Newsletter Text V706

Getting online has gotten increasingly difficult and expensive last four months. Worse, access is outside since most establishments are closed or limited to drive-thru operations. Lap tops are not designed to be used in such an environment. Extremely difficult to see the screen. Time for the readership to step up and provide assistance. TC 7-24-20

In response to the pandemic, government quickly imposed draconian restrictions making access to public wifi exceptionally difficult. Consequently, editions of this publication will be briefer and posted as regularly as possible until circumstances change. TC 3-20-20

Got guts? Tired of being lied to? Like an alternative source of information truly independent and free of government propaganda? Want this publication to continue? Send a donation to P.O. Box 151, Buchanan Dam, Tx. 78609.

Brother dearest. ... Been awhile, hasn't it, Bro? A little antsy? Wondering when the next shoe is about to fall, that is, when you'll be fully exposed for the thieving son of a bitch you truly are? Patience. All in good time, good buddy. When I'm damned good and ready. Timing just right. After all, a son of a bitch who's stolen his father's estate needs to be fully exposed publicly for whom and what he is, don't you think? Indeed, a public service for your neighbors, professional associates, family, and friends, etc..

Conveniently, forget? Others need to protect themselves against a fraud who masquerades as both a teacher and a counselor, no? -- How the hell did you ever pass an MMPI some forty years ago to get hired? You're not stable. Have not been. ... Must have really been pissed off at the old man to rip off an estate, no? How much did you steal while he was alive and supposedly under your care?

How much did you bribe law enforcement to ignore a complaint I filed with them years before the old man died? How much did you bribe the prosecutor to ignore a complaint filed with her several years ago? How much? Use the old man's money to bribe the bitch? Her cohorts? Your law enforcement shysters? While there may indeed be no justice from a corrupt system, fortunately, I do have a way to publicly expose you for the goddamned thieving son of a bitch you truly are.

... Unlike our grandmother who scrubbed floors on her hands and knees during the Depression for peanuts, only to have what little she had stolen by her son, our uncle, another goddamned thieving son of a bitch just like you. Remember how, surprise, surprise, there was no life insurance when our grandfather died? Despite the fact our grandmother gave her thieving bastard son premium money year after goddamned year? Only, as the thieving son of a bitch he truly was, to have pocketed it. Again, just like you.

Remember when he booted her out of the house she had bought him when he had had enough of her? -- Despite the fact he had lied and promised she could stay the rest of her life? She had to climb two flights of stairs on an ulcerated leg to get to a bathroom he had never built for her at ground level as falsely promised. Nothing ever happened to the thieving son of a bitch as far as justice was concerned. Worse, he was never exposed publicly for the thieving son of a bitch he truly was.

Will be different for you, Bro. While you've bought off authorities, you will be publicly exposed. In great detail. In good time. When I'm damned good and ready. When exposure will do the maximum figurative damage to your goddamned sordid reputation. -- Just the truth, brother dearest, however. Just the truth.

Irony of ironies? When the thieving son of a bitch died, and our mother was finally informed he had passed, she cried for her brother, -- the bastard thief who stole from her mother. Sad, isn't it? Too bad she's not still alive to see you publicly exposed for the goddamned thieving son of a bitch you, yourself, truly are. As was he. Not in a court of law you've bought off, however. Right here.

In good time. Again, when I'm damned good and ready. Employing the very same tactics used against Amanda Wright of Wells Fargo. -- On steroids, however, since all dirty family laundry will be aired. All of it. No threat. A promise. Emails sent to your neighbors, friends, professional associates, businesses you deal with. Although an enormous amount of work, all doable courtesy of the Internet. Despite being some 1,800 miles away. -- Small world, isn't it, Bro? Enjoy the stolen loot, you son of a bitch. Forget? It's all you have.

Brother dearest. Save all the check stubs from the old man's accounts? Fraudulently sign any of them yourself? Think this material couldn't be obtained from the banks either through discovery or a criminal investigation? Still own the house on Condict Rd.? Any other properties besides this one and the old man's you stole with the help of your shyster bastard? Be interesting to see how far your assets extend and where. Think all that information isn't accessible? That I won't determinedly obtain it?

That not only an extensive Internet search will be conducted that will likely take months to complete? But an extensive background check as well? Think the Catholic high school you attended shouldn't be informed of the thievery of one of its graduates? Think the clerics there would be appalled at their failure to teach you right from wrong? How about both universities? Think neighbors in the old man's neighborhood won't be informed of your deception? Think they don't have a right to know?

Ever follow the advice of Dr. Bert Wiser, psychological statistics professor at MSU? That is, get treatment for your achingly debilitating instability? Is that why you wound up looting the old man? Or, is it simply a convenient excuse you'll use to defend the indefensible? Think this will end any time soon? That is, public exposure of you as a thieving son of a bitch? We're just getting started, Bro. Just getting started.

Don't like it? Tough shit. Sue me you thieving son of a bitch. Would use discovery to learn and post on this website all there is to know about you, your activities, predilections, business 'deals,' as well as all your financial transactions, etc.. All of it. Would certainly avoid the expense of an extensive background check on you, thieving brother dearest.

Even if you were successful in court, there is nothing for you to take, this remains, as well, a homesteading state where minimal assets are protected anyway. This site is hosted in an overseas country that doesn't particularly like government intrusion, remains not prone to cooperate. Besides, can always upload to another webhost in still yet another country. The possibilities are endless, Bro. Just takes willingness, effort, unshakable determination.

Even if I lost it all would be more than worth it to expose you for the goddamned thieving son of a bitch you truly are. Even if you bribed a goddamned nazi 'judge' to remove posted material, would not cooperate and be more than willing to rot in jail. Would certainly keep reposting it all no matter the cost and/or personal consequences every time it was taken down. Forget, you thieving son of a bitch? I never ever give up.

Since all I seek is your exposure for the thief you truly are, would all be worth it. For the sake of principle. All the work, financial cost, as well as the time I am about to dedicate to this effort, you deceptive, unstable, sick, thieving son of a bitch. Unlike you, I live on principle and have absolutely nothing to lose. You do. Will certainly take great pleasure and satisfaction in doing all I can to publicly expose you for whom and what you are.

To say nothing of placing enormous pressure on prosecutors you and your equally corrupt shyster son of a bitch apparently bribed. Don't like it? Again, tough shit. Chew harder. The public needs to know to protect itself. From you and your shyster bastard. People who live and travel in your circles as well. Including his. As a thief, you and he can't be trusted by anyone. You'll determinedly f--k them.

More than willing to provide this truly public service. People certainly need to know whom and what you are. What you have sadly become. You certainly weren't brought up to be a thieving son of a bitch. What happened? Where did you lose yourself, Bro? -- Never mind. ... Truly doesn't matter. Only your exposure.

Hey, Bro? Remember me? How soon they conveniently forget. ... Half asleep? -- Out to lunch? ... In your own perverse little world? That of a criminal? Wake up. Conveniently, gutlessly forget? Insanely believe you're someway, somehow off the hook? Think again. We're not done. You remain a thief who will be exposed for whom and what your are. What you certainly have become. No question about that. Patience, you thieving son of a bitch. Exposure is coming. Promise.

Think I don't have time? Truly believe the ongoing Presidential fiasco ends no matter who wins? The murderous decay in law enforcement gets resolved any time soon? Criminal Wells Fargo employees from local Kingsland bank manager Amanda S. Wright right up to and including CEO John Stumpf get prosecuted in the near future despite egregious criminal activity? Wouldn't hold my breath, would you?

Think I don't have time to handle all this and your public exposure for the estate-stealing criminal son of a bitch you've truly become? How could you steal from the old bastard, you incredibly sad sack of shit? Certainly weren't brought up to be a thief. What happened to you? Where'd you lose yourself?

No question, 2017 will be a most remarkable, defining year for you, Bro. Public exposure for the thieving piece of shit you've sadly become. It's on the way. Promise. Hope you sue. Nothing for you to take. Tough, isn't it? Certainly, makes me judgment proof. Will certainly, as well, take advantage of discovery. Publish every detail I can get my hands on. No matter the consequences. Only consideration? Prime directive? Your exposure for whom and what you are.

Readers? This not-so-brotherly piece of shit stole from our father. Manipulated the old man to line his pockets. Just like our uncle on my mother's side of the family did to my grandmother. Runs in the family. Our family. ... Right, Bro? This game now gets played my way, -- not yours, you son of a bitch. That is, no more U.S. Mail tag.

Anything sent by mail will be refused, returned unopened. Want contact? Email. libertyinperil@riseup.net. Quick. Easy. Better yet? A digital record. Permanent. Easily accessible. Easily uploaded to this site when and if it becomes necessary. The shyster bastard you hired to steal the estate shouldn't expect escape, either, from public exposure as the thieving piece of shit he, like you, truly both are. Unscrupulous thieves.

Sincerely hope that piece of crap sues as well. Nothing to take. Discovery again would be published no matter the personal cost. Nothing quite like public exposure, is there? Especially, when it is nothing but the truth and there is absolutely nothing to lose exposing two pieces of criminal shit for whom and what they are. Two pieces of gutless human excrement who looted an old man. ... Right, Bro?

There is no better disinfectant than sunlight, readers. Glaring sunlight. Dazzling brilliance. Amazing how the roaches run for cover. Equally pointedly, how vermin on two legs manage to so easily prey on the elderly courtesy of the out of control fascist police-state we now live in. While there'll never be any justice vis a vis this theft, there will be exposure to the brilliant light of day for both criminal perpetrators. Count on it, you not-so-brotherly criminal son of a bitch.

Hey, Bro? Hear of Old Sturbridge Village? Haven't? ... Not lying, are you, you thieving son of a bitch? You and your long-term companion EC conspire, bequeath some of the old man's loot to this museum? An achingly stingy gift of $250-$499, -- considering the size of the estate? The CEO and Board have any idea you stole it? Think they'd care? -- Just getting started, dearest, dearest Bro. ... Delusionally believe I haven't more than enough time, resources, determination to expose you for the thieving piece of crap you truly are? ... Under $500 back in 2013? Remarkably parsimonious with stolen money aren't you? What does it feel like to have gutlessly ripped off an incompetent old man? -- Dear old Dad. Certainly, look forward to digging much deeper into how you and your shyster lawyer managed to bamboozle and loot the old bastard. Back in the day, certainly wouldn't have fallen for your bullshit. Would have kicked your worthless, thieving ass out the door. Intend to expose it to the light of day. Indeed, a public service. Seatbelts on, you thieving son of a bitch. Tally ho!

... Brief aside, dear readers, for a most exceptional reason. -- Although infrequent, pressing ongoing personal business must come first on rare occasion. Hope you agree, moreover, find it entertaining, -- as this writer did crafting what follows. Principle trumps all. Remains prime mover, prime directive no matter what.

This pressing issue involves a family thief. A heartless predator preying on the elderly who must be held accountable, exposed to the light of day. Especially, since authorities failed to do their job. The following is part of that continuing effort to expose this piece of shit for whom and what he is:

Hey, Bro? Guess what? Me, again. Most determined pain in the ass. Miss me? An inconvenient, nagging hemorrhoid that simply won't go away no matter what. -- A pile with a smile that takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'.

... Delusionally think this most persistent nemesis of yours conveniently disappeared to parts unknown, vanished in thin air? To give a turd a break? Wake up. Not a chance, you thieving son of a bitch. ... When you insanely believe this writer's gone and you're finally in the clear, guess what, here I am, right in your face.

Despite what's going on across our formerly great country, always have more than enough time for personal business. That is, exposing you, Bro, to the glaring light of day. A pathetically greedy predator. Your target, who else, the elderly. Most defenseless, vulnerable, an easy fleece. -- Thought you'd steal from the surly old curmudgeon with impunity, no consequences?

Successfully escape accountability? Avoid detection, all responsibility? Blatant theft of an old man's estate? A little help from a bought and paid for hopelessly greedy unprincipled shyster? Supposed cake walk due to 1800 miles separation? No one to hold you accountable? Your feet to the fire? What could you possibly been thinking?

You've read this publication before. Know precisely who and what I am, what I do. Never give up. Never say die. Ignore all obstacles. Know full well Liberty In Peril modus operandi remains as relentlessly ferocious, blindingly intense as ever.

No punches pulled. No slack. No personal consideration. Certainly, not for a gutless son of a bitch, no more than a thieving predator. Looted target, guess who, dear old dad. Pitiful. Delusionally believe you had the booty coming? An entitlement? For having had to put up with his shit all those years? Wake up.

Hear of Historic Deerfield? Of course, you have, you lying son of a bitch. Forget? You're one of their not-so-generous 'benefactors.' ... With all the money stolen from our father's estate, only bequeath them a piss poor $40 bucks?

Unbelievable. An achingly tight, cheap, thieving, worthless piece of duplicitous crap. ... Write-off? Negligible. ... Feather in the cap? How? Delusionally believe your treachery would never see the light of day? What planet do you live on?

Board of Trustees Chair Anne K. Groves know full well you looted the estate? How about President Philip Zea? Think both don't have a right to know? How about Anne Lanning, Vice President For Museum Affairs? To say nothing of Susan Martinelli, Vice President For Business Affairs?

These officials are entitled to know precisely whom they're doing business with. A thief. Gutless phony. Blow-hard fraud. Hoity-toity dandy. Worse? An unprincipled thief who stole from his father. ... Glaring light of day sucks, doesn't it, Bro? No escaping the unvarnished truth, this most bitter reality. Not a chance.

Saddest of all? Back in the day, Hell would have frozen over before anyone would have have been able to rip off the craggy old bastard. Remember quite well how intent, determined he was not to be fleeced late in life by a sick son of a bitch like you.

A leech. Ironic, isn't it? Gutless rip off of an old man who couldn't adequately handle his affairs any longer. How do you sleep nights?

Fraud runs in the family, clearly. History repeating itself. Right in the footsteps of our grandmother's son, who callously ripped off his mother decades ago. Again, another achingly pathetic piece of human excrement. Just like you. Intend to lay it bare. Methodically. Painstakingly. In great detail. Living, breathing color.

For all to see. A public service. Exposure of the criminal piece of human excrement you truly are. For sustained public review. A goddamned thief. Pissed? Chagrined? Nonplused? Tough shit. Sue. Would certainly immediately post all discovery no matter the consequences.

All snail mail will be returned unopened. No phone tag. Got something to say? Email. Say it right here. On this website. In public. For the world to see. Will be posted in its entirety. No editing. Unlike you, this writer doesn't lie, cheat, steal. Honors his word. Intend to expose you precisely for whom and what you are.

Duplicitous predator who preyed on his own father. Blinding exposure to benefit the community. Have nothing to lose providing this public service, but you do. No better disinfectant than sunshine.

.. Think the old bastard not spinning in his grave? -- Old lady not doing the same? One thing for certain. Neither brought you up to be a goddamned thief. Yet, here we are. ... Until next time, Tally Ho!

... Hey, Sheriff? Is it true Llano County Attorney Becky Lange has advised you to stay out of the "Berardi Property Rights Denial-Damage To Pace Arrow-Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764" fiasco? That right, Bill? Isn't that obstruction of justice? Also true your deputies have advised the Bolens to accept the status quo and not force the no-trespassing issue with Greene? If so, isn't that also obstruction and official oppression? When will you do your job, Bill? As an elected official, you answer to the public, forget? -- No honor? ... No honor at all? If the foregoing allegations are indeed true, didn't you swear an oath to uphold the law and Constitution? Why aren't you doing so? No guts?

Your deputy has been accused of abusing authority. What action have you taken other than ignore the complaint? Why aren't both Rodriguez and the County Attorney under criminal investigation? The County Attorney appears to be obstructing justice, accepting the word of Greene in lieu of two surveyor companies who strongly assert otherwise. Both the County Attorney and District Attorney have ignored complaints. Par for the course in Llano County, isn't it? Failed to do their jobs. No surprise there, right, Bill? Both receiving 'special consideration' up to and/or including a bribe from Greene? Regardless, clearly, no justice in Nazi Llano County. Bottom line? Desperate need for an outside criminal investigation. Conveniently, forget? This County is ruled by men, certainly not rule of law and the United States Constitution.

Precisely, why there is desperate need for a new federal agency whose sole function would be to investigate, arrest, charge, and prosecute criminal law enforcement, prosecutors, and judges in a special court whose only mandate would be to adjudicate such cases. Total independence. Until that happens, the criminal bastards who falsely believe they run and own this hell hole County will continue to do as they please.

Some salient quotes occurring later on in this edition vis a vis unfinished business County officials continue to ignore:

... "No justice. Precisely, why there is desperate need for a new federal agency whose sole function would be to investigate, arrest, charge, and prosecute corrupt, abusive, criminal officers, prosecutors, and judges in a special court that would adjudicate only these cases. Total independence. The only way to rein in these criminals, particularly the murderers in blue.

Sadly, the achingly clueless bastards in law enforcement don't need a legitimate reason to kill. Enjoy carte blanche to murder on the job. Nearly always, with impunity. ... Right, Sheriff? Sue the living shit out of the jackbooted motherf--kers, the department, and the city. Any officer engaged in, or threatening this kind of unnecessary violence needs to be criminally prosecuted. Not protected and coddled. Not put on paid leave, -- no more than a paid vacation. Not sent home without pay to catch up on his beauty sleep.

Firing is egregiously insufficient. How can the law enforcement community be trusted? No foreign power, no terrorist organization, not even the criminal element presents a greater threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties than the criminal jackbooted bastards in law enforcement. ... Right, Sheriff? Madam County Attorney? "Sonny Boy?"

These are extremely dangerous times for our formerly great country. ... Hear the rumble? An unwanted dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looming. -- As our legislators and other government officials figuratively 'fiddle while Rome burns.'

Not good enough. Nowhere near. Short of an unwanted dreaded second American revolution, only one way for these atrocities to end. Again, time for a new federal agency whose sole function would be to investigate, arrest, charge, prosecute corrupt, abusive, criminal officers, prosecutors, and judges in a special court whose sole function would be to adjudicate such cases. Total independence.

Local and state authorities are egregiously incapable of handling these cases. Tend to protect their own. ... Right, Sheriff? Goes with the territory, doesn't it, Bill? Precisely, why there is no faith or trust in your criminal jackbooted bastards. Local authorities here in Nazi Llano County have their heads figuratively, securely lodged so far up their clueless ass their eyeballs are turning inside out. Protect and coddle your clueless, out of control officers. Imagine that.

Unadulterated, blatant ongoing horse shit. ... Right, Bill? F--k these jackbooted bastards. Aren't worth a crap. Continually abrogate their oaths of office to protect and defend the United States Constitution. ... Right, Sheriff? Includes not only deputies, but the brass as well. No principles. No honor. Lying, conniving, abusive, murderous jackbooted thieving thugs. The American Civil Liberties Union needs to step up and represent the victims of abusive law enforcement.

To say nothing of innocent civilians all across our formerly great country who are victimized by abusive police. Need far better representation than a public defender. Forget? It's how the bastards in government line government coffers. All too often, looting the innocent. Those on the bottom of the food chain. ... Right, Sheriff?

No justice. The American Way. Nazi America. When is this shit finally going to end? All of it. Wake up, Sheriff. Again, where is dashcam video of the killing of Jeffrey Gray Wise, 52, of Austin by DPS and the Llano County Sheriff's Office? Two hundred forty-eight weeks, now. A goddamned disgrace.

Why are you still sitting on this information? What are you hiding, Sheriff? What is the identity of the officers who killed Wise? Too gutless to release this information to the public that pays your salary and that of your goons? Reportedly, there were three officers involved in the shooting. Who the hell are they?

When will the goddamned 'law' 'enforcement' community finally stop making excuses for engaging in outrageous criminal activity including blatant murder, violent assault, sexual assault, theft, drug trafficking, etc.? List can go on and on. Protecting its own no matter what it does or doesn't do? Convenient, isn't it, Sheriff? Again, no foreign power, no terrorist organization, not even the criminal element presents a greater threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties than all branches and levels of government, -- including law enforcement.

Corruption within law enforcement remains an existential threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties. So what else is new? ... Right, Bill? Same old duplicitous, aggressively stupid shit occurs right here in Nazi Llano County. ... Doesn't it, Sheriff?

Think it'll change any time soon? Don't hold your breath, readers. Not how things work in Nazi America, right, Sheriff? Highly reminiscent of how your goons operate though, isn't it, Bill? Forget? 'Stupid is as stupid does.' F--ked up is f--ked up no matter where, no matter how. Problem throughout all law enforcement.

Including right here in Nazi Llano County, right, Sheriff? Too many officers clearly have their heads securely lodged where the sun seldom shines. Egregious insanity continues to be perpetrated by the criminal jackbooted bastards in blue. Ongoing issue. All over our formerly great country.

Not just in Dallas as in the Guyger case, but all over the nation. No end to it. Surprised? Why? In today's increasingly national socialist climate anything goes, right, Bill? Live in a de facto fascist police-state, quickly transitioning to the Trump nazi's Fourth Reich. Certainly, a problem here in Nazi Llano County, isn't it, Sheriff? Your goons, however, aren't held accountable when they egregiously f--k up. Ever.

Precisely why you refuse to release information on your deputies to the long-suffering public? That is, employment history, criminal background, results of drug testing, etc.. ... Got to protect your criminal jackbooted thugs preying on the citizenry with virtual impunity, right, sir?

Equally pointedly, why hasn't Llano County Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764 been held criminally accountable for egregious abuse of power involving denial of property rights to a Kingsland property owner? To say nothing of consequent resultant physical damage done to a motor home on that property. Why are you protecting this clueless son of a bitch, Sheriff?

Why hasn't he been prosecuted for official oppression? Where is financial compensation for the damage this jackbooted piece of human excrement is responsible for? Ferociously pointedly, why are the District Attorney and the County Attorney continuing to protect this jackbooted piece of shit? He and others like him present an exigent threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.

Equally to the point, why are your jackbooted pieces of human excrement refusing to enforce Berardi's property rights? Your goons have failed to take action against Theresa Ahrens when she tore down a no trespassing sign and barrier on Berardi's property. Have you, your goons, and/or Madam County Attorney been bribed by Johnny Greene?

Ahrens frequently drives all the way through Berardi's property. Coup de grace? When Berardi complained to Llano County Deputy Idle about the trespassing, the officer's response was insane. Said the Sheriff told him to tell Berardi since Ahrens believes she owns his property she can't be charged with trespassing. Perfect Catch-22, right, Sheriff? You're not fit for office, Bill. Bribed by Johnny Greene?

Why is Theresa Ahrens allowed by your goons to dictate what vehicles can and cannot be parked on Berardi's property? Ahrens claims she has proof the property belongs to her where the vehicle was parked. Has failed to produce it. Surveyors say otherwise. Back up Berardi. Yet, your jackbooted bastards refuse to enforce Berardi's property rights. Why? Somebody lining somebody's pockets, Sheriff?

Ms. Ahrens micro-mini portable 'house' is parked on an unused unmarked Llano County road. Imagine that. Madam County Attorney well-aware. Has done nothing. Shit squat. Egregiously ignored her oath of office. Someone bribing you, Becky? Lining your pockets, Counselor? Paying you not to sell the unused unmarked County road to Berardi? Doesn't the County want and need the sale money, to say nothing of the resultant tax income?

No question, County and State agencies remain determinedly, concertedly, achingly incapable of criminal investigation of their own. Precisely, why a new federal agency desperately needs to be created whose sole function would be to investigate, arrest, charge, prosecute corrupt, abusive, criminal officers, prosecutors, and judges in a special court whose sole function would be to adjudicate only such cases. Total independence. Certainly, go a long, long way to cleaning up this cess pool County. Rein in the outrageously corrupt, abusive, achingly inept, self-serving assholes who run and own this hell hole.

Sheriff, you falsely claim the Kingsland County Commissioner has the authority to resolve this ongoing property rights issue. Clearly, doesn't. You, Madam County Attorney, and "Sonny Boy" are certainly an egregious impediment, continue to determinedly stonewall. Someone's pockets are being lined. Again, where's financial compensation for the damage Llano County Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764 is directly responsible for to the Pace Arrow? Why hasn't he been prosecuted for this damage, to say nothing of infringement of Berardi's property rights? -- Just getting started, Sheriff. Far more to come.

-- You're not doing your jobs, Sheriff. You've got a loose vicious dog problem in Kingsland, Bill. When will you and the troops finally do something about this ongoing issue? Certainly, a recurring problem on Skyline, particularly on occasion at the intersection of Odessa. Pedestrians, runners, and cyclists are at risk. Too busy lining County coffers with bogus tickets?"

Wiley B. "Sonny" McAfee
District Attorney
33rd and 424th Judicial Districts
Llano, TX 78643

Re: Berardi Property Rights Denial-Damage To Pace Arrow-Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764

The enclosed emails were sent to the Llano County Attorney and Sheriff, respectively, vis a vis the above matter. Remain unanswered. The County Attorney appears to be protecting and defending the deputy at behest of Kingsland property owner Johnny Greene. May have received some consideration from Greene up to and including a bribe. Are the County Attorney, Greene, and the Deputy under criminal investigation? If not, why not?

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril
Formerly,
The Llano Ledger
www.libertyinperil.com
P.O. Box 151
Buchanan Dam, Texas 78609

Rebecca Lange, Llano County Attorney
Llano County Attorney's Office
Llano, Texas 78643

Re: Berardi Property Rights Denial-Damage To Pace Arrow-Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764

As you're well aware, we have an outrageously corrupt, abusive, achingly inept Llano County Sheriff's Office here in Nazi Llano County. Worse, you and your office aid and abet these SS jackbooted bastards in black. The issue at the moment is the same it's been the last six months.

How is it two surveyor companies, the Appraisal District, the Tax Office, the Precinct 3 Commissioner, even the goddamned Sheriff himself now states Kingsland resident James Berardi owns the lots in contention all these months?

Yet, you ludicrously assert that's not the County's legal position. It's not? Why not? You claim you're not a real estate expert. Rather than accept the advice of two surveyor companies, the Precinct 3 Commissioner, the Appraisal District, the Tax Office, and even the Sheriff himself, you've inexplicably chosen to follow the advice of property owner Johnny Greene, -- who conveniently happens to be reportedly in the oil industry.

Question to be asked. Could you have received any 'consideration' in return, -- up to and including a bribe? Only way to know for sure is for the District Attorney to conduct a criminal investigation. Apparently, there has been none. If not, why not?

Equally pointedly, why hasn't Llano County Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764 been held criminally accountable for egregious abuse of power involving denial of property rights to this Kingsland property owner? To say nothing of consequent resultant physical damage done to a motor home on that property.

Our achingly useless, worthless, gutless Sheriff has ignored an email vis a vis the damage this jackbooted thug is responsible for. Interestingly, his fellow officers believe him to be an idiot. Yet, the Sheriff continued to defend this piece of human excrement until he realized this entire fiasco would not be swept under the carpet.

Rodriguez is indeed an idiot. Would you believe this piece of crap ordered the motor home to be moved on to an unmarked unused Llano County road? That motor home has indeed been moved back to where it was parked before Rodriguez forced it to be moved. Why hasn't the County paid for the cost of moving it back? To say nothing of the damage.

Equally pointedly, why is it the County has allowed Theresa Ahrens to park and live in her tiny cottage on that very same road? Why hasn't she been evicted by the County? Why was she assessed taxes on an adjacent improvement she doesn't own?

Why is it, Counselor, Johnny Greene is paying for the attorney retained by Ms. Ahrens? Is Greene attempting to make this all go away by bribery? Greene has also informed Berardi he is going to sue. For what? Has Greene lost his mind?

What about Wells who installed a $4500 septic system on a lot turns out he does not own as a result of Greene, an outrageously inept County, to say nothing of the Llano County Attorney who remains equally determinedly clueless?

How about Bolen who hasn't a pot to piss in, but was nonetheless f--ked over by Greene to say nothing of an egregiously inept County, to say nothing of you and your goddamned equally incompetent office?

None of this is going away, Counselor, -- any time soon. Will not be swept under the carpet as all the other crap going on in this hell hole County. Not a chance. Expect a full expose in this publication whether or not this outrageous fiasco finally gets resolved. Including full public exposure of both the Sheriff and his jackbooted thug.

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril
Formerly,
The Llano Ledger
www.libertyinperil.com
P.O. Box 151
Buchanan Dam, Texas 78609

Bill Blackburn, Sheriff
Llano County Sheriff's Office
2001 N. State Hwy. 16 Suite A
Llano, Texas 78643

Archive and retain all reports vis a vis damage to the Pace Arrow resulting from egregious abuse of authority perpetrated by Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764, on the Berardi property in Kingsland on 8-16-17.

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril
Formerly,
The Llano Ledger
www.libertyinperil.com
P.O. Box 151
Buchanan Dam, Texas 78609

Wake up, Sheriff. Again, where is dashcam video of the killing of Jeffrey Gray Wise, 52, of Austin by DPS and the Llano County Sheriff's Office? Two hundred forty-eight weeks, now. A goddamned disgrace. Why are you still sitting on this information? What are you hiding, Sheriff? What is the identity of the officers who killed Wise? Too gutless to release this information to the public that pays your salary and that of your goons? Reportedly, there were three officers involved in the shooting.

Who are they, Sheriff? Their past history? An ongoing investigation remains a lame bullshit excuse. How can you and your goons be trusted when you refuse to disclose information? Two hundred forty-eight weeks. Especially, your egregious failure to disclose the identity of the officers who pulled the trigger. To cover your sorry ass, Sheriff? Those of your thugs? The people have a right to know what happened, how it went down. You don't understand that, Sheriff? Sadly, clearly, you answer to no one. Including taxpayers. Especially, taxpayers.

Until you and your goons come clean, doubt will remain this was indeed a good shoot. The longer you drag your feet, the greater the doubt. Think not? Wake up. Your credibility has tanked. Isn't getting any better as this bullshit continues unabated. Two hundred forty-eight weeks. Still no identification of the officers involved ... Can't get your stories straight? In line? Discrepancy between LCSO and DPS? Wake up, Sheriff. The public no longer buys the bullshit. No longer trusts you. On this and many, many other issues. You have no credibility. Absolutely, none.

Readers, this is but one of about four other highly questionable killings by law enforcement in Llano County in the last decade or so. There was one within the City of Llano, another in a field near Fuzzy's Corner, Buchanan Dam, yet another in Point Tella, Buchanan Dam, still another in Tow. If there are any others I may have neglected to mention, kindly email.

It's time the public be fully informed. -- Know what we're dealing with here and how 'law' 'enforcement' operates in this hell hole County. If these jackbooted bastards are not reined in, the life lost could be many others courtesy of a law enforcement system that is no longer accountable to anyone. ... Right, Sheriff? TL? "Sonny Boy?" Madam County Attorney?

The Sheriff seems to have no clue the people who pay him and his goons are entitled to know whom is killing whom and why. This shit always seems to be swept under the carpet. Ignored. The attitude of these jackbooted sons of bitches is trust us. They can't be. They've lied too many times. Refuse to be accountable to anyone. We live in a goddamned fascist police-state where law enforcement does as it pleases. Usually, with impunity. This has to change.

The Texas Rangers have become rubber stamp to atrocities committed by law enforcement. This also has to change. No one is holding law enforcement accountable any longer. No one. No one in state or federal government. This is precisely why Ferguson triggered such an uproar. There was no justice there. None here. None anywhere. Officers are abusive, corrupt, inept.

Falsely ticket and arrest the innocent to line County coffers. Court fees charged continue to be horrendous. -- Aren't taxpayers already looted to pay these costs? Aren't you not only double f--king those falsely accused, but taxpayers also hellaciously looted to pay the very same costs? Yet, the criminal bastards in power in Llano continue to pile on the fees. This is nothing more than goddamned bullshit. This money finds its way into the pockets of the corrupt, abusive bastards who falsely believe they run and own this hell hole.

Would you believe the last time the Sheriff's Office happened to be 'audited' during the Garrett regime, reportedly, auditors couldn't figure out what went where and why? Yet, surprise, surprise. Nothing was done. There has to be transparency. There is none. Why would these thieving bastards want any? ... Right, Sheriff? TL? How else could they so easily steal and loot with virtual impunity? Worse, this reinforces jackbooted power in this goddamned, godforsaken hell hole County.

The public has a right to know the histories of the Sheriff's goons. Clearly, the Sheriff doesn't think so. That is, where they came from. Why they left where they were. What is happening here is the Sheriff is using 'personnel matters' as a convenient excuse to deny the public access to the history of outrageously corrupt, abusive, inept officers who are no more than criminals themselves.

He's protecting his outrageously corrupt, abusive, inept jackbooted bastards. Worse, the standards imposed by sheriff's offices statewide with the exception of metropolitan counties are well below those of DPS and city police departments. Why? So the corruption, abuse, ineptness, and outright stealing can continue unabated? This has to change. ... Can't have that, can we? Sheriff? TL?

The public should understand Llano County authorities have it all sewn up. Did you know the Texas Attorney General does not have the authority to investigate and prosecute County authorities on his own? The District Attorney has to call for an investigation by the Texas Rangers. Then, the State can prosecute if it so chooses.

Consequently? Guess what? Nothing will happen. Nothing ever does. The goddamned corruption continues unabated until you, the public, pressure authorities. Precisely, why we all enjoy the 'best' government money can buy. Literally. Without question, the corrupt, abusive, inept sons of bitches are all bought and paid for. Firmly clamped to the taxpayer tit. Dependent on money looted from innocent citizens caught in their web. Phony fines and court costs cleverly designed to f--k the innocent and enrich the pieces of shit who falsely believe they run and own Llano County. Right, Sheriff? TL? "Sonny Boy?" Madam County Attorney?

Interestingly, the former Sheriff and District Attorney were reportedly forced to retire after an outrageous scandal involving a drunk driving police officer from out of town. Including special treatment of the drunken son of a bitch that no other citizen caught doing the same would have been afforded. An honest, honorable Llano County Deputy suffered the consequences. Forget? Great officers do not last in this hell hole County. ... Right, Sheriff? TL? "Sonny Boy?" Madam County Attorney?

With all ongoing abuse in this goddamned County, one thing remains for damned sure. We're just getting started, Sheriff. You will continue to be exposed for whom and what you and your corrupt, abusive, inept jackbooted bastards have become, truly are, not what you phonies purport to be, that is, how you continue to f--k over a public you've falsely sworn to protect and defend. -- Exposure, the only way short of an unwanted dreaded revolution to force desperately needed change in a goddamned fascist police-state. The Fourth Reich.

Have your jackbooted thugs been tested for steroids, Sheriff? If you've nothing to hide, Bill, release the results of all drug testing. 'Personnel matters?' Bullshit. Looted taxpayers have the right to know. They're footing the bill for all this goddamned corruption, abuse, ineptness. When will you and the boys end the shakedowns? Looting of the innocent to line County coffers? No honor at all?

Where are your swastika armbands, you fascist son of a bitch? You and your thugs remain out of uniform. Once again, Sheriff, and ad nauseum, did you and/or your goons pressure Schilling to exit the race? Did you steal the election? If so, an aggressively stupid, achingly gutless public gets what it truly deserves. One of the most corrupt, abusive, inept 'law' 'enforcement' agencies in our formerly great country.

While the business and church communities stood tall during the recent Kingsland flood catastrophe, there was one glaring exception. On 10-17-18, the Antlers Coffee Shop closed due to storm-related failure of the Kingsland water system. Patrons, however, are routinely allowed to get online outside even when the shop is closed.

A long-term coffee shop customer entered the hotel lobby to ask the desk clerk whether wifi was still up and running after the catastrophe. She said it was and told the patron he could get online inside the closed shop. She then asked him to have another regular customer who had just arrived outside to come in and get out of the cold as well.

Antlers co-proprietor Rick apparently quickly got wind of both customers, made quite a jackass of himself emulating the petulant narcissist currently occupying the Oval Office. Aggressive stupidity at a time the Kingsland business community is indeed suffering, can least afford it. Further proof positive of the old adage 'can fix ignorant, can't fix stupid.'

Why would, why should both customers put up with this? Think this hasn't happened to others?

Highly reminiscent of our outrageously bought and paid for judiciary, Llano County prosecutors, Sheriff Bill Blackburn and his criminal SS jackbooted bastards in black who continue to egregiously disgrace themselves and the badge, do as they please regardless of the law and Constitution, carefully consider the following. It's appalling. Runs against the grain of everything our formerly great country once stood for. No longer.

Llano County DA "Sonny Boy" is in the news. Received an award. The DailyTrib reports:

"The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission recognized District Attorney Wiley “Sonny” McAfee on August 22 for his efforts in prosecuting natural and cultural resource violations as well as environmental crimes. The commission named the 33rd and 424th district attorney the 2019 Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Prosecutor of the Year. McAfee serves Burnet, Llano, Blanco, and San Saba counties. Elected in November 2012 and taking office on January 1, 2013, he has been instrumental in a number of high-profile cases involving Texas game wardens and Texas State Park police officers."

The District Attorney has ignored a complaint filed earlier by this publication regarding special treatment accorded Texas oil man Johnny Greene by the Llano County Attorney and Sheriff vis a vis a property dispute involving a local banker, three other local property owners with homes encroaching on land they don't own, one of which is on an unused Llano County road. To say nothing of damage to a Pace Arrow motorhome on that property. All a result of egregious abuse of authority by Llano County Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764. The circumstances of this fiasco can be found above in each and every edition of this publication since this happened two and a half years ago. The Sheriff, the County Attorney, and the District Attorney have all determinedly, concertedly ignored this ongoing, unresolved fiasco raising one ferociously pointed question. How much were they bribed?

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

Last three months been getting online at the Kingsland HEB. Met quite a few readers at the picnic table. -- People I didn't personally know, but who came up and introduced themselves. Certainly, grateful for your concern, caring, and moral support. One of the Front End managers, Kevin, had granted permission to plug in and access HEB Customer wifi at the picnic table some three months ago. Someone in County government must have subsequently complained. Three months after the fact. LOL. Finally got the boot 6-27-20 from the achingly gutless Store Manager who couldn't, or wouldn't stand up to pressure from this asshole.

Pathetic, isn't it? LOL. Certainly, knew it was coming. Hard to believe it took three months. LOL. Apparently, the gutless Store Manager, Monty, sent out the second in command, Dan, to deliver the happy news. Spoke to him awhile, but sadly as expected, he had nothing substantive to say. Other than, "leave." LOL. Advised him to send out the clearly reluctant Store Manager who apparently wanted to avoid the encounter. Finally, came out. Imagine that.

Asked the Store Manager, Monty Young, for a business card. Remarkably, he had none. Couldn't be, could it? LOL. An HEB Store Manager with no business card? How is that possible? Unlimited corporate greed? Aryan arrogance of a privately-owned corporation? Or, was he simply lying? Informed him he'd indeed be front and center in this next edition.

Before getting into specific detail vis a vis my conversation with the Store Manager, it must be stated staff at the Kingsland HEB is second to none. Have known many of them for years. Work extremely well together as a team. Certainly, exceptionally customer-friendly. The problem with this store is not staff. Not even the Store Manager and Assistant Manager per se, -- who apparently, despite their denials, had been pressured by someone. It's the HEB corporate management suite at the root of most of the problems at this store.

The following salient issues were discussed with the Store Manager before I left. -- Interestingly, none of which he denied. LOL. Readers, have you noticed cheaper generic products are either continually out of stock or discontinued? Especially, after the store changed its product line weeks before the pandemic. Apparently, in an effort to emulate the Marble Falls store that caters to the Horseshoe Bay elite.

New larger shopping carts were brought in to the Kingsland store so shoppers would supposedly buy more product, increase store sales. Shelves are restocked 24 hrs. Staff was unhappy because aisles are too narrow for the larger carts. Makes it harder to stock shelves when the store is open. Not only that, makes it much more difficult for shoppers to navigate the narrow aisles.

Product pricing has steeply increased. They accomplish this both by directly raising prices, as well as in engaging in deception, that is, downsizing product. One recent glaring example is their generic bleach. For awhile, it was unavailable, out of stock. Then, it was downsized from three quarts to two. Price remained at $1. A 33% increase. Done deceptively. At a time when inflation is supposedly non-existent. What ever happened to the HCF quart and a half ice cream that sold for $1.99? Long since gone. Both aforementioned products had already been downsized once before. LOL. List can go on and on. Unbridled corporate greed.

As I reminded the Store Manager, Kingsland residents, for the most part, are poor, young, elderly, and/or disabled, etc. This store now caters to the rich who live on the lake and Sunrise Beach. Not sustainable. ... Especially, if the shit finally hits the fan vis a vis the Trump nazi, and/or a second shutdown occurs courtesy of the raging, poorly-handled, achingly mismanaged pandemic.

To store employees, all of whom I admire, consider personal friends, courageously provide your ongoing grievances to this publication. I will publish them while protecting your identity. If you won't stand up, nothing changes.

As I informed the Store Manager, the problem in Kingsland is the fact HEB has no substantive competition. What is desperately needed is a Walmart or other major corporation to rattle the cage of local HEB management as well as the corporate management suite. Until that occurs, nothing changes, shit happens. ... Right, Monty? Dan?

In the last two and a half weeks or so, three middle-aged women tripped and fell on the curb by the picnic table. Third time, 6-26-20. Took the Store Manager and Assistant Manager quite some time to exit the store and arrive with ice to quell the swelling of the woman who had fallen hard on her face. I subsequently asked Monty to consider painting the curb iridescent red or orange to avoid injury and a future lawsuit.

Responded couldn't be painted red since it wasn't a fire zone. Could certainly be painted orange or some other bright color. If management doesn't care about a lawsuit, where is its concern for the pain and suffering if a customer trips, falls, and suffers serious injury? ... Couldn't care less, Monty? -- Or, is it, shortsightedly, insurance will indeed take care of it? Wake up. Just a matter of time before someone gets seriously injured and sues the living shit out of HEB. Even if HEB prevails in court, it loses. Consider the cost of bad publicity.

To the credit of management, both the Store Manager and Assistant Manager return carts to the front of the store, sanitize them, and pick up trash. Recently, associates informed me the Store Manager wasn't happy about the performance of the Assistant Store Manager. LOL. Apparently, ole' Dan got too good at hiding in the store, shirking cart and other duties, etc. LOL. That's apparently changed. ... Trouble in paradise, boys? LOL. Itching to retire, Dan? LOL. Give me a break. Never a dull moment, -- at customer and staff expense.

Finally, to the motherf--ker in County government who likely complained, don't flatter yourself. Three months? What took so long you gutless piece of shit? LOL. No matter what, Liberty In Peril will remain up and running. Despite the fact it's been more than 21 years, just the very beginning. Far more to come. Far more County corruption, malfeasance, criminal activity to be followed up, and/or exposed. LOL. ... Bribed by Johnny Greene, Madam County Attorney?

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril
Formerly,
The Llano Ledger

Before getting on with the usual fare, readers may wish to take time to read the following email exchange between Discount Electronics and this writer regarding its highly questionable business practices regarding refurbished lap tops:

Subject:    Re: Re: Your Discount Electronics Order Confirmation (#81644)
From:    libertyinperil@riseup.net
Date:    Wed, August 19, 2020 11:47 am
To:    "DiscountElectronics.com Customer Service" <internet@discountelectronics.com>
Priority:    Normal
Options:    View Full Header | View Printable Version | Download this as a file | Add to Address Book

'How long is this machine under warranty? Received the error message yesterday while booting up: "Alert! The AC Power Adapter wattage and type cannot be determined. The battery may not charge. The system will adjust the performance to match the power available."

'Talked to a local tech who told me I needed the original power supply that came with the Dell lap top, not a cheap foreign replacement. Can you provide any help with this? Since both batteries can't be recharged, I can't use this machine off the grid.'

'On Wed, Aug 19, 2020 at 1:14 PM <libertyinperil@riseup.net> wrote: Thanks for the quick reply. For your information, this machine has been a piece of crap. Not worth the money spent. Intend to fully inform my readership.'

'Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril
formerly,
The Llano Ledger
libertyinperil.com'

'This is the first we've heard from you about any issues. You were welcome to contact us during the warranty period.'

'On Wed, Aug 19, 2020 at 1:34 PM <libertyinperil@riseup.net> wrote: That's bullshit. You replaced the battery forget? Usually, I don't piss and moan. Too busy fighting for your lost civil and constitutional rights and liberties. Been problems with the operating system I dealt personally with. Didn't complain. Dealt with a key that came off the keyboard. Another key that wasn't always making proper contact. The plastic finish on the surface of the lap top has grown sticky, apparently deteriorating. The problem that irritated me the most and is unacceptable is the latest issue with the goddamned power supply. The tech I spoke with told me this is a problem he encounters all the time with cheap Chinese knockoffs of the original. This machine was not cheap. You certainly could have afforded to do far better. Will see what my readers think, -- They're as tired of getting ripped off as I am. Business community lining its pockets by selling shit products. Nazi America. Bottomless greed.

'Beside the point. Discount Electronics knowingly sold a defective product. Knew that it was only a matter of time the power supply would fail. There's a principle involved here. One that I intend to make abundantly clear to my readers. While you can't seem to understand this, they will. Thanks for the additional fodder.'

Readers are advised there is a sticker on the back of the power supply stating: "Please remove this sticker." It cannot be easily removed. Will not peel off. Have hesitated to scrape it off since doing so might obliterate anything underneath it, -- if anything. It is not covering a vent and there is no technical reason that it be removed. Certainly, did not affect operation of the supply for the last year and four months I've had the machine.

"The D.C. Metropolitan Police Department and FBI Washington Field Office are seeking the public's assistance in identifying the suspect that attacked a Capitol police officer as he was being crushed by a door during the Jan. 6 siege. "During the insurrection at the United States Capitol, the suspect assaulted and used a clear police shield to pin MPD Officer Daniel Hodges in a door jam," the release, shared Friday, says. Two photos of the suspect were included in the release, which the police department also shared on Twitter. ABC News spoke to Hodges, 32, after a video taken during the attack on the Capitol showed him screaming in pain while being crushed in a doorway and beaten up by an angry mob of President Donald Trump's supporters. Hodges stood in the way of the violent protesters as they tried to enter the Capitol to stop the 2020 election from being affirmed."

"As Hodges was pinned in the doorway, screaming for help, a protester tried to rip off his gas mask and started assaulting him. "The guy in front of me, that guy, he was he was practically foaming at the mouth. He was screaming and just grabbed my arm, grabbed my filter on my masks, started beating my head against the doorframe and ripping it off as best he could," Hodges said. "Once he got my mask off, he also was able to rip away my right baton from me and started beating me in the head with it." He said some of the protesters were "absolutely crazed," and at one point he thought he was going to die. "I thought, 'this could be the end,' or 'I could not get out of this completely intact,'" he said, adding that in the end, he's proud that he and his fellow officers "defended a democracy."

"A little girl's touching letter to an officer who responded to the violent siege at the U.S. Capitol has received a response from the Metropolitan Police Department. Johnna Jablonski, mom to 10-year-old Emma, told "Good Morning America" that her daughter had seen news footage covering the now-viral video of Officer Daniel Hodges being crushed against a metal door frame inside the Capitol building. The rioting unfolded the afternoon of Jan. 6 after supporters of President Donald Trump made their way up the Capitol steps around 2:15 p.m. ET, pushing through barricades, officers in riot gear and other security measures that were put in place in anticipation of the moment. At least five were killed as a result. Hodges, 32, said he feared for his life multiple times that day, including when he was "surrounded" by pro-Trump rioters outside the Capitol building and beaten. "That was one of the three times that day where I thought: Well, this might be it," Hodges, a patrol officer in the 4th District, told ABC-affiliate WJLA in Washington. "This might be the end for me." Jablonski of Billings, Montana, said that Emma was triggered by the video of Hodges. "She kept saying, 'What are they doing to that man? He's just doing his job,'" Jablonski said. "She had this outpouring of care, concern and questions about why this was happening. My gut instinct would be to say, 'You're too young. You don't need to worry about that.' But, she was emotionally impacted." Jablonski suggested Emma put her thoughts on paper. The fourth grader decided to make a "get well" card for Hodges, and Jablonski tweeted a photo of the note in hopes it would reach him. Hours later, D.C. police responded and identified the officer as Hodges. The department said he was "recovering and doing well" and sent an address to Jablonski so Emma could mail Hodges the card directly. A little girl from Billings, Montana, named Emma Jablonski, 10, wrote a touching letter to an officer who responded to the violent siege at the U.S. Capitol. She has since received a response from the Metropolitan Police Department. A local news station even put Emma in touch with Hodges via video chat. Emma has since sent Hodges the card, along with some gifts. Jablonski said Emma hopes to connect with Hodges again in the near future."

"The Toledo Police Department announced that 24-year-old officer Brandon Stalker was shot and killed after a standoff situation at a home Monday afternoon. Officer Stalker was killed when SWAT teams forced an unnamed suspect out of the home he had been hiding in after hours of negotiations were unsuccessful, Toledo Police Chief George Kral said at a news conference Monday. The suspect started firing after exiting the home, Kral said. Stalker had been assigned to cover the perimeter and was not part of the SWAT team, Kral said. He leaves behind a fiancée and a young child. Stalker was hired in July of 2018. "This is a very dark and horrific day for the city," Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz said at a press conference Monday. The mayor called Stalker a "fantastic officer and a proud new dad." "His loss will be felt forever. We will never forget his service and sacrifice," Kapszukiewicz tweeted. Kral said the incident began when the gang task force saw a suspect wanted for vandalizing a cathedral earlier Monday. As officers approached the suspect, Kral said he brandished a firearm and went into the home. At that time, a perimeter was set and the SWAT team and negotiators were called in. After hours of negotiations were unsuccessful, Kral said the SWAT team initiated gas inside the home. The suspect then came out of the house with two firearms and started shooting, Kral said. Stalker was struck once. The suspect was shot, but his condition is unknown. "This is a very dark and horrific day for the city of Toledo and it comes as a time when the Toledo Police Department has had to endure too many dark and terrible days in the last six months," Kapszukiewicz said Monday."

Think you've heard it all? You haven't. LOL. Get this. The Associated Press reports:

"A car thief who found a toddler in the backseat of a stolen vehicle drove back and chastised the mother for leaving the child unattended before taking off again, police in Oregon said. The woman went into a grocery store about 15 feet (5 yards) from the car Saturday, leaving her 4-year-old child inside with the engine running and the vehicle unlocked, said Beaverton police spokesman Officer Matt Henderson. A store employee told authorities the woman was in the market for a few minutes before someone began driving away with the SUV. Once the thief realized the toddler was in the backseat, he drove back, berated the woman for leaving her child unattended, told the woman to take the child and drove away in the stolen vehicle. “He actually lectured the mother for leaving the child in the car and threatened to call the police on her,” Henderson said. Henderson said the woman did nothing wrong and was within sight and sound of the child. He said the incident served as a “good reminder to take extra precaution” with children. “Obviously, we’re thankful he brought the little one back and had the decency to do that,” Henderson said. The vehicle was found a few hours later in Portland but police are still searching for the thief. The suspect was said to be in his 20s or 30s with dark brown or black braided hair and a multi-colored face mask. Police said anyone with information on the theft should contact the department."

Uncommon Valor. In follow-up to an earlier edition of this publication and elsewhere, NPR reports:

"On this day two weeks ago, U.S. Capitol Police officer Eugene Goodman became a hero, as he bravely directed participants in the pro-Trump mob that stormed the Capitol away from the Senate chamber. Today, officer Goodman was given the honor of escorting Vice President-elect Kamala Harris through that same building to the inaugural ceremony."

"Goodman, who is Black, is seen in a video confronting the mostly white mob, some holding Confederate flags, and diverting them away from the Senate chamber, where lawmakers were meeting in the process of certifying the results of the presidential election. Five people died in the rioting, and Goodman is credited with helping to avert additional bloodshed."

"Legislation has been introduced in Congress to give Goodman the Congressional Gold Medal for his actions. He has also been named the acting deputy sergeant-at-arms for the House for Inauguration Day."

Racist nazi justice. In follow-up to a case covered much earlier in this publication and elsewhere, CBS News reports:

"A Black man who spent more than a quarter-century on death row in the 1992 killing of a White woman has been released from a Mississippi prison after a judge dismissed the murder charge against him. Eddie Lee Howard, now 67, was convicted multiple times of capital murder in the stabbing death of 84-year-old Georgia Kemp of Lowndes County, but key evidence used to convict him was later discredited. In Mississippi, capital murder is defined as a killing committed along with another felony. In this case, the other felony was rape. District Attorney Scott Colom confirmed Monday that prosecutors dropped the murder charge against Howard. A dentist's bite-mark testimony that had been used to convict Howard has now been discredited, Colom said. Additionally, he said, testing of a knife and other items found at the crime scene after Howard's conviction found no evidence of his DNA."

Colom told The Associated Press that there was not enough evidence to convict Howard "beyond a reasonable doubt." "My ethical and legal responsibility requires that I dismiss the case," he said. The decision came months after the Mississippi Supreme Court ruled on August 27 that Howard deserved a new trial because his conviction was based partially on a discredited dentist's testimony. Howard was removed from death row in December in response to the ruling."

On February 2, 1992, Kemp's body was found on her bedroom floor by firefighters. Neighbors had reported seeing smoke coming from her home. Kemp's legs were bloody, she was partially exposed, a bloody knife was on her bed and the telephone line had been cut, court records show. Howard was first convicted in 1994, when he represented himself at trial. That conviction was overturned in 1997, but Howard was convicted again in 2000 after Dr. Michael West testified that bite marks on Kemp's neck and arm were "consistent with" Howard's teeth and that a bite mark on her right breast was an "identical" match to Howard's dental impressions. The dentist also testified that he had "no doubt" Howard left the mark, according to the Supreme Court ruling. West testified that he was a member of the American Board of Forensic Odontology and that he had followed the group's guidelines as he compared the marks on Kemp's body to Howard's dental impressions that were made as part of the case. Since Howard's trial, the board has revised those guidelines to prohibit such testimony, reflecting a "new scientific understanding that an individual perpetrator cannot be reliably identified through bite-mark comparison," Mississippi justices wrote in August."

West said in a 2012 deposition that he no longer believed in bite-mark evidence and it should not be used in court cases. West testified about bite marks in other cases that have been overturned, including the wrongful convictions of men in the rape and killing of two 3-year-old girls in Mississippi. Levon Brooks and Kennedy Brewer were later cleared, based on DNA evidence. Brooks was in prison for 16 years and Brewer was in prison for 13 years. Howard was represented by the Mississippi Innocence Project. One of his attorneys, M. Chris Fabricant, said in a news release Monday that "debunked science has no place in our justice system." "The Mississippi Supreme Court has taken a powerful stance in rejecting junk science as the basis on which to put a man to death," Fabricant said."

"In a statement, Howard thanked all of the people who helped make his "dream of freedom" a reality. "I thank you with all my heart, because without your hard work on my behalf, I would still be confined in that terrible place called the Mississippi Department of Corrections, on death row, waiting to be executed," he said."

No justice. Precisely, why there is desperate need for a new federal agency whose sole function would be to investigate, arrest, charge, and prosecute corrupt, abusive, criminal officers, prosecutors, and judges in a special court that would adjudicate only these cases. Total independence. The only way to rein in these criminals, particularly the murderers in blue.

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve. Forfeiture of liberty. At the hands of outrageously corrupt and abusive government.

Another murder of a Black man by a jackbooted bastard in blue. CBS News reports:

"The family of a man shot and killed by a Texas police officer during a mental health check is calling for the officer's arrest. Patrick Warren Sr.'s son said his family had called for help on Sunday because Warren was having a mental health emergency. Ring doorbell footage shows Killeen Police Officer Reynaldo Contreras knocking on Warren's door, a surprise to his family who had requested help from a mental health professional. The family said they had called for help the day before, and a mental health professional arrived with no issue. "They never told us that one wasn't available. They just sent out a Killeen police officer," Warren's son, Patrick Warren Jr., told CBS News correspondent Omar Villafranca."

"Warren Jr. said Contreras's demeanor toward his family was hostile, so they asked him to leave. But moments later, he returned and knocked. Warren Sr. answered and stepped outside with his hands in the air. His son said he noticed a red dot shining on the door. "The only reason we got up and walked to the door was because we saw an infrared beam from a taser on the door which concerned us. We heard a pop," he said. "We got up. We ran to the door. By the time we made it outside, my father was on the ground, and that's where everything kind of took place." The video, which was released by the family's attorney and appears to be edited, then cuts to cell phone footage. The family stood and watched as Contreras, a five-year veteran at the department, shot the husband and father of three in the chest. Warren was pronounced dead at the hospital. The family is calling for the body camera footage to be released. Lee Merritt, who represents Warren's family, said the police officer should not have been sent to their home. "If they couldn't send someone with the training to deal with the crisis that was actually occurring, then it would have been better for them to send no one at all," he said.

"The Killeen Police Department and the Texas Rangers are now investigating Warren's death. In a statement, Killeen's police chief wrote "it is my duty to ensure a thorough investigation is conducted so that all parties, including the public, have the answers they seek."

"New York state Attorney General Letitia James sued the city of New York, the mayor and the police department's leaders on Thursday alleging that officers had committed civil rights abuses for years, including at protests last summer over the death of George Floyd, and seeking the appointment of an independent monitor.

"This boy had his hands up when an NYPD ofcr pulled his mask down and pepper sprayed him. @NYPDShea Mayor @BilldeBlasio pic.twitter.com/YtXDOoVckA
— Sherrilyn Ifill (@Sifill_LDF) May 31, 2020

"The "landmark lawsuit" filed in federal court names Mayor Bill de Blasio, Police Commissioner Dermot Shea and Chief of Department Terence Monahan as defendants and outlines years of excessive force and false arrests, most recently during racial justice protests last year stemming from the killing of Floyd, a Black man, while in Minneapolis police custody, James said. "As the demonstrations continued, the very thing being protested — aggressive actions of law enforcement — was on public display," James said at a news conference announcing the lawsuit. It marked the first time in history that the state attorney general has sued the police department, James's office said."

"James wants a monitor to oversee the department's policing tactics at future protests and a court order to declare that the policies and practices the department used during protests last year were unlawful. She is also seeking reforms to address what she described as "the problematic policies and training failures that are outlined in the complaint." The police department is already under a federal monitor overseeing reforms after its stop-and-frisk policy was declared unconstitutional by a federal judge. James was tasked by Gov. Andrew Cuomo with investigating the police department's handling of protests sparked by Floyd's death. James said Thursday that her office's civil investigation found "an egregious abuse of police power, rampant excessive use of force and leadership unable and unwilling to stop it." "That's why we are seeking systemic reforms to the NYPD and the installation of a monitor to oversee the NYPD's policing tactics in future protests and to ensure they are complying with the law," James said. "With today's lawsuit, this longstanding pattern of brutal and illegal force ends."

"Among other things, the lawsuit alleges that from May 28, 2020, to Dec. 11, 2020, officers of various ranks "repeatedly and without justification used batons, fist strikes, pepper spray, and other physical force" against protesters. James said officers also used bicycles and a crowd-control tactic known as "kettling" or "containment," which she said caused significant harm. In October, the New York Civil Liberties Union and the Legal Aid Society sued the city on behalf of 11 protesters who said that they were assaulted and abused by police and that their civil rights were violated. Two months later, New York City's Department of Investigation found that the police department used excessive force during the protests across the city."

"The NYPD's use of force and certain crowd control tactics to respond to the Floyd protests produced excessive enforcement that contributed to heightened tensions," the Department of Investigation said in the executive summary of its 111-page report. De Blasio had asked for the investigation after videos showing police officers dousing protesters, elected officials and journalists with chemical irritants, shoving a woman to the ground and, in one instance, driving police vehicles into them. De Blasio, who repeatedly defended the police department's conduct during the protests, said in December that he agreed with the report's findings and that it "makes very clear we've got to do something different, and we've got to do something better."

"Legal observers, medics and other essential workers were among those detained and arrested without probable cause, James said Thursday. Those arrests, she said, "were in direct violation of the executive order that was issued" by de Blasio. In response to the lawsuit, de Blasio said that he met with James on Wednesday and that they share the goal of pushing for major police reforms. "I couldn't agree more that there are pressing reforms that must — and will — be made this year, including the major discipline reforms announced with my Obama Foundation pledge, all 30 of the recommendations from the DOI and Law Department reports, and more," de Blasio said. "That work is critical and is happening right now."

"However, he did not agree a lawsuit or monitor was the answer. "A court process and the added bureaucracy of a federal monitor will not speed up this work," de Blasio said. "There is no time to waste and we will continue to press forward." A spokesperson for the police department said it "welcomes reform and has embraced the recent suggestions by both the city's Department of Investigation and the city's Law Department” but that as the mayor has said, "adding another layer does not speed up the process of continued reform, which we have embraced and led the way on." Patrick Lynch, the president of the city's Police Benevolent Association, blamed a "failure of New York City's leadership" for sending police "to unprecedented protests and violent riots with no plan, no strategy and no support." "They should be forced to answer for the resulting chaos, instead of pointing fingers at cops on the streets and ignoring the criminals who attacked us with bricks and firebombs," Lynch said."

"The lawsuit states: "Protesters — many of whom were never charged with any crime and were merely exercising their First Amendment rights — suffered concussions, broken bones, cuts, bruises, and other physical injuries." Multiple people spoke virtually during the news conference, recounting abuse they said they experienced at the hands of officers. "The NYPD and its senior leaders failed to address this longstanding pattern of abuse by not properly training, supervising, and disciplining officers to prevent misconduct, despite knowing and publicly admitting that it violated the rights of New Yorkers," James said. "No one is above the law — not even the individuals charged with enforcing it," James said Thursday. It is past time, she said, for meaningful change. James said that she does not think that every police officer is "problematic" and that she has family members and close friends whom she deeply respects who are current or former members of the force. "I know that many officers have the best intentions to protect New Yorkers and bring communities together," she said. "But we have a problem that is bigger than any one officer and this is an institutional, systemic problem that must be addressed with proper training, with proper protocols and with discipline of those who violate the law."

"In a joint statement, the NYCLU and Legal Aid Society said: "We hope this will be the beginning of a serious reckoning over police violence and militarized use of force against protesters, especially people of color, and a check on the impunity many officers have come to see as their right." Legal Aid attorney Corey Stoughton applauded the lawsuit. "The NYPD has shown itself to be really intransigent in changing deeply rooted practices," Stoughton said in an interview Thursday. "We see that in the stop-and-frisk litigation, which has been under a federal monitorship for over six years now." There are still significant racial disparities in the stop-and-frisk policy and ongoing problems getting officers to document stops, which is essential to understanding the scope of the problem, Stoughton said. What is encouraging about the lawsuit, Stoughton said, is that it brings into play the power of state government in trying to bring about change and "sends a very strong signal to the city's leadership and to police leadership — that there is a deep, deep problem here that requires change."

"A Seattle police officer who threw a tear gas canister that hit a reporter, and other officers who threw blast balls that hit individuals during last summer’s Black Lives Matter protests violated policies, according to new reports from an independent agency tasked with investigating police misconduct. Protests erupted in Seattle and across the country after George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer. The Office of Police Accountability received more than 19,000 complaints about police misconduct during protests. The office has released five batches of investigative reports since September, with the latest 22 cases posted Friday. To date, no officers have been disciplined for any of the sustained findings, Seattle police spokesman Det. Patrick Michaud said Tuesday."

Surprised? Why? Forget? We live in a de facto fascist police-state. A democratic republic in name only.

"Previous reports found that an officer who slammed a protester’s head to the ground, another who punched a demonstrator in the head a half dozen times and a third officer who put his knee on the necks of two looting suspects violated policies against using excessive force. No officers are named in the reports because the union contract with the city prohibits disclosing their identities. The latest findings are separate from three other investigations into Seattle officers by the Office of Police Accountability."

"Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz has fired an officer who made racist remarks about a Black man last year and has threatened to fire two officers who reportedly attended the riots in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6. Investigators are also looking into an officer who refused to wear a mask in the emergency room at a hospital. In the latest reports, investigators found that officers and one commander violated department policies while responding to demonstrations in Seattle. On June 1, officers were ordered to clear protesters from the area around the East Precinct and Cal Anderson Park after some in the group damaged property and threw things at police, the report said. One officer threw a tear gas canister toward the park that landed near a news crew that was in the process of leaving the area. The canister damaged a reporter’s jacket. The reporter said her crew was clearly marked as media at the time. The officer told investigators that he did not see the group’s press credentials and defