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Latest Video
08/19/07
Music slide-show with lots of pictures from Live Free or Die 2. Hat tip to "livefreeordie2" from our forums.
07/14/07
Video from the Live Free or Die 2 Concert provided by Danny Riley. Thanks Danny!
6/12/07
WeAreChange.org presents a brand-new video documentary produced this past week!!! It's so new, that I haven't even watched it yet! Check it out!
6/10/07
Supporter Casey Lee Cobb from OpenYourMindsEye.com puts out a new short film that asks these violent, murderous agents used as cannon-fodder by the new world order some serious questions. Will the cowards ever stop enforcing a non-existent law by committing acts of aggression and violence?
06/07/07
Ed is interviewed by a local news station shortly after federal agents and state and local troopers show up on his property. You can hear their helicopter in the background. Ed stresses that it doesn't matter what they do -- it only matters how he responds, as a lawful man.
06/07/07
Ed and Elaine support, Danny Riley from New Jersey, is attacked by federal and state agents in gilly suits. He is first fired upon and hears two shots whiz past his head. Then he is shocked with a taser and tackled onto the ground, kidnapped, drug through the woods, taken to various locations and interrogated, strip-searched, and finally release (indeed, walking a dog with a cup of coffee is not a crime). He's threatened into talking with many many lies.
06/07/07
U.S. Marshall Steve Monier tells more truth than lies this time, and admits multiple times that they grabbed Danny because he discovered them, possibly foiling their plot to attack and kill Ed & Elaine! Know your enemies: this guy is just a spokesperson for the higher-ups. He takes his orders and will probably take the fall if things go back. It is corrupt, cowardice pigs like this guy that give the new world order and other evil movements their strength. These guys are the "useful idiots" and the "cannon-fodder" for tyrants. When will they learn?
MakeTheStand.com -- The Official Website of Ed & Elaine Brown: Users Journal
I had court again today -- it's probably my 20th time there in my life. I've been there so many times I can't count. Nothing ever happens really -- it's always delayed to another date. For those who don't know me (most of you I would assume), let me give you a brief background on my legal difficulties. When you get to the end, you can see how they've now tampered with evidence in my felony case.
First off, I'm 21 years old and I've never been convicted of anything but a traffic offense. I've been arrested 3 times (all in the last year and a half). My first arrest was on my college campus -- Rock Valley College in Rockford, Illinois. I had been wearing a pro-gun jacket and an empty holster or gun carrying case on campus for about 2 weeks. I was running ICarry (www.ICarry.org) at the time -- so I was heavily involved in gun rights in Illinois. I wore the jacket (that said ICarry) and the empty holster/case in order to raise awareness of Illinois' PATHETIC SITUATION when it comes to outlawing self-defense and encouraging criminals to commit violent acts against disarmed victims. This went very well, as I had a number of students come up to me and start engaging conversations on the subject of concealed carry, gun rights, self-defense, and the "law." All was well :)
During my second or third week of wearing this literally every day to school (I didn't go to school a single time without wearing it), I decided to talk to school administration about their policy against guns on campus. I wanted to warn them how dangerous it is to setup a "Gun Free Zone" where violent criminals could easily victimize lots of people without resistance. So I go in to make an appointment with the college president, and I am referred to take the matter up with a lower department first before going directly to the college pres. So I go to the public safety office (also the police station) and ask to speak with someone there. I'm still wearing my jacket and empty holster of course. I get there, wait for someone, and finally a cop shows up, I introduce myself, and we begin talking. Then another cop shows up, and I'm sandwiched between the two cops. They unlawfully search me without warrant or probable cause, see that I'm unarmed completely, and we continue talking. We take the discussion into another room, because the lobby was small as hell, and continue. The discussion moves to "why are you here, and how did you get here" type of deal -- which was straight-forward, but the officer wanted me to repeat it many times. He then told me to fill out a statement and sign it, which I declined since there was no reason for it, since I had done no wrong, and since I didn't know the legal implications.
So it comes time for my next class, which I had a test in, and I say I've gotta leave. The officer says, "you're not going anywhere -- we might be placing you under arrest." Indeed, they had been on the phone with the state attorney, with the college president, with the woman from whom I asked for the appointment with the pres, and god knows who else. They fabricated a "case" against me with the woman, and charged me with DISORDERLY CONDUCT because I supposedly knowingly alarmed this woman. What a crock of shit -- I've never alarmed anyone in my life. I had been on campus for those two weeks, and no one had reported me, no one had complained, no one had asked me to take of what I was wearing, none of my teachers said anything, etc. I was involved in symbolic and free PURE SPEECH on a college campus. But, since it was pro-gun, and Illinois is anti-gun and colleges are anti-gun, and the college people are anti-gun, I'm arrested and charged with a crime despite 1st Amendment guarantees!!!! My first arrest ever in my life! The charge was later dropped by the state attorney, after like 2 months. After 5 months, I got my jacket and empty case back (they were held as evidence). I've since sued their asses for all of this bullshit -- and believe me there is A LOT more bullshit involved. You got the short story.
