150 Militia Take Over Makhuer National Wildlife Preserve Headquarters

[Tumbleweed]

My guess as to why the Mormon church doesn't get involved with the Bundys fight is because the church is involved in a big way with land ownership and ranching all over the country. I'm thinking they don't want to piss the BLM off because a lot of money is at stake.

[monty]

John Lamb with the morning updade on Malhuer Protest trial #2



https://youtu.be/AYjJ_mAtL_g

[crimethink]

My guess as to why the Mormon church doesn't get involved with the Bundys fight is because the church is involved in a big way with land ownership and ranching all over the country. I'm thinking they don't want to piss the BLM off because a lot of money is at stake.

Indeed, the Moron church is all about money. A collection of massive corporations. Hence, they avoid confrontation with the US government and have done so for over a century. Including abandoning the supposedly sacred teachings of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young on polygamy and Niggers.

[monty]

FBI authorized informants to commit crimes

https://www.itmattershowyoustand.com...ndoff-verdict/


Feds authorized some FBI informants to engage in unlawful activity at refuge

Posted on February 22, 2017 by Doug Knowles

https://i0.wp.com/www.itmattershowyo...00%2C199&ssl=1
FBI Special Agent in Charge Greg Bretzing speaks at a Jan. 27, 2016 press conference at the Harney County Community Center in Burns, after the arrests of Ammon Bundy and other leaders of the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. ( Thomas Boyd/Oregonian)

Defense asks retired FBI agent his reaction to first Oregon standoff verdict

By Maxine Bernstein | The Oregonian/OregonLive on February 22, 2017 at 1:00 PM

updated

Over the objection of a prosecutor, a defense lawyer Wednesday asked Oregon’s recently retired top FBI agent about his reaction to the jury verdict from the first trial in the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
“You do not believe the participants that went to trial in the fall of 2016 were held accountable, that’s correct?” asked Michele Kohler, representing defendant Duane Ehmer.

After some hesitation and direction from the judge to answer the question, retired FBI Special Agent in Charge Greg Bretzing replied, “That’s correct.”

Kohler pointed out that Bretzing didn’t testify during last year’s trial of the occupation leaders but is a government witness for this second Oregon standoff trial.

And she noted that the verdict last fall likely didn’t correspond to the last of three goals that shaped Bretzing’s response to the 41-day occupation: to hold those involved accountable.

“So that verdict thwarted the third purpose of your federal response?” Kohler continued.
“No,” Bretzing replied.

“Sir, it’s your desire to hold someone accountable for what happened in 2016?” Kohler asked.
“I can’t answer that yes or no,” Bretzing said.

As Kohler asked her question about the earlier verdict, U.S. Attorney Ethan Knight stood to object. “The court has ruled on it,” Knight told U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown.

Kohler countered that she asked her question to discern potential bias.

The judge overruled the objection and allowed the question.

But moments later, when the jury was permitted to take a brief break, Knight told the judge that he was concerned the defense had violated an agreement not to ask Bretzing about his reaction to the verdict.
There was no mention of what the verdict was, but jurors could easily figure it out from the line of questioning. Occupation leader Ammon Bundy and six co-defendants were acquitted in October of conspiracy and weapons charges after a five-week trial.

“We bring that to the court’s attention,” Knight said. “This is something the government is very concerned about in front of this jury in this trial.”

Brown said she was unaware of any agreement reached between lawyers involved in the case but told them: “We need to be able to count on each others’ representations.”

After court, Andrew Kohlmetz, standby attorney for defendant Jason Patrick, said he had told Knight ahead of time that he wouldn’t cross-examine Bretzing about the first trial’s verdict. Kohler said she was unaware of any agreement made.

Other testimony Wednesday:

— Refuge neighbor and longtime rancher Andy Dunbar testified that he saw a caravan of cars headed to the refuge as he and his wife ate lunch at The Narrows RV park on Jan. 2, 2016. Days later, while feeding his cows, he said he spotted men in the refuge watchtower, one pointing a rifle at him. Another time, he saw a man looking through a rifle scope at him. He said armed men worked eight-hour shifts in the watchtower and swapped out “like clockwork.”

Dunbar acknowledged the FBI paid $2,000 each to him and his son after they let agents use their property on Jan. 29 and Jan. 30, 2016, as agents tried to persuade people remaining at the refuge to leave after the Jan. 26 arrests of the occupation leaders.

Dunbar said he gave defendant Jason Patrick a ride out of the refuge to an FBI checkpoint on Jan. 27, 2016.
In mid-January, Dunbar testified that he heard “hundreds and hundreds of shots” coming from the boat launch during the refuge occupation, estimating it occurred over six days.

— Refuge manager Chad Karges said he told the 16 employees not to return to work on Jan. 2, 2016, after hearing armed men had taken over the wildlife sanctuary.

“I told them not to report to work until they heard back from me,” Karges said.

Asked if anyone ever reached out to him or invited his staff back to the refuge during the occupation, Karges said no.

The matter arose during Bretzing’s second day on the witness stand. Four remaining defendants are charged with conspiring to impede federal employees from carrying out their work at the federal wildlife refuge through intimidation, threats or fear.

Defense lawyers, during cross-examination, elicited testimony from Bretzing that there were “maybe a couple of hundred” FBI agents in Harney County during the course of the refuge takeover, plus dozens of state and local law enforcement officers.

While Bretzing was questioned further about the FBI’s use of informants or if he gave any approval for them to engage in unlawful activity while at the refuge, he said he didn’t have direct knowledge.

Bretzing said he would have been “briefed on the activities of informants,” but wasn’t familiar with them by name, other than that of informant Mark McConnell. He said he couldn’t say whether or not an FBI informant had participated in guard duty or fortifying the refuge.

“I’m not familiar with each place the confidential human source may have been at,” Bretzing said.
In contrast, FBI Special Agent Ronnie Walker, who was called by the government as a witness later in the day, was very clear. He testified that some informants were authorized to engage in “otherwise unlawful activity” during the occupation.

Prosecutors have said there were nine informants sent into the refuge during the occupation.
Walker said the range of stays at the refuge ran from two hours to 23 days.

Informant Fabio Minoggio, who was outed by the defense in the first Oregon standoff trial, was the last informant to leave the refuge on the night of Jan. 26, 2016, after the fatal police shooting of occupation spokesman Robert “LaVoy” Finicum on U.S. 395 between Burns and John Day.

Some informants, including Minoggio, were allowed to carry guns when they went to the refuge, Walker testified.
If one was asked by occupier Ryan Payne to do guard duty at the refuge, “I would encourage the informant to do so, simply to maintain credibility,” Walker told jurors.

Under cross-examination by defense lawyer Jesse Merrithew, Walker confirmed that Payne asked an informant to lead one of the security teams of occupiers.

Walker said he didn’t know if the informant directed others to do guard duty or take other security measures, but said it would be “fair to infer” that the informant would delegate responsibilities to others.

Asked if he knew Minoggio was training those protesting at the refuge in hand-to-hand combat, Walker responded, “Oh yes, of course.”

Merrithew continued, asking Walker if he knew Minoggio trained people at the refuge in the use of weapons. “That’s one way of putting it,” Walker said.

During redirect, Assistant U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Barrow asked the FBI agent if any informant participated in the initial occupation of the federal refuge. Walker said no.

“Did any informant initiate the idea of security teams” at the refuge, Barrow asked.

“No,” Walker answered.

Why was informant Minoggio allowed to train people, Barrow asked.

Walker said it was done “to make the place safer.”

Minoggio heard shooting by the boat launch and went to check it out, Walker said.

“He saw firearms behavior that was unsafe,” Walker said, so Minoggio “interjected himself and asked them to stop.”

Walker said none of the informants left their firearms behind at the refuge when they left.

— Maxine Bernstein
mbernstein@oregonian.com
503-221-8212
@maxoregonian

source

[monty]

Darryl Thorn planned on sneaking back into the refuge

https://www.itmattershowyoustand.com...ge-agent-says/

Oregon standoff defendant Darryl Thorn planned to sneak back onto refuge, agent says

Posted on February 23, 2017 by Doug Knowles

By Maxine Bernstein | The Oregonian/OregonLive on

An FBI agent on Thursday showed jurors a slew of photos and messages that he found on defendant Darryl Thorn’s Facebook page, including Thorn’s stated plan of “sneaking back ” onto the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge a year ago.

Thorn, a member of Washington’s 3 percent militia, proclaimed in a Feb. 4, 2016, private Facebook message: “I won’t let my brothers and sisters die by themselves.”

https://i2.wp.com/www.itmattershowyo...75%2C206&ssl=1

He talked of his plan to go back to the refuge, saying, “I have a good lay out of the land.”

He said he’d been leading a “handful of boots” and referred to rallying points, including the Super 8 Motel in Redmond as a place to gather. It was at the hotel that FBI agents arrested Thorn in the continental breakfast bar on Feb. 11, 2016 — the same day the last four holdouts at the occupied refuge surrendered to the FBI.

“I’m not afraid of death – liberty and freedom replaces fear,” Thorn wrote in another message that day.

Thorn’s Facebook posts between Jan. 3, 2016, and mid-February last year included one of him posing with co-defendant Eric Lee Flores in the refuge watchtower, each holding assault rifles and Thorn flashing a three-finger symbol of his militia membership, FBI Agent Matthew Yeager testified. Flores has pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge in the case.

Thorn’s Facebook posts were among the evidence shown to jurors during the third day of the trial against Thorn and three co-defendants, Jason Patrick, Duane Ehmer and Jake Ryan. All are accused of conspiring to impede federal employees from carrying out their work at the federal refuge last winter.

Thorn’s defense lawyer, Marc Friedman, suggested that his 32-year-old client “perhaps wanted to play himself up as being more than he was.” He asked Yeager if he had any knowledge that Thorn physically tried to get back on the refuge, and the agent just pointed back to Thorn’s social media posts.

In one photo, Thorn smirked, balancing a cigarette in his mouth, as he stood dressed in black, armed with a handgun in the watchtower, a walkie talkie balanced on his chest and the 3 percent insignia on a jacket sleeve.
“I love this picture of me and my girl on watch,” Thorn wrote in another Facebook message posted on Jan. 19, 2016, with a photo of him kissing his girlfriend beside a scope set up in the watchtower.

In a private message sent to co-defendant Jason Blomgren, Thorn posed with a Guy Fawkes mask concealing his face, a cowboy hat on his head with a gun pointed at the camera. Blomgren sent Thorn a photo back, holding a pistol to his own head.

“The Lord has a plan for me, but I’m not sure about you,” Thorn responded to Blomgren’s photo. Blomgren has pleaded guilty to conspiracy in the case.

Prosecutors also showed jurors Facebook posts from occupation leader Ammon Bundy, including one in which he wrote that the Jan. 2 rally in Burns to support two Harney County ranchers was “much more than a protest.”
On Jan. 3, 2016, defendant Jason Patrick posted, “Malheur Refuge headquarters liberated for and by the people.”

A U.S. Bureau of Land Management special agent and several refuge employees testified earlier in the day about how the occupation hindered their work.

In an obvious effort to leave little open to interpretation, prosecutors pointedly asked several refuge employees if the armed occupation “impeded” their jobs – whether it was refuge biologist Linda Beck’s efforts to control carp on the wildlife sanctuary, habitat ecologist Jess Wenich’s plan to conduct bird surveys or refuge fire management officer Shane Theall’s prep for a prescribed burn in nearby Diamond.

“I wasn’t able to perform my duties because I didn’t have access,” Beck testified. “There were people occupying the refuge with guns, and I couldn’t go to work.”

Defense lawyers countered by questioning each U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service employee about whether any of the four defendants on trial ever objected to their work or duties or sent them threatening emails. The employees said they didn’t know, but never received any correspondence from the defendants.

Beck, who said she’s proud of her “Carp Lady” nickname, identified photos taken during the occupation that showed Ammon Bundy sitting at her desk, his brother Ryan Bundy leaning on her desk and guns in her office.
“The Patriot Bible is not mine,” she said, pointing to a book among the debris found in her office by FBI evidence teams.

Beck no longer works at the refuge, but is an aquatic and invasive species officer in a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service field office, she said.

As prosecutors showed jurors photos of Patrick cutting a barbed-wire fence on the perimeter of the refuge, habitat ecologist Jess Wenick told jurors that the fence was important to keep cattle off the property to protect exposed burial sites belonging to the Burns Paiute Tribe and nesting marsh birds.

Defense lawyers tried to point out that it was the refuge manager Chad Karges who ordered his refuge staff not to come back to work during the occupation.

But Assistant U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Barrow asked Wenick, for example, if he would have come back to work had his boss not ordered him to stay away.

“I would not have, no,” Wenick testified. “Seeing automatic rifles in our watchtower and our gates … it certainly was not an inviting atmosphere to go to work at.”

He said he was also influenced by statements occupiers made to the media that they weren’t going to allow federal ownership of the refuge.

Wenick, as he did in the first Oregon standoff trial, said the office of co-worker and wildlife biologist Faith Healy looked like a “technological sweatshop” after the occupation.

He said it had “an incredible stench that didn’t go away until new carpet and paint” were added. He testified that it appeared as if historical government documents were being scanned in Healy’s office during the occupation.
“I spent all summer trying to get my file system in order — it was total chaos,” Wenick said.

