WILL use it against you in the worst possible way. It is just genius that the government invented the bainchild of the CIA in order to collect everything you think and say to use it to convict you of any crime of conspiracy! It's part of their agenda to "master the human domain". Making a giant leap from your 140 character post/comment to reading into it the most outrageous idea imaginable! An example was given in court using an Apple iPhone where someone asked Siri "when was the last time the government backed down"? And, a photo of Eric Parker on the bridge in Bunkerville popped up. It can, and will, be used against you in a court of law! If you look at what the Prosecution did with Eric Parker on the stand today the Jury might be let to believe that Parker was an army of one! And, it is just disgusting that none of the defense attorneys did not take control of the situation and let Parker take control of the narrative. The hard work was done for them. The evidence was presented and they only needed to ask Parker a few simple questions and let him go. Eric would have known what to say to convince the Jury otherwise.
Other courtroom observers said they were very disappointed with the Defense during proceedings today. The Defense was also very disrespectful while in the courtroom and even during Eric Parker's testimony, many times talking amongst themselves. They say it would have been forgiven had they used their gab sessions in coming up with a defense! The Defense Attorney's sat on their hands for the most part and were disinterested at the very least! There was such a great opportunity missed in getting Eric Parker's perspective in every piece of evidence presented where the Prosecution played "gotcha"! The evidence was already there, the Defense just needed to use it! Any lay person who had knowledge of the proceedings could have done a better job! It was disappointing that these men have to pay these Attorney's for the shoddy job in court today. It was also disappointing the other Defendants did not take the stand in their own defense! With only 4 Defense Witnesses, one a government plant, another Eric Parker they only had two witnesses to present their case, Shannon Bushman and Michelle Arnett. You would have thought their attorney's would have been pleading with the Defendants to testify! It was an opportunity lost, as they could have refuted all the government evidence against them, now it's going to have to be left to the Jury to decide. One reporter reminded us that some Defense Attorney's forfeited their opportunity to make an opening statement also stating, "it was FREE TIME, time freely given to present how your client will prove his innocence. Mind-boggling! It is just so sad that these Defendants Attorney's are so inexperienced at doing trial work. They are taught how to coerce Defendants into plea bargaining in order to save the Attorney time and effort of preparing a court case. They just want to take the money and run! We must ask the obvious, why were not the witnesses, announced to the Judge, NOT brought in to testify? Garrett Frenner, although he was intimidated in open court and behind closed doors, said on social media that he would testify. Why did they not present Mary and Stanton Gleave's testimony? They were there in the wash on the 12th of April 2017! Why, at the very least, did these Defense Attorneys NOT stand up in court and cry witness intimidation for all the hear? I wish for boldness, and even so far as leveling charges against Judge Navarro if she and the Prosecution continue their tactics! The courtroom observers where smart enough to know this was exactly what was happening, and to just sit back, panic, and let it be played out before their eyes is unbelievable! Let's go all the way! Let's insist that the US Marshalls take these people into custody!
Other subjects to be argued today are Jury Instructions and Jury's decision on The Conspiracy and which element of Conspiracy, the Jury must be unanimous in their decision. Wednesday April 12, the three year anniversary of the Stand Up At Bunkerville known as Bundy Ranch, closing arguments will be heard.
April 6, 2017
The day started out with Eric Parker taking the stand to testify on his own behalf. Eric was said to have been very calm on the stand. Parker, when being sworn in, was asked if he would tell the whole truth? To which he replied, "so help me God"! Parker was also seen bowing his head in prayer several times during the proceedings. Judge Gloria Navarro has accommodated the Defense in their bringing forth exhibits during Eric's testimony including the evidence of Margaret Houston being assaulted and thrown to the ground by a BLM Agent. The Jury FINALLY got to see this footage and that of Ammon Bundy being tased 3 times and being attacked by a K-9. Davey Bundy's assault and capture video, and the snipers on the hill during that event evidence was also presented to the Jury including the First Amendment Zone evidence. The Prosecution and Judge Navarro have vehemently fought this evidence being brought before the Jury. The evidence that there were snipers on the hill after Eric Parker got to the bridge was also allowed to be presented to the Jury. The Defense also got the present the evidence of a Clark County Nevada Official who stated, "Bundy Ranch supporters better have funeral money and body bags". Evidence of Governor Sandoval and Senator Dean Heller's statements of support were also allowed as evidence. ALL of this evidence was objected to by the Prosecution, but Judge Navarro, or someone posing as her;0), overruled the objections and allowed the evidence before the Jury.Lower on this page you will find video and photos of the evidence submitted into evidence today including Margaret Houston, Ammon Bundy, Davey Bundy and the First Amendment Zones and Snipers on the Hill.
Before the update for the afternoon session of court, courtroom observers related continued abuse by Law Enforcement, mainly Las Vegas Metro Police. David Fleeman, who has been bringing posters, signs and flags to the courthouse each day of court was followed, detained, harassed and given a citation for his normal drop off routine. Fleeman paid extra care as he saw officers in the area, but no matter, the Metro Officer that accosted him in the parking lot after Fleeman parked his car, treated the man like a dangerous criminal ordering him to keep his hands on the steering wheel and then trying to escalate the situation by yelling and giving Fleeman confusing commands. Fleeman cooperated, but was detained for 30 minutes by this bully before receiving his citation. Fleeman said that the officer was drilling him and "the last time I was drilled like that was when I was in the Military, except the drill sergeant wasn't packing guns". Fleeman also related an incident while walking from the parking lot to the courthouse in which several officers were standing on the sidewalk, Fleeman minding his own business walking calmly down the sidewalk, when an officer in a vehicle on the street rolled down his window and said to Fleeman, "it's time to go home"! A group of courtroom supporters noticed after a few minutes of observation in the parking lot that it was their friend David Fleeman who was being harassed by the officer. They stayed in the area to observe before approaching other officers that had showed up on scene to inquire about David's safety. The supporters were asked to leave, that is was a secure scene and to leave the area. None of their questions were answered regarding Fleeman's safety or charges. The remaining officers continued to watch the supporters and use intimidation tactics while doing so. Other incidents just like this are on a long list of what the supporters of the Defendants have experienced throughout the trial, many times being harassed and jeered at by law enforcement in the area, making them feel very unsafe, the opposite of what law enforcement say their job is, Public Safety! The court supporters continue to be harassed DAILY about doing their live streams on the property surrounding the courthouse, equivalent to erecting the same "First Amendment Area", figuratively speaking, as the one the BLM erected in Bunkerville Nevada! The officers are using these petty tactics requiring they move just 30 feet from where they last stood.Eric Parker spent the afternoon on the stand. First up, analyzing Eric's Facebook page and what he saw on Facebook that made him want to go to Bunkerville arriving April 12, 2014. Eric testified to the fact that he saw the video of Margaret Houston being assaulted and thrown to the ground. He herd about Davey Bundy being assaulted for taking pictures on the side of the road and Ammon Bundy being tased multiple times and having the attack dogs sicked on them saying, "that is when I felt an emotional connection to the situation. I grew up in Nevada, in a place just like that and I kept thinking, what if that was my aunt being thrown to the ground"? Eric posted on his Facebook, "NDAA here we go again"! He was asked to explain what he meant by that? Parker explained, "the NDAA is when they say your a terrorist and they can do anything they want to you". This has become prophetic, as the agenda of the governments NDAA is being played out in real time in these patriots lives. Parker made other posts of "main stream media stories being full of lies". Parker also shared many of the posts coming out of the event taking place at the Bundy Ranch making the decision to go to Bunkerville on April 10, 2014. In the Previous update it was reported that the video of Dave Bundy's assault and detention would be introduced into evidence, but Judge Gloria Navarro only allowed a photograph of Davey's face to me submitted into evidence. (You can see the assault video down below on the February 14 video evidence and February 15 has the video interview of Davey after release and shows the wounds on his face. This also includes the sniper and spotter at Davey's assault are seen on February 27 day evidence below). The Defense entered statements by Governor Brian Sandoval and another statement, (referenced above) from another Nevada elected official which could have been Peter Goicoechea in support of the Bundy's. Parker testified that seen these statements from Nevada elected officials made him think of Martial Law and the above referenced statement about "Bundy supporters better have funeral money and body bags", was submitted. Eric Parker said, "I'm not looking for a fight, but I'm not going to be bullied from exercising my First Amendment Rights. We were going to protest, and the cows were not as much of an issue for me. If I was going to do anything, I was going to protest outside of the box of the First Amendment Zone, the First Amendment goes with me, and it is not a zone"!
More Facebook posts were brought up in court, the next being, "get the cows back by any means". Parker clarified what he meant by this by saying, "I thought I would go camp outside until they released the cows or, go down and stand with their signs and flags until they released the cows ". Next Parker talked about when he went to the wash, and when he was up in the parking area he didn't even know there was a wash area below. Parker said he was just milling around with the people in the parking area, until a lady came up to the parking area and was yelling and pointing saying, "they are pointing guns as protestors in the wash"! Parker described how he couldn't understand why they were pointing guns at protestors or who "they" were. Parker, in his testimony, told about the helicopters and the drones. Parker talked about another lady coming up with a telescope and showed Eric that there were snipers on the Mesa. After hearing the woman tell him about what she had seen through her telescope, Parker walked over to the bridge and that was when he could see the wash and everything that was happening below him. Parker said, "I had no idea people were even going into the wash because he was up by the road, and they were traveling to the wash from the back of the parking lot, so he actually didn't know that they were going down there. As soon as I got up to the bridge I could see, back in the background as someone had given him their binoculars, I could see all the vehicles and people pointing guns". Parker testified that "the first few vehicles look like they could be BLM, but they were in olive combat gear, and looked like they were ready for war". Parker pointed out another vehicle and said, "this vehicle had guns all over it, but they were in plain clothes and body armor". Parker then pointed to another vehicle, and this vehicle were in full camo saying, "I was completely confused as to who they were"! Parker was then asked why he got down behind the cement barrier? With great emotion Parker explained that he got down, but couldn't pick a target. Parker got down because he heard on the loud speaker that they had the authority to shoot he believed the snipers were aiming at him and were going to take him out, and that's why he got behind the barrier! Describing how he was watching for people down in the wash because he believed they were going to be shot! Parker said, "I was very concerned for their lives. I was concerned about the situation that was unfolding. I stayed down in that position for maybe 10 or 15 minutes". It was after Parker got up that Michael Flynn approached him with his video camera rolling, and that's when Flynn captured the interview, (seen in the video evidence below). Parker explained to the Jury that Flynn kept on trying to get people to say how the situation was "bad", but Parker thought the situation wasn't "bad" because they were standing up for their rights. Immediately after the incident was over Eric Parker and his companions immediately left for home.
The Prosecution approached Parker for cross examination. Courtroom observers say that the Prosecution tried every tactic to twist Parker's words around trying to make them fit the government narrative. They say Parker did a really wonderful job at explaining himself saying, "no! That's not what I meant"! The Prosecution said, "you said show of force, and that means bringing your guns. You wanted to show them that you were going to have guns too". Parker clarified saying, "no! Show of force means the amount of people"! Prosecution emphasizing, "you said if they have 20 men we need 200"! Parker reiterated, "it still goes down to the amount of people, it has nothing to do with a weapon". Parker told how he had been to many protests, and he doesn't go to a protest without a weapon because he doesn't want to be hurt the way that Dave Bundy was hurt! or the way Margaret Houston was hurt! Parker told the Jury that when the protestors started to show up with their weapons, what was happening in the previous days, was not happening anymore.
Courtroom observers, again, said what a good representative of the facts he was. Parker has been an honest witness, as every government witness was not. Parker was even honest when he said, "this happened three years ago, and I'm trying to do my best to remember the facts". When Parker was viciously attacked on the stand by the Prosecutors he was clam. Parker although he was emotional at times during questioning, over all, he handled it well. During questioning by Jess Marchese, his Attorney, Parker was asked, "do you know what Martial Law means"? Parker answered, "yes! It's when the Constitution is put aside for a time. And, that's what I thought was happening at the Bundy Ranch". It was also in the face of everyone, that the Prosecution has no moral standing as Steven Myhre stood up to begin his questioning of Parker, boldly, and loudly, and aggressively, uttering a cuss word, which observers would not even spell, saying, "what the _______ were you thinking"! It was really uncalled for and out of place. Parker kept calm and, throughout the questioning by Myhre said, "yes sir". Judge Navarro didn't counsel Myhre, and he received not even a reprimand. Courtroom observers continue to question the attentiveness of Juror number 9, she seems to be sleeping. She slumps over in her chair a lot and rolls around, at the very least, disinterested. It was reported that there were some media sources in court today.
Court will resume on Monday morning.
Just A Sample Of The Abuses Suffered By The People
April 5, 2017
The day began with geometric Chemtrails above Lloyd D. George Federal District Court Of Nevada, a prayer in the lobby and around 40 supporters of the Defendants attending this session, some from as far away as West Virginia, giving the Defendants strength to go on with this fight.Court began with the first witness for the Defense, Shannon Bushman. Many are familiar with the treasure trove of photos he took during the events of April 12, 2014. Shannon is CEO of Peek Promotion and Development turned turned documentary photographer on the spot in Bunkerville. He's most known for his off road filming and lives in Marysvale Utah. Many of his photos were exhibited in court today. He was pretty heavily grilled by the Prosecution during cross examination, reported to have been asking a lot of irrelevant questions just to burn the clock. Courtroom observers say he did a good job and answered all the questions very professionally. The Defense Attorneys are on top of their game today. One question asked Bushman was, "after you heard Cliven Bundy and Sheriff Gilespie speak on stage what do you believe you heard after that"? This drew objection saying, "he cannot get into that". After some continued questioning the Judge spoke up and said she would reverse her last sustaining objection, which left Bushman open to discuss more freely his experience. Bushman told of how he was on the Northbound Bridge where "there were only 8-10 people there, BLM trucks with around 30 men ready for war, army men in green suits". Bushman said that he was surprised to see this as the Sheriff he had spoken to said they were gone. Bushman said he then went to the Southbound Bridge he said, "all the BLM and Park Service were dressed in green suits looking like they were ready to have a war". Bushman describes taking photos there and saw BLM/Park Service point their weapons at him three different times telling the Jury "he could see that they had binoculars. If they were trying to view me to see if I had a gun or not they could have just looked through their binoculars, but instead, they were pointing weapons at me three different times"! Bushman told the Jury he was very scared knowing he was in their sights also making him very nervous. Bushman said that because he knew he was in their sights he asked several people standing around him to leave the area for fear they might shoot them also. During questioning from the Prosecution they asked Bushman, "if you saw them pointing their weapons, why didn't you ask people to leave"? And, Bushman responded "that he did". Bushman was asked if he had a weapon? Bushman told the Jury he did not he only had his camera telling them "I turned sideways many times to let the men pointing weapons at me know I was only equipped with my camera". Bushman said the more he found himself in their sights the more scared he got and, "they should have been able to see I did not have a gun". Bushman told the Jury at one point he was so afraid that he started to look for a place to hide when the shooting started staring, "I was afraid I would break my camera if I was forced to jump over the barrier to get out of the line of fire". Bushman's testimony also included him telling the Jury that the two bridges were not cemetrically lined up, that they were off set and they must consider this when looking at the photos.
The Prosecution's cross examination of Bushman consisted of trying to confuse the Jury by showing obscure photos of the BLM/Park Service and showing other photos of protestors and asking questions such as "what are these men wearing? Does it look like they are ready for war"? Bushman could not see some of the minute detail in the photos such as badges/patches. Bushman told the Jury that he could distinguish between a man in shorts and a ball cap and men wearing uniforms, riot gear and helmets, emphasizing "it's not apples to apples here". The Prosecution started hounding Bushman about what he heard over the loud speaker. Bushman said he could not understand what they were saying over the loud speaker he "only heard a mumbled noise". (Maybe our government/law enforcement should re-think using these if no one can understand what is being said)! Bushman demonstrated before the Jury what it sounded like to him, putting him hand over his mouth and making muffled sounds. The Prosecution showed some video clips that had the example of the government talking over the loud speaker asking Bushman, "can you hear that? What was being said"? Bushman answering "no I can't hear that". The Prosecution did this several times asking Bushman to decipher the commands, telling the Jury "I can't make it out, I don't know what they are saying". The Prosecution asked Bushman "Is it possible that they were pointing their weapons at something behind him"? To which Bushman stated, "no, I know they aimed directly at me multiple times. If they were aiming behind me, they were aiming at traffic, truck drivers and tourists. There was no way they were aiming at anything behind me". There was some questioning about down in the wash and the gate. Bushman stated that the protestors did move forward to the gate but the BLM/Park Service did not, leaving the door open to the possibility that the BLM/Park Service had their guns trained on the protestors ready to shoot and found no need to give up their cover and move closer to the protestors.
The Defense tried to bring up their next witness Ranger Carpenter but he could not be located to testify at that moment, so the court took an early lunch. This makes only one witness so far today. Judge Gloria Navarro has put a deadline on the Defense to conclude it's case by the end of court Thursday, so it is not known just how many Defense witnesses will get on the stand, and court Thursday is being delayed until 11:00 a.m. Courtroom observers are hopeful they will be given more time to present their case, looking forward to Eric Parker taking the stand in his own defense.
The afternoon session began amidst commotion and public denial to the court proceedings. Angie Bundy, Ryan Bundy's wife, has been attending the proceedings from time to time, but today was turned away by Federal Court Employees. Joshua Martinez has obtained a photo ID and tried to attend court and was told by Federal Court Employees that he can not be there, because he is trespassing, Las Vegas Metro was flagged down and escorted him off the premises and gave him a citation. A man named Christopher Lamb showed up on the courthouse steps in a display of inappropriate behavior, yelling and name calling and egging on the DHS/Homeland Security trying to impersonate the patriots and give them a bad name, (probably an FBI plant) being also led away by "authorities", but it's all really a mystery to everyone who witnessed it.
"Ranger Carpenter" was called by the Defense to the stand. It was not said who called him from the team of lawyers. Ranger Carpenter supposedly wore a body-cam at the events at Bunkerville and was a dog handler. Carpenter was claimed to have been the one who was present at a discussion between Dan Love and Pete Santilli. The Defense was told yesterday by Prosecutor Steven Myhre that this body-cam footage was from the camera Ranger Carpenter was equipped with on the meeting that took place on April 11, 2014. The Defense was duped by the Prosecution as when questioning Carpenter, Carpenter denied it was his body-cam footage, so therefore, the evidence from the camera could not be entered into evidence and shown to the Jury. At this point it is very confusing because the courtroom observer then said the Defense did show some footage to the Jury. They also reported Ranger Carpenter's testimony was damaging to the Defense. While being "cross examined" by the Prosecutors they moved for "completion" which meant they wanted to show the whole footage involving Carpenter. It is reported that the Prosecution then turned Carpenter into a hostile witness by turning everything that was depicted in the video against the Defendants. The courtroom observers reported that up to this point in the whole 6 weeks of the Prosecutions case, the Defense has brought up the "completion" argument for all the FBI taped interviews, the fake documentary footage take by Longbow, the body-cam and dash-cam footage from Las Vegas Metro and the BLM/Park Service and the Judge has denied it, and by some miraculous feet, NOW she will allow the whole footage to be played. This witness is definitely a plant! Maybe we should look to Greg Burleson causing chaos again? At the very least, Carpenter should be charged with Purgery, as Myhre himself was the one who suckered the Defense into believing it was his body-cam footage, but as noted before, Judge Gloria Navarro will be the judge of that! It was brought out during questioning of Carpenter that the forces of the government had their weapons "up at the ready" looking for "the target" and that they were in full battle rattle because they were at war. It was also clear that the audio depicted the government forces were making jokes about the protestors at the very moment they were taking up arms against them.
The Defense team then calls Michelle Arnett to the stand. Arnett traveled to Bunkerville on April 12, 2014 with 7 or 8 different people, rode in different cars. Arnett was present at the stage. Arnett's testimony included what she heard the Sheriff say "the BLM were ceasing operations and that they were leaving". Arnett spoke of going into the wash to watch the cows come home, but that was not what happened once she got there. Arnett testified that she saw snipers up on the plateau, and that made her fear for her life, she looked at the cement barrier saying she could hide behind it if needed. Arnett told of how "everyone was happy after the Sheriff spoke. Everyone waited for an hour and a half". Then Arnett told of how the cowboys came up on the hill saying, "it was an awe inspiring moment! There was joy all around when we went to watch the cows come home"! During cross examination Arnett was grilled on "crowd control", I'm assuming the Prosecution was taking about the show of force exemplified by the amount of BLM/Park Service, Las Vegas Metro, Nevada Highway Patrol and government operatives on scene. At one point Arnett posed a question to the Prosecution, "are our parks that crowded that they need militarized control "? The Prosecution grilled her on the camouflage clothing the men were wearing close to the stage that Cliven and Ammon spoke at. Arnett finally saying, "what does that matter? I have camouflage pajamas! Arnett continued to paint the scene upon her arrival in Bunkerville when seeing the government forces "it looked like something you'd see on TV, it looked like a scene out of Afghanistan"! The Prosecution then showed her several photos asking, the same question they asked Shannon Bushman, can you see the badge on this individual? Arnett said, just as Bushman said, "I can see it now in this photo, but there is no way I would have seen that across the two bridges". Arnett told the Jury, "this seemed like overkill just for rounding up cattle", since the Sheriff said it was over and they were leaving and they went to watch the cattle be released. Arnett stated that, "it seemed like Cowboys and Indians, but there weren't any Indians". The Prosecution continued to have a rapid fire session of looking at photos asking questions such as, "did you see this person with a firearm"? Arnett saying, "I see the firearm, I didn't see that person". Prosecution, "do you see what I circled here"? Arnett responding, "I can't even see that's a gun! I see the man has a dog and that that is a backpack, but it's entirely blurry to me"! The courtroom observers have been telling us all along that these Prosecution photos are blurry and indistinguishable, and Bushman and Arnett also testified to this fact during there appearance in court today. The Prosecution followed up with several questions about guns, to which Arnett questioned, "don't we still have our second amendment rights"? She then felt the retribution of Judge Gloria Navarro getting a lecture from her for talking about Constitutionally protected rights and telling "the whole truth, so help me God"! Navarro told her, "you are only to respond to the questions". The Prosecution continued questioning Arnett saying, "did you not drop off supplies to the supporters after the event was over"? Trying to control the narrative by labeling the protestors as Militant Militia. Arnett testified that she didn't know the Bundy Family before she went to Bunkerville, but became friends with them while at the protest. The Prosecution produced a photo of the woman because she was wearing a "Don't Tread On Me" T-shirt, trying to make her testimony and actions irrelevant to the Jury. Arnett then went into an in-depth explanation of the "Don't Tread On Me" symbol and explained the history behind it.
During exhibit evidence arguements, courtroom observers said Judge Gloria Navarro told the Defense that the same rules do not apply to the Defendant Witnesses as it does to the Government Witnesses. (Rule 104). Navarro continued, "the government is allowed to bring in more evidence to prove their case than the Defendants to prove their case. The Defendants can not bring more evidence. The Government has a higher standard of proof". And, you wonder why we are now calling it the "Injustice System"?
Witnesses for the Defense tomorrow are expected to be Eric Parker and Marty and Stanton Gleave from Utah.
April 4, 2017
Another day with Defense Witnesses being bared from testifying on the Defendants behalf. The Jury was not even allowed in the courtroom today, after an only 15 minute showing yesterday, and people like Carol Bundy, Shawna Cox and Michelle Fiore, who were at the Stand Off in Bunkerville known as Bundy Ranch, are not being allowed to testify. Dave Bundy, Margaret Houston, Cory Houston and Ammon Bundy are also not being allowed to testify. Although the Defense submitted their list of witnesses previously to the court ALL of them are being forbidden to testify by Judge Gloria Navarro, and if they insist they are grilled by Navarro, Steven Myhre and crew and told they must "lawyer up" first because they will be charged and arrested after their testimony. Senator Orrin Hatch, Senator Mike Lee and Representative Jason Chaffetz you must remove this corrupt Judge as the fate of Utahan's are at stake! Shawna Cox, who is a Utahan and was at Bundy Ranch AND WROTE A BOOK ABOUT IT is being prohibited from testifying on the Defendants behalf, and she too will have to go before this Judge in a later trial. Bogden, Myhre and Navarro are working in concert to perpetrate this corruption and are preventing the Defendants their Due Process. I urge you to act now and stop this tyranny on parade in Nevada Federal Court! Judge Gloria Navarro has also put a slug in the obscure Third Amendment during today's court session.
What Went On In Court Again Today Leaves Many Without Words!
April 3, 2017
I'm almost speechless! But yet, there's a lot I'd like to say about today's court proceedings, but it's almost beyond words. I'm going to share video from today's courtroom observers in hopes of getting this information out ASAP! To begin with, the Prosecution and Judge Gloria Navarro showed up to court in cahoots with one another deploying their plan to eliminate a defense for the Defendants. The DOJ and Judge are deploying witness tampering and intimidation tactics like you've never seen! They are denying the Defense's witnesses and are asking any whom the government will allow to "lawyer up" and be ready to be charged with conspiracy yourself if you testify! They are labeling the Defense witnesses as "third party" witnesses or "lay" witnesses defining them as unprofessional and inexpert. They government has told the Defense and their witnesses that no testimony outside the event in the wash and on the bridge will be allowed. Although the Prosecution used a timeline from March to long after April as they conducted their Longbow Entrapment Project all staffed by FBI personnel and paid informants. They have been allowed to have dozens and dozens of government witnesses most of which were not there on the scene at Bunkerville, many of which were just sitting behind a computer harvesting information, and posting information for their government psyop! The government witnesses were on the stand for days and days purgering themselves and spewing their drivall without one objection from the Defense being sustained! Among the witnesses denied the Defense, Dan Love, Margaret Houston, Dave Bundy, Cory Houston and many others. The Judge has told the Defense they will not be allowed to enter testimony, or have anyone else testify, as to the fear or harm they experienced during the event of the Stand Up At Bunkerville! Although the government brought witness after witness of Law Enforcement and Government Employees who were scared out of their whits! And, most of them had seen military service. The person who's words were used in the Grand Jury Indictment was barred from being mentioned in court proceedings! The Prosecution told everyone in court today, without the Jury present, that this was an "ongoing investigation" and no one is safe!
Our Day In Court That Left Us Speechless!
8 More Witnesses To The Corruption In Court Today
Another Witness To Judge Navarro's Juvenile Behavior
Another Witness To Judge Gloria Navarro Lawless Behavior
Please Contact Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Tell Them We Want This Corrupt Judge Gloria Navarro Removed! I am calling out my own Representatives in Washington Senator Orrin Hatch, Senator Mike Lee and Congressman Jason Chaffetz! You are in positions of power where you can put a stop to this injustice, and when we have Utahan's and people of the Western States directly affected you MUST act!