My second arrest was in May last year. I was LAWFULLY transporting a firearm in the State of Illinois (even according to State of Illinois corporate laws!!!). The firearm was unloaded, and enclosed in a case (or other container, whatever you choose to call it) according to the law! I have a valid FOID (Firearms Owner Identification Card) as is required to merely own or possess a gun! I was 100% lawful -- I had studied the fricken law for 2 years and knew everything about it, all the cases, etc. But that's not good enough. I was first accosted by private security in a shopping mall (after being there 3+ hours shopping with girlfriend for mothers day gifts, eating at food court, etc). We were actually on our way out and looking for the damn entrance we came in. Once again, no one complained or anything. We just walked by security guards who saw my case and didn't like how it looked so they followed us. They stopped us 50ft or so after we passed them, and started questioning me about it. They asked if they could search, to which I said "No!" They said "why not" and I said "it's private." So they grabbed me and searched me anyways, found my unloaded gun, handcuffed me (what the heck are private security thugs doing with handcuffs to begin with?). They took me to the cops, and locked me in a small room for 2-3 hours. Then they harassed, man-handled, and searched my girlfriend FOR NO REASON.
The cops got in a circle and looked at my "fanny-pack letter" which is a letter with the actual Illinois Compiled Statutes -- the law -- designed to inform officers of the law in order to avoid arrest, etc when lawfully carrying an unloaded firearm. The letter also can be used as evidence to dispute a claim by officers that they're acting on "good faith" of the law since the letter is used to show them exactly what the law says! So it was another big thing, and I was taken to county jail, strip-searched, and all of that bullshit. I got out after midnight. So, the law, the legislative debate on the law, and all of the court cases (this has gone to court before like 6-7 times or more) WHICH WE'VE WON 100%, are still not enough in Illinois. They arrest people just to scare others away from carrying a gun for personal protection -- since your protection is supposed to be left up to the state, and self-defense is outlawed! They charged me with a class A misdemeanor at first, and then later retracted that and upped it to a felony by getting a grand jury indictment (rubber-stamping)!!! So I've been charged with a felony the last year.
Nearly 12 months at it still hasn't been thrown the hell out of court. This case is frivolous to say the least -- it's completely without merit. I am furthermore a man who, in my adult life, has never threatened, harmed, defrauded, cheated, stolen from, or done anything else to anyone that could be considered a crime! Sure I did some stupid shit when I was younger, back in high school, but I outgrew that. I grew into a moral ma, and don't believe in coercing or violating the rights of others in any way! I simply am incapable of doing such a thing! I'm not 100% perfect, as I'm probably not as responsible as I should be -- I'm still living with my parents (although I want to move to New Hampshire as soon as possible -- so I'm hoping very much that these bullshit charges will be behind me this month (May) or early June at the latest). But despite my shortcomings -- which we all have -- I will not do something I know is wrong -- I would never victimize another by doing anything to anyone. Yet I am charged with a felony right now. I have threatened or hurt no one -- there is no victim -- yet I'm completely screwed in the court system now. I can't leave the state without permission, I can't buy a gun from an FFL dealer, nothing.
The judge in my case has been very fair and understanding so far. He comes across as a very level-headed guy, and as easy-going as a judge could ever be. He deals with some real winner cases all day long, and yet I've never seen him lose his cool or anything. He's extremely even-tempered. He also seems fair, and to what degree it's possible to tell from his position on the bench (hard to judge a judge unless you watch a lot of them often), he seems like a caring man. So he's thoughtful, understanding, and possibly even caring. I think one would be very hard-pressed to find a better judge. He's let me go out of state for vacation to Florida, a trip to New Hampshire, and just yesterday (May 2, 2007), gave me permission to go to D.C. later this month. The state has objected to every request I've made to leave the state -- since I'm such a threatening accused-felon -- and yet the judge has allowed it every time over the state's objection -- even doing so with a smile/laugh because (I'm assuming) he knew how absurd the state attorney was being. The judge has been great and has ruled for us on everything else too -- including yesterday when I requested to no longer have representation, because I don't like lawyers or the legal system, don't believe in being "represented" since I'm not a juivenile, mentally-incompetent, or ignorant. He was really cool about that as well.
We're just getting to the heart of the issue, though. We're beginning to argue my motions to dismiss the case. The first motion to dismiss basically says there is no crime charged, since I was in accordance with the law, doing exactly what the law says. It's very straight-forward. It's been decided in APPELLATE court even. The appellate court decision has the legislative debate from before they even passed the law allowing people to carry like this -- and the legislative debate shows they wanted people to be able to carry on the street as long as the gun is unloaded and in a container, by the holder of a valid FOID card. I need to make a website with all of this stuff. Anyhow, so we haven't completely argued the motions yet. My lawyer started arguing them last time, but we ran out of time and the judge wanted to SEE the evidence and my case before we continued discussing it (very sensible and reasonable). So this time, they brought out the evidence, and we were to continue arguing the motion. Because I decided to not have representation anymore, and henceforth appear in court in my proper person (in propria persona), we consumed a large amount of time for my lawyer to withdraw from the case, and the judge to make sure I knew what the heck I was doing with this decision. He made sure I understood the consequences, and even how impossible it is to win. He told me something like, "there have been a lot of pro se defendants, and they're all in jail now." He said they never win in trial. I said I understand and accept it.
I just wanted to be able to speak. I KNOW THE LAW. I studied it full-time and ran an organization designed to change the law and also get the government to respect its own law. I just wanted to show the judge this. I really believe that if I get the chance to argue this motion to dismiss, it HAS TO BE DISMISSED. I don't see how the argument could not be conclusive in that I didn't break the law. I don't know how the judge could rule any other way, unless he's taking orders from above (as this is an important political case AND an important legal precedent case), is worried about his career, or simply doesn't have the courage to take responsibility for ruling according to the law, and would rather send it off to a jury to decide. So this is where it sits now. I want to go in there next time, argue my motion, give him all of the paperwork I've prepared (with page numbers, line numbers, highlights, etc). It's very ordered, very logical, and very good. This case is open and shut -- it's sooo damn easy!
Oh, I guess I forgot to mention what happened today. So they brought out the evidence for us to examine. My case, my lawful gun case, was TORN OPEN. It was sewn by a professional tailor in town -- a nice old gentleman whom I paid $20 for the work. The fabric he had sewn was TORN/RIPPED OPEN. The state attorney is making their case entirely on the grounds that my gun case was not a legal/lawful container. SOMEHOW, PERHAPS BY THE GOD OF CONVENIENCE AND COINCIDENCE, THE EVIDENCE WAS NICELY TORN APART IN A WAY THAT IT COULD BE ARGUED THAT IT'S NOT A LEGAL GUN CASE. It was never torn when I owned or possessed it. It wasn't torn when they took it away from me and arrested me. But now it's torn. How could that be? I don't think it takes much imagination to know what the hell happened! Your public servants are trying to turn a 21 year old model citizen of freedom into a FELON and are doing whatever they can do to do it!
So, I woke up at like quarter to 5 AM. I couldn't sleep. I was thinking of all this stuff. So I came on here and posted it. Pretty fucked up situation I'm in, isn't it? Pardon the language. I have no idea what will happen next. Now the prosecutor is trying to bring in an "expert witness" to testify that my case isn't legal. This is strictly a matter of law -- a matter of what the black and white text says -- and she wants to bring in some bozo? It's going to be a cop or something and he's going to say, "nope, taht's not a legal case." UHHHH COME ON. I actually know the motherfucker who WROTE the law quite literally. I know the legal draftsman for this law! He knows all the lawmakers. They want an expert witness, I'll bring him! I don't want any witnesses, I want the judge to decide according to what the laws says, and according to what the appellate court has said the law means! It's simple simple simple. My whole family is freaking out too because of everything, and especially now that I don't want a lawyer. They want me to bring my lawyer back in, which I think I will have to do if this thing is going to go to trial. I want it dismissed and I want to get on with my life now. But if the judge isn't going to throw it out, and I have to go to trial, I don't think I could defend myself properly in front of a jury. They could do all sorts of stuff, and I'd have a very hard time with it.
In the end, it's all a big game. These courts are legal anyways, the law isn't really the law -- just corporate policies. I'm not a corporation or under that shit. I'm simply a good man -- a good, FREE man on the land. I'm flesh and blood. I'm a man. I've done nothing to anyone. Why are they doing this? Why are they making it so my mom can't sleep or eat? Why are they making my dad get literally sick to his stomach. This shit's affecting me too, as much as any. This shit is affecting my relationship with my girlfriend and my family. This shit is huge. Do these people even realize it? They're so fucked in their heads with all of the conditioning and brainwashing they've faced their whole lives. I feel sorry for them, but how sorry can I feel? To what extent? They can see I'm a good man, that I've done no wrong. Yet they continue to do this? I don't know.
So I go back to court May 16th, and I hope the judge let's me argue my case finally, and decides fairly according to what the law says. I'm not even whipping out any supreme law here -- no theories, nothing. I'm showing the actual bullshit corporate law that they're charging me with. I'm showing that the charges against me are not a crime according to that statute! This is such a load of crap.
Comments Be careful Shaun, they haven't built all those jails to leave them empty. Of course a convicted felon can't vote.
You know the average American sitting out there watching the tube would never believe this is happening. Even if they learned it was, they have been so corrupted, they would look the otherway and not raise a finger to help you. They don't want to get involved and will tell you so right to your face.
Maybe this Judge admires your spunk in protecting our rights and that is what makes him chuckle and allow you to go out of state. However be aware that judges too are part of the system. If push comes to shove, he could throw you under the bus.
Sean, that is what "the judicial system" wants. The more they can criminalize people the better off the Dun and Bradstreet Corporation is.........This courld be why your parents are so upset about. The courts are about business and making money. Judges have tremendous power in their courtrooms........it is not about truth or justice. The will also come down on the side of the cops.........it is the cops who bring them the "criminals" to keep the whole system going.
I am sure you know all of this. Sometimes it is a good thing to operate undergrown to change things. However, I do admire your stand. I can see that you could be a leader of your generation in turning your country around.
Take good care of yourself....Maid Marion
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