Government witness Marilyn Miller, an avid birder who has her own forestry and wildlife consulting business, testified that she encountered Ryan Payne and four other men at the Malheur Field Station on Jan. 24, 2016. Payne told her they thought it was a “safe place” for target shooting, and she told them to leave, she said.

As she drove up to the station and to check on the manager’s personal residence, she said she and her husband heard gunfire and then five armed men blocking their path.

She said the field station is part of the refuge, but the facilities on it are privately owned, about four miles west of the refuge headquarters.

“To be surrounded by men who were armed was very intimidating,” she said.

— Maxine Bernstein
mbernstein@oregonian.com
503-221-8212
@maxoregonian

source

[monty]

John Lamb and Kelli Stewart Malheur Protest trial #2 Friaday Feb 24



https://youtu.be/jlYFDN_KhIQ

[monty]

More Kelli Stewart Feb. 24 Malhuer Protest trial # 2



https://youtu.be/ysY_W76gjOs

[monty]

Court observer Becky Wald's notes Feb. 24 Malheur Protest trial



https://youtu.be/L0f2dkRFRBA

[monty]

Second Week Of Malheur Protest II Trial Wrap-Up



Malheur II – Wrapping up the Week


DON'T FORGET THE BENCH TRIAL COMING UP...

February 25, 2017 Constitution, FBI, Featured, News, Oregon

http://www.avantlink.com/gbi/11653/2...9211/image.jpg

https://i2.wp.com/redoubtnews.com/wp...size=641%2C406
Example of a 'Meme' found on Facebook

Malheur II – Wrapping up the Week

by Shari Dovale

The prosecution has presented the majority of their case in the second Malheur Protest Trial. This case is considerably shorter than the previous trial.

Witnesses included refuge manager Chad Karges, who testified that he was the one that directed the employees not to go to work. He made this decision a full two days before the rally that began the protest.

It was made clear that none of the protesters, or current defendants, had any contact with the employees of the refuge, therefore, there was no chance of threatening them. However, the prosecution is basing their case on implied and circumstantial evidence. Linda Beck indicated that she was willing to go to the refuge to retrieve a laptop computer but was ordered not to do so by Chad Karges.

The prosecution did their ‘Really Big Gun Show” again. Letting the jury see all of these scary weapons, and ammo to go with it, is very important to the prosecution’s case. If they cannot win on the facts, maybe they can win on emotion and scare tactics?

https://i0.wp.com/redoubtnews.com/wp...size=187%2C190
Judge Anna Brown
The big story of the week is the subpoena of John Sepulvado. The prosecution wanted to place into evidence a recorded interview that the former OPB reporter made with Ryan Bundy. Judge Anna Brown, in an unusual move, cited the First Amendment and quashed the subpoena

It does not make sense that she would support the US Constitution in this case, when she has already fought against it in the Gary Hunt case. She has ordered Hunt to appear in her court and shows every indication of trampling on the first amendment. You can read about that case here.

Judge Brown has repeatedly had issues with the US Constitution. Making multiple, and forceful, comments that the law in her courtroom is only as she dictates it to be and not the Constitution. She made an exception in this case, so she is picking winners and losers. I, personally, would like to see her stop cherry-picking this document and using it only if she sees an advantage.

We did have further testimony this week confirming Mark McConnell was a paid informant at the Refuge. Discussions of informants have been a big part of this trial, with the defense making the points that paid informants were possibly part of the security team. If that is true, this would indicate that the FBI set up the defendants to break the law.

It has already been established that Fabio Minoggio, also known as John Killman, was in charge of weapons training at the Refuge, yet the defendants are having to defend themselves against these gun charges, seemingly initiated by this Confidential Human Source (CHS) or paid informant.

https://i0.wp.com/redoubtnews.com/wp...size=156%2C166
Duane Ehmer
Facebook posts and Memes are another part of the prosecutions case. The government went all out to cherry-pick select posts, yet are fighting having any other posts admitted into evidence. A classic example is Duane Ehmer, who has been described as a fierce Facebook-er. Duane has been known to post, share, and comment on hundreds of Facebook posts each day. Memes are a favorite, as well as comments that agree and disagree with other posters. Ehmer has never been afraid to share his thoughts. So, out of the hundreds of postings, the government decided on five posts/memes to represent Ehmer. His attorney, Michelle Kohler, rightfully argued to have the postings just before and just after included in the record, to put them into context.

The FBI witnesses, beginning with former Special Agent in Charge Greg Bretzing, all had the same theme. ~If the defense asks any questions, we do not remember.~ For a man that was in charge of the entire state of Oregon, and the complete operation of the Malheur Refuge, one would think he was more intelligent than that. He spent nearly the entire month at the refuge, but remembers very little about it.

https://i2.wp.com/redoubtnews.com/wp...size=300%2C153
Example of a ‘Meme’ found on Facebook

Other agents commented the same way. They said they needed to refer to their reports, but the reports were not there. Really? I have seen subpoenas that included bringing documents and supporting information with them. I guess the prosecution forgot that part when they issued them to the FBI?

Again, the prosecution is not putting on their best case. The defense is easily combating the evidence. One wonders why the government does not seem to be worried about this case.

…Don’t forget the Bench Trial coming up…

Monday is expected to be the final day of the prosecution case. Blaine Cooper is expected to testify against the defendants, as well as a few more government witnesses before the prosecution rests.

The defense is expected to begin on Tuesday, February 28^th, with Ammon Bundy testifying first. Ryan Payne is expected to testify right behind Ammon. The defense does not expect their case to go longer than a week.

This case could be wrapped up much earlier than first anticipated.

[monty]

Judge Anna J. Brown defends OPB reporter's First Amendment right


Malheur II – Judge Stops Reporter From Testifying


JUDGE ANNA BROWN GRANTED THE MOTION TO QUASH THE SUBPOENA.

February 25, 2017 BLM, Constitution, Featured, Freedom of the Press, Oregon

http://www.avantlink.com/gbi/11653/2...9211/image.jpg

https://i2.wp.com/redoubtnews.com/wp...size=641%2C365
Ryan Bundy sharing the US Constitution. (photo: you tube)

Malheur II – Judge Stops Reporter From Testifying

by Shari Dovale

In January 2016, former OPB reporter John Sepulvado, now with KQED in California, interviewed protest leader Ryan Bundy about the “hard stand” taken at the Malheur Wildlife Refuge.

https://i1.wp.com/redoubtnews.com/wp...size=222%2C300

Prosecutors wanted to call Sepulvado to the stand to authenticate the interview and have it admitted into evidence. Attorney Duane A. Bosworth, representing Oregon Public Broadcasting and Sepulvado, argued against the subpoena citing First Amendment protections, saying that forced testimony would “chill future sources, even nonconfidential ones”.

Judge Anna Brown was surprised at the government’s stance that no journalistic privilege exists to protect a reporter from having to testify in a federal criminal case. “I’m starting with the premise that there is a journalist’s privilege under federal law,” Judge Brown said.

But she has not taken that same stance in regard to journalist Gary Hunt. She has ordered Hunt to appear in her court as she intends to dictate what he is allowed to publish, and what he is not allowed to publish. It is also unclear as to whether she will attempt to force him to reveal his sources.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Barrow argued that the government wasn’t asking Sepulvado to disclose a confidential source.

Defense lawyer Jesse Merrithew, representing Jake Ryan, argued that “This is not an interview. This is a story that was editorialized by OPB to tell the news from their perspective.”

Judge Brown seems to want to force the defense to call Ryan Bundy to discuss the interview. However, this would violate his rights, as he is still under indictment in the Nevada Bunkerville trial. Additionally, the charge of theft of FBI surveillance cameras against Mr. Bundy resulted in a hung jury, which has yet to be dealt with.
Judge Anna Brown granted Bosworth’s motion to quash the subpoena.

I am a strong supporter of the first amendment. I believe in Freedom of the Press, and do not want my rights as a journalist to be thrown aside by any court.

In that respect, I agree with Judge Anna Brown.

My problem with the case is that Judge Brown is picking winners and losers. She has trampled on the US Constitution more times than any other judge that I have seen. She has denied Constitutional rights to the defendants, including, but not limited to, the right of bail.

The government has also claimed that a ‘redress of grievance’ is not a legal document, which Judge Brown upheld. However, it is clearly laid out in this same First Amendment.

Judge Brown has repeatedly denied defendants the chance to quote from the Constitution, stating that the law will be applied as she interprets it only. The Constitution is not allowed in her courtroom. So, why now?

The interview is very biased. Sepulvado has repeatedly called the defendants names, such as ‘thugs’ and ‘dipsh*t’, and admits to doing so. He was upset at the verdict of ‘Not Guilty’ and did not hide that. There can be no doubt that the final edited version of his interview was very biased.

The questions of how much was cut from the interview and thrown on the editors floor cannot be answered. It is obvious that the intent of the journalist was to develop a biased piece strictly for the purposes of propaganda. It would be a travesty for this to be admitted as ‘evidence’ against these defendants.

US Constitution

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

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