March 23, 2017
In court today Todd Engel was refused the right to represent himself for the duration of the court proceedings, violating the Sixth Amendment. His appointed counsel is, as named before in other court updates, John George who Engel fired because he was inattentive, falling asleep and did not show up for court and left early because he had better things to do. George actually showed up in court today, probable only because Judge Gloria Navarro insisted he represent Engel, arguing before the Judge to continue to let Engel represent himself. Navarro does not want to allow it and has still not decided if she will let Engel provide his own closing statement. John George was required to represent Engel in proceedings today, he appeared VERY nervous, stumbling over his words and using notes provided by Engel, not doing Todd's questions justice. Courtroom observers say "Todd did a better job representing himself". Engel has been prevented by Judge Navarro from representing himself because he insisted on asking Agent Willis "is it true Dan Love is under investigation"? Although Love is the primary reason these men are on trial and that the events of Bunkerville transpired, the Prosecution and the Judge will not allow his name to be spoken in open court, just like Judge Anna J. Brown not allowing LaVoy Finicum's name to be spoken in the Oregon trial.Richard Tanasi began the proceedings pleading to the Judge that there have been Brady violations and not being able to cross examine witnesses properly including the witness yesterday who divulged that one of the Defendants, Greg Burleson, was a paid FBI informant. Tanasi said that "to learn Burleson was a paid FBI Informant for the first time yesterday was unimaginable". Tanasi argued that they want one of two things a dismissal and possibly a mistrial to which the Judge says, "I don't think that is exculpatory evidence". Tanasi continues to argue that the Defense has not been given all the information/evidence against them in order to properly motion to the court on their Defendants behalf, they have been pleading this throughout the proceedings and motioning that the Prosecution, when presenting its evidence, has not provided it to the Defense. Jess Marchese argued that had he known of this evidence it would have changed his process during Jury selection stating, "it would be imperative to know which Jurors have a bias to undercover agents" and that it would have changed much of his questioning during the trial had he known there was a wolf in sheep's clothing among the seven Defendants. The Judge continued to argue that "it is not the Prosecutions duty to give all the evidence to the Defense" clearly a violation of Brady vs Maryland. Judge Navarro said it is up to the Defense to take some time during the 9 day recess and scour the information they have in order to make valid motions when trial resumes on April 3, 2017.
Prosecution resumed their evidence obtained by the fake production company Longbow Productions with Greg Burleson's segment although they said they would resume Eric Parker's segments, "Charles Johnson" alias, on the stand. Before beginning, the Prosecution submitted additional clips, probably not provided to the Defense in advance, Charles Johnson admitted to providing alcohol to the interviewees, although Burleson was the only taker. Johnson went into the "huge plan" to bring about everything Burleson says in his interview. Multiple times in Burleson's video interview he says "he went to Nevada to kill federal agents that turned their back on their oath and the constitution. He's always wanted to die in battle. He went there to take out federal agents for abusing we the people". He said in his video tapped interview he "grabbed three guys to go under the North side skirt abutment, they were giving hand signals to each other. This information was used throughout the trial to signify to the conspiracy that there was a plan and they were directing it. Burleson then goes on to talk about the different plans, the militias and the pre-planning of the Arizona Militia before coming to Bunkerville and the fact that Burleson did not make it to Bunkerville before the incident at the wash on April 12, 2014. The whole Longbow interview with Greg Burleson is very incriminating to the conspiracy, but that was the plan! That's what he was hired for! That's what he was paid to do! Burleson in his interview said that he heard people voicing their pleasure that "it all ended up peacefully, but that he was disappointed because he wanted a fight"! Tanasi immediately stood after Greg Burleson's portion was finished and, again, asked the Judge that the evidence presented against Burleson only be applied to him, and him alone, including his Facebook posts. But, THE JUDGE DENIED IT because it went to supporting the conspiracy!
One of the Defense Attorney's when cross examining Charles Johnson asked, "why didn't you call your documentary 'Til The Cows Come Home' instead of America Reloaded? This was about the people and cows? Isn't it because you were trying to attract certain types of people to give you information acting like you were on their side"? Another Attorney said, "this was a fake documentation, it was fake all the way around, it was a fake name! He asked Johnson, "did you pay taxes? Did you get a business license? Did you sign up with the Better Business Bureau"? Charles Johnson replied "no" to all these questions. The vehicles and equipment and even snacks and food, were all provided and paid for by the FBI Johnson disclosed and if they made any money, they did not pay taxes on that money.
Greg Burleson argued that he didn't want to be a part of the other Defendants because their goals were different than his. Burleson said his militia AIM, came for a fight! Burleson claimed the other militias were not brave enough to be "part of them. Even the Oathkeepers were chickens! They went and got hotel rooms. We were there to stand! I came to put some BLM agent 6 feet under"! All Burleson was doing was playing the part the FBI paid him for to egg people on to follow their agenda. In contrast Eric Parker's statement in his Longbow interview was, "I came for a peaceful end. I support the militia but, I'm not part of a militia". Parker also stated that at one point, on the bridge, when guns were being pointed at them, he was very scared and he didn't think he was going to go home so he knelt down and prayed. Even Scott Drexler's interview with Longbow contained good principles. Drexler said, "there were Americans there that needed help that needed someone to stand for them and he wanted them to stand for him if ever the occasion arose, and it was all peaceful".
Cross examination of Charles Johnson began with Terrence Jackson reidderating that he and the crew went undercover, gave them alcohol, Johnson had training in interrogation they constructed a script, you were leading them to say what you wanted them to hear! "Do you know, Johnson, how many drinks Greg Burleson had before he got there? Did you know that Burleson had epilepsy or know how drinking would effect his epilipsy"? Jackson asked Johnson about the release form the men were asked to sign, Johnson did not bring a copy, nor did the Prosecution have a copy, for the Defense to see or use for questioning. What a sloppy job by the Prosecution! Jackson got Johnson to disclose that there were 6 to 7 agents in the room while every Longbow interview was done, none were armed. That Johnson solicited them, but they came voluntarily. "Did you imply he would be paid to do the interview? Did you suggest he would become famous or get anything for doing the interview"? Johnson answering "no" to every question, although Andrea Olson Parker told us that when Eric did his interview saying, "when the film is released we'll fly you to California for a "Red Carpet" event etc. So, Charles Johnson committed pergery on the witness stand.
Todd Leventhal was next to approach the witness and plays Scott Drexler's video again. Leventhal stopped at the portion where the six FBI agents and Anna interject while questioning Drexler in which Johnson can be heard in the background asking the questions and Anna is heard outing "Steve", Drexler's friend that he didn't want to name, saying, "oh! We know Steve. He didn't want to be there because it was his daughter's birthday, and that's why he wasn't able to show up", and all this was recorded on the video footage played in court today solidifying the fact that they were intelligence gathering and making sure they implemented everyone these men had a connection to weather they showed up in Bunkerville or not. Another FBI agent posing as a cameraman also mentioned "Steve" even after Drexler said he didn't want his friend mentioned. More questions during the Longbow interview questioned them about guns. Drexler, in his interview, mentioned he had an AR-15. At that point one of the FBI agents says to the crew, "did you hear that? He said he took an AK-47"? Leventhal pinned Johnson down on the fact that he and his crew were trying to misrepresent Drexler's statement about his AR-15 as an AK-47, trying to control the narrative and get it on record because they were confident the men would not challenge them on anything. Johnson, at this point says, "I always told them, don't let me put words in your mouth, if it's not what you said, please correct me", but that's exactly what he and the other FBI agents were doing. Leventhal continued, "what was your plan by asking these questions over and over again"? The reporter doesn't say what the answer was, but I'll say, entrapment! Leventhal said to Johnson, "even with the thousands of hours of video you already gathered you STILL felt the need to go undercover and interview these people under this false narrative"? To which Johnson answered "yes"!
Jess Marchese played more of the Longbow video interviews of Eric and Scott. Marchese emphasized the fact that Eric did not go for violence, he said he was not part of a militia. Some are fine and some are racist crazy people who are scary and want to blow up the government. Marchese asked Johnson why, after Parker said he was not part of a militia, did you continue to hammer away at him, asking him more questions about it? Johnson's defense was that, "he kept giving us contradicting answers"? No! You were just trying to get him to say something incriminating to use in your little witch-hunt! Johnson said Parker would say things like he was not part of a militia but he was going to camp with the militia. He doesn't like militia but he went and trained with the militia sometimes.
John George, Todd Engels court appointed Attorney asked Charles Johnson, "how many people did you interview"? Johnson answered "several", and George didn't press for a more defined number, which Engel would have been sure to do. George finished with, "did you interview my client"? The reporter gives no detail on the answer.
The Prosecution approached on re-direct asking questions about calling and setting up appointments for the interviews asking who's assignment was that, in which Johnson indicated someone else did that and that all calls were recorded. The Prosecution asked Johnson if Burleson seemed impaired, mentioning that Johnson was a Police Officer in Oklahoma before becoming an FBI Agent, and Burleson didn't seem to be impaired. He said, "I'm used to seeing impaired people and I was sure Burleson was not". Johnson was asked if they did a blood alcohol test on him to see how much alcohol he had had and Johnson said "no".
Terrence Jackson, under re-cross examination asked, so it was your statement he was not impaired? You didn't do any blood alcohol test, Burleson was armed in the room and other agents were not armed? Johnson admitted that they gave the only armed man in the room alcohol and that once they discovered Burleson had epilepsy that stopped feeding him alcohol. Through questioning Jackson established that Johnson could not tell how much alcohol they fed him, because if it was in a large tumbler they could have called that one drink. Johnson admitted that Burleson was a large guy and that he became excited as the interview process moved forward.
Before court went to recess Jess Marchese mentioned Juror number three and that if the Defense had known in the beginning that Greg Burleson was a paid FBI informant it would have made a difference in Juror number three. Also, Charles Johnson has filed a "seal unto motion" to the court that no one else has read BUT Mr. Jackson, Greg Burleson's Attorney, the motion to seal was recorded August 1, 2016. It was noted that the Defense has been "kept in the dark" about a lot of the things pertaining to this case, the Prosecution and the Judge have not been transparent in this case. There were also 10 FBI agents for the Prosecution in the courtroom today. The Defense also had more support after an invitation to come and show support even people from as far away as Washington and California, which really brought smiles to the Defendants today in court. Some mother's that home school their children brought them by the courthouse today to show gratitude and support and received a pocket Constitution from the patriots on site. The US Marshalls allowed the pocket Constitution in the courtroom today if they turned it around backwards!
March 22, 2017
Today we'll start out with some stats to give you an idea of what the courtroom looked like. 15 Jurors, 12+ US Marshalls, 4 Prosecutors, 8 Government Agents (FBI etc.), Agent Willis (who has been sitting in the gallery since day one even though he's the current witness), 12 Courtroom Observers including Eric Parker's Uncle John Williams from South Carolina and Ryan Payne's Attorney (Lisa Hay or Rich Federica the reporter didn't say), Miscellaneous other people and Judge Gloria Navarro and her 3 clerks/helpers.The Defense continued today with cross examination of Agent Willis. Todd Engel was first up today informing the Jurors that Agent Willis has been in the courtroom for the duration of the trial. That Willis has been able to listen to all the witnesses and has seen all the evidence. Engel asked Willis if he read the Press Release the Bureau Of Land Management put out the evening or morning of April 11,2014? Willis responded "I do not recall", I guess he was reminded of all the other government employees using this phrase. Engel asked "if he was there when Hugh Georgeon said the BLM was going to shoot him for no reason? When Dennis Michael Lynch said the BLM was going to shoot them, and Alex Ellis yelled, they have weapons pulled on unarmed protestors"? The Prosecution objected, and no answer was given. Engel presented video footage from three different cameras having to do with what he was doing at the time, and the fact that the US Park Service was in a 'stacked formation' beside the truck asking, "would you agree that the people on the Northbound Bridge could see that they were 'sacking' next to that truck"? The Judge helped Engel at this point to find words to better describe what he wanted to ask the witness suggesting, "say, did you have a vantage point from the Northbound Bridge, not can I see from the Northbound Bridge". Engel was very frustrated trying to find the right words to form his questions with the Judge telling him, "don't be discouraged". Willis conceded that people, if on the Northbound Bridge, would have been able to see the Park's Service in the "stacked formation". Engel asked, "do you see me moving away from the people as he's working with the Nevada Highway Patrol"? Engel through his evidence proves that the BLM/Parks Service had their weapons pointed at protestors for a very long time! He established the timeline as 12:05-12:50 p.m. Engel spent almost 2 full hours drilling down on his evidence presented during the questioning of Willis. Engel tells the Jury that, during his video of the BLM leaving, he was very upset at the time which accounts for some of his colorful commentary. Engel shows some of his Facebook posts where he doesn't actually use curse words, but instead opts fo "F##k" instead of spelling the word out, showing he was censoring himself, that his is trying to be mindful to keep his language clean. He tells the Jury, "during my video commentary I was just too emotional". Engel, again, reminded the Jury that no one was throwing "rocks, water bottles, mole-toff cocktails, blocking or impeding movement in any way". This drew objections from the Prosecution. Engel moved on to produce evidence of Dave Bundy's assault and arrest on April 6, 2014. Drawing objection from the Prosecution, not "relevant". Engel next brought up the fact that a Grandma (Margaret Houston) was "body slammed" on April 9, 2014. Objection from the Prosecution. Engel told the Jury "voting is a form of resistance, "writing your senator is a form of resistance", drawing objections again as Engel told the Jury why he posted "they're cutting the head off the resistance". Engel finished by asking Willis, "isn't it true that Dan Love is under criminal investigation"? The Prosecution stood up to object to this one they were so infuriated Dan Love's name was brought up in court.
The Jury, at this point, was led out of the courtroom. Myhre Attorney for the Prosecution stood up to plead to Judge Navarro saying, "Todd Engel knew the question about Dan Love was not to be allowed before the Jury, and said, Engel laughed as he turned and walked to his seat"! Judge Navarro chastised Engel and reprimanded Engel by saying, "you can no longer represent yourself in these proceedings. John George will represent you. I will decide if I will allow you to give your closing argument". The proceeding recessed, but after the break Jess Marchese, Todd Leventhal and Richard Tanasi all argued through motions to let Todd Engel continue to represent himself because John George has not been involved in the trial, and that it will effect all of the Defendants if George starts representing Engel. It was unclear if Judge Navarro will just ban Engel for the rest of the day or through the rest of the trial, but Engel was allowed back into the courtroom after the Judge banned him, which caused the emergency recess.
When court was back in session Todd Engel and the rest of the Defendants were led back into the courtroom wearing shackles after Judge Navarro reprimanded him for his question to Willis about Dan Love. Shawn Perez was first to cross examined Willis saying, "my client ( Ricky Lovelien) had no communication with, Steven Stewart, Todd Engel or Greg Burleson before April 12, 2014". (Why is Burleson still sitting at the Defense table? Why has he not been dismissed since being "outed" as a government informant)? Perez reminds the Jury that Lovelien was not even friends on Facebook with these men. Photos that depict the bridges and the BLM were "there was no clear line of sight from the Northbound Bridge to where the BLM trucks were".
Next, Terrence Jackson stood to question Agent Willis asking him about the thousands of hours he spent looking at Facebook pages saying, "so, you were paid to sit and look at Facebook pages"? Which was objected to.
Todd Leventhal was next to question Willis asking, "were you aware that the protestors knew that there were snipers on the Mesa"? The reporter fails to give a response here. Leventhal proved using Michael Flynn's and David Michael Lynch's video that the BLM pointed guns at the protestors BEFORE there were people on the bridge or down in the wash. He formed a question to Willis to have him confirm the evidence but Willis answer was "no", he would not confirm this was the case, although Engel had proved through meticulous effort lasting over 2 hours that this was the case as his timeline began at 12:05 and lasted until 12:50 and Lynch moving forward to the gate in the wash proved this point.
Prosecution on redirect tried to point out that the time-stamps don't line up with the evidence but, if their "expert witness" knew what he was doing maybe the times-stamps would! The governments excuse for Willis' discrepancies was, "he was viewing multiple videos on different devices using different media players to get the clearest picture". What A Crock! Note: The Defense was not given this evidence, The different media players to view Willis' claims. Like in science, they could not reproduce the circumstances under which Willis obtained his proof, and this process was not demonstrated in court! Remember the bloody leather glove in the OJ Simpson trial? "If it does not fit, you must acquit"!
Charles Johnson will be on the witness stand after the lunch break. Charles Johnson was the Producer of Longbow Productions. This is the man, who's name is an alias, whom Pete Santilli's Attorney is trying to get unveiled before his trial so he can have due process secure his right to face his accuser. This is very important because, if there is damage done to any of the Defendants in these three cases, they have a right to because, that is how the system is intended to work. That is how we keep people honest! One other man is supposed to round out the Prosecution witnesses before they will rest.
Before court was recessed for lunch Todd Engel stood before the Judge pleading, "I should have the right to call in a witness that is against me, you have refused this witness to come to court. The Jury needs to hear this witnesses case against me so they understand". Judge Gloria Navarro just ignored Engel, did not address his plea, stood and left the courtroom.
Some other interesting facts brought up about this session of court. Prosecutors objected during Engel's cross examination presentation 52 times! 1/2 Million Facebook pages were viewed by FBI Agents on April 12, 2014 alone! Close to 200 witnesses have been interviewed by the FBI and their names have not been disclosed to the Defendants and their Attorney's. John Lamb, the man who's pocket Constitution was taken out of his pocket by a US Marshall without his permission, smuggled a Constitution into court today. Three of the political prisoners are being held in Solitary Confinement for refusing the constant strip searches even before they are allowed to out into the yard. These men are Ryan Payne, Ryan Bundy and Ammon Bundy. They are telling us and their Attorney's they are being strip searched multiple times a day, the men are refusing this constant abuse for no reason and have therefore been cast into solitary only affording them one hour out of their cell. Andrea Olson Parker reports her husband Eric Parker and the other Defendants are being abused in this same way. The men are strip searched a minimum of four times a day. They are strip searched when they leave the jail for court, when they get to the courthouse, when they leave the courthouse and when they get back to the jail. All these body cavity searches are only used to abuse and humiliate the prisoner. Anyone who knows anything about the drug availability in jail/prison know that the contraband is furnished to the prison population by the corrupt prison guards themselves. This abuse must stop! Maybe if the guards were subject to strip search it would.
More Prisoner Abuse
Drugs In Prisons
Public Outrage Over Government Spying On Americans
Happenings in the afternoon session. The session began without the Jury present so the Prosecution could get some ground rules established as they plan on start presenting their case in favor of Longbow Productions, consisting of government employees acting as Documentary Producers in an effort to coerce protestors from the Bundy Ranch Protest to voice disdain for the Federal Government and use their statements against them in a court of law, which is against the Fourth Amendment and the Fifth Amendment. Jess Marchese, Attorney for Eric Parker, made a motion to have the entire documentary footage allowed before the Jury, not the "cherry picking" the Prosecution wants to present in a select 18 sound bites they plan to present. He argued this should be done in an attempt of "completion" as to provide context and motive of Longbow Production staff. A half an hour was dedicated to arguing the Longbow issue and it sounded like Judge Gloria Navarro is not going to let the footage be entered unedited by the Prosecution.
Next up to testify for the Prosecution was 18 year Phoenix Assisant Special Agent Michael Caputo, Judge Navarro said his testimony will only apply to Greg Burleson not the other 5 Defendants, which is why having these stacked trials is unconstitutional because once the Jury hears this testimony you can't un-hear it for the other defendants! The Prosecution began by asking Agent Caputo several questions in regards to Greg Burleson. It was established during questioning that Burleson has been working WITH the FBI since 2012 as an INFORMANT! It was disclosed in court that Burleson made several phone calls to the FBI as late as 2016. These phone calls were recorded by the FBI and some of those calls were played in court today. Burleson had two FBI "handlers" since 2012. Both of Burleson's handler's have testified in this trial, one of which was Adam Nixon who testified in court on March 15 and 16, in which Terrence Jackson, Burleson's Attorney asked Nixon about informants, how many, and if they used them to infiltrate Burleson and his Facebook account, and who his boss was, to which Nixon gave limited information or didn't seem to recall information. The other handler is this Michael Caputo on the stand now. THIS is why the Prosecution made the distinction of the testimony only applying to Burleson so the other Defendants and their Attorney's could not cross examine this witness! Only Terrence Jackson would have that privilege. Caputo, through questioning from the Prosecution, told the Jury Burleson has been working for the FBI as a paid informant since 2012 on several cases besides the Stand Up at Bunkerville. One of the recorded phone calls played in court was in regards to the Bundy Ranch Case. The phone call included information on how Burleson had become "Facebook Popular" and how much of what he posted/said went viral including the Bundy Ranch Protest which included "weapons and guns" talk, which is referenced in Adam Nixon's testimony, as that was his "expertise".
Terrence Jackson questioned Agent Caputo in regards to Burleson contacting him, or his previous handler about his involvement in Bundy Ranch and the monetary compensation he would receive. Jackson asked Caputo if they discontinued working with his because Burleson became unreliable? Caputo claimed not to know the answer and told how he transferred Burleson to Adam Nixon at that time and some months after the transfer to Nixon [they] decided to stop "using him". Jackson asked Caputo if he told Burleson he was being recorded in the phone calls, Caputo answered "no". Jackson then asked Caputo if Burleson "had a problem with alcohol? Did he have tendency to exaggerate? And, was he paid to help you and Nixon"? Caputo said he "didn't know" about the alcohol problem. The answer to the "exaggeration" was objected to by the Prosecution, but answered in the affirmative to compensation in the form of cash. Jackson then asked Caputo, "did Burleson want to impress the FBI so he could continue to work with them in hopes to continue to be paid by them"? It is suggested that his may have been the reason for one of these recorded phone calls.
It was evidenced by the courtroom observers that all, including the Defendants and their Attorney's were SHOCKED to find out Greg Burleson was a paid FBI Informant, and that the government's informant has been sitting at their table in the court, has been priviy to all the pretrial meetings and strategy sessions! Could this explain some of his courtroom medical theatrics? Where they staged in order to pass important information regarding the Defense strategy? A ploy to tug at the heartstrings of the public in order to gain sympathy and support for his "supposed" mistreatment by the US Marshalls? During the testimony of Caputo all of the other counsel was congregating to discuss strategy due to the BOMBSHELL they had just discovered.
The Prosecution then called to the stand "Charles Johnson", alias of one of the two men who headed up the Phony Longbow Productions who is an Undercover FBI Agent. Courtroom observes say that "Johnson" was giving special treatment, being led through a side door unlike any of the previous witnesses with tight security and protection. The Prosecution asked "what the did to create their undercover team including website, phone numbers, email"? Although this information does not exist of their website now, Johnson and his team created fake project for people to see to make themselves look legit if people were to contact them on the web. Prosecution asked "what was your pitch going to be"? Johnson said, "we just wanted [them] to know, this was a way for them to get their story out". The documentary they had planned for the Protest at Bundy Ranch was "America Reloaded". Johnson disclosed that he had an assistant named "Anna", she was responsible for contacting people and setting everything up. The Prosecution began by playing Scott Drexler's Longbow interview first. The interview was conducted at Red Fish Lake in Idaho which included Scott saying "there was no plan, they went to Nevada because of the First Amendment Zone set up by the BLM, they were not there for violence. They were there to match force for force. We went there to protect the protestors, because they had a right to protest". Eric Parker's interview consisted of "I always take my weapons when I protesting, because I don't like having pepper spray sprayed in my face. Parker also mentioned the First Amendment Zone set up by the BLM, why and how they went to Nevada". Parker talked about arriving at 1:00 a.m. and immediately being put on guard duty from 2:00 a.m. to 4:00 a.m. Parker said the only planning they had was a little meeting in the morning about the militia escorting the Bundy Family to the stage as the ONLY plan. Some of the questions asked the men by Longbow were pretty much the same across the board like, "were you willing to take a life"? With Parker saying, "I've never thought about it". Another question by Longbow, "who was in charge? Were you there to get the cows back? Who opened the gate"?
Eric Parker's Longbow interview was diced into small sound bites cutting the video short when Parker was about to say something with constitutional moorings saying, "no one wanted to die that day"! Parker did not have optics on his gun and it was "situational", he would only be able to make "cover fire" and that was not a good plan. Eric Parker's interview included him relating how they had a conversation on the bridge before everything went down, that if there was teargas shot into the crowd, this was not cause to shoot, that it was not the same force saying, "we need to stand up united". Parker brought up "Carol's statement" and he was willing to "stand up for the Constitution". Another Longbow question was, "do you thing the BLM was scared"? Eric's reply was, "we were all scared"! Longbow emphasized questions about the BLM being scared and anti Federal Government questions during their interviews asking them several times in different ways trying to get a "reaction" out of the interviewees. There was questioning ferreting out how the BLM had 3 SWAT Teams, drones an snipers. The people on the bridge possibly not making it home. Longbow asked, "what was the most inspiring moment of that day"? Eric Parker, with great emotion said, "watching the cows go home on the range, it was American! Free cows, happy cows taste better, not as bitter". Which brought laughter to the Jury, a welcome relief for everyone in the courtroom as they were hanging on every word during the men's interviews. Parker ended his interview testimony saying, "we were willing to die on that bridge". Demonstrating that they were men of principle, not boastful, not wanting to shoot anyone, just wanting to accomplish a goal with a peaceful resolution, standing my their neighbor and to live free as American's. To ensure the First Amendment was upheld and not limited to one area or prohibitive protest in redressing an overreaching government. In Scott Drexler's video interview he said, "this is what I would do in the military. I would do the same thing to protect the people there where I was deployed". It was made clear by the men's interviews that if they hadn't come to Bunkerville there would clearly have been bloodshed.
Courtroom observers reported that they were please with the outcome of the interviews by Longbow played in court today. It showed the men were principled, with the exception of Greg Burleson. That an Attorney who was sitting in on the proceedings today said the Defendants have a great case for a mistrial in this case saying there are a lot of things that were hid from the Defense as the government presented its case and these should be included in the motion. That the Prosecution is going out of its way to HIDE the evidence. It was also observed that many of the Jurors left the courtroom in tears today because of the powerful testimony by the Defendants played in court today. Tomorrow will finish up with Eric Parker's Longbow interview and then Greg Buleson's.
March 21, 2017
Today's court update includes the following. The Prosecutions witness FBI Special Agent Joel Willis was in attendance many times during the recent trial in Oregon! He sat in the courtroom along side the courtroom observers. A video was shown in court today that contained a presentation of Agent Willis along with photo and video evidence. For those of you who don't know, Agent Joel Willis was not at the events at Bunkerville/Bundy Ranch. He took no photos or videos, spoke to no one on the scene, and made no record of the event in media form including print. He only sat behind a computer in Las Vegas and "collected evidence". Willis has absolutely no first hand knowledge of the events or people involved, he is only a keyboard warrior and the governments "expert witness". HOGWASH! The video clips presented in court during Willis' testimony where from footage taken by Dennis Michael Lynch, Michael Flynn and government aircraft at 30,000 feet, indistinguishable to anyone in the courtroom with the exception of Willis, who knows every detail including what people are wearing, vehicles the size of ants including license plate identifiers, the names of the people and which direction they are facing including which direction they are traveling, without explanation or definitive proof. (Samples of these videos can be seen in the clips posted below). The objections were flying fast and furious during Willis' testimony! Judge Gloria Navarro ignored them and, to the disbelief of everyone in court, made objections on the Defense's behalf AND overruled them! You can't make this stuff up! These are the same tactics used by Judge Anna J. Brown in Oregon! Some of the points made by the Defense were that you couldn't tell if what they were trying to testify to was a cow, a bush or a tree. Some photos were taken from a mile away on the ground. Judge Navarro argued before the Jury that they could make their own determination weather this was credible evidence and if they could see "in vision" the fictitious evidence the Prosecution was presenting. Navarro didn't need to rule on the evidence, that the Jury could keep it or throw it out. The Jury may not of heard Navarro though, because courtroom observers say the Jury was falling asleep. It is astounding though how Judge is allowing the same evidence presented in court the first week of trial to be brought in again, as she is so impatient with the trial and the defendants actions during trial she has limited them from objecting, told Todd Engel he can not speak on his own behalf (while representing himself) and limited the Defense to one week to present their case. "It shocks the conscience"! Also revealed today, the government will rest on Friday and the Judge has determined that they all need a break from court for a week, leaving the defendants to languish in jail and their families to incur added cost of lodging and travel because of the delay. Just as a reminder, the Judge has limited the Defense to one week to present their case, which is unconscionable!Today's shenanigans included US Marshalls confiscating pocket Constitutions from the those attending court today. The US Marshall told them, "take it to your vehicle, give it to someone outside the courthouse or we will throw it in the trash. It is not allowed anywhere in the courthouse"! John Lamb reported that the US Marshall actually walked up to him and just pulled his pocket Constitution out of his pocket without even asking him to do so. This is how braisen our government law enforcement has become. The Constitution is dead to these people, although it protects them too, but they don't need it because they are carrying the "big stick".
Courtroom observers report that there were approximately 30 FBI Agents in the courtroom today and 12 US Marshalls including the 15 Jurors and alternates on the Prosecution side of the room. There were only 7 supporters for the Defendants. Judge Gloria Navarro made it a point to face the 7 supporters and the defendants "you can not make any facial expressions, smile, or body language". It is definitely a two way street because the Prosecution side of the courtroom was allowed to read noisy newspapers, laugh, visiting with one another, coming in and out of the courtroom at their leisure which was very distracting to the courtroom observers.
This afternoon court continued with Agent Joel Willis assigned to the Bunkerville Case. Agent Willis has been attending court proceedings everyday throughout the duration sitting in the courtroom gallery. Before Judge Navarro came into the courtroom Willis was up flipping through his exhibits up at the table. Willis continued to present his screen shot evidence to the Jury taken from news footage and video from Dennis Michael Lynch and Michael Flynn. Although he's been touted as the government expert on meta data, Willis can not testify on time stamps and location etc. because there isn't any, so he's guessing using areal footage and traffic at the time, even though there is no traffic in many of the photos, many of which are taken in the middle of the desert noting on one photo that had a portion of a tire in the screen shot, "this tire is from a three wheel bike and that's how I determined the time". IN WHAT WORLD? In all, there was an estimated total of 80 different screen shots. Noted, the Defense objected to every piece of evidence presented, to no avail.
Cross examination began with Richard Tanasi asking Willis, "did you view anything that went viral? Do you know what 'viral' means? Did you view videos that went viral of the Bundy Ranch? To which Willis responded, "yes". Tanasi asked, "did you see the video of Ammon Bundy being tased"? Willis answered "yes". Tanasi continued, "so it was relevant for you to view it as part of the case"? Willis answered "yes". Tanasi then moved to bring in the video of Margaret Houston being accosted from behind and thrown to the ground by a BLM Agent. Judge Navarro denied this evidence. This incident was included in the footage of Ammon Bundy being tased, yet Judge Navarro said this portion was not relevant to the case. Richard Tanasi argued that if it was relevant enough for the chief investigator on the stand to view as an investigator of Bundy Ranch, it was relevant to the Jury in this case. The Judge denied the motion. Tanasi moves forward in questioning the witness asking, "how many BLM and other Agents were in the wash at the time"? Willis testified to 40. Tanasi asked or clarification as to where, "the wash, Post 1, Post 2, etc.? Does it include other agencies including Las Vegas Metro"? Willis' answers get convoluted and he finally says, "I do not recall". The Defense takes all the screen shots form the photo video evidence refreshing the memory of Willis, showing screen shots he claimed were taken within minutes of each other and pointing out discrepancies as to exactly who is in the photo referring to, "black hat man (Eric Parker), tan hat (Scott Drexler), blue shirt (Steven Stewart)". Tanasi points out in many of the photos that there are a lot of black hats, a lot of tan hats and a lot of blue shirts and these individuals are in totally different positions. Then questioning moved specifically to Michael Flynn's videos. The defense established that Michael Flynn had an interview with a case agent and at that time handed all of his video footage over to the agent before committing suicide. During Willis' testimony he discloses that they are using Flynn's video time stamp to override all the other time stamps from BLM body-cam/dash-cam, Las Vegas Metro body-cam/dash-cam despite evidence otherwise stating, "the reason I used Flynn's video as president is because his footage was taken from all over the place, in the wash, on the bridge, it's at the rally, it's driving on I-15 following the Las Vegas Metro". During questioning Willis admits he does not know if the meta data has been changed, "but to my knowledge it had not been changed". Tanasi then brings up the screen shot of the Park Service in the "stacked formation". The Jury has already seen the video footage of the portions Willis is testifying to in screen shots! Willis continues to tell the Jury he knows why people are moving and in what direction they are moving. Tanasi wonders, "why can't we just watch the video"?
Jess Marchese, Eric Parker's Attorney, approached the witness questioning Willis about his time stamps and screen shots sighting the exhibit numbers and pointing out time after time that his evidence does not match the photo evidence. Marchese moved to remove 5 of Willis' slides, before the Judge ruled she asked Myhre what he had to say about it, in which Myhre says, "we can hold that until redirect". To which Judge Navarro withholds her ruling until she hears what Steven Myhre comes up with in redirect a day from now. Marchese gets Willis to divulge his equation to get the screen shot time stamp to match with Michael Flynn's video time stamp testifying that sometimes he had an over two minute discrepancy. Marchese established the fact that Michael Flynn didn't have footage of the ICP, the bridge or parking area. Willis testified to the claim that Flynn's video was the most complete of any footage that exists including body-cam and dash-cam footage taken by the BLM and Metro when it was not. Marchese displayed one of Willis' screen shots showing Eric's finger was not on the trigger. The Defense pointed out to the Jury that Willis just wants them to "take his word for it" and that he did not demonstrate HOW he was able to validate the time stamps and meta data.
The courtroom observers are reporting more heavy-handed tactics by the security personnel at the courtroom scanner. Andrea Olson Parker's purse was emptied and scrutinized several times refusing her right to bring her purse into the courtroom because it contained a necklace of a bullet casing with a precious stone in it and a eyeglass repair kit, although she has had the necklace in her purse everyday she's attended court! Visitors and their belongings are being screened twice before every session.
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| Judge Gloria Navarro Nevada Judge Jury & Executioner |
March 20, 2017
Today's court proceedings began with Agent Joel Willis, Case Agent to establish meta data/time stamps to the media posts. The Prosecutors are presenting him as a witness because "they don't have people who can identify the defendants, the shear number of people in the photos makes it difficult to identify the defendants", so, Willis is their man. It is amazing that Judge Gloria Navarro will allow testimony from a man who was not at the event, did not take the photos, videos, interviews or write a news story from his experiences at Bunkerville, all he did was sit behind a computer and make a "hit list" for the government and use the meta data he was an expert in to testify to convict any of the men on trial. HE is the governments "expert" in identifying the med in this trial. Mind boggling! Court observers report that the whole morning proceedings were riddled with discussion and objection to this government witness against the defendants, as well, it should be!. Some of the arguments were it was virtually impossible to validate ANY time stamp. The DOJ argues there methods are supreme and that Willis, their expert, has done it, but if a ragtag group of Defendants and their Council can create doubt, the government has no case. One of the arguments came from Engel's objection to a photo that had him tagged in it on social media. The Prosecutions argument to have this evidence admitted into evidence was, "Todd Engel saw the posted photo with himself tagged in it, he did not remove the tag so, therefore, he condoned whatever was said in the post etc.", although it sounded like he removed the tagged comments. Other arguments were that if someone made a post/comment about an event such as Ruby Ridge the Judge must allow them to discuss this event before the Jury. Engel told the Prosecution if they presented evidence that contained Ruby Ridge references, he would bring it up in his defense. The Prosecutions fought the statement saying, "well, everyone already knows about Ruby Ridge, so there's no need to go into that". Engel argued that he was not given updated or edited information the Prosecution has made to this evidence. The Judge said, "you may not have been given it, but we gave it to your court appointed co-counsel". You should know, if you don't already that, Engel's court appointed council was fired by Engel early on before the trial began because he was constantly falling asleep in court, almost tot he point of snoring, did not prepare for the court proceedings and once left during representation of Engel during a court proceeding sighting he had more important things to do! This is with whom the Judge has forced to represent Engel. At this point a power point is introduced that contains three spreadsheets that contain objectionable material, and as par for the course, the Judge will rule on the objection AFTER Willis testifies before the Jury. It is the wild west, but it's the Judge that is wielding the hand gun! Myhre at some point redacts his Ruby Ridge comments only to reintroduce the evidence later.Special Agent Joel Willis, a 13 year veteran of the FBI and currently assigned to the Domestic Terrorism Squad of the Las Vegas Joint Terrorism Task Force wherein the following description, "This task force specializes in investigations targeting individuals and organizations who may pose a domestic threat to the United States". Need I say more? Joel Willis was the author of the criminal complaint used to indict Cliven Bundy and 18 other co-defendants. Can you see why this testimony must be objected to? He wasn't there, he took no photos, video or wrote any account of what transpired. He was brought in after the fact to create a paper trail which was used in charges being brought against everyone in these three trials! Joel Willis was also allowed to sit in the gallery in with other courtroom observers while discussion of his testimony was going on. Willis testified that he spent over a 100 hours into his search for open source, anything viewable to the general public, later obtaining a search warrant for Todd Engel. It was observed that all other FBI witnesses were assigned to investigate any of the Defendants, even by warrant, from the state win which they resided, but this was an obvious break in protocol as Todd Engel was concerned. Willis' testimony against Todd Engel included posts throughout the event in Bunkerville including, information about the Bundy Ranch, as he's leaving to drive to Bunkerville, who he is bringing, encouraging support for the Bundy Family and inviting people to come. He continues to post while he is driving commenting on cell towers being down and rumors he had detected about what was going on. Engel continued posting from the time he arrived at Bunkerville up until the event at the wash concluded which established his own timeline. One post included, "heading out to block the freeway and take the cows back", which according to a mapping of event, was right after Cliven Bundy made his directional speech on the stage. At this point the Prosecution presents a string of links to the Jury. The Prosecution does not have the actual links to display, they only present them as verbal evidence. They don't have the photo that is contained within the link. The Jury and the Defense have NO PROOF of evidence in the links they mention, yet we are supposed to believe Willis IS AN EXPERT! It is mind boggling how any of this is tolerated in this case! THEY HAVE NO EVIDENCE! A video that Todd Engel shot was then shown to the Jury that contained the words of Engel as the BLM/Government Operatives left the ICP in which Engel can be heard saying, "f**k you! Dick! You muzzled women and children! Eat Shit! while flipping off the BLM. How many cars do you need. Look at the army, look at the army. We will in the end.". Although Engel does voice an apology at the end of the video, the video still stood. Next the Prosecution submitted posts from Todd Engel's Facebook where he made many posts about what happened at Bundy Ranch after he returned home which included, information on the snipers on the plateau and how it was too far away, he told about the person who reported on guns being pointed at protectors, saying, "it was a Mexican standoff". He posted how he had a conversation with a Las Vegas Metro officer and even yelling at him at one point. He also posted about how he thanked the 2 Nevada Highway Patrol who helped him. The Prosecution follows with comments Engel posted to other people's posts which they presented backwards from after the standoff to April 11, 2014. In Todd's defense it was brought out that he had contact with Las Vegas Metro on many occasions trying to relay information and offer suggestions and help. Earlier you remember the Prosecution recanted all the Ruby Ridge references they may bring up? True to form, the Prosecution did enter a post Engel made referring to Ruby Ridge which now allows it to be spoken about in open court, saying " I am 20 miles form Ruby Ridge truck loaded". Then Willis testified to Engel's report of cell towers down, the possible roads blocked, "I'll be boots on the ground at 4:00 a.m.", asking about directions to Bunkerville. Evidence is introduced of Engel relaying information that the cell towers were are working and the air space was closed, the military is forming peacefully and disproves some of the rumors he had been told. Prosecuting Attorney Steven Myhre stood before that court and made a correction to a time stamp and not one objection resulted from it, which proves, you can make this stuff up as you go along. More comments from Engel's social media were presented like, "I-15 is a disaster, please stop the rumors, it the threat level rises I will let you know, I will receive a test about it". Which drew an objection. The Judge proceeded to help Myhre through the objection process again proving the fact that the Judge in not an impartial Judge but is working for the Prosecution. There was discussion of Engel's fear that the BLM would return to Bunkerville. It is noted at this time that the FBI Agent Joel Willis seems to be stumbling around a lot. At his point Terrence Jackson objected stating, "it is a first amendment right to comment on things". The Prosecution shows a video of Todd on a porch in which Engel talks about Dan Love. The courtroom observers indicated that this video was edited into approximately 5 segments in which Engel says, "do not comply" and "if you'd like to get trained I know some guys, I'll make some calls and they'll come and visit you". Willis now testified to the fact that the arrest on the 3rd of March 2016 and the indictment was obtained the March 2, 2016. The Prosecution then shows a video in which Todd Engel was in his vehicle talking about Jerry Delemus being arrested and Eric Parker being arrested. There are objections from the Defense, but no action is taken to stop the video evidence from being shown. The Jury is reported to be writing furiously during this video. Engel's commentary continued about, "Eric in gun battles as he stood that day between Feds and Patriots". The expert witness for the Prosecution, Joel Willis, could not testify if the video recording was done live or was recorded and posted at a later time. Just what expertise does this man have? Engel continued in his video commentary stating, "I will communicate throughout the day via Facebook so people would know he was safe". There are objections at this point to which the government says that it is conjoined with the conspiracy. The Defense objects again stating, "exactly when does the conspiracy stop because at this point Eric Parker was already arrested"! There was a lengthy discussion on this subject, and in the end, the Judge allowed all of it as she determined it was directly to the conspiracy and claimed that the information regarding Eric Parker was not widely known yet and by Todd Engel relaying the information to the public from a conspirator and thereby continuing the conspiracy. So this information is being used against Eric Parker at this time in court although Eric was already in custody for his portion. There are more objections to the majority of the photo evidence Willis is testifying to because Willis used a photo editing program to add colored arrows, boxes containing names and testifying as to who the people in the photos were even thought the photos were taken at such a distance you can't see any detail and the people, license plates and vehicles were unrecognizable, including the fact that Willis was not there and did not take the photos and could not authenticate who took the photos. Willis' testimony continued as he testified as to which direction the people in the photos were facing and the direction they were heading, although these were still photos and he was not on scene! The Prosecution continued with Willis' testimony asking, "here is Ricky Lovelien, how do you know it's Lovelien? Willis presents Lovelien's booking photo and photos of his tattoos" none of which you can see in their evidence photos on scene. There was testimony to Shannon Bushman's "drop"(?) account, (maybe in reference to his many photos he took and shared with the world), then more testimony of meta data on the evidence produced throughout the trial.
It was noticed by court observers that one of the Prosecuting Attorneys (DOJ) was absent from their table, when they noticed the man who's name was not given, in the back of the gallery chatting and laughing with the woman who was in charge of all the witnesses who would be appearing during trial. They reported that they were using exaggerated hand and body movements that would not be tolerated by Judge Navarro as she's been known to throw people out of the courtroom for a simple head nod, and has been notorious for scolding people from the bench warning them, "they will be kicked out if they continue"! This seemed very unethical and inappropriate to them and wondered what would happen if the Defense Attorneys caught sitting in the gallery with the defendants supporters. I'm sure there'd be hell to pay from Judge Gloria Navarro! Observers also say that this woman, "Nadia" is normally seated at a desk in a different part of the courtroom.
The Prosecution disclosed in court that they only have three more witnesses, and now, they expect to close Wednesday or early Thursday. Charles Johnson is brought up vowing to only enter small video clips from he and Ron's work, he is the undercover witness who's real identity the government will not disclose under any circumstances, even though the Sixth Amendment affirms that they shall be informed of the witnesses against them. Charles Johnson is being unduly protected by the government for posing as "Longbow Productions", a documentary front group set up by the US Government to entice the protestors in these three trials, giving them alcohol to intensify the men's "courage", to making derogatory statements about the US Government. During this discussion, Jess Marchese, Eric Parker's Attorney asks that Eric's video be played in it's entirety, not snipped into bits by the Prosecution to parrot their narrative. Judge Navarro refused to rule on the objection by Marchese at this time, so predictable! During all this discussion of evidence and witnesses the current witness, Joel Willis, is again seen sitting in the gallery with the courtroom observers! Seems there's no rules for the government and it's witnesses whatsoever! The Defense then stands to request a "dark day" Thursday if the Prosecution wraps on Wednesday, which the Judge says no, because the trial is running on to long for her, denying the defendants there Sixth Amendment Right to obtain witnesses in their favor. The Defense informs the court that the Defense is only planning to take a week to a week and a half to present their defense. Richard Tanasi, Attorney for Steven Steward, then moves to sever from Engel because of the evidence from social media presented in court today. THIS is why you don't have people tried in groups! This violates the Fifth and the Sixth Amendments! And EVERYONE should protest this from the housetops! Courtroom observers suspect that the Defense table, consisting of "Appointed Public Defenders" does not have their witnesses lined up or their case ready and will fall far short of the defense these men deserve. The Prosecution has been presenting their case for five weeks, and the defense deserves at least one week for each defendant. In the law of averages, this only allows each defendant ONE DAY to put on a defense and this is NOT OK! Judge Gloria Navarro also made a decree in court that this trial will be over by the end of April, addressing a concern among one of the Jury members having another commitment in April. Courtroom observers are confident that Judge Navarro will use this as an excuse to silence the Defense. Judge Navarro also confirmed the fact that she will not allow Daniel P. Love in court to testify for the Prosecution and courtroom observers are not confident she will allow him to be called by the Defense. Dan Love is why this whole debacle started! He commissioned his forces to gather in March 2014! He was the one who lied in the Grand Jury Indictment! That is why the Prosecutions case is solely dedicated to social media, photo and video evidence, BECAUSE THEY WON'T LET THEIR TAINTED GOVERNMENT CRONY TESTIFY, because of his being dismissed for misconduct!
Courtroom observers reported that, although the text above doesn't show it, each piece of evidence discussed was objected to multiple times by multiple attorney's, and these objections fell on deaf ears! They were not even acknowledged to by Judge Navarro.
March 16, 2017
The trial continued today with Adam Nixon, Special Agent FBI, "Open Source" Investigator assigned to investigate the state of Arizona, and in this case, the Arizona organized militia and Greg Burleson. Nixon continued in his testimony for the government against the people. His testimony began with a Facebook post in which, I'm not sure who because the reporter forgets to tell us, someone says, "bring your gas masks and prepare for attack dogs, bring hot dogs and mace". The Prosecution shows and exhibit where you can see "someone's" Facebook posts even after the individual deleted their post, validating the fact that the CIA brainchild known as Facebook captures and archives EVERYTHING! Fourth Amendment be damned! It also is proving the fact that the government considers you a suspect even if you are just a friend of an individual they decided to go after, and if you add a comment on their post or are involved in a chat with that person, you will be dragged into court with them. The Prosecution submits several photos into evidence of posts made to Facebook that Greg Burleson was tagged in. One of these photos was of a group of cowboys at Bunkerville with a white horse without a rider. Nothing was said about the photo at this point. A photo of Greg in the bushes and under the bridge with someone sitting next to him holding a firearm. Agent Nixon was asked to identify Greg Burleson in the courtroom. Agent Nixon tells the Jury about a post Burleson made about criticizing the government, the Jurors took note of this as they all recorded this in their journals. Nixon then testified to the next peace of evidence where he made a post referring to Las Vegas Metro as, "pussy cock-sucking bitches". Again, getting the attention of the Jury. Nixon then testified that Burleson pointed his gun at the Metro as Burleson said, "they were pointing their weapons at men, women and children". Another Facebook post was entered into evidence where Burleson is quoted to have said, "if you arrest even on militia member, we will burn you to the ground, including your wives and children". The Jury making note of this also. Another of Burleson's Facebook posts was submitted to the court in which he says, "people are still needed at Bundy Ranch in order to help build a garrison". Courtroom observers report that there were not objections during Nixon's testimony because the Prosecution and Judge Gloria Navarro required the Jury to leave the courtroom while this battle over this evidence went on, this way the Jury would not see the objections from the Defense and the Prosecution could present this evidence without a whisper from the Defense. The Prosecution submits another post from Burleson quoting him as saying, "protests are for pussy's. Bundy Ranch is not a protest". Agent Nixon also has Ammon Bundy's Facebook page subpoena for a search warrant. Next the Prosecution submits more photos from Bundy Ranch in which Ammon Bundy is tagged in, but these were not Ammon's photos, they were just posted on Facebook by others. In court is is established that EVERY photo you upload to Facebook reveals information as to which phone it was taken from, the time and GPS/location information, again violating the Fourth Amendment! The Prosecution then submits evidence of Nixon's investigation of Arizona State Militia introducing evidence mentioning Jason Woods and Micah McGuire showing photos of the two in front of the stage at the rally area and he testified to "AR Assault Riffles" being held by anyone they could sag a photo from. The reference was used as a tool to influence the Jury just like the parade of government planted firearms at the protest in Burns Oregon.
Cross examination began with Terrence Jackson asking Agent Nixon, "where did you become connected in the investigation into the Bundy Ranch"? Objections from the Prosecution were many during this line of questioning, Nixon does say, "prior to April 12, 2014. My assignment was to focus on "militia extremism" and could only investigate extremism, not just militia. Nixon testified that he was only one of a team of investigators. Jackson asked him several questions some of which were "how many were on your team, and who was your boss"? Which were objected to. Nixon disclosed that he "wrote no reports before the protest began", but passed on information he had obtained that lots of the people he was previously investigating and collecting information on were gathering together at the ranch. Jackson, Greg Burleson's Attorney presented evidence that Greg was not a member of the Arizona State Militia at the time he was at Bunkerville Jackson established, through the evidence presented by the Prosecution, that only two of those posts were prior to April 12, 2014. Jackson asked Nixon, "did law enforcement have a lot of civilian informants working for law enforcement"? There were many objections to this language, so Jackson edited his question to "non law enforcement personnel", to which Nixon replied "yes". Jackson, "did they have informants on the internet"? Nixon replied in the affirmative. "Did you have informants on Greg Burleson's Facebook account"? Nixon claims to "not know", and after further questioning regarding comments, friends and tags, that, "it's possible, ya, I guess so" admitting that informants also made posts to Burleson's account as comments. Jackson posed some questions regarding peoples posts when under stress and how those posts differ than when under "normal" circumstances saying, "they can say things that they don't mean and wish, at a later time, that they hadn't". Objections immediately flew from the Prosecution. Thankfully, Judge Navarro actually reprimands the Prosecution for objecting so much that the witness can not even reply to the questions, which is the whole point in the Prosecution objecting. Judge Navarro must have taken the "red pill" today.
Todd Leventhal was next to approach Agent Nixon for cross examination establishing the fact that, his client Scott Drexler, was never a member of the Arizona State Militia. Leventhal asked Nixon if he know who Mark Kessler was? Adam Nixon said, "I know his name but was not aware of him being an informant, and that I was aware of Kessler being an 'informant handler' during this investigation and that there were other 'informant handlers'", which concluded the Defense's cross examination.
The government introduces it's next witness, Sarah Draper FBI Idaho. The Jury hears about her investigation of death threats to the Bergdahl family after Bowe Burgdahl returned to Idaho. Sarah Draper was also the person who served Eric Parker's family with a search warrant. Draper's assignment was to search Facebook accounts for Eric Parker, Scott Drexler and Seven Stewart, all from Idaho. The Prosecution presented evidence that Eric Parker shared news articles on his Facebook account trying to establish the connection between conspiracy against the government and any articles you may share with others on social media, jumping to conclusions and ready to indite you. Eric only shared articles in his posts, no comments, just shared. The Jury seemed to respond well to this evidence. A test from Parker was submitted saying, "Got a neighbor in trouble in Nevada, what are you gonna do when shots are fired" posted with a link to the article "Bundy Ranch, US Feds Going After Last Rancher Standing". Another read, "government assault, government terror attack at Bundy Ranch". Another read, "citizens of the US states fought the toughest battle in the army in 1776 and we can do it again". Evidence is submitted of a post Eric Parker made with a link to an article about fracking and the reason that the government wants the land from people like the Bundy's. Courtroom observers noted that the Jury was writing during the presentation of this evidence. Evidence of a YouTube video and a "wall post" on Eric's Facebook page were presented to the Jury. Parker himself then made a post on his Facebook wall on April 12, 2014 at 3:00 p.m. which read, "we have cows happy cows, free cows, raised in the open range and not in a cage". The government rescinded the search warrant on Eric Parker's Facebook account after July 14, 2014 and the Prosecution presented no more social media posts from Parker's account. Evidence from Steven Stewart's social media posts will next be presented to the Jury after the afternoon break.
When the afternoon session began the Jury was not present as the Prosecution tried to introduce evidence against Parker saying, "he was bragging in his posts and was intent to keep the movement going". This garnered objections from the Defense, but was sustained by the Judge allowing the Prosecution to connect the evidence to the protest in Burns Oregon and Ammon Bundy. Judge Gloria Navarro is allowing the Prosecution to include events before the events of April 12, 2014 through the standoff at Malhuer and beyond, but won't allow the Defense to include incidents prior to April 12th including the snipers on the hill and the assault and abduction of Davey Bundy or the assault of Margaret Houston, clearly playing favorites and depraving the Defendants of Due Process contained in the constitution. During this time there was a motion to sever by the Defense, stating they wanted to exclude the evidence of Greg Burleson as it would be detrimental to the other clients. The motion was denied. The Defense will bring this up again later, and the Judge said, "there is not spillover effect from any violation, just because they didn't speak to one another, doesn't mean they are not a part of the conspiracy". IN WHAT WORLD? The government said, "Drexler, Ammon and Parker were communicating well up until their arrests". Andrea Parker reports that, "Scott Drexler and Eric Parker did not know Ammon until just before the protest in Burns Oregon, and that there was only a small amount of communication then.
The Jury is then brought back into the courtroom and Sarah Draper continues her testimony, this time, on Scott Drexler, with more of the same. They submitted to the court two pages of Drexler's Facebook posts, all of them are "shared links" of YouTube videos and a comment on a shared photo of Eric Parker saying "nice photo Eric". Drexler shared a link to an article "Cliven Bundy Bundy Celebrates Win As BLM Leave and Cattle Were Released", and a comment saying, "it looks like we may have to go back". Evidence during Draper's evidence presentation show communication with statements like "careful, bridges are choke points" and "that's why we use them to shut down the freeway".
Next the Prosecution presents evidence on Steven Stewart, to which Sarah Draper testified, showing evidence, that Stewart just posted links to articles on his Facebook with comments such as, "sick of this sh!!", not even spelling the word out. Another read, "heading to Nevada right now", when friends posted "are you still in Nevada" Drexler responded, "I was only in town for the weekend. Helped Cliven get his cattle back and went straight back home with 2 hours of sleep in-between". On the morning of April 12, 2014 he posted that things were going slow and there was confusion. Andrea Parker was then discussed in court because she commented on a Facebook post from Steven Stewart saying, "hell ya"! The comment was posted April 15, 2014 trying to implicate Andrea as an UN-Indited Co-Conspirator. A text from Steward in which he was quoted as saying, "bullshit, I feel like crap that I'm not on my way already". Draper then testified that Stewart posted photos of the "First Amendment Zone" on his Facebook wall stating, "where did these signs come from, do we still live in America"? The Prosecution then introduces a video into evidence that Steven Stewart made when the BLM were leaving in which Drexler makes comments such as, "good bye, bye bye, here goes another one, here goes the BLM incident command center, why does the BLM need an incident command center"? Draper testified to a link posted to Drexler's Facebook about Lloyd D. George, after which the Federal Courthouse his trial is being held is named after saying, "these people thing they own us".
Cross examination of Sarah Draper begins with Richard Tanasi reminds the court that Steven Stewart, his client, lives in Idaho NOT Arizona or Montana. Tanasi also points out that the first Facebook post about Bundy Ranch was on April 10, 2014, the group travel a day, get there, and are there less than a day. Tanasi submits into evidence that Steven Stewart posts on social media, "I don't watch TV or news, I only here about what's going on here at Facebook". Tanasi received objections to several other questions not mentioned by the reporter. Draper was asked if she was aware of the "First Amendment Area" set up by the government in Bunkerville? Draper answered, "yes". Tanasi then asked Draper if she thought Stewart might be acting like a "wise ass" while cracking jokes in his video, or did he sound violent at the time? Draper responded, "well, if you're just giving me those two choices, I'd have to say he was being a wise ass". Tanasi brings up a portion of his video where he tells about how "the government was going to use gas on them, and if anyone had died they would be martyrs" not "we're going to shoot and kill everyone". Draper was asked, "did you see anywhere on Stewart's Facebook wall where he threatened to shoot anyone", to which she responded "no". Tanasi entered into evidence Facebook posts Stewart had made about his mother saying, "thanks Mom, love you Mommy", which brought tears to Steven's eyes.
Jess Marchese was up next to question Sarah Draper asking, "how she drafted the search warrants to look at Eric Parker"? The reporter gives no information about how the question was answered. Marchese demonstrated to the Jury how Eric's first post about the protest were on April 10, 2014 only sharing news articles and links. On April 11th he is making his decision to go and talks about a route to the protest. He shows the Jury several links Parker posted about, "Marshall low in Bunkerville Nevada" and "assaults on citizens" and another, "armed Feds are surrounding my farm". Marchese then asks, "did you hear Mr. Parker's arrest interview"? The reporter gives no answer. Marchese tells the Jury about the Clark County Officials say that, "Bundy Ranch supporters better have funeral money and body bags", reminding them the men were in Bunkerville less than 24 hours. Marchese referenced the video of the BLM leaving, and reminded the Jury there are not rocks or bottles being thrown, no guns being pointed at law enforcement, as all the other government witnesses swore to.
Todd Leventhal approached the Agent Sarah Draper asking, "when did your investigation begin"? That drew objections from the Prosecution. Leventhal was able to establish that investigation was going on from March until July and that after July Draper only had access to public information on Facebook and that Scott Drexler only had two pages of information the government said was conspiratorial. Leventhal also got Draper to admit that the majority of posts were sharing of news articles and that these three men were not in the Arizona Praetorian Guard State Militia. Leventhal presents a photo of Eric, Steven and Scott and defends the men in open court saying that although they have patches, guns and radios they are not part of an organized militia.
The Prosecution brings up their next witness, Bridget Pappas, Public Affairs Specialist. Pappas testifies to the Jury that her duties are "media related" and she sets up appointments for the FBI, she deals with the media and concerns herself with the way the FBI is perceived by the public. Pappas's office is in the J. Edgar Hoover Building in Washington DC. Draper was brought into open court to testify about the news and media in this case where these defendants are being tried for sharing news and posting it on media, further advancing the case of NSA spying and NDAA going to war with it's own people. There is discussion about video evidence associated with Bridget Pappas' testimony, but it's not introduced at this time. The Prosecution wants to dismiss the witness without testimony. The Defense motions to keep the subpoena for Pappas in effect for later questioning, but the Prosecution objects stating, "she lives to far away in Washington and she needs to get back there and it would be inconvenient for her to return". But, just imprison a bunch of men before a trial, throw away the key and abuse them, and that's OK!
Despite Bridget Pappas not giving any testimony, Terrence Jackson approached the witness to make some attempt to question her before she runs off the DC and is never seen, or heard from, again! Jackson asked, "did you deal with the media personnel directly when she was gathering evidence"? Pappas' answer, "no". "Do you know who prepared them"? "No". "Were you to collect all media, local and national as it pertained to the Gold Bute Bundy Ranch, and what criterion did you use when selecting the data that you kept and passed on"? Pappas said, "I was looking for images of armed people, law enforcement, protestors including interviews". Jackson asked, "did you look in foreign media"? Pappas answered, "no". "Did you limit it to local or major news lines"? Pappas, "yes". During Jackson's questioning Pappas testified to the FBI subscribing to a media service in order to do their investigation.
Todd Leventhal is next to question the witness asking, "how many news coverage's did you get"? Pappas responded, "hundreds". Leventhal asked, "how did you choose the pertinent information"? Pappas testified that she only collected one media source per headline and ignored all the other sites that just parrot the information. "And, you turned it all over to just one FBI Agent", Leventhal said. Leventhal followed, "did you save them all"? Pappas testified she saved 75 - 100. Leventhal established that Pappas did not search YouTube, and she could not recall if she saw the "Kelly Files". And, she collected the entire story on the Bundy Ranch but did not collect the additional stories from the news. Leventhal then addressed the Judge saying that the Prosecution did not collect all the media files and hand this evidence over in the discovery. Prosecuting Attorney Steven Myhre stands to tell Judge "yes we did", he claims they gave the Defense over 60 media files the woman collected.
The Prosecution is expected to wrap up their case Monday or Tuesday at the latest. Courtroom observers say that the Prosecution have evidence to show from their "undercover film crew" Longbow Productions where they gave people alcohol and goaded protestors in to saying derogatory/inflammatory statements. This evidence will be brought up in the next session of court.
BLM Leaving
March 15, 2017
Court began today without the Jury so the video of Todd Engel misrepresenting what Cliven Bundy said on stage at the rally could be played. This video was snuk in by the Prosecution at the last minute yesterday, but was objected to by the Defense. Judge Gloria Navarro is allowing the video to be played before the Jury is seated for further discussion. The Judge finally denies the Prosecution from submitting it into evidence.
It was also revealed officially that Carol Bundy is considered a Co Conspirator, not an UnIndited Co Conspirator as has been alleged by the Prosecution. They discussed photos from Shannon Bushman and email from MOA.
The Jury is brought in to the courtroom and cross examination of FBI Agent Mark Sealer began. Shawn Perez asked Sealer to explain the Facebook evidence that was presented in court yesterday. In doing this, the Judge is not allowing anything that has a "legal definition" into the record, this includes the Constitution, as it has a legal definition. Yet, when the Agent is asked a question about one of the defendants holding a weapon and "the government agency's response to it", the Judge allows the Agent's statement of, "the presence of a weapon was disrupting the agents in this event". When the Defense objected because it goes to "legal standing", the Judge sited "it's a legal definition so it is allowed"...how convenient, when it suits you! It is learned during Sealer's cross examination that he was in Las Vegas April 2014 watching video, the areal footage from the FBI areal surveillance and live streams from people like Pete Santilli. Perez asked if Ricky had an alias, and there was questioning about if he could see someone's Facebook post and their name or alias, and if they used that information to look into another persons posts, as it relates to yesterday's discussion about Ricky Lovelien. Sealer responded that, "yes" this is the case.
Richard Tanasi asked the witness, "did Steven Stewart know Ricky Lovelien"? Sealer, "no".
Jess Marchese stepped forward to ask Agent Sealer, who was present at the arrest of Eric Parker stating, Eric went cooperatively, you interview him in the van while being transported, he spoke to you with no animosity, he told you about his wife and kids, he described to you why he came to Bunkerville, he told you why he "did what he did" at Bunkerville. The interview you did with Mr Parker was 2 1/2 hours long, and you played less than 1% of that interview for the Jury? Marchese had made his point and sat down, next the Judge scolds him in open court saying, "what you are leaving is very misleading for the Jury, this is wrong". The Judge goes on to tell the Jury WHY the entire video will not be played for them and not be included in the evidence.
Todd Engel was next to cross examine the witness, "prior to April 12, 2014, were you investigating these groups and these individuals"? Answer, "yes". "Were you with Robyn Kirkham"? Sealer's answer, "yes". "Did Robyn Kirkham open 'alias accounts' on Facebook"? Sealer's responded, "yes". Engel asked Sealer, "do you know what Robyn Kirkham's alias was". Sealer, "no". "So how do you know she was not included in any of these other people listed on the email and Facebook accounts"? Sealer responded, "well, I do know, I just know she wasn't any of those". Engel then asked, "is Mark Kessler an FBI Agent"? Sealer said, "no". Todd Engel asked permission to show a portion of a video that was larger video for the witness, to which the Judge denied, ending with, "you could say that Ryan Payne is an exaggerating blowhard", drawing objections.
Terrence Jackson was next to question Mark Sealer saying, "do you know how many millions of people are on the internet everyday? Do you know how many people are using the internet to commit crimes including hacking, and maybe someone is masquerading as someone else to make a Facebook post?
The Defense is having a hard time getting actual answers to their questions from Sealer. He consistently gives statements in general, evading the questions! FBI/Government training was clearly evident with this witness. He's quite the "tool".
Todd Leventhal steps forward to question Sealer and asked, "did you see Scott Drexler's name on Rick Lovelien's friends list"? Sealer is asked to read the homepage of MOA, and emphasis is put on the statement there that, "member comments/statements should not reflect upon the group or the organization". Then evidence is introduced of Ryan Payne displaying "thumbs up", and what his reason for giving the "thumbs up" was? "Can you tell us if anyone asked Mr. Payne how his breakfast was, or maybe it was the news of hearing that the "BLM" was leaving? Sealer, again, skirted the question and did not answer, we are hoping the Jury gets the message. Then Sealer was asked if Rick Light and Mark Kessler were government informants? His answer was "no, not to my knowledge", but everyone should know that Kessler himself admits this on Alan Colmes Radio Interview.
Up next for the Prosecution is Timothy Dupner (?), Special Agent FBI Oklahoma. They Prosecution begins by entering into evidence Rick Lovelien's booking photos and tattoos (I can't find these online), they may be trying to scare the Jury with Mug Shots. This Agent was present when Richard Lovelien was booked into custody. Agent Dupner (?) was asked to identify Lovelien in the courtroom. Dupner does not pick out the right person, instead pointing out someone in a grey suit, embarrassed, the Prosecution moved on to the next witness.
Next up for the Prosecution is Joseph Wolfson, Special Agent FBI, Assigned to "Open Source" Intelligence, looking for anything, and everything, that has to do with "Bundy Ranch", entering photos and video of anything he finds on the internet into evidence from his searches of "militia", "Bundy Ranch", "standoff", "gunmen" and other inaudible search terms, which is allowed by the Judge. None of this evidence was personally taken by the Agent, and he does not know WHO took them! There is no evidence presented as to when the photos were taken, and they are not time-stamped, void of contacts, no knowledge if they have been edited in any way, if they are original copies. Courtroom observers report that there was a HUGE fight about this evidence, but the Defense was overruled, and the evidence was allowed. The Prosecution asked Wolfson several questions pertaining to a video of Todd Engel in particular, asking, "do you know who this persona is? Are you familiar with this voice? Can you attest to the authenticity of 'the page'"? I think in reference to Facebook. Agent Wolfson said, "[he] assumed it was Todd Engel". Objections from the Defense arose and this line of testimony was shut down for now, but that the Prosecution intends to bring someone in to authenticate the evidence later, referring to the audio portion of the video only.
Cross examination begins with Richar Tanasi asking Wolfson, "can you tell me what time this photo was taken"? Wolfson avoids answering by saying, "I can tell by the minute, but not by the second". An argument then ensues about other photos of the "the crowd" where people in the photo are close and then others where they were far away, Tanasi asking what is the timeline of these photos? Wolfson inserts his narrative of what he "thinks" but cannot prove, Tanasi driving the point home that Wolfson doesn't know for sure what is happening and when. Wolfson testifies that he can tell the timing because of the crowd formation.
Terrence Jackson then approaches the witness asking about Wolfson's "key word" search terms. "How long did you focus your search on militia"? Wolfson answering, "somewhere around a 100 hours in the first three weeks". "How many times did you meet with the US Attorney's Office"? Wolfson disclosed that he met with them 8 times after the event at Bunkervill. 3-4 times a few years ago, 2 times last year and 2 times last week.
Jess Marchese was next to question Joseph Wolfson. Marchese's questioning went to identification of his client Eric Parker. Marchese asked Wolfson to identify Parker in photos and videos. Wolfson referred to him as "the man in the plaid shirt". Wolfson testifies there are numerous photo he's seen of Parker, then Marchese asked Wolfson if he can pick Parker out of some aerial footage submitted into court? Wolfson says, "yes"! Courtroom observers say that you can't see any detail in the footage and would have a hard time pointing anyone out in the footage. Wolfson firmly testifies that he can pick Parker out, not only that, but show where he was on the bridge. Remember, Wolfson WASN'T THERE! He is testifying to photos and videos he saw online in his key word search!
Next up, Todd Leventhal enters into evidence #5046, which is a screen shot of Agent Wolfson's computer screen as he is actively doing his key word search online in real time. Leventhal asked him to authenticate it, Wolfson does. Leventhal zooms in to the bottom of this screen shot where Wolfson's open windows are displayed including, Roxio Photo Editor, and another Photo Editing Program the reporter can't pronounce. Leventhal asked Wolfson what the programs can do in reference to "putting things in, or taking things out", "I didn't take the photos, so I don't know if anything was missing or added". Wolfson admits to "not being an expert" in photo editing software. Objection from the Prosecution arose because Leventhal was asking Wolfson questions about editing photos and the Prosecution said, "he's no expert". Leventhal then argues, "why are any of these photo allowed as evidence because Agent Wolfson DIDN'T TAKE A SINGLE ONE"? The Prosecution was allowed to ask Agent Wolfson a question, asking, "have you ever edited any of these photos"? Wolfson admits to adding "arrows" and other edits to the photos. Leventhal then asks, "do you know if the photos were edited before you got them"? Wolfson can't testify that they were not edited.
Up next for the Prosecution was Adam Nixon, Special Agent FBI, "Open Source" Investigator. Nixon obtained the subpoena for Greg Burleson's Facebook account, also including, Carol Bundy and Ammon Bundy, (maybe he's the one who posted photos on Ammon Bundy's page that he testified were not posted by him during the trial in Oregon)? The Prosecution submits evidence having to do with Greg Burleson's Facebook account, there is some objection by the Defense and the Judge dismisses the Jury. Viewing the exhibits it is very evident that all of the exhibits for Burleson is posted to Facebook AFTER April 12, 2014. The posts contain racist, hate-filled comments and statements like, "they still need boots on the ground at Bundy Ranch". The Defense is trying to prevent the evidence because, it's not just Greg Burleson on trial, this evidence will ge attributed to all the other defendants included in this trial!
Who Is the Government Hiring To Spy & Manipulate You & Your Group?
Mark Kessler "A Checkered Past"
Mark Kessler "Recent Past"
Mark Kessler "The Screw Turns"
Mark Kessler "Coming Out Of The Closet"
March 14, 2017
Today court continued with Hugh Gourgeon, Sandy Utah, President of Challenger School Foundation on the stand to be cross examined. Gourgeon reminded the court that he went to Bunkerville to see the cows get released. He hitched a ride to the wash in the back of someone's pickup truck. He went there to take photos using his cell phone, but "inadvertently" took video too. He took many photos of the people on the bridge on I-15. He was very mobile on the scene, moving from I-15 to the wash and under the bridge by the Bureau of Land Management barricade gate. He stated that he knew there was a "danger of getting hurt by the BLM because they were pointing weapons at people". He also disclosed that he brought his firearm with him, but left it in his vehicle. Sometime after returning home from Nevada he received a visit from the FBI, not only at home, but at work also stating, "an employee ratted on him" for being at Bundy Ranch. He lawyered up where he was presented a "Property Agreement" before he met with the FBI so his words would not be used against him.
Jess Marchese questioned the witness for the Defense saying, "so, you believe the BLM was organizing a task force to go get the cattle. You go into the wash and witness the protestors praying. Government Riffles were pointed at you, so you hide behind a concrete barrier"? Gourgeon responded, "yes". "While you were up on I-15 hiding behind the concrete barrier you saw the men with riffles"? Gourgeon responded that "I realized I was standing in between the men on the bridge and the BLM, so I went back down the hill to the wash". Marchese asks him to describe the crack in between the concrete barriers, and Gourgeon described it as "very thin".
Todd Engel was next to approach Hugh Gourgeon for questioning. Engel questions Gourgeon about the events at the bridge, the BLM threatening the crowd and giving them demands, and that these words are what caused the protestors to stop and have prayer. Engel got the witness to acknowledge that this was correct and that Gourgeon was still on scene when the BLM backed up to leave, and he was there when Las Vegas Metro arrived.
Todd Leventhal rose before the court to submit Hugh Goureon's Facebook posts into evidence as the Prosecution was very selective in the evidence they submitted, juts submitting photos and video and not the commentary from Gourgeon's Facebook wall. Objections arose from the Prosecution barring the Facebook commentary from the Jury but, the testimony drawn out from him by the Prosecution as their witness in allowed, what he said as his affidavit to the events on Facebook are barred from possibly acquitting the defendants? I guess we'll never know! Another case where the Sixth Amendment is being trampled upon! Leventhal did get Gourgeon to testify again that he was afraid that he would be shot, and that the people pointing guns at him were the BLM. Gourgeon testified that the government edited his Facebook page taking his commentary off and some photos that he had penned commentary on. Leventhal asked Gourgeon if on his was to the wash if he had heard of a "plan" or anything? Gourgeon replied, "no, it seamed like everyone was on their own, it was spontaneous, no one directed me". Leventhal asked the witness, "what made you want to go to Nevada"? Gourgeon said, "some things he had seen on social media". When the Defense tried to get him to mentions the videos etc that he had seen, this was objected to.
Shawn Perez was next to approach the witness beginning again, to get him to talk about his Facebook posts of photos and commentary. All he was able to get him to tell the Jury was that his posts were all done after he arrived back home in Utah, and they were his "personal observation" of what he saw. "There was no media in the wash, and he wanted everybody to know what was going on". Perez then asked, "did you post any impressions you had at the time"? To which Gourgeon replied, "yes". "Did you get a sense of why they were doing what they were doing"? Objections halted the answering of that question, but was able to reiterate that he "felt threatened by the BLM that day, and did not feel threatened by the men on the bridge. I did not get the feeling they would hurt anyone". Perez asked, "did you hear anyone, or see anyone giving orders"? His answer, "no". "Did you see anyone that was "the boss" of the people on the bridge"? Again, "no" was the answer. When questioned about who was in charge in the wash Gourgeon said, "the only time anyone was in charge in the wash was when a man silenced everyone so they could have prayer".
The Prosecution then presented Special Agent Mark Sealer FBI Montana 21 year veteran, introduced as the "Facebook Monitor" of Ryan Payne, Ricky Lovelien, and Jerry Burkhart. The Prosecution brought up the Operation Mutual Aid website for the Jury to see, (the website is currently displaying a "This Website Is Currently Frozen" message, but you can visit their Facebook Page here). Agent Sealer is doing almost no testifying as the DOJ are doing all the talking. Prosecutors spent a lot of time boring the Jury and courtroom observers displaying the MOA website and reading everything on it. The website has been up a long time before any of the events that took place in Bunkerville. Ricky Lovelien looks to be "their target" with this information. The Prosecution is also showing a lot of Facebook posts from Jerry Burkhart to Ryan Payne and also zeroing in on Ricky Lovelien. The Prosecution is making a stretch bringing in Facebook posts of someone in Texas, including this post by a woman referencing BLM in Texas. Most of the Facebook posts on the OMA page have been censored and the links are broken.
The Judge is allowing the Prosecution to now include Carol Bundy as an UN-Indited Co-Conspirator. Courtroom observers are also telling us that "anyone who has been mentioned in court that has not been Indited, will now be added to the list of Co-Conspirators". So, the government is so blood thirsty that they are now broadcasting verbal threats to indite, FROM THE BENCH! Judge Gloria Navarro made the declaration from the bench today! The Prosecution submitted "posts" of Carol Bundy including private messages. Group private messaging including the list of names group messages were sent out to, some have over 200 names on them. The government is using any comments posted against ANYONE involved, even if it only contains one comment. The list had apparently 8-10 names on it who WILL be indited! When will people see that our government IS using it's CIA brainchild Facebook, as a weapon against us! The truth is NSA IS collecting ALL of our communications INCLUDING EMAIL! Clearly a violation of the Fourth Amendment! The First Amendment Be Damned! There was some discussion of what evidence the Judge will allow as evidence against Rick Lovelien. There was some evidence submitted of him "chatting" with several individuals "while he was driving" that may be admitted in later court proceedings. The Judge, to her credit, is asking the Prosecution to prove that Lovelien actually saw the chat thread and responded to it and that he acted upon it, after all he was driving while the group chat took place.
The people in court today, including the Jury, were bored to tears and falling asleep during Agent Sealer's "testimony", as all he did was read what the DOJ asked him to. And, hopefully, the Jury was thinking about anything and everything they've ever wrote on social media, private messages and email! If they did, I hope to expect an acquittal! It the Jury had never thought about the Constitution, hopefully any tidbit will come to memory so they will do the right thing and put the government in its place by finding their edicts null and void!
The afternoon session continued with Agent Mark Sealer on the stand for the Prosecution. They continued to show social media posts, videos and email, for the most part from people who are not present in the court room and are not included in the defendants for this trial, convicting them in absentia. The Prosecution went so far as to start naming people now being "named" as co-conspirators including Rick's sister! The Defense is objecting to all of these shenanigans stating relevance. The Prosecution brought into evidence communications between Ryan Payne and Texas Militia North Texas, neither of whom are on trial here. It is evident that the Prosecution is editing the evidence presented in court today, trying to strike from the record evidence and testimony, it looks as though they have also come to court unprepared as much of their visual aids are not cued up to the pertinent portions and they say they are being plagued with "technical difficulties". The Prosecution has also been caught by the Defense in submitting evidence without submitting the paperwork to the Defense with the intent to submit, and submitting evidence not disclosed in discovery. The Judge ruled saying they have no standing because if the evidence was included in the giant stock of papers that's all they need, if the Prosecution listed it on their exhibit disclosure.
Courtroom observers report that this whole session is about Ryan Payne, and he's not even on the list of defendants for this case! The Prosecution has been presenting evidence against Payne including New Articles, of which the Jury has been told NOT to read, yet the Prosecution is bringing them up in open court! The Defense has objected to this, but it's like trying not to think about elephants when you're told not to. There was a video from Southern Nevada Watchdogs played during court. The Defense asked the Judge for "the list" of UN-Indited Co-Conspirators so they would know who these people are, they were told NO by Judge Navarro. This whole day was a sham! Evidence that there are NO RULES as far as the Judge and DOJ but, the Defense can only be allowed to do what the Judge and the DOJ say they can do. A CLEAR violation of the Sixth Amendment! Court observers say that every objection the Defense made was overruled.
Court concluded with Agent Sealer relating a conversation he had with Eric Parker that he recorded. The Prosecution tried to submit a one minute segment of the interview, but the Prosecution had not edited the interview to the one minute portion they wanted to play. They had not disclosed this evidence to the Defense prior to court, as usual, but the Judge broke for a few minutes so the Defense could listen to the recording before it was played. Courtroom observers say that this recording was not one minute. There was also another incident when the Prosecution submitted a video into evidence that was not disclosed to the Defense, which was objected to, the excuse..."we just found it"! Only the government can get away with tactics like this! The video clip was shown, I'm sure because the Judge allowed it, of Todd Engel misquoting Cliven Bundy after the 1 hour deadline had passed for the Sheriff to reappear on stage after the people's demands were stated. In this interview Todd Engel said that Cliven Bundy had told everyone to go get their guns and head to the bridge, but he got it wrong, but the portion of video containing Cliven's actual words was not played for the Jury that may have exonerated Engel's misstatement.
March 13, 2017
Court began today resolving the question that hung in the balance last Thursday. Discussion arose about Daniel Paul Love being called as a witness. The Prosecution has no intention in calling him as a witness, although this whole case revolves around him! If it had not been for Dan Love and his actions this would never have happened! He set plans in motion for this whole operation in March 2014! And if that's not a conspiracy against the people, what is! Judge Gloria Navarro said she will not allow the Defense to call him "just to purger him". These men have a right to face their accuser and Dan Love is at the top of the list! Apparently the night before Prosecution approached the Defense outside court proceedings and told them they would allow them to submit into evidence ANY video evidence with Dan Love in it, but do not call him to the stand. Today in court the Prosecution is asking for reasons to bring Daniel P. Love into their defense.
Court began late this morning. Usually the court proceedings begin around 8:30-9:00 a.m. but today began at 11:00 a.m. Myhre, representing the Prosecution, was not in the courtroom today.
On the stand today was Major Jackson, Nevada Highway Patrol. Jackson indicated during questioning that they did a lot of communicating with the crowd to "keep the stress level down". Jese Marchese asked Major Jackson, "you told us you and your officers were not prepared for the hot weather and didn't bring water. Did you ask the protestors for water, and did they give it to you"? To which he answered, "yes". Jackson testified that "the whole environment caused the fear, not just one element".
Todd Engel was next to question the witness. Engel asked Jackson about the four trucks that showed up out of nowhere from the desert out of the East with men in the back? This was a subject brought up in previous lines of questioning. Jackson indicated he had not seen the four trucks filled with men leaving after the protest was over, but he "felt much fear". Jackson also indicated that there was no arrest of these men, and said he had not seen any photo or video evidence of the men in trucks either. Engel asked, "were the men carrying weapons on the bridge arrested"? Jackson's answer, "no". Engel, "but if you felt such fear from these men, why were they not arrested"? Jackson said, "they have a right to carry firearms". Major Jackson also told the Jury that "he needed hundreds of officers to help the protest end peacefully". Engel, "Really"? Jackson said, "yes, if by force, we would have needed 500 more officers". Engel, "Did it end peacefully"? Jackson, "yes". Jackson was asked if any rocks or frozen bottles were thrown? Was any teargas used or riot shields? Any patrol cars burned? Jackson's response was, "no".
Next, called to the stand was Shannon Serena from the Nevada Highway Patrol for the Prosecution. Serena's patrol car was equipped with a dash-cam, and footage from his dash-cam was submitted into evidence during this time. The dash-cam captured images of truck with tailgates down, people sitting in the back traveling down the road. Another portion shows a group of people running up to the freeway barricades and jumping over and going toward the decline on the hill. A second dash-cam video is submitted into evidence that actually shows Officer Serena. Serena testifies he sees an armed man look at him, and how that was "threatening". Yet, LE want us not to fear them with all sorts of weapons strapped to their belts! Serena testified that the man approached him, pointed down into the wash, and told of a green truck filled with protestors with weapons pointed at officers. There was a lot of commotion in the courtroom at this time as Prosecution and Defense Attorneys were both trying to establish who was in the green truck. Prosecutors were saying it was Todd Engel and the Defense was arguing it was the US Forest Service all tacked out in their green clothing etc.
Steven Myhre was back in court for the afternoon session. Greg Burleson was also in court today and was looking much better after his medical emergency yesterday, as apparently much of the testimony from the Prosecution focused on him. Cross examination of Shannon Serena began. During testimony today the Prosecution is changing the narrative by saying that "the people pointing rifles" are now people with firearms slung over their shoulders and having their hands somewhere on their weapons are being defined as "having firearms in their hands". During Serena's testimony today, he told of how he called his ex-wife from the scene to tell her that he loved her and he didn't think he would get out of there alive. Serena also told the Jury that "people" should not have their hands on their weapons when law enforcement is around because, "it makes the officers uncomfortable". Serena was concerned for his safety the minute he arrived on scene which continued until after he had left the scene.
Shawn Perez was up next for the Defense. He began, "when you talked to people you said they wanted to see the cattle free, and from your understanding law enforcement expected that the cattle would be set free. Did you give the people a timeline as to when the cattle would be free"? Serena replied that, "he really couldn't say, but we knew that the cattle would be set free because of the tensions, and to get the BLM out safely". Serena also disclosed that he was called at 6:30 a.m. on April 12, 2014, and was given the assignment of heading to Bunkerville to help Nevada Department of Transportation set up barriers to divide the traffic lanes into separate lanes in order to give the BLM a dedicated lane to exit the scene and, "have a safe and swift exit from the area", later his duties changed to crowd control. So we know that the BLM had planned on leaving that day. Perez then questioned him about the people in the truck with the tailgate down and asked why he felt threatened by them? Serena said that by the man sitting on the lowered tailgate, this was a threatening posture. Perez continued, "what was the guy doing"? Serena testified that he couldn't say exactly but, the truck was moving less than 10 miles an hour and as Serena's vehicle approached from behind the driver pulled over to the side of the road so the officers in his marked vehicles could pass. Serena said he was afraid of "everyone there". When encouraged to clarify he said, "I was afraid of anyone who was not law enforcement". During the presentation of Serena's dash-cam video throughout court they referenced a citizen prevalent in the video as, "citizen of Nevada", so Perez questioned him concerning this citizen during a second showing of the dash-cam video pointing out that the man called "citizen of Nevada" (Todd Engel), was sitting on a concrete barrier on I-15 with his rifle slung over his shoulder NOT with the barrel pointing down toward the road side NOT over the cement barrier into the wash like he testified earlier. Serena testified earlier that this "citizen of Nevada" had something in his hand, but didn't identify it. Perez shows video evidence it was a bottle of water. During the video it showed the man taking his bottle of water out of his pants pocket, taking a drink, and then putting it back.
Terrence Jackson for the Defense then approached the witness. Jackson showed photo evidence of Greg Burleson, what he was wearing including his "Minuteman Hat", Jackson continued by asking, "when you interviewed my defendant"...and Serena interrupted by saying, "I did not interview him, I spoke to him for around 20 minutes". They then talked about what Serena was wearing, a radio/police scanner. During questioning Serena admitted he was very upset and jealous that Greg Burleson was able to hear the law enforcement communications on the scanner Burleson had, and "it was better than the scanner I was given by the department". Jackson then asked, "is it illegal to have a police scanner"? This drew objections from the Prosecution, so Jackson rephrased his question, "can you buy it at the store"? To which he answered, "yes". Jackson asked, "did you ever take a photo of Burleson's scanner"? To which Serena answered, "no".
Defense Attorney Todd Leventhal was next to approach the witness and submitted exhibit #5043 more dash-cam (this may have been body-cam) video footage that included audio that was not submitted for evidence. Leventhal then played a portion of the video for the Jury in which Serena can be heard communicating over his car radio, "everyone is peaceful down here, everyone is happy" In the video you see Serena shaking hands, patting "citizen of Nevada" on the back, when the "armed man in fatigues" (Ricky Loveland), approaches him, he also pats him on the back.
Richard Tanasi steps forward to cross examine. Tanasi's questioning included a briefing at the substation Serena was present for. During the briefing is was the plan to set up "the wall" and they were going to leave at 6:30 a.m. Tanasi asked Serena how many times he met with the US Attorney's Office 3-4 times and had also met with the FBI to prepare his testimony for the trial.
Jess Marcheses was next up for the Defense asking Serena about his testimony "that he was fearful before he even got to the wash", is it true that you were fearful because of the environment and what you were told about the environment, not by the actual people on scene. Next Marchese asked, "would you say that 'citizen of Nevada' was helpful to you"? To which Serena answered, "yes". Marchese said, "in your conversation with 'citizen of Nevada' did he not tell you he was in somebody's cross-hairs and that you should move back? So you indicated in your previous testimony that you were afraid of everyone yet, in your conversation with this man you said you were afraid, but he was helpful to you"?
The Prosecution under re-direct points out that there were not enough officers to watch as the protest moves down into the wash and that the reason Serena patted "armed man" on the back was to relieve tension after the incident was over, and that Serena's fear did increase as he got to the bridge area.
Shawn Perez stood to re-cross examine Shannon Serena. Perez played the video footage for the third time asking Serena to prompt Perez to stop the video when he sees someone do something threatening and show us what these "mannerisms" are that are of a threatening manner. Serena responded, "well, you're not going to see it on the video, it's something that you feel"! This continues throughout the video as Serena's testifies to threatening behavior out of camera shot or when his back is to the "threatening mannerisms".
The Prosecution then calls to the stand Hugh Gourgeon, President of Challenger School Foundation in Sandy Utah, who is French with a really thick accent and was very hard to understand. Mr. Gourgeon took several photos and cell phone video, for which he claimed he didn't realize he was taking video only photos. Gourgeon's photos and videos consisted of getting a ride to the bridge, going down into the wash, filming the prayer before they protestors went the get the cattle. Gourgeon was questioned about children being at the protest. There was a lot of confusion in the court about the testimony about him being under the northbound bridge versus the southbound bridge along with other individuals, it was never clear which bridge they were talking about but, Gourgeon made several trips up and down the hill from the wash topside to the bridge on the road. Gourgeon said he went to the bridge in the wash because "he felt he was going to be shot"! At this point several of his photos/videos were entered into evidence of Eric Parker and Scott Drexler on the bridge and a couple other people kneeling down. Through questioning Gourgeon discloses that the FBI came to his work and to his home to serve a subpoena to get his photos and videos. Gourgeon gave them to his attorney and his attorney gave them to "the government". The Prosecution tried to submit an email Gourgeon received from Carol Bundy talking about the event Georgeon had attended. The Defense objected siting the "co-conspirator statement" classification. The Prosecution argued Carol Bundy is not charged as a co-conspirator but will prove later that she is, siting the Bundy Ranch Blog and the email being sent by her, which Judge Navarro sustained the objection for now.
Today's testimony was instrumental in making the governments case that Ricky Loveland was a "superior" in the conspiracy because he approached Shannon Serena while in conversation with Eric Parker and Eric discontinued his conversation with Serena and, Ricky made a phone call in his presence. The Prosecution, through their witnesses, are trying to establish that Ricky Loveland was "in charge" of everyone on top of the bridge, but all they have as evidence is "feelings" and sighting "body language" of which there is no evidence.
The Prosecution will continue tomorrow with testimony from Hugh Georgeon.
March 9, 2017
Today's court proceedings started out with Todd Leventhal cross examination of Joseph Lombardo Las Vegas Metro. Online Joseph Lombardo's title is Sheriff, who was the undersheriff the day of April 12, 2014. Lombardo was part of the group of Sheriff's who took a reluctant Sheriff Gillespie to the rally in Bunkerville Nevada. After Lombardo stood by Gillesie on the podium he went to protect the Bureau of Land Management in their standoff against the peaceful protestors in the wash. Lombardo says he was instrumental in negotiating release of Cliven Bundy's cattle. A photo was introduced into evidence showing Shannon Kelly (in plain clothes), all of the Metro officers, the Sheriff, the undersheriff, Tom Roberts. In testimony it was divulged that Shannon Kelly was the one who alerted the Sheriff/Metro that the protestors were leaving the stage area after the one hour deadline for the Sheriff to acquiesce to their request had not been met. Lombardo testified that he and his fellow officers traveled with the participants to the bridge. He acknowledged he was with the other officers in the skirmish line. He testified that at some point he crossed the road and approached the northbound bridge to have a conversation with Dave Bundy about deescalating the situation. Lombardo also testified to being present during negotiations with Dave Bundy, Ryan Bundy and Dan Love. Lombardo also claims to have been present for a conversation held between Cliven Bundy and Ryan Bundy over the phone where they were told the cattle would be released. Lombardo claims he requested Cliven come down to the gate so he could be present to pull the pin out of the gate that would allow the cattle access back to the Bundy Ranch. Then video was produced showing Daniel P. Love telling Ryan and Dave telling them that "he did not authorize them to release the cattle, and they are going to be held responsible", Dan Love repeated this several times. The BLM and Lombardo really tried hard to get Cliven to come down to pull the pin out of the gate. Just my opinion listening to this reporters account, the only reason Lombardo and Dan Love were trying to get Cliven Bundy down to the gate was first, a photo opp. Second, to take Cliven into custody. Third, to entrap Cliven into pulling the pin on the governments property and put the wheels in motion to create a news story that would justify ANY action the government operatives would do. The reporter also eludes to this in the report. Lombardo continues his testimony describing a scene where after the negotiation with the BLM and the Bundy to free the cattle and he requested the BLM move back and clear the area, he witnessed the participants continuing to point weapons at he and his officers and they were left defenseless. Lombardo was asked to point to where the people were located that were pointing weapons at them and he said, "up both sides of the wash and up by the bridge by the abutments. Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said, "I would have taken 500 officers to provide security, for the crowd of 300, including weapons". Lombardo said, "the crowd was not passive". Lombardo claimed the only reason he chose to negotiate was because the additional officers he needed would not be able to arrive in time for the assault, so deescalation was the plan. He continued, "the crowd was told an hour, and they were running out of time". Lombardo also divulged in his final statement that, "the protestors gave them an additional 30 minutes, when that half an hour was up, he was advised that that half an hour was over".
Tanasi approached the witness for cross examination asking, "Officer Lombardo, were you aware that the BLM was asked to cease all operations"? His answer was "no", yet he claimed his assignment was to protect the BLM from the protestors. Lombardo disclosed "they were trying to broker a deal with the BLM on April 11, 2014. Tanasi then asked, "were you aware that Sheriff Gillespie had a meeting with Governor Sanduval"? To which Lombardo answered, "yes". Objections for the Prosecution arose quickly, as they said this questioning was not relevant, although Cliven Bundy made reference to this meeting at the stage at one point telling the crowd that Gillespie was hiding under the Governor Sanduval's desk! Lombardo said, "by April 12th I was no longer in charge, until after they went down to the impound site although most his time was spent at Post 1 with his officers in the skirmish line". He said he was "not in fear of the BLM", when asked by Tanasi, "why were you not in fear of the BLM pointing weapons at the protestors", and Lombardo said, "well, there were three groups, the BLM, the Participants and the Las Vegas Metro".
Jess Marchese was next to approach Sheriff Lombardo asking him questions about the escalation and negotiation. Lombardo indicated that the BLM was not negotiating and deescalating and that is why he was involved. During testimony he talked of a Nevada Highway Patroll officer being on the scene. He also testified to walking down into the wash three times, Lombardo was not able to testify to specific times, but said, "the first time I went down into the wash the BLM was already moved back and the crowd was pointing weapons, the second time was when I had a meeting with Ammon, and the third time was when I escorted the cowboys to get the cattle". Marchese then asked Sheriff Lombaro, "did you ever personally fill out any reports"? Lombardo indicated he was interview by the FBI but they filled out the report for him, but he did not personally fill out the reports.
Shawn Perez was up next for the Defense and through testimony found out that the officers had no formal briefing and that when he arrived on scene on April 12, 2014 that the BLM had ceased operations. This information was obtained at a meeting he had at Sheriff Gillespie's home as Gillespie had a meeting with the Bundy Family. Lombardo talked of a meeting he had with Dan Love that took 45 minutes, but it was unclear to courtroom observers if this meeting took place before or after Metro was asked to stand between the BLM and the Protestors. Perez asked, "when you told Dan Love he was to release the cattle, was he resistant"? Lombardo answered, "yes, Dan Love said that they were now Federal Cattle and it would be his decision weather or not to release the cattle". Lombardo made the decision to release the cattle 20 -30 minutes later. Lombardo was then asked, "why did you choose to talk to Dave Bundy from all the other protestors"? Lombardo indicated that he chose Dave because he knew he was a part of the Bundy Family, and Dave was not directing anyone on the bridge.
Terrence Jackson then questioned the witness saying, "you wanted to protect against a bloodbath, you told your officers not to wear their riot gear and vests to deescalate the situation". Nothing was said about his response.
Todd Leventhal then stepped forward but was unable to start his cross examination because Greg Bruleson had another medical episode in which the blind man started shaking and turned white and medical attention was requested. The court was adjourned for two hours, but court did not resume.
Video contains important photos of Las Vegas Metro/Sheriffs Office
at Bunkerville Nevada which have been scrubbed from the internet.
March 8, 2017March 8, 2017
Court resumed today after a day of recess so Defense Attorney's could prepare for cross examination of the surprise witness called by the Prosecution Monday. Court began with Sergent Tom Jenkins Las Vegas Metro. Jenkins began his testimony refreshing everyone's memory of how he and his fellow Metro officers were in tears and crying during the events of April 12, 2014. It was the scariest thing he and his fellow officers had experienced in their law enforcement career and even their military deployments. He said he saw every protestor had a gun, and he rated the Threat Level at a 10.
Reporting on this court session is sketchy since there is very little detail given. Things are spoken in generalities, so I'll do my best to relay the information in the best way possible.
Cross examination included some of the following. The Defense asked Jenkins several questions about his written report filled out days after the event he was asked, "in your report, are you supposed to make it as accurate as possible"? Jenkins answered, "yes". Jenkins said they are supposed to include information on how they felt etc. The Defense asked, "then why did you leave out the fact that you were in fear for your life. That everyone had a gun, and that there were guns pointed at you?
Defense Attorney Jess Marchese questioned Jenkins saying, "you said weapons were pointed at you all day, and when you arrived on the side of the road everyone was pointing weapons at the police convoy, but you can't point out anyone who was pointing weapons". Jenkins then answers, "consistently all day people were pointing weapons, ya, white males were pointing weapons at me all day"!
Next, Richard Tanasi cross examines the witness and asked, "your job was to keep the peace between the protestors and BLM"? Jenkins, "yes". "And the peace could have been broken by either the supporters or the BLM"? Tanasi asked. "Where you concerned about the BLM having weapons"? To which he answered, "no". It came out during questioning that Jenkins felt the bridge was not his concern. Tanasi asked, "did you see the BLM point weapons"? Jenkins response, "no, because he was up between the two bridges, not down in the wash".
Todd Engel stepped forward and said, "let's zoom in on the protestors", which the Prosecution objected to. They did not like Engel referring to them as protestors. He continued, "you say as you were arriving they were pointing riffles". Playing a video asks, "and you say that everyone was armed". Jenkins was asked to point out the people where were armed, and was unable to.
Shawn Perez was next for the Defense asking Jenkins, "where you received the 911 call, did you go to the call with your lights and siren on"? He replied, "no".
Terrence Jackson was next reminding the court that Jenkins and his officers had helmets, vests, bullets, tack gear in their vehicles, but were told not to get it out. Then asked, "did the BLM seem to get upset because of the way Metro was protecting them"? He said, "no, they were very thankful all day that the Metro had arrived".
Jackson on re-direct asked Jenkins about when he arrived with weapons pointed at him by protestors he never mentioned it in his written report, but only when questioned by the FBI. Tanasi also asked this same question on re-direct to drive the point home.
Engel again questions the witness. "On April 12, 2014 there was no one harmed or killed and you rated it as a 10, yet you relate that there was a riot in Las Vegas were officers were injured by people throwing rocks and water bottles and you rated that at a 5"?
Jackson was up again. "So your officers were crying? How many tears did you wipe off your officer's eyes"? Objections arose from the Prosecution, but the point was made.
Court observers say it was obvious Jenkins was heavily coached and was mellow dramatic.
After cross examination, Jenkins left the stand. Several video clips were shown of the protestors at the stage and other parts of the protest showing the contradictory statements of Jenkins do to weapons. There were no video showing every protestor with a gun. There were reportedly 2 shouldered guns in all the footage shown the Jury.
Next on the stand was Dennis Michael Lynch, Reporter, Documentary Film Maker, and FOX News Reporter at the time of the Stand Up. Apparently the questioning of Lynch and viewing his video was so boring the Jury was falling asleep. Lynch was asked questions while showing hours and hours of video. Questions like, "do you know this person? What side of the stage were you on? Who came over the hill? "Why were you zooming in on this person"? Lynch responded to this question, "I was trying to get my camera to focus". The Prosecution makes it a point to point out Ammon Bundy, although Ammon is not on trial here! Court observers have noticed that the Prosecution is putting Ammon and Cliven Bundy rather than the six men sitting in the courtroom. Prosecutors tried to trip Lynch up by showing several photos of the same four men at different times during the protest asking, "did you see these men? Did you see THESE men drive up on the scene? Did you see these men talking? Do you recognize these people" Lynch said, "no". "Does this person have a gun"? "I can't tell", is the answer. But, Lynch recognized the men as the same four men in every photo, and told the Prosecution so, "yes, those are the same four men I saw in front of the stage, yes, I saw them"! Other questions like, "what is he wearing"? Response, "camo". "What's that on his shoulder"? "A radio". Concluding with, "is that your voice"? Lynch, "yes". And the Prosecution played a portion of the video in which Lynch says, "hey, hey, hey, hey"! and asked Lynch, "why did you say that"? This caused a commotion in the courtroom as they were having a verbal battle with Lynch. Lynch pipes up and says, "I'd like to answer the question, you asked me the questions I'm gonna answer it". Apparently the Prosecution didn't want him to answer the question they just asked. Lynch explained that the reason he said, "hey" was because the group seemed to be going in a forward direction and I was trying to stop them. The Prosecution then asked, "why were you trying to stop them from going in that direction"? Lynch replied, "I was afraid for their lives, that the Bureau of Land Management Officers were going to shoot them"! The Prosecution asked Dennis Michael Lynch if he knew what the "wash" was? Lynch replied, "No. I'm from New York, when I think of wash, I think of laundry". The Prosecution shows a portion of video in which the crowd of protestors were in the wash. They zoom in on a person with a long gun on his shoulder. "What is that"? Lynch, "I guess it's a rifle". It appears that Lynch is not letting the Prosecution treat him as a "mindless dope", when Lynch is very self secure and won't be bullied. Lynch has quipped back at the Prosecution when asked stupid questions about HIS video telling them, "I should know, I took the video". It is obvious to the courtroom observers that they are going to keep Lynch on the stand for as long as possible, trying to wear him down, but Lynch knows his stuff and is quite annoyed by it all. At some point the Prosecution played a segment of video where Ammon is speaking. It was a quite poignant peace as it brought tears to many people's eyes and helped prove the point why the protest happened.
Afternoon session begins with several videos played. One clip has audio of someone saying, "get your guns off of us". The Prosecution points out portions of men with guns. Courtroom observers say that there were only 5 people with guns identified in these clips, not the masses the government witnesses are testifying to.
Richard Tanasi during cross examination asks, "did you see a video of Ammon being tased"? Lynch replied, "yes, that was part of the reason why I came". Which drew objections as "not being relevant". The Defense argued that, that's why Lynch came, and that's why my client came! Tanasi continued, "was there an uneasiness that day"? To which Lynch testified, "yes, very uneasy down in the wash". "Could you see the BLM, and did it seem as though they had a lack of leadership" Lynch's answer, "yes". "Did you see snipers in the wash"? Lynch, "no". There was then discussion about Dennis Michael Lynch's report to the FBI. Lynch made a report and signed his name to it, but when Lynch was able to inspect the report last night he discovered there were statements in the report that Lynch did not make, showing evidence tampering by the FBI.
Jess Marchese questioned the witness. "Do you remember when the Metro convoy arrived"? "Yes". "Do you remember anyone pointing weapons at them"? "No". "After they parked, did you see them get in a line"? "Yes". "Did you see the Metro officer's crying"? "No". "When you said, 'wait, wait, wait', why did you say that"? Lynch replied, "because I did not want to see people get shot, or have myself get shot. I did not want people to walk forward because I did not want the BLM to shoot people if anyone walked forward. I walked forward lifting my shirt to show I was not armed". "Did you see a man with a dog point a weapon at the BLM"? Lynch, "I never saw anyone point a weapon at the BLM". "Did you fear being shot"? To which Lynch said, "absolutely"!
Jackson again approaches the witness. "We were shown a lot of video. There was a lot of video not shown. How much video would you say you recorded that day"? Lynch, "what we saw in the courtroom today was maybe half, or less". Lynch was then asked if it appeared that Metro and BLM were working together"?
Todd Engel attempted to cross examine the witness, but objections were flying and he was pretty much shut down. He did ask Lynch if he remember hearing Ammon and others discussing getting the cows back, but Lynch did not remember much of the discussion, and no video evidence was presented to back up this claim. There was discussion of the negotiation at the gate where a man in black said, "it's hard to deescalate a situation when you have guys in helmets and M-16's pointing at you"! And another man says, "get those guns off us"! And, Dan Love says, "that's why we are deescalating this, and gestures to everyone to lower their guns"? There must have been objections, because there is no answer given, but Engel was just proving a point. That the command to lower the weapons was never given, and never obeyed.
Todd Leventhal approaches to question Lynch. "What was your impression of mood at the rally"? Lynch, "I thought it was boring, and I felt like going back home, and explained how Ammon gives him a ride in his truck down to the wash". "When you were at the parking area/rest area, did you see anyone on the the hill"? Lynch responds, "yes". The Defense enters video clip #5036 into evidence showing the sniper on the hill.
On Prosecution redirect, there was some discussion about the BLM saying, "shoot or be shot", which Lynch testified to, but he was questioned about actually hearing that. Lynch explains that there are a lot of things a boom mic will pick up that the natural ear is unable to pick up. It wasn't until watching his footage later that he heard this. This also came to play in some footage on top of the bridge when there was some back and forth between protestors and the man of the loud speaker. The Prosecution then asked Lynch, "you said the first time you approached the gate you feared you were going to be shot, yet you approached the gate a second time with the protestors and horses. Where you not afraid for your life the second time"? The which Lynch responded, "yes! But, I still thought I would be shot, but I still did it".
It is said that Steven Myhre, Prosecuting Attorney, is making enemy's of the Jury, during this session he continues to talk down to the Jury requiring them to listen to clearly heard, clearly visible clips, over and over again. A clear waste of everyone's time. Myhre is coming across as a school yard bully. There are over 60 video clips having to do with Lynch's testimony and they are less than half was through at lunchtime recess. Courtroom observers again, report that they see the Prosecution's intent to carry this case out for as long as they can to wear everyone out! The men on trial were only at the protest for one day, but the government is hell bent on making them and their families suffer, even if just through court!
March 6, 2017
In court today, video of a taped conversation of Pete Santilli and Daniel Paul Love was played, (the content is found in this video). Dan Love can be heard throwing his weight around and egging on the protestors and playing "chicken" with them. The Prosecution was trying to convince the Jury that Pete Santilli was "laying out the rules of engagement" for the whole event! And you know as well as I that they have to do this or they have no case against Pete Santilli and independent journalist who defends the Constitution. The Prosecution also established the government knew about the peaceful protest in Bunkervill on April 12, 2014. The person first on the stand today is the man on the loud speaker making threats and demands on the protestors in which he says, "we have firearms and dogs"..."they're not listening, they're not listening to my commands". This "officer" was also equipped with dash-cam recording this event live. Las Vegas Metro approaches them officer and his vehicle as request that he back up, after the third request the officer complies. Later in the dash-cam video the officer can be seen hunched over the hood of his vehicle with his head on his arms, when asked to tell the court why, he responded, "I had been up for 36 hours straight. I was exhausted, and later I had to seek help from medical at the ICP for exhaustion and dehydration".
Cross examination began with Richard Tanasi, Attorney for Steven Stewart asking, "were you aware of the announcement that the Bureau of Land Management would cease all operations on April 11, 2014"? Answer, "no". In prior testimony this officer's announcement to, "use less than lethal force" was entered into the court record, now Tanasi asks this officer, "earlier in testimony there was a pause before the term 'less than lethal force' was uttered, was that on purpose, because you meant lethal force"? Objections prevented an answer. Tanasi then moved to show a portion of a previous piece of video footage where this officer can be heard in conversation with another officer joking and making comments about a woman protestor who was yelling at them. The officers can be heard saying such things as, "what's she yelling? I don't know. I think she likes you. That scares me, she's not my type", demonstrating that the officers were having fun during this event and if the Threat Level was 10 why were they joking under these circumstances? During questioning this officer, in one of his answers says, "Dan Love knows this case inside and out", possibly laying groundwork for later testimony. The witness was asked why he did not reference the High Threat Level in any of his report? This witness met with the US Attorney's Office four times, October of 2015. Asking who was present at these meetings it was disclosed that several of the Prosecutors were at these meetings, and the FBI was at all of the meetings.
Todd Engel's cross examination begins with reminding everyone that photo/video evidence doesn't support his claim that protesters were in the wash under the southbound bridge and asked, "to you remember when National Park Police were in a 'stacked formation' on the side of his truck"? To which he replies, "I don't recall that". To restore his lapsed memory, a video from the opposite vantage point, with the same time stamp, is shown validating this fact, to which the witness does acknowledge.
At this point Jess Marchese, Attorney for Eric Parker, approaches the witness reminding him of his previous testimony of being sleep depraved and presenting evidence of this man sitting of the back of his truck at the end of the event showing fatigue asking, "who gave the orders during the event? What area did the closure effect"? As previous testimony had established the closure did not effect the roads/I-15, yet this witness is saying it did. Marchese then asks, since the discrepancy, "how much of the bridge did the closure effect"? But, the witness cannot make a distinction. He was then asked, "if he felt in danger when meeting with the FBI"? The reporter could not be understood relaying the response.
During questioning by Todd Leventhal, Attorney for Scott Drexler, shows the video clip in which there was screaming from above the officers position and a woman can be heard yelling, "they are unarmed down there! This is not a video game! What the hell are you doing? They don't have guns"! Next, "you say "you are seeing pistols, riffles and guns", yet from your dash-cam video there is no evidence of that. "Do you see the man in the blue shirt? He looks like press". This video footage was played three times so the witness could respond to each question. Leventhal submits into evidence several video clips from Dennis Michael Lynch's Documentary "A Day At The Bundy's". Leventhal plays the clips, and after each clip asking, "was this a fair and accurate example of the events"? All the while being objected to by the Prosecution as "hear say", although they were the actual events filmed in real time, AND THE GUY ISN'T DEAD! (In reference to Michael Flynn, dead)! There were so many objections and arguments about allowing the video of Lynch that Judge Gloria Navarro dismissed the Jury and pushed forward arguing the case for the Prosecution, only referring to them to ask if they had anything to add? Judge Navarro has abdicated her role as impartial Judge and become a member of the Prosecution team! When lunch break came the Judge had still not finished her argument for excluding the video from being submitted as evidence, as the Defense just used the audio portion for questioning. Courtroom observers have also noticed some of the same tactics employed by Judge Anna Brown and the Prosecuting Attorney's in Trial #1, using body movement to trigger objections and other motions from the Prosecution, and Prosecuting Attorney's using these same sort of body, and facial expressions, to signal the Prosecution's witnesses, when courtroom observers were dismissed and reprimanded by Judge Brown for smiling, nodding, coughing and suspicion of having Skittles! This is NOT a fair trial!
The afternoon session begins with the Judge announcing she will not allow the clips from Dennis Michael Lynch's Documentary to be entered into evidence, but the Defense moved forward playing only the audio again. The witness was asked, "is your written report of the events days after the event in your own words"? His response was in the affirmative, but admitted to adding information to the report submitted to the FBI at their request and their suggestion. Leventhal asked more questions of the BLM Ranger like, "did you stay to protect cows and portal-pottys? What was first, your guns or the protestors"? Drawing objections.
Then the government calls Sergent Tom Jenkins Las Vegas Metro. (Watch the video link in the highlighted text to watch Jenkins use excessive force and violate a citizens rights). The Defense objects to the witness, as his name was never submitted to the Defense on the list of witnesses and they were not given Jenkins written report prior to court proceedings. Although the Prosecution tried to get the Defense to allow the witness, baiting them with the opportunity to cross examine him, the Defense's argument was that the Jury was never presented the witness by name and able to acknowledge if they knew the man or had any bias. And if you've watched the video in the link above I think you could argue that the Prosecution did this on purpose, as Jenkins is quite well known in Las Vegas and appeared on the TV Show COPS. The Judge dismissed the Jury to further discuss the matter, but ends up overruling the Defense and allowing the witness who had several positions throughout his career with law enforcement and the military. The Prosecution began with Jenkins telling how he was part of the team going with the Sheriff and his two under sheriff's to visit Cliven Bundy and "talk at the rally". Jenkins said, "they stopped at a rest area, left half the team, continued with the other half of the team, stopped before they got to the area where the Sheriff would make his announcement, left the other half of the team, as the Sheriff made his announcement and the Sheriff and his two under sheriffs went home". "They were told they were not to wear their ballistic jackets or their helmets, because it would escalate the situation". Jenkins tells how after the Sheriff made his announcement they were all going to head back to Las Vegas, but they received a 911 call and they were requested to give assistance, so they went back to the event. At one point Jenkins admits that [they] did not know where they were, but noticed a lot of vehicles merging on to I-15 in the area, "and they all traveled together". Jenkins says, "they were all armed. They all had weapons. When we arrived, we lined up our cars so no one could get in the impound area in between the two bridges". Jenkins talks about SWAT being there, but were separated from the group having 8 or 9 guys. Jenkins said they "made a skirmish line" and he was out in front of the line in order to talk to protestors before they approached them. Jenkins continued, "there were people all around, some in the 'prone position', armed with automatic riffles, semi-automatic riffles, long riffles, dressed like military with helmets and goggles". Does this sound familiar? This is the same modes-opperendi the Prosecution used in the first trial in Oregon! The Sheriff's Department, the County Judge, the BLM were SO afraid of the protetsors, they had to call in the FBI! Jenkins also estimates the number of protestors at 2000. Jenkins said, "if we had an event with 2000 people, we would make an assignment of 200 officers". Jenkins testifies, "we weren't prepared to be there that long, but the protestors had water, it looked like they were prepared to be there for a long time, so that increased my threat level". Jenkins said he was approached by Ryan Bundy asking him to release the cows. Which garnered objections, but the Judge allows the statement because she says, "it applies to the co-conspiracy charge". Jenkins continues under Prosecution direction that he "was real worried because they were not going to let the cows go" to his knowledge. He then testifies that Ryan Bundy said there is going to be blood on his officer's if they do no let the cattle go. They Jenkins said, "Bundy started to cry, stepped back, and walked away". Jenkins describes how he looked back at his offier's in their skirmish position and "how they looked scared, asking to use their cell phones". The Defense objected to his statement as "hear say". It was sustained. Jenkins describes the protestors disappearing down into the river bed. He testified that he went half way down into the wash to see. "The crowd was angry and pissed off", he said. He said they had no cover, and "they didn't think they would make it home that night". Jenkins testified that after the incident was over he and his officer's gave the BLM a police escort back to their hotel. He said that the protestors lined up in back of them and followed them to the hotel. There were also protestors screaming and yelling at them. Jenkins also testified that when he and his officer's were headed back to Las Vegas they encountered the protestors again on the highway. (Could this be because I-15 was a parking lot for hours during the protest)? He admitted that "no one tried to enter the convoy, but his fear did not subside until he was sitting at home in his living room". The Prosecution then asked him to "rate his fear level" and Jenkins rates it Level 10, although his normal activities in law enforcement were crowd control and riot control. This wrapped up the Prosecutions presentation of this witness, and court is dismissed early so they have time to prepare for Jenkins' cross examination. There will be no court tomorrow, but asked to resume Wednesday morning.
It appears that the government is doing it's best to draw out these court proceedings as long as possible. This is day 12 of the trial and the court has been recessed for 6 days, not including Fridays, because the government closes on Friday. This is a clear effort by the government to wear the people down, and asset strip the families and abuse the defendants further. The defendants are being made to stay in lock down all week, being given one day a week to make a choice of outside time or making phone calls. This is cruel and unusual punishment and violating their right to prepare for their court appearances, and enduring the bias in the court by Judge Gloria Navarro is taking it's toll.
View many of the images from The Stand Up At Bunkerville in the video below.
Photography Credit Shannon Bushman
Musical Credit Jordan Page
Today's proceedings continued with testimony from a government BLM or USFS employee, (who's name was not included in the report I received). It was the Agent who said he had his finger on the trigger and his gun off safety with Eric Parker between the cross-hairs. These was more photo and video evidence presented as the Agent tried to prove Parker was "cocked and ready to fire" at him. The Agent testified that the silent duel between the two took place within seconds, when the evidence proves otherwise since the vehicles recorded behind Parker did not stack up to the testimony. It was clear from the man's testimony that HE was ready to shoot Parker but did not alert his fellow employees of his intentions to do so, by radio, or by speaking to the other men standing in close proximity to him. Apparently, kleenex was needed again today during the government witnesses testimony.
Next up for the Prosecution was Ranger David Keltner with the National Park Service serving as the Set Team Manager/Supervising Ranger, who's team included 8 people. On April 11, 2014 he was stationed between the flat top and the Incident Command Post. He testified that the evening of the 11th [they] got some intelligence that the militia and protestors were going to attack the ICP and take the cattle back. (It has been leaked that Dan Love was responsible for this bogus "security threat". He created it to put everyone on high alert and get them to adhere themselves to his command. Although, the evening of the 11th was when the Communications Manager, Toni, was told to whittle down the Comm Center to half its size including equipment and personnel). Keltner testified that they had been up all night but, the Set Team was a nighttime team. On the morning of April 12, 2014 the Set Team, after being up all night, was told to go back to the Hotel, although this conflicts with others testimony that no one was allowed to leave ahead of events on the 12th. Keltner caught a bit of sleep while at the hotel, but was again summoned to come back to the ICP because of the false intell Dan Love had created of militia and guns to take the cattle back. Keltner testifies of arriving at Post 1, the entrance, he could see two people with body armor on and, "were giving him the thousand yard stare" which he labeled a "threat indicator". Defense objects to this, but testimony continues. Keltner said they were told to "deploy, and come down to the wash". He testified to being 200 yards from the northbound bridge where he was lots of people, flags etc. Keltner says he sees three men standing together wearing "matching camo uniforms". He also testifies to seeing "black hat man" Eric Parker popping up and down. Keltner said, "someone also reports it over the radio", and that [they] were "target glancing", which drew objections. Keltner testified to Parker's firearm being in the "low-ready position". The Prosecution did not spend much time letting Keltner testify, so the Defense got their witness early.
Jess Marchese began cross examination by asking Keltner a yes or no question, "you were out there but on the night of April 11, 2014, but nothing bad happened"? Kelner's reply, "I spent the night in a foxhole in America"! Marchese continues with multiple yes of no questions and continues to get lengthy response back without Judge Gloria Navarro cautioning the witness. Marchese moves forward with questioning Keltner about the situation where the BLM/Park Service were asked to move back by Las Vegas Metro. Marchese asks, "were you there in the wash when the vehicles/forces were asked to move back"? "How far did the vehicles/forces move back"? Keltner's response, "I don't know I wasn't there". Marchese continues, "well, how do you know this was happening"? Keltern said, "well, I saw the video". Keltner was shown several photos of government forces around a US Forest Service vehicle and asked to identify who is in the photo, but can't because the photos are too blurry.
The afternoon session was apparently more exciting than the morning session due to the fact that the governments case couldn't be more boring! It's the same information over and over again! Cross examination continued with National Park Service Ranger Keltner. The "briefing" on night of April 11, 2014 came up several times during this session. Tanasi and Stewart confirmed through questioning, that the cattle "impound" was on hold, and that they were not going to continue with the rustling. It was reiterated that [they] would be attacked by militia, that the protestors were coming. Keltner said he arrived early and they were doing training before April 2014 for crowd control and "ranger recovery". Keltner was asked about "the K-9's" and other details but, on cue, he "cannot recall" and "doesn't' remember" although he had served time on SAT (Special Assault Team).
Todd Engel continued with cross examination by asking Keltner about being called back from the hotel because, "cowboys with guns were at the gate" at Post 1, "but, when you got there, there were no cowboys with guns". Next, the two men in tactical gear who gave the "1000 yard stare" were discussed. "Did they aim their weapons"? At some point during this conversation Engel brought up the Constitution which irritated Ahmed as she lashed out through objections. Engel tried to pose questions to Keltner about, what the Prosecution and Judge refer to as "the marksman team" and the Defense describe as "the snipers". These references are objected to by the Prosecution. Engel asked several questions of Keltner about Constitutional Rights such as, "isn't true that a right to protest is covered under the First Amendment"? There is objection from the Prosecution and no answer was given. Engel receives caution from the Judge and then asks Navarro, "can I say the right to protest is protected under the First Amendment"? To which the Judge responds, "no". Todd Engel continues by going through a string of photographs to have Keltner identify himself if he is present in them. Engel finds one in which Keltner responds to the affirmative and has it submitted into evidence. In the photo are several people and Engel asks him to identify any of his "designated sniper team"? This is objected to and he re-phrased the question to say, "marksman team". To which Keltner answered, "no". Engel continued, "is that because you were already deployed"? Keltner said, "yes", getting the answer before objections. They discussed the shields and battalions do to training they received. Keltner refused to say if he was trained. Engel asked Keltner about his "night in the foxhole", but gave him a "deer in the headlights" look and was silent.
Terrence Jackson was next to question the witness. Jackson's questioning focused in on the "1000 yard stare" saying, "there are other reasons people could be staring. If you were a victim, or if someone was late to their court proceeding, I may stare at them, but that doesn't mean I am going to go home and shoot him"! Which garnered objection. Jackson then asked, "was anyone arrested"? This question was not answered.
The Prosecution came forward for re-direct asking Keltner, "were was the marksman team posted"? To which Keltner testified, "between Post 1 and Post 2 along the edge of the wash". "What kind of optics did you have, range finder, binoculars and scope"? Keltner, "yes, I am in charge of the team, but I don't know what optics are with the team".
The Prosecution then brings their next witness Brandon Novotny, the third person in the stacked formation holding a CES gun, part of the "SAT Team" testified that they are equipped with a variety of guns, and can use them "in parts". Novotny testified the team were wearing a standard uniform which consisted of a ballistics vest a ballistics helmet and their green clothing. The National Parks Service was equipped with a Special Assault Team "snipers" in 2012 according to the witness. Novotny testified that they were told to use "less than lethal force" but "we did not because if we did, we were afraid that we would be shot and may not make it out of the wash". Novotny testified they made repeated requests to "pull back" which were denied. Novotny then tells how his stacked team was watching a "team, moving as a unit, using hand motions and pointing their weapons in 'high ready' then 'low ready' position. Seeing this I knelt down, said a pray, thought of my family and made by peace with God because I did not think I'd get out of the wash", with tears of course! Novotny testified that they moved back after given orders by Dan Love. Novotny said, "they were the last to move out so they could use less than lethal force if the crowd became unruly". During the "bug out" a truck got stuck in the sand, and Novotny wanted to get the truck un stuck and considered ramming the truck, because he feared that if the officer got out of the truck he would be shot, and that "it was better to have a damaged truck than a dead officer"! Novotny did admit that the "officer" in the stuck truck did get out, put his truck in four wheel drive and got himself un stuck from the sand. Testimony then moved on to pulling out and leaving the scene. Novotny complained about having to hook up trailers to trucks and driving through a corridor of protestors yelling at them and throwing things. He said he expected to be "surrounded and attacked", a very emotional performance again from the stand.
Tanasi came forward for cross examination. He started out asking about the briefing on April 11, 2014. This briefing included Novoty's testimony that the FBI were there and the information everyone was given was that, "a large group of people who were on the terrorist watch list were coming to the event". AGAIN! the FBI striking fear into the hearts of "law enforcement" that everyday citizens, now because of NDAA, are on the terrorist watch list! This very thing is what caused a standing army to mount in Burns Oregon! Tanasi tried to question the witness about Davey Bundy being arrested or Margaret Houston being thrown to the ground the Prosecution would object saying, "it's not relevant". Tanasi argued that it was relevant, because the protestors also felt threatened. During further questioning Novotny he confirmed that they were asked to stay on scene for April 12 although the night before they were told the operation would cease and that their assignment was to protect the cattle and other government assets, confirming the fact the government counted the Bundy cattle as government assets. There was more discussion of the "shields and the stacked formation". Novotny confirms they deployed a ballistic shield but also had other shields on scene, and that all officers came equipped with riot gear including shields and batons. The point was brought up that after Dan Love approached the gate, Novotny and others were asked to "take your vest, hats and shields off", to which Novotny refused to do. Novotany was asked to confirm that the Nevada Highway Patrol did not assist in making any arrests that day. It was also established that Novotny met with the US Attorney's Office once in person, and three times on the phone.
Todd Engel was next to approach the witness. Engel establishes the point that the croup of men in tactical formation, who were moving their firearms from "high ready, low ready" were moving behind the pillars and moving up to higher ground. Engel shows a video where Novotny's team was in a stacked formation and how no protestors had crossed the line in front of the gate that was established during negotiations, and that there were no protestors in the high ground at that time. Engel asked him to point out certain people in the video, specifically himself, Todd Engel. Novotny could not point Engel out because, "he could not recall names, only faces".
Terrence Jackson approached the witness and said, "as a law enforcement officer, you work with fear in your line of duty every day. You get training on how to deal with fear and confronting individuals. You get trained on how to manage your fears. You rated this event as a 10 in fear but, at no time were your paralyzed with fear that you could not do your job.
The Prosecution then brings to the stand Tara McBride. McBride identifies herself as the "officer" in the stacked formation in the very front holding the shield. McBrides testimony is a replication of Novotny's testimony, she adds that the protestors on the southbound bridge were throwing rocks and spitting on them, and that under the bridge there were two teams of three that were pointing their weapons. McBride tells the court that the order was given to "fall back" three times, but those requests were denied. McBride testified that her group in the stacked formation then had a discussion amongst themselves and decided to move back on their own. The Prosecution then asks a leading question, "can you barely see yourself in this photo"? Obviously leading the witness. McBride then brings up "black hat man" (Eric Parker). McBride testifies that she did not see him point a weapon. McBride then talked about how her and her team were afraid when Dan Love went to the gate for negotiations, and that they made a rescue plan to go get him if he was taken. That after that, "they were told to go back to the pickup and leave". McBride testified that "she felt in fear because local law enforcement did not support them". She further clarified that [they] were asking Nevada Highway Patrol to arrest the protestors on the bridge and stop the traffic and they were not doing it so everyone was frustrated, and that added to their fear level.
Jess Machese then approached the witness and said, "at no time in your report did you ever mention the man in the plaid shirt and black hat".
Todd Engel went through the same photos and video with McBride that he presented with Novotny showing how the government troops had the high ground while negotiations were going on with Dan Love at the gate. The government on re-direct tried to say that individuals on the southbound bridge were moving down and were posting a threat to BLM/NPS and that's why they were in a stacked formation, while photo evidence shows the people on the southbound bridge were behind the barriers.
At the end of court today was when discussion of Juror number 12 falling asleep was acted upon. The woman was dismissed and an alternate put in her place.
The update for today, such as it is, started out with "Michael Johnson's Friend", who ever that is! The man's name is Shalacas (sp?), he was in charge of security and investigation at the Incident Command Post mainly for the helicopter contracts and the contract cowboy/cattle rustlers. This man, "came down with Sergent Johnson to get in touch with the Bundy's. He also had 'the phone conversation' with Ryan Bundy".
The Prosecution started out the proceedings showing a video, "from clear across the bridge on the northbound..." The people in the video are apparently so small you have to struggle to see them. The Prosecution is trying to convince the court that details of the "people with guns, weapons, and military..." These people are so blurry to the court observers there is no way they can see any of the detail the Prosecution claims! While presenting the Prosecution witnesses in previous days, Bureau of Land Management personnel testified that they were on "high level alert", but while watching this video evidence the voiced of those that can be heard on the audio sound calm and no fear can be heard in their voices at all. "There is no alarm in [his] voice, people can be seen walking back and forth sensing no threat." This Agent never uses any radio communication during the whole video. If he was in fear of the people the Prosecution said were carrying weapons, this Agent should have been on his radio pronto! During the Agents testimony he described the people and weaponry calmly and in such detail it appeared the witness had been coached as to what to say. During testimony he tells the court he has no binoculars or spotting scope, just a video camera and describes his position as 200-250 yards away from these people he sees with weapons. Shilacas' assignment that day was to film the video that was presented as evidence in today's proceedings. From what court observers say, "the video was full of random lengthy footage of the Bunkerville Mountains. Las Vegas Metro can be seen on the bridge just wandering around under no obvious High Alert". The video had to be played several times, as no one could see any detail he was testifying to. Apparently, the video was so boring that one of the Jurors fell asleep again today. The courtroom observer said that, "if the video was so filled with drama and people acting as if on high alert, they would have been at the edge of their seat watching the video instead of falling asleep"! Sounds like it is the same woman that has been falling asleep throughout the court proceedings on previous days. It appears that Judge Gloria Navarro does dismiss this Juror #12 the following day for "nodding off" during trial. Here is the article.
It was evidence to most courtroom observers that Mr. Shalakas (sp?) was told exactly what to do and how to do it by the Prosecutors in regards to his testimony, because several times during testimony he asks Prosecutor Ahmed, "do you want me to circle it", to which she responds, "ya". The witness is being told what to do and when to do it, asking repeatedly, "should I do this"? Suggesting that he has been coached very well. The courtroom observers expect a lot of "I do not recall" answers during cross examination despite this witness relating with so much detail during the Prosecutions questioning. It was also noted that when the BLM Agent[s] testify about what kind of clothing officers and civilians are wearing, they describe officers as wearing colors, such as Olive or Brown, and when describing civilians using terms like "camo", obviously trying to instill fear in the Jurors minds.
Todd Engel finished up with detail about "the man with a long gun walking with a German Sheppard" asking, "do you know if that man with the Sheppard is an undercover agent"? Anticipating an objection, Engel just walked to his chair.
We are hearing from courtroom observers that the governments case against these six individuals, using government employees from the BLM against them, is ripe with these supposedly burly, tough, ex-military, ex-secret service, combat theater veterans, shedding crocodile tears on the stand describing the fear and terror hoisted upon them by these everyday Americans who came to stand by their neighbor as they were being terrorized and brutalized by the Bureau of Land Management and the US Forest Service, calling in everyone else to help them as they rustled the cattle, and killed some, took the land and drove the people off! They are testifying to a "Threat Level" of 7, 8, 9, or 10- yet none of the video/audio evidence would indicate any of this! They are clearly coached and perjuring themselves on the stand as they testify of things NOT SEEN in the photo and video evidence, of which there is much. Apparently the end of today's testimony was a BLM Agent crying while describing seeing Eric Parker pointing a gun at him, while this Agent looked through his scope on his firearm back at Eric with his finger on the trigger ready to shoot. The Agent said that also within his view behind Eric was a white van that had artwork of a huge soccer ball, there were multiple little girls, with their faces pressed up against the window looking out. This Agent claims THIS is the only reason he did not pull the trigger and shoot Eric Parker. The problem is, there is no photo or video evidence to prove the van exists or was in the background where Parker was. NONE! It is amazing what government and it's crony's will do to punish it's people, WITHOUT A SHRED OF EVIDENCE!
It has also been disclosed that Dan Love called his band of thieves together in the Bunkerville area days before the events on April 12, 2014 for parties that included tons of alcohol! These parties kept the BLM/USFS employees of the US government awake into the wee hours of the morning. THIS is why they were so sleep deprived! Not because of the "High Threat Level"! It has been disclosed that the garbage the BLM/USFS left behind contained large amounts of beer and liquor bottles. I think if the American people knew that US Government Employees were drinking alcohol on duty while on the "people's business" they would be outraged! This was, according tot he governments case, a very serious situation, that required military style gear and arms. What in the heck do they think they are doing mixing alcohol and firearms with fatigue and dishing it out to normal everyday citizens? We have also been told by several witnesses that the shredded government documents were found in these same garbage collection devices. They didn't even use a secure records disposal for disposing of these very important records that were so sensitive they required shredding on the spot!
Finally, witnesses against the government are being tracked down and threatened if they follow through in testifying with bodily injury, death and more! People scheduled to testify, luckily, are telling others about these threats. We insist that these threats to individuals be investigated and proper punishment assigned as the evidence is brought forward. In this case, government is really fearing the people!
Metro Las Vegas (Brown)
Mercenaries At Bundy Ranch (Olive)
(Brown & Olive)
Starting out today on the stand was Patrick Apley BLM Ranger, who as been employed at the BLM since 2001. Apley was in the US Military Army (1988-1995) serving in the first Gulf War saying, "under hostel fire", where he had combat medic/nurse experience.. After that served in the Department of Defense as a Police Officer and was given "Arrest Authority" by the Bureau of Land Management, testifying he was originally to provide security of the Incident Command Post.
Some of the questions Apley was asked were, "on April 11, 2014 did you receive a briefing"? In which he said, "no. But, we were told we could not go back to our hotel rooms, because if we did, we were going to 'get jumped'". Apley during testimony confirmed the fact that they received very little to no sleep as a result of being told to stay on scene and not to leave. Apley also established the fact that most of the radios were not working, and there were only a few who had "comms". He also received no orders on April 12, 2014. Ranger Apley was equipped with a body-cam, and it was evident while viewing the footage, no one was giving orders, everyone was acting independently. On April 12th Apley was at Post 1, he identifies the silver SUV that Brisco testified to, where a woman who drove the SUV pulled in to "Post 1" circled Brisco's vehicle and stopped, nothing was done to determine what the individual was up to or who the identity of the driver was. The driver did not comply to Brisco's attempt to get the vehicle to leave the premises over the loud speaker. Apley testified to the Las Vegas Metro and SWAT showing up on scene and requesting [they] put their long guns away, to move back and then to move out of sight, which resulted in Metro taking over Post 1. Apley testified that Lauren Good BLM, came to him and asked him to be the arresting officer and erect a "detention area" just past Post 1 where they would not be seen. A video was introduced that showed Apley's body-cam and he and Dan Love talking having a "prisoner cage" in his truck and how his radios died overnight. Chatter about horses coming and people with guns is heard. He said that SWAT was at the detention area but, were not deployed. Apley stated that, "he did not think it was a protest, because in a protest people don't bring guns". This statement leads to objections. Steven Myhre is unable to find success in letting the witness continue with his propaganda so, at this point Judge Gloria Navarro intervenes and leads Myhre into a way he can continue with this line of questioning. Apley continues testifying that he often is present at the Wild Horse and Burrow roundups, which often have protesters present, and they don't bring guns. Further examination of the body-cam footage is heard report of a person with an "F-4", which is a person with an AR15 on the bride with a scope and a Mac. He explained that, "this is a military gun and they have the high ground", testifying that the range on that gun is 500 meters for a "point target" and 600 for an "area target". As his body-cam continues to record, he goes down into "the wash" and pulls his gun out, testifying that he did this "because other officers have their guns out". Apley kept his AR15 in the "low ready" position because he was working in a medical role. Apley also testified that he was not given orders to go down into the wash, but he did it on his own volition, "because if there were injuries he was going to treat the wounded". He labels the wash as a "fatal funnel" as the protestors would be able to easily shoot the agents. At another point during body-cam recording someone can be heard as saying, "it's fairly calm because you have no comms because your radio died". Video shows Apley moving forward to the third closest vehicle to the gate in the wash where Agents Swanson, Richardson and Kyle "G" who were watching people on the bridge through the scopes on their rifles. Other evidence seen on the body-cam was Dan Love walking backward with Dennis Michael Lynch and Davey and Ryan Bundy after they had climbed the fencing for negotiations. Apley told the court that when they were asked to "fall back" he was "still in fear" there were still guns on the bridge and Metro and Highway Patrol did nothing the "take care of those guys". He testified that his fear commenced at "11:55 and did not cease until he got back to Las Vegas". Apley rated the event as a 7 for violence based on his combat days in the military, and an 8 based on his law enforcement days.
Appearantly this body-cam footage of Ranger Patrick Apley was the body-cam footage previously entered into evidence days ago, played many times during testimony, and it was clearly evident to court observers that the Jury is quite board having to repeatedly watch the video.
Cross examination continued with Defense Attorney (?) Moss (I was unable to understand the reporter as to the first name, and no reference to who he was representing. Could not find online), asking Apley, "how many times did you meet with the US Attorney's Office"? Reply, "three times", he also met with the FBI on April 15, 2014. "Is it true you were asked to get your long guns out of sight"? Response, "yes, Ranger Nibles asked me to put away the guns". Moss then asks, "then why do you immediately take out your gun when you entered the wash"? There is an objection, and no answer is given. The Defense has the body-cam footage played again, indicating, "you are now walking in the "fatal funnel" with your back to the bridge, while otherwise having guns pointed at you an you don't even care"? The Defense horns in on a portion of the audio in which Abley can be heard saying, "isn't this fun"? The Defense points out that many other people on sight were walking around in the same area
The session ended with Apley's body-cam video recording the group of protestors discussing weather to have and "impromptu church", in which Apley immediately turned off his body-cam. Apley was asked by the Defense, "why did you turn off your camera so abruptly"? To which he explained that things were going to escalate and he didn't want to record the bloodshed".
The afternoon session of cross examination began with continued questioning of Ranger Patrick Apley and why he turned his body-cam off. The Defense questioned, "body-cams are supposed to record events, and you chose to turn yours off right when you believed an event was about to happen. Officers are given body-cams to record event and to ensure officers are making correct judgements". This line of questioning led to the information that Apley volunteered to wear a body-cam.
Todd Engel rose to continue cross examination with Apley asking, "is viewing people through a scope is common practice"? Objections arose from the Prosecution. Although Engel rephrased the question several times finally asking, "were you ever trained to look at people through a rifle scope"? To which Apley answered, "no". "Was your rifle pointed down range"? Objection again. "Do these people wearing body armor, helmets and carrying rifles look militant"? Objection again. Engel continued, "are you aware of the four firearm rules of safety"? Abley did not answer the questions and was allowed by the Judge to say things like, "I don't see where you're going with this, what is your point"? Engel explained, "well you know, always keep your firearm on safety and, never point your rifle at anyone you are not prepared to destroy"? Objection again arose from the courtroom.
Next up was Shawn Perez, Attorney for Richard Lovelien, Asked the witness, "was there a briefing, where job duties were given out for the day on April 11, 2014"? Apley answered, "yes". "On the 12th was there a briefing"? To which he answered, "no". Apley was asked to identify his supervisor and identified Brisco. "So, anything that you were to do on April 12th, you knew you were supposed to do that on the night of the 11th"? Apley replied, "yes". Apley must have been equipped with a crystal ball also.
Terrence Jackson continued with questioning about the body-cam footage and asked Apley, "were you issued a ballistic helmet, and were other officers issued ballistic helmets"? Jackson continued asking questions along this line like, "if all officers are issued ballistic helmets, why weren't you wearing you helmet, and why were many of the other agents not wearing their helmets if you were all afraid for your lives"?
Todd Leventhal is up next and tried to enter a photo of the Incident Command Post, it was not shown to the Jury or the courtroom. Leventhal established that Apley's assignment was to protect the cattle and the ICP. Leventhal asked Apley to identify the terrain, and Apley says, "this is natural ground in the area". In another photo of the ICP asks, "does this area look right to you"? Objections come from the Prosecution to Leventhal's questioning and also submitting the photos as evidence stating it wasn't relevant. Leventhal argues that it is a picture of the ICP during the protest and depicts items he would like to ask questions to. Myhre from the Prosecution states, "that is exactly what we are objecting to"! Judge Gloria Navarro denies the request to submit the photos into evidence.
The Prosecution steps forward to re-direct asking Apley, "was it illegal for you to have your weapon on you in the wash"? Apley answered, "no, I'm allowed to carry my weapon when I feel it is needed". "Were you in fear of Dan Love and the Las Vegas Metro while they had their backs to the wash walking away"? To which he answered, "yes".
The Prosecution then calls Toni Suminski (I have to be honest, I could not clearly understand the reporter when stating this name. There was no spelling, and I'm not sure if it is Samanski or Scamanski or other. I'm sure the spelling is off, and these government people are almost impossible to find online to verify, so please forgive me. I'll make corrections when I get better information). to the stand, Toni Suminski BLM Communications Center Manager for multiple states including the following agencies, Bureau of Land Management, US Fish and Wildlife, National Parks Service. Her duties are to manage dispatch communications and computer for these agencies as a Command Center. During questioning she told the court when she was told she would be involved with Gold Bute her duties would be counting cattle, keeping track of Law Enforcement Officers and other non law enforcement officers that would be working on the project, for instance, an officer is given an assignment to go fulfill an assignment in a certain location, she keeps track of the officer and notes when he arrives and if he gets there safely. Toni was asked when she arrived and the said, "March 28, 2014". It was disclosed during questioning that her assignment did change drastically one she got to Gold Bute and that [they] didn't bring all the equipment they needed, only that which was needed to count the cattle. The equipment for dispatch, for running plates were not brought to the scene. At the point when she was asked to run plates to tracking individuals, she didn't have the adequate equipment to do her job. She had a team for the day shift which was 4 and the night shift was 1. She told the court the night of April 11, 2014 they started to dismantle the command center to half its size and sent half of the staff home, including a woman who was "not fit to work, she was too stressed out". This woman took the primary and secondary computers and continued to work in Las Vegas because of threats and continued to work up until April 22, 2014. This woman continued to communicate and log communications for agencies like Las Vegas Metro and Nevada Highway Patrol and kept a log of radio traffic between all agencies and making calls to them also. Toni also communicated with the FBI Undercover Agent Robyn Kirkland. Toni said her mode of communicating with Kirkland was Google Chat since Toni was not on site, and that there were BLM Special Agents in the crowd. A bombshell of information regarding communications for the events of April 12, 2014 was released when this Director of Communications discovered that No Audio Communications were recorded, as was the norm, on the 12th because someone had un plugged the hard drive used for this purpose sometime between the 11th and 12th.
While being cross examined, Director of Communications Toni discloses she is the one who was in charge of shredding documents after printing off documents from the various agencies on scene stating, only people with the right security clearance could view them since they contained names, numbers and sensitive information that shouldn't be out. She indicated she, "shredded documents the entire time on the night of the 11th and the morning of the 12th".
Todd Engel during cross examination established that [she] had "under-cover's in the crowd" and that was why the government did not deploy the "less than lethal". Engel asked, "how many under-covers were there"? She said, "she didn't know, that the information was coming from Kirkham".
Defense Attorney Jess Marchese asked how Toni was getting the information? Toni does not recall if anyone said [they] saw anyone pointing a weapon. (I think this is regards to the sighting of Eric Parker, as Marchese is Parker's Attorney).
Terrence Jackson approached the witness and asked if she had law enforcement or FBI training to do the duties? She responded, "yes, but they did not teach her how to set up the system, she learned that from experience. She disclosed that John Foley oversaw communications, and her system was not set up to reach FBI or Law Enforcement, she had cell phones for that.
Over all it was a disappointing session for the Defense as not one of the Defense Attorney's asked Communications Manager Toni who had access to the communications building and equipment? Did you see Dan Love? Was he ever in the communications building? Did you see Dan Love touch any of the equipment? Who was on security detail for the Comm Center? Who had security clearance to enter the premises or access the equipment, and what was the protocol? Was the hard drive dusted for finger prints after it was found to be disconnected in the critical moments of a, according to BLM Agents, Threat Level 7, 8 or 9 event? Was there any investigation done in the aftermath to determine who unplugged the hard drive? Who was the first to discover the hard drive was unplugged? Who was your Supervisor or Commander at the Communications Center while you served as Communications Manager? Who disposed of the shredded government documents, and if so where? How were the government documents disposed of? As you served in the capacity of Comms Manager were there radio checks performed daily to ensure the radios were in working order? What was the procedure in performing these radio checks and replacing inoperative equipment? In your daily Comm duties was there a Daily Threat Level broadcast over the radio, if so, what was the Daily Threat Level on April 11, 2014 when you broke down half of the Comm Center and sent it back to Las Vegas? Who gave you the order to dismantle equipment and send it back to Las Vegas on April 11? It is standard operating procedure to shred government documents and dispose of them during an incident in which there is a High Treat Level in which no one was hurt or injured and no damage occurred? Come on guys! There are enough questions here to go around. Divvy them up and ask these very important questions that went unasked! From the looks of the photo and video evidence this was a big deal! There was a boat load of government agency people and equipment summoned to the scene, and to let this very important witness get off the witness stand so easy is a travesty! The Prosecution must have fed the Defense turkey sandwiches for lunch because the tryptophan must really been at work! Recall the witness and get these questions before the jury, because I guarantee you, they are not doing to like the way these people neglected the people government records and equipment paid for by their tax dollars!
Court began today with Todd Leventhal argued before the Judge that Dan Love's material should have been provided to the defense ahead of time, and that this information has been provided to Congress and they are going to hold a Congressional Inquire. The misconduct of Daniel Paul Love include shredding of documents and scrubbing of email. The Defense has NOT been given hard copies, they are only given very limited access to the documents at the Prosecutions discretion and will not have it readily available for cross examination. As the documents were not made available to the Defense as the witnesses as of today, Defense is arguing to have those witnesses return to the stand. All of these tactics are a violation of the Brady Act (which as referred to here is actually related to firearms waiting period), more commonly known in the law profession as the Jencks Act of discovery. This is the case many refered to and is a synopsis of the issue Brady vs Maryland. Immediately Judge Gloria Navarro said that, "the information was given to HER in a timely manner, that she has reviewed it and that it doesn't really have any weight on the case or relevance to the case, and the Prosecution has given permission to VIEW the documents in good faith" a clear violation of the sixth amendment, which she has violated throughout the proceedings. The very fact that Dan Love testified in the Oregon Trial and brought into the court record information about the Stand Up at Bunkerville should give the Defense disclosure of these records.
Cross examination of Agent Logan Brisco, Security Officer for the ICP, continued with both the Defense and the Prosecution questioning. It was re-established that Brisco had no weapons pointed at him or his fellow "officers", to which he responded, "no". During Todd Engel's cross examination the Prosecution objected to many of his questions to the witness sustained by Judge Navarro including, "were two bulls shot"? Engel then turned to the Judge and said, "we may not ask about the cows"? To which Navarro responded, "you may ask about the cattle as long as it relates to the impound of the cattle, the armed assault and the extortion of the cattle", meaning the Defense can not bring up the mistreatment/euthanasia of the cattle and continues to use terms like "armed assault" and "extortion of the cattle" in reference to negotiating their release and return to the Bundy family. Engel continued with his questioning of Brisco asking, "on a scale of 1-10, in what way would you describe the level of violence was at that time in the wash April 12, 2014"? Brisco responded, "8". Engel continued, "so a protest with no violence, no one hurt, no businesses damaged and no shots fired, that would be a level 8"? Objections flew from the Prosecution were sustained. "Did you shred any documents", Engel asked? The answer, "no".
There began talk of a Robyn Kirkham, a woman that gave Agent Brisco intelligence information that he used in making his threat assessment. The Jury was dismissed and Todd Leventhal pressed the court to find out exactly who she was. The discussion led to the fact that in January Robyn Kirkham created an alias, created a facebook profile and started representing herself as a "Bundy Supporter". The Judge said she supports these actions by someone who creates an alias on facebook and promotes and increases the threat level and then provides that as evidence to the government. A ten minute discussion followed and it was then decided that if the Defense asked a question that resulted in a "yes" answer they could move forward with other questions, if the question posed resulted in a "no" answer there would be no moving forward.
Prevalent in today's proceedings again there is a lot of "I do no recall" statements by government witnesses when being questioned by Defense Attorneys, when while giving testimony for the Prosecution they could remember the most minute detail, including seeing men with guns and spotter scopes when even video evidence was presented in which objects were so small and blurry they could no be distinguished. The advice of Dan Love, as exposed in his evidence of misconduct, is working well within this trial. Aslo, Daniel G. Bogden the head US Attorney, is not even present during this trial. He has delegated the assignment of Prosecuting this case to Steven W. Myhre, Nicholas D. Dickinson, Nadia J. Ahmed and Erin M. Creegan. Courtroom observers say the Ahmed seems to be doing most of the objecting and talking for the panel. When the Defense objects Ahmed tells them, "you can't interrupt the witness", when all the while that is exactly what she is doing with HER objections! When the Defense protests this conduct from the Prosecution the Judge doesn't establish any ground rules or cautioning the Prosecution for their behavior, Navarro doubles down tossing off her "scale of justice" and allows the behavior to continue. The Defense could see a glimmer of hope, as in the afternoon session, the Judge even started to be somewhat annoyed with Nadia Ahmed and her continued juvenile behavior.
Mark Allen Brunk, BLM Special Angent with a work history including LE and the Military, was next on the stand. His testimony included his radio communications and his attempt to "count the gunmen" which includes truck-cam video/audio of some of the events on the scene. His testimony includes him describing protestors and what they were wearing and points out Eric Parker in the courtroom. He speaks of how horses arriving on the scene increased the threat level because horses are harder to control, at one point saying, "they have more weapons than we do", although the BLM had more weapons, as not all the protestors were armed. There are some undeniable discrepancies in this area because evidence of from 30 to 50 BLM vehicles have been referred to and every BLM Agent is assigned a car and an AR15, and it was reported by others that more than one agent occupied each vehicle. Brunk also was questioned about how many agents were armed with AR15 or handguns and he stated he "couldn't recall". Brunk also says that the protestors dogs also pose a threat including a statement about a German Sheppard on site, "German Sheppard's are used by Police as weapons, and so could other people". Although the dogs were actually Australian Sheppard dogs used to herd cattle and sheep. Brunk also was equipped with a body-cam but didn't have it recording at all times and "didn't feel it necessary" to record at all times. Although Brunk was asked to rate the threat level and rated it "level 8" he didn't feel the need to record. At one point the Defense played a clip in which Brunk and his fellow "officers" can be heard saying, "here comes Metro, they are gonna get their shoes dirty", laughing and telling jokes, and talking about the protestors, "are these people F***ing Stupid", but we are left to believe the threat level is a level 8? Brunk's defense to his behavior was, "it was a stressful situation, and this was a way to alleviate the stress". This behavior really depicts the state of mind of the federal agents in that, they think they have the advantage and have the protestors out gunned. The reality is that they had the protestors in the wash, under between the I-15 bridges funneled into a "kill zone", a definitely an advantage to the feds position. When video evidence was produced of Dan Love shaking his head to questions of Sheriffs authority and the Second Amendment Brunk was asked, "who has more authority", to which he responded the BLM.
Court continued to be a battle for the Defense as most all of their questions were objected to and overruled by the Judge. Defense Attorney Terrence Jackson asked to approach the bench at least three times and was denied by Judge Navarro stating, "I've ruled, now move on"!
So in this session it was established that tail wags are and carrying a holstered handgun are threatening to a tyrannical government.
The afternoon session began with an Undercover Agent under Michael Johnson from the BLM on the stand, where he was asked several questions in regards to Las Vegas Metro Police in which he testified to there being between 10-20 Metro Police units on scene before [they] went into the wash on April 12, 2014. Todd Leventhal asked the Agent to "evaluate that day in your life, how would you rate it"? In which the Agent replied, "it was the second most violent day I'd ever experienced in my life". He identified the "Arizona Shootings" as the foremost violent incident he'd witnessed, although he had served in the Military, but had not experienced combat. Leventhal continued with questioning, "what day did you get to Bunkerville"? "April 3rd" the answer. "On April 4th, how would you rate that"? Agent, "moderately stressful". Leventhal, "did you see long guns, gas masks and German Sheppards that day"? The answer, "no". At this point the Prosecutions objections were flying and Judge Navarro was loosing patience with Leventhal stating, "this has nothing to do with the 12th". To which Leventhal responds, "we have an indictment, and that indictment covers ALL of these days! So when you are requiring us, in this courtroom, to just focus on April 12, 2014 and the Prosecution is allowed to cover EVERYTHING up to the 12th, that is NOT fair"! The proceeding were allowed to continue amidst lots of arguing with everyone talking over one another including the Judge. Courtroom observers say they had a hard time distinguishing who was talking, it was so chaotic! Leventhal continued his questioning, "were you there the day Davey Bundy was arrested"? The Agent stating, "no". Leventhal then said, "you weren't on the scene? Were you above the scene"? The Agent stated, "yes". Leventhal brought in to question a photo of two men perched high above the scene as evidence asking if he was one of the two people in the photo, to which the Agent answered affirmatively. During questioning the Agent testified he witnessed a protestor throwing a sign and a rock from the Southbound bridge. The Agent was asked by the Defense, "did you take a picture of that rock, did you dust it for fingerprints, did you take the rock into evidence"? That was objected to. He also testified, amongst objection and re-direct, that he witnessed protestors take apart a fence put up by the BLM. Apparently contradicting himself several times during this questioning. The Prosecution then asked the Agent, "were you able to make any law enforcement act that day"? The Prosecutions argument was that Metro showed up and took charge and wouldn't let the BLM control the evidence. During further questioning the Agent said they didn't point guns or use pepper spray because of the children and, "it would cause a war to break out". Leventhal made reference to an interview with an FBI Agent Michael Pratt, in which the Agent testifying identified himself as a "sniper" that day. The statement drew objections from the Prosecution. As he continued asking the Agent how would you rate the 9th? The Judge cut him off and would not let him continue.
A video was played of the Sheriff asking for a "command person" at Post 1. A portion of the video contains audio immediately after the Sheriff's communication stating, "this is a shoot first, ask questions later situation", and another agent can be heard saying, "I'm with you", and the two can be heard laughing at that point. The video had to be played at least 3 times in order for the witness and the Jury to hear the audio as it was at low volume. Leventhal continued to play the video where next could be heard someone saying, "shoot his F***ing dog, shoot his F***ing dog"! It appeared to courtroom observers the sound level/volume of the video was deliberately manipulated to make these derogatory comments illegible, as other portions favoring the Prosecution were easily heard.
The Jury and courtroom observers were delighted at points in the cross examination when Terrence Jackson approached the Agent on the stand and when asking him about pointing guns at the protesters formed a handgun with his fingers and palms, dramatizing the questions before the court, among other things today. It was also evident to the observers that the BLM Agent perjured himself throughout his testimony with no help from any of the Attorney's.
Court Was Not In Session February 20-23
February 16, 2017
Alex Ellis returned to the stand today. He continued to testify for the Prosecution to video evidence he did not take and was over a hundred yards away. He continued to testify as to the fact that he and Michael Flynn were scared out of their gourds of the guns civilians had and the fact that adults brought their children. At one point in the video evidence file posted below entitled "Plight of the People and the BLM" you can hear MICHAEL FLYNN say, "get those kids out of there"! This is important because Ellis testified to the fact, much to the Prosecutions dismay, that he heard the BLM Agent say over the loud speaker, "we will use lethal force"! Judge Gloria Navarro continues to let this evidence into the court trial when Michael Flynn is the owner of it NOT Alex Ellis! Michael Flynn committed suicide in November of 2016 so he was not available to testify. The video portion in the evidence file I posted contains AN EDITED video, the same portion posted on the YT channel of the organization he worked for, the The Independent of Southern Utah. Part of the Defenses problem with this video is that Ellis is not the owner and did not shoot the video and can not prove it was not edited. Remember, Alex Ellis is a reporter at the same news outlet The Independent out of Southern Utah, which means, he has an agenda. Ellis identified people in the video again today. Today he identified Ammon Bundy, Cliven and Ryan. It has been reported that "the Bundy's were on trial again today", for the first half of the proceedings today the focus was not on the men in court with the exception of Eric Parker who also appears in Flynn's video being interviewed after the Stand Off ended expounding on the government tyranny and the right to keep and bare arms, and the fact that militia are independent. An interview with Ammon is discussed as to negotiations between the BLM and the Bundy Family with Metro Police Officer Roberts was present to release the cattle and the BLM were to vacate the premises, which is also included in the video below. In court today it was established that the original video was given by Flynn and Ellis to the FBI and was in the FBI's possession for over a year before being entered into evidence, and the fact is ANYTHING could have happened to the video in the governments possession. Jackson, Greg Burlison's Attorney really fought the "chain of custody" argument with the government.
Richard Tanasi, Attorney for Steven Stewart, began cross examination by asking Ellis a series of questions. "Where did you first meet Flynn"? Ellis' answer was that he met Flynn at a St. George Utah protest that they were both instrumental in. The protest was about the Debt Ceiling and was attended by both in 2013. Tanasi established that, "maybe Ellis' reason for attending the protest in Bunkerville differed from Flynn's reason for attending". Tanasi continued, "maybe the protestors went to Bunkerville Nevada for reasons other than Bundy cattle". Then asked, "do you know why my client Steven Stewart was at the protest"? "Do you believe those carrying firearms had a right to do so"? All of these questions were objected to by Myhre and the Prosecution team, all sustained by Judge Gloria Navarro. Tanasi went forward with questioning Ellis and trying to submit evidence from an FBI report which included statements from Alex Ellis in 2015 that may have impeached is testimony, but the Judge would not allow the report to be submitted into evidence. Her final statement on the matter was that, "she had read the report and would vouch for it on the Defenses behalf and keep the documents from being entered into evidence and that would be the end of the matter", violating the sixth amendment! There was questioning about Ellis' whereabouts during different portions of the video taping of the protest which varied from the I-15 bridge and in the wash below the bridge with his back towards the bridge. Ellis continued on the stand stating, "Cliven Bundy told protesters to 'carry guns'", yet there has been no evidence found or admitted to reflect Ellis' statement is true.
Todd Engel, representing himself, was up next. He continued to cross examine Alex Ellis. His line of questioning surrounded protesters, although the Judge ruled the Defense could not refer to the protesters as such. Engel also questioned Ellis segments of the video produced as evidence of which most was filmed by Flynn, questions about the BLM, Cliven Bundy, the Sheriff and bystanders. It was clear to all present for the trial that Alex Ellis had spent significant time with the Prosecution rehearsing his testimony as the photo evidence of the pickup truck with BLM/Government Operatives pointing weapons towards the protesters. Ellis remembers the BLM pointing their weapons but refuses to remember the fact that the truck was also there. Engel specifically asked him if he recognized the truck, to which Ellis answers, "no". Not only does Ellis not remember the truck but every witness that has been on the stand to this point cannot remember the truck in question, including two federal agents, one being within thirty yards of the truck. Engel, during cross, was successful at getting Ellis to confirm that he heard the BLM Agent, over the loud speaker, say that they "were going to use lethal force". Ellis and Flynn were also heard on the video tape saying there were children carrying firearms, where it turned out the "child" had a beard, and was not a child at all, overreacting in more than one instance.
Todd Leventhal was up next for the Defense. He tried to enter into evidence and article written by Alex Ellis entitled "The United Police State of America". (Note: I have tried to view the link to this article, and have been doing research on the website for several hours now, but I cannot get the article to display on two different browsers and on two different wifi networks without success. It is strange since the first hour I was very successful in my results displaying and now no matter what I do I can't get their site to display anything. Although I posted the link address you may have trouble viewing it also. I am including a link to Alex Ellis articles at SU Independent, although I no longer can get that page to display either). This article brings in to question his testimony in the Nevada trial today, maybe this is why the Southern Utah Independent is refusing to display the article. The Prosecution is also scrutinizing the article trying to block it from being submitted for evidence. (I was able to get the article to display today 3/5/17, I am posting it in it's entirety as it was displayed this day for your viewing pleasure. It is hard to see how they would only allow one sentence, as the whole article has so much to do with this case). The Prosecution/Judge agree to allow only one sentence of the article to be entered into evidence. The Judge during her explanation uses inflammatory language in reference to the Protest and Protestors calling it an Assault! She is also encouraging the Prosecution to refer to the BLM/Forest Service Employees as Law Enforcement Officers! Can you see the flying leap the government has taken? What started out as a land cataloging agency has now become a Policing Agency with Law Enforcement powers! Judge Navarro has also been witnessed to, while on the stand, looking up case law to help the Prosecution in keeping evidence out of the court record. THIS IS PRACTICING LAW FROM THE BENCH! Which is NOT the job of the Judge! Ellis also referred to the Protest as "the Stand Off", and was NOT warned or corrected by the Judge or Prosecution not to do so. So, there seems to be a double standard here. The Judge, Prosecution and their witnesses are able to use any descriptive terms they want, but the Defense can only use language and descriptive terms approved by the Judge/Prosecution. Leventhal questioned Ellis about the video of Margaret Houston, Cliven Bundy's 57 yr old sister, being "clothes-lined" and thrown to the ground by a BLM Agent. He drew a parallel to this incident and the one line allowed into the court record, but it was not stated what he wrote. Leventhal continued, "how many times have you met with the FBI"? Answer, "three times, once in St. George, once in Salt Lake, and once in Nevada". "How many times have you met with the US Attorney's"? He had met with them three times, noting he was asked if he recognized certain people, only to respond yes or no, not to identify them by name.
Logan Brisco from the BLM testifies. He was the agent in charge of the Incident Command Post. He had about 10 people subordinate to him. They had four positions including on, and underneath the southbound bridge, Post-6 (in reference to watch your six/back) north of the command post, and high above the mesa east of the wash referred to as the "observation post". Now, Pete Santilli is on trial during this segment of the proceedings. Video of Pete interacting with Dan Love, among others, was presented and Brisco's testimony included Brisco saying that Pete heightened the threat by telling people to come to the Bundy Ranch and bring firearms, "because a weapon is used to do harm to someone", and to Brisco, this increased the threat level, when what Pete actually said was, "I think Americans should come to the Bundy Ranch, and maybe they should bring their guns". Now people who are familiar with our Constitution and our Founding Principles know that this is NOT illegal! This trial is ALL about an assault on the first and second amendment! This are trying to criminalize our lawful exercise of these rights. They are using scenarios like this to label and categorize Americans exercising these rights as un-lawful and dangerous! Some of the video being shown in BLM "Officer" body-cam footage, which is posted below. Brisco was asked several questions about his body-cam like, "was your body-cam always in your possession"? To which he responded, "no". "If your body-cam was on your body was it always recording"? Answer, "no", although he did have it turned on for the conversation between Santilli and Dan Love. Showing he was being very selective of what he chose to film and the Prosecution using as evidence. Leventhal brought up the fact that [they] could call Dan Love to the court to testify of this conversation between he and Santilli, but the fact is, the Prosecution and the Judge won't allow it, because Dan Love is corrupt and there are ethics charges against him! Now, the six defendants had never met Pete Santilli before. The Prosecution is trying to use Pete as a co-conspirator everything he has said is admissible as evidence against them. The Prosecution will also be allowed to use any and all evidence against Pete for the same reason, that he was a co-conspirator. Pete Santilli was heard telling BLM/Law Enforcement, "no violence will happen" doing what he could do, dispelling fear and danger on all sides. In other portions of the body-cam video Dan Love nods affirmatively as the Protesters plead their case as to their Constitutional Rights, but then objects to the "militia" being referenced he said, "but when the militia is present, that's when violence can be en-sighted, and that would raise a threat". The video between Love and Santilli was used as reference to a BOLO (be on the look out) report of two dangerous individuals, although the two individuals were NEVER named and a statement to a bogus bomb threat to a hotel was mentioned and allowed on the record to suggest it related to Santilli and Mel Bundy.
As Jackson cross examined Brisco he admitted to working twenty eight hours straight, which resulted in the feeling of a heightened threat level saying, "I was in fear of my life! And that even a week after returning to regular duties, he was still in fear of his life because no one would respect his authority, and was fearful of confronting the average camper".
There was also talk of a Silver SUV being spotted in Post-1 circling Agent Brisco's vehicle, he got onto his loud speaker to announce to them, "they were in a closure area". The woman driving the vehicle did not leave. He did not approach the vehicle to find out who the woman was, but took this as evidence the threat level needed to be increased. It was discovered during questioning that this vehicle not leaving under his command was evidence that the rest of the Protesters would act un-lawfully. When Las Vegas Metro showed up on scene and told the BLM to, "put away your long guns" the BLM ignored the request and proceeded to Post-2 under the bridge in the wash. Brisco admitted that they did not recognize Metro's authority, so therefore, they ignored the order.
During Todd Engel's cross examination yesterday the BLM Agent while answering questions about if anyone on both sides were "hurt" on April 12, 2014 to which he answered "no", the Jury and court burst in to laughter when Engel said, "well, I guess the only thing "hurt" was the BLM's feelings"! And, THAT is the crux of this whole case!
Watch This Video
SU Independent Article Disputed During Court Proceedings today
By Alex Ellis St. George Utah
OPINION: The United Police State of America
Written by Alex Ellis 08 19 14 2:00 am"Since the shooting and killing of an 18-year-old African American boy on Aug. 8 in the town of Ferguson, Miss., the city has dived headfirst into violence and chaos. In fact, the situation has gotten so bad that the governor of Missouri has been quoted as saying Ferguson looks like a “war zone.” Although probably unintentional, this comment exposes a frightening fact about our current police system. We’ve all seen pictures of combat or areas of hostility in Iraq and Afghanistan. Among other things, the aspects that make these scenes look like war zones instead of normal Middle Eastern towns include tanks patrolling the streets, soldiers in full combat gear and machine guns, angry civilians being pushed back, arrested, or having weapons pointed at them, etc.Many Americans like to boast that no war has been fought on U.S. soil for more than 100 years, but what they are forgetting is that many of the aspects which make a war zone a war zone are in place in Ferguson, and have been in place in different cities at different times. Imagine soldiers on a manhunt for a suspected terrorist, indiscriminately searching from house to house in full uniform, confronting civilians, assault rifles ready to go. While this may sound like something either from a movie or from a real war, this was the scene in Watertown as soldiers and police supported by armored vehicles searched the city for a suspect of the Boston marathon bombing, where the Fourth Amendment had apparently been put on hold. It is ironic that citizens celebrated the capture of the man with the phrase “Boston strong,” as giving the police free reign to do as they please without a warrant weakens the foundations of liberty our country was built upon.While some may agree with the overwhelming show of force by the police at Watertown due to the severity of the situation, this begs the question: Where do we draw the line? If we can allow soldiers with machine guns and APCs to shut down a city, parade our streets, and suspend the right to privacy in search of one man, then how much does it really take for the police to suspend individual rights and whip out the military gear? Apparently, the police of St. George found a similar response appropriate when a man called them to report his own suicide. Sadly, the armored vehicle and assault rifles did not persuade him to stay his hand.Sadly, even when it comes to the issue of police militarization, brutality, and misconduct, Americans seem to be divided. When police attacked protesters during Occupy Wall Street, conservatives were quick to turn a blind eye. When an elderly member of the Bundy family was grabbed from behind by the neck and slammed to the ground during the standoff in Bunkerville, liberals were quick to write her off as “a dumb redneck getting what she deserved.” Even when it comes to basic issues such as our collective safety and making sure the police do not cross their boundaries, the American people are unable to look past the distinctions between “left” and “right.” Many people are watchful and critical of politicians, and sometimes go to great lengths to spread awareness about illegal activities and wrongdoings committed by them. These watchdogs, as well as every other American, should turn their attention towards the police and their actions. The only way we can ever solve this problem is if we put aside our petty differences, join together to demand change, and ask: Does a badge give a man the right to rape, torture, and murder?I think we all know the answer."
February 15, 2017
Today began with BLM Agent Sully on the stand. While being questioned, Agent Sully testified that, "a man with dark facial hair pointed a weapon at [him]" as viewed from the I-15 Northbound bridge, although 3 days after the event he made no mention of the man as described in his incident report which was written and submitted to supervisors. Sully was given the opportunity to make corrections to his testimony/report in February 2015, but made only one, and that was that he attended the rally as an undercover agent. Also revealed was the fact that he admitted to meeting with the FBI and the Prosecution on multiple occasions. And, as with Rand Stover, Sully commits purgery on the stand with his conflicting recollections, having to be reminded by the Defense that his statements in his reports do no jive with his testimony in court. No action from Judge Navarro was taken.
A seventeen year old young man Alex Ellis, the young man testified in court today concerning what he saw from the Northbound bridge while a reporter form St. George, Michael Flynn, filmed under the Southbound bridge. Ellis showed up with reporter Michael Flynn on April 11 and was scared to death seeing people carring firearms. When he came back the next day he was further alarmed because the size of the protest had increased and he didn't like seeing the public with firearms, although he said no one was pointing weapons. I wonder what he thought about the BLM/Forest Service/Metro Police and Sheriff's Department being armed to the teeth in their "battle rattle"? Ellis testified to the fact that protesters were telling the BLM "your court order does not apply here" and asked for assistance in writing down the demands the BLM was making to the crowd over the loudspeaker at the bridge. He did acknowledge the BLM/Forest Service ordered the crowd to disperse and would use "up to lethal force". The Prosecution is presenting the video posted by Flynn on the internet. The Defense is objecting to this video being used as evidence since Michael Flynn has since passed away and is not available for testimony. The Defense' objections are in regards to chain of custody, that the young man was not doing the filming, was not at the location the video was filmed from and could not vouch for the video NOT being edited. In the Defenses position this young man was just another bystander in which the Prosecution is trying to make a direct connection to he and the video posted by Flynn. Ellis is also heard in a video while rolling up on the scene as saying, "we are going to get arrested" a clear display of fear and demonstrating how un-educated he is as to the Constitution. And, it looks as if Judge Gloria Navarro is going to allow the evidence. The fact is Flynn and Ellis showed up LATE on scene, made snap judgements without any investigation only going on their fear of the public with firearms and labeling the protesters as a bunch of short fused, short sighted wacko's! And this is submitted as the governments evidence. Definitely controlling the narrative! The video posted by Michael Flynn can be seen below.
During Todd Leventhal's cross examination of Agent Sully, Sully was asked, "did Cliven Bundy ever came to the protest"? Which was objected to by the Prosecution right away. Engel then asked, "did you see Todd at the rally"? Which he responded, "no". "Did you see any illegal action"? The answer, "no". On the events on April 8 and 9 did you see illegal action"? Again, "no". "Did you ever see Todd anywhere on the 9th"? "No". "You say you saw people with military style clothing, is that illegal"? The response, "no". "You saw people with guns, is that illegal"? The response, "no". "You saw four people on the hill with guns, is that illegal"? Again, "no, it's not". Sully was then asked if while attending that rally's, as he was intermingling with the crowd trying to get intel, if he tried to dispel any rumors going around about the BLM shooting cattle"? To which he said, "no". Leventhal also asked as you continued to work undercover among the crowd did you add to the propaganda that the BLM were being heavy handed, and Sully's response was, "no". During the whole cross examination Sully seemed to forget most of the detail in reference to his intelligence a gathering assignments, specifically in reference to the rally's on April 9 and 11. If you've read the summery report of the misconduct charges against Dan Love released a few weeks ago, this was the advice to those being interrogated by the Office of Inspector General, and has also been the testimony of Greg Brietzing in the second Oregon Trial..."I do not recall"! This people are supposed to be professionals! Nowadays they go to law enforcement academy or are pulled from the Secret Service of Joint Terrorism Task Force. They should have training in investigations, although MOST of the evidence in these trials are from social media, they can't remember a single detail when being questioned by the Defense! SHOCKING!
During further testimony from Sully by way of Todd Leventhal, is was established that when [he] saw the video of Davey Bundy after being beat up and assaulted by the BLM, that is when he got the assignment to go undercover, (this video is also included in the multi media below). And, as if on cue, later he denied the video had anything to do with it! At times like this it would be helpful if the Defense would ask the court recorder to read back the earlier questioning, like they used to do decades ago. Sully acknowledged that he saw the video of Margret, Cliven's sister, being "clothes-lined" by a BLM Agent and thrown to the ground. He also was witness to the BLM erecting the "First Amendment Zone". He also witnessed to the tasing of Ammon Bundy. When Sully was asked if he was witness to the BLM shooting cattle the Prosecution objected and there was never an answer given. Sully said that video of BLM stealing, abuse and euthanizing cattle was "pulling at the heartstrings" of the public did not spur him to dispelling any of this evidence in the eyes of the protestors during intelligence gathering. Throughout his testimony he tried to prove the point that he was afraid for his life, that people had guns and, "it wasn't a protest" and that, "he couldn't believe the people would be so angry with Law Enforcement, interesting that even he has made the flying leap to the BLM as law enforcement! Leventhal tried to get Sully to look at the evidence against the abuse the BLM/Forest Service was heaping upon the people and try to get him to understand WHY the people were upset with the government, but to no avail. During court the Defense was successful in getting the BLM to admit they euthanized two bulls and killed twenty seven cattle. In further questioning Sully denied attending a meeting where Dan Love and Jeweler were in attendance on April 11, 2014, but was aware that the BLM would be closing operations that day. The information was reported to have been released to the public would think the stand off between the BLM and Cliven Bundy would be over, although the BLM had "assets" still on site, including the cattle they rustled.
There was a lot of multi media evidence presented by the Prosecution and some wholes were very visible. A major piece of missing evidence is a video segment where a woman comes up to the bridge and says, "they need your help down in the wash, there are BLM Agents pointing weapons"! They went to the effort to point out and name people in the media evidence such as Pete Santilli, Ryan Payne, Brian Cavalier, Micah McGuire, among others.
Some of today's evidence
February 14, 2017
Prosecution began today by calling two Bureau of Land Management personnel to the stand. Michael Johnson, BLM Utah, former Secret Service Agent said, "it was my life time goal to work for the BLM". Johnson said that Dan Love and Dan Roper were his supervisors. Johnson testified that he was asked by his supervisors to pick four other "agents" to go undercover and start spying on the Bundy's, and would help him contact the Bundy Family and "assess the threat level". A phone conversation was introduced as evidence in which Ryan Bundy said to Johnson, "we'll do whatever it takes" to prevent seizure of the cattle. During testimony Johnson revealed that two teams of two attended the "Bundy Rally's". On the rally of April 11, 2014 Johnson and his team were stationed about a mile from the rally. After the rally they were "taken" to St. George Utah, where they lived and later called back to the Incident Command Area where they were put on "special alert" to watch the ICA for the night. Testimony proved the agents were working double shifts with little sleep and little to no food, with only the visit of a taco cart, and under duress. Johnson told of no order to release the cattle they had rustled, the order was to stop rounding up the cattle. Johnson testified that the cattle they had "impounded" were "in effect deeded to the federal government", that once the BLM had Cliven Bundy's cattle that they effectively became property of the federal government. It was the Prosecutions intent to build the case for "conspiracy".
The second BLM agent, Rand Stover who also worked for the Secret Service before moving to the BLM, testified of going to a gravel pit at exit 112 on highway 170 at a prearranged meeting where he met with Mel, Ammon, Davey and Marylynn Bundy after the incident where Davey was attacked and his property taken. The agent was supposed to return Dave's property at this meeting, but Stover reported, "Ammon showed up on his ATV sporting one of the "land closure" signs, was really aggressive, he refused to shake my hand, during which there was a heated conversation between Dan Love and Bundy. Ammon was yelling at Davey and Love". Stover also said Ammon said, "yoiu can get the hell off of our land, we are going to win this". Anyone who had seen the several videos where Ammon is engaged in civil conversation with FBI at Malheur in Burns Oregon, seen shaking their hands on several occasions, will have a hard time believing this to be true! Stover's testimony is called in to question because of the video proof that his statement may be untrue. There is also a video documenting Ammon asking a Sheriff's Deputy if he could have permission to remove the sign from the barricade/fencing. Stover's position was that the BLM's contract was not met the states to sell Cliven's cattle were being cancelled, and they felt intimidated. It was established during testimony that three different locations in the West were contracted to sell the cattle California, Arizona and Idaho. All contracts fell through, and the government determined it was because the states were under "political pressure" NOT to sell the cattle. The Defense objected many times during his testimony, but each time was overruled by Judge Gloria Navarro.
Much of the evidence the Prosecution presented was taken from social media depicting citizens voicing their opinion of how the federal government was overstepping the bounds of the Constitution, and how this was so "threatening to the BLM". More facebook posts were provided by the Prosecution that was said to be "threatening to them", including meme's and quotes from our revolutionary fathers.
Stover was said to be "very rehearsed" but when being cross examined repeatedly said things like, "I'm not sure. I can't recall". Stover's assignment was to "assess the threat level" since the militia were coming and that the BLM was on "high alert". There were said to be "no operations" on April 11, 2014 until all the militia/supporters were there. During cross examination Stover was asked, "how many meetings he had with Prosecuting Attorney Myhre"? Stover answered, "I can't recall", although after persistence from the Defense he admitted to "between 5 and 10 times". Stover was asked if he ever had any guns pointed at him and after a long pause said, "no". Stover was then asked "why they were wearing Camo"? His reply was, "they were wearing it fro the cattle, so they could hide themselves from the cattle during rustling". He also said that most of the guns on the Feds side were Park Service Employees. Todd Engel clarified Stover's statement that BLM wore Camo in consideration of the cattle by asking if the contract cowboy cattle rustlers wore Camo" to which he responded, "no".
During the court proceedings today there was a discussion about Jury Nullification, where if the Jury finds the governments "laws" unjust, they can nullify the governments retaliation for such by finding the defendants not guilty. The Prosecution was clearly against having this subject brought out in court before the Jury.
The afternoon session continues with cross examination of Rand Stover. The Defense showed the video in which Davey Bundy was assaulted and taken into custody. In the video BLM agent Jason Cox was identified as the person talking to Ryan Bundy as he was in his van. It was established that Ryan had no firearms and complied to all BLM requests and was not arrested. It was also established that Davey had no firearms, but was arrested for taking pictures with and iPad. "What other property did Dave have"? The response, "three phones, ID, and iPad and a folder". Stover mentioned the meeting at the grovel pit where the property was supposed to be returned to Davey. The Defense asked, "in what situation would you arrest a person and then keep the property they were arrested with instead of actually giving that property back to the arresting authority"? Which resulted in an objection from the Prosecution. I have spoken to Marylynn, and she says, "to this day the iPad has not been returned".
Photo and video evidence of the "snipers on the hill" during Davey's assault and arrest was shown. Stover said, "[they] were under my command" and the meeting where Davey's property was to be returned to him was again briefly discussed. Next, the video of Ammon being tased was shown. Almost all in the video were identified by name. The portion where Ammon "kicks the dog" in the head was zeroed in on. It was determined that Mike Carpenter sicked the dog on Ammon BEFORE Ammon kicked the dog. Stover HAD to recant his testimony to the contrary after the video evidence was provided. It was said that the conflicting statements by the BLM agent were "very telling". During further cross examination Stover again testified they were working on "little to no food or sleep" the day of April 12, 2014. It was also determined that the intel the BLM received of and "attack on their compound" was bad.
Todd Engel they questioned the witness, "was Dan Love our supervisor"? "Yes" Dover answered. "Were any of the "officers" hurt"? Stover replied, "no", not in any of their confrontations with the protesters. "Did anyone try to clime the fences/gates to get into the BLM compound"? Again Stover responded, "no". The Defense again showed the "Ammon beoing tased" video zooming in on an agent who was armed with an AR15 Riffle. The Defense established the fact that the Feds were, at that point, already building up a military standing army well before April 12, 2014.
The First Amendment Areas were brought into question. Stover was asked, "what are the BLM's rules as to where speech was limited during the protest"? "Was the bridge off limits to speech"? To which Stover replied, "the bridge was not closed to speech". Under further clarification the BLM declared under the bridge was closed to speech, but not on the bridge at I-15 was open to speech/protest and the "Restricted Free Speech Zone" was closed on the 540,000 acres of land!
The questioning then moved to injuries suffered during the protest. It was established that none of the Feds or anyone else were hurt or injured by the cattle. The question was asked, "were cattle euthanized during the operation"? Stover admitted to two bulls being euthanized. The Defense continued with questions in reference to the cattle being killed and ALL questions were objected to by the Prosecution. Stover, in general, admitted to some cattle being euthanized and some being killed. At this point, what's the difference?
The questioning then turned to the Parks Service and [their] formations being defensive or offensive, to which the Prosecution again objected to. It was pointed out by the Defense that, "if you are in a stocked formation serving a warrant or entering a structure, moving forward, you are in a offensive posture. Explain how that is a defensive posture". No answer was given.
While Todd Engel was asking the agent about the "protesters" he was stopped by the Judge and Attorney's and was told by them, "this was not considered a protest, it was an unlawful anti government crowd" and he was not to use the label "protestors". You can tell these government types have not read the Constitution, as this applies to the First Amendment! Engel now had to re-phrase his question, "did the crowd throw anything on you from the Southbound bridge"? To which Stover replied, "no". Engel asked, "if I had a gun and was trying to get a superior advance on you would I use the Northbound or the Southbound bridge"? "You'd use the Southbound bridge", Stover said. Engel then proceeded with a line of questioning about the amount of vehicles in the area. He showed a photo and proceeded to circle and area, "how many vehicles are here"? Stover replied, "about 37". Engel pointed out the fact that if there were 37 BLM vehicles at the site that meant there were 37 AR15's on the Feds side. Noting all BLM agents are issued an AR15. Then Engel circled another area on the photo, which brought the total of Federal vehicles to approximately 50 as apposed to around 60 of the protesters. Stover's testimony was to the narrative that since there were 60 protester vehicles to their 50 they were out numbered and out gunned. Engel pointed out that the gun ratio was on the side of the government BLM/Parks Employees.
Stover further elaborated on the First Amendment Area and stated the government never told anyone they had to protest at the First Amendment Area, although there is video evidence to the contrary. He said, "the First Amendment Area was just a suggestion" and that, "it was not appropriate for protesters to go to the compound to protest". Engel then asked Stover, "did you take an oath to defend the Constitution"? Which was immediately objected to by the Prosecution and was said to be "argumentative". Engel asked, "so was the First Amendment Area set up for looks"? To which Stover replied, "that's not what I said". Engel asked, "in any of your criminal investigations did they do background checks"? Stover's reply, "yes". "Did you do any background checks on the Bundy's"? Stover responded, "no" although at another point of questioning had said otherwise.
Defense Attorney Terrence Jackson cross examined asking, "what is the general policy for protesting the BLM"? Stover responded, "there is no documentation as to what was 'lawful' or 'unlawful' protest". Jackson then questioned, "so does this mean you make up your mind case by case"? This resulted in the Prosecution objecting and no answer was given. Then Jackson said, "was agent Love your supervisor"? To which Stover replied, "yes". "Who was higher than agent Love"? Stover said there was someone higher than Love but did not reveal the name in court, but it was established this person was on the ground with the operation. There was some back and borth about "shutting down the operation" on April 11, but Stover implied they were still going to take the cattle in the corral but they were not going to "round up" any more cattle, in which Stover was quoted to have said, "personally, I wanted to finish loading up the 377 trespassing cattle and remove them from the land".
Todd Leventhal, Scott Drexler's Attorney questioned, "did the BLM put out video to counter the Bundy's heartfelt plea for compassion and support"? To which Stover responded, "no". Stover then gave testimony to the fact that the BLM keeps a list or a "running log" of people they, and undercover agents use, to identify people as "anti government extremists" groups and that they were adding people to their log in the threat assessment including people/groups that didn't show up at the protest. Stover, when asked to expound, said he was not the "investigating agent", so he could not comment further. Stover was then asked, "what was your direct association with Dan Love"? Stover replied, "he was my direct supervisor". "Do you follow his orders"? Leventhal continued. "Yes" was the response. "If you saw Dan Love do something unethical would you report it"? The reply, "I would like to think I would". Stover continued to expound saying, "Iv'e been made aware..." when the Prosecution objected and the line of questioning was shut down.
View this video to see evidence presented in court proceedings outlined above.
February 13, 2017
Opening arguments began at 9:00 am. Prosecution began by trying to set the stage that the Bureau of Land Management was afraid and felt threatened. Justice Department Attorney Terry Petrie from Denver Colorado was called to the stand to outline the several events that led to the BLM impound of Cliven Bundy's cattle. Testifying to the documents that were served on Cliven Bundy to require his cattle be moved off the property. Documents were produced in court showing that Cliven Bundy had been sending Redress of Grievance letters to the government since 1982 and that the government had been ignoring him.
The Defense began by spotlighting each of the defendants telling the Jury Steven Stewart was a "strong willed, intelligent" man working for the Fire Department, a "family man". Todd Engel was said to have brought tears to the eyes of everyone in court as he described what he saw on television as the BLM was showing force upon the people in Bunkerville. He said, "I came to Nevada when I saw the BLM pointing guns at the people". He described "flagging down" a highway patrol officer, described the situation at Bunkerville pleading for help". Todd was quoted as saying, "how can we stand back when BLM is throwing an older lady to the ground, trying to protect our civil rights"?
All during the court proceedings the Prosecution displayed a photo of the six men men at the StandUp while the Defense was prohibited of showing ANY of their photo evidence of the government force against them which included Davey Bundy leaning on his car taking photos of the BLM operation with his iPad, Ammon being tased and the First Amendment Area erected by the BLM.
The Prosecutions second of two witnesses. An FBI agent who was an expert in aircraft surveillance, didn't answer many questions as he was only there to witness to a lengthy aerial surveillance video recorded at Bunkerville. He testified for approximately two hours stating he was following directions from the Command Center on the ground. The defense established, through the video surveillance, that the escalation of operations from a peaceful protest to an intense standoff and the person responsible for that was Daniel P. Love Supervisor Agent In Charge, not the protesters, not the Bundy's, not the low-level organizers.
Todd Engel, representing himself in court, was reported to have done a real professional job in cross examination of the FBI agent, taking longer than any of the other Defense Attorney's in examining the two witnesses for the government.
February 7, 2017
Today was the second day of Jury Selection. In court today it was a rough road for Greg Burleson. US Marshall's failed to give him the medication he needs for his serious medical conditions, including medication for his kidneys. Burleson, before being incarcerated before trial as a non-violent man and almost totally blind, was attending frequent dialysis sessions. He has not been administered medical treatment via dialysis since incarceration. He is a very sick man, even with dialysis, and not to afford this lifesaving medical care is inhumane and cruel and unusual for sure! After pretty much collapsing into his hands during the morning session the court was forced to send for the medication he takes under normal circumstances at the detention center. Under normal circumstances EMS should have been called, they would show up, stabilize the man and transport him to the nearest medical facility and he would have been out in an hour, but this is not what happened. The Court requested the US Marshall send for the medication. It took a minimum of two hours to get the meds to Burleson. It was reported that after receiving the meds he was improved. A law suit should be filed on this account.
It was said that Todd Engel revealed how terrified he was to represent himself in court as prose attorney before the potential jurors. It was reported that he did a good job in his questioning of the jury. It was also reported that the Prosecution objected to everything he said. A tactic prosecutors and judges use to ruffle the feathers of the public representing themselves. As if they have the gall to buck their system. Todd explained during questioning that government has passed a lot of bad laws including, prohibition, and women's right to vote. These examples helped to weed out potential jurors who are not familiar with nullification.
The Jury was finally chosen and sworn in. There are a total of 16 Jurors with alternates including five men and 11 women. Some of the possible jurors who were eliminated include, law enforcement officers, those who have friends or family in law enforcement, a BLM agent, and a female lawyer and attorney who failed to disclose she obtained her law degree in Oregon where she is licensed to practice and attended law school with the current court clerk of Judge Navarro and is currently a practicing attorney in the state of Nevada. The Defense presented this in court and the Judge did the right thing in dismissing her.
Other happenings reported in today's events. Joshua Martinez, who has been coming frequently to the court to pass out Constitutions and Nullification information, was arrested by Metro Police as he tried to gain access to the clerks office to fulfill a request for documents. He showed paperwork signed by the Secretary of the State of Nevada to gain access, as he had done many times before, and Metro Police decided they would not accept his paperwork that day. He was told by a US Marshall he would be denied access. Martinez called his legal council and was told to obtain the Marshall's name who denied him access and to request to which law or statute he was using to deny this public access to the peoples federal building. Metro Police already knew his name as he approached security, but would not give the Marshall's name. They said, "he was being denied access over title 9/Real ID". After about 30 minutes Martinez was taken off the premises down the street away from the Federal Courthouse where Metro Police took him into an alley where they damaged his car keys and punched him in the ribs. They subsequently took him into custody where he spent two nights in jail. Homeland Security themselves said Martinez was in now way disorderly and was not trespassing and they had no idea why Metro arrested him. I have personally seen Martinez's video documentation of this. I will try to provide a link, (I have created the video below).
Also, referenced was a public disclosure of evidence for a congressional hearing regarding individuals, mainly elected officials and those in our judicial system, who are committing fraud to gain possession of private property and resources on "public land". Lazaro Ecenarro and Shawna Cox, among others, are diligently researching this corruption and plan to reveal their findings tomorrow on the courthouse steps.
There will be no court held Wednesday, but will resume Thursday with opening arguments that are said to take fifteen minutes from the Prosecution and the remaining time to the Defense. Witnesses will begin testifying on Monday.
Today began Jury Selection for the defendants. Potential Jurors were brought in 50 at a time. 25 of the first 50 were dismissed do to various reasons some including, friends of Bundy family, in law enforcement or government or friends to the same, member of the press, or were biased in some way.
A list of 100 names were read to potential Jurors and asked if they had knowledge of them. A group of women's names seemed to be interesting as they were all women who have spoken out freely in support of the Constitution and the injustices being heaped upon those being incarcerated and their families including, KrisAnne Hall, Michelle Fiore and Briana Bundy, just to name a few. It was said that if they knew of any of these women they would be dismissed immediately.
It was said that all the defendants were present for the selection process and were clean and dressed in suits. They wore no leg chains or handcuffs. Todd Engel, who is representing himself, did a good job but was constantly interrupted by the Prosecution. Judge Navarro is said to be raining tyranny in the court, but will allow BLM Misconduct charges to be brought before the Jury during trial. Also, the "gun charges" in Count 3 have been dismissed and will prevent the government from tacking on 25 years for such. Judge Navarro also threatened the defendants that, "if there is a mis-trial the case would be put off until next year". The Judge also allowed drinks in the courtroom, but no cell phones.
Kieran Suckling (Center For Biodiversity, also embedded with the FBI Infiltrators at Malhuer) staged a protest outside the courthouse along side the Patriot Supporters. He was only supported by 2 others and only stayed a short while. Tier 3 Supporters said, "he didn't seem to know what he was protesting or what he was doing there".
Jurors said during questioning that, "the government has made a lot of mistakes". It was said that many are familiar with the Constitution and favorable to Farmers and Ranchers. Jury selection continues tomorrow.
Day 1 Jury Selection - John Lamb Reports
An Inside View-Briana Bundy
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| Center For Biodiversity Frontman Kieran Suckling with megaphone |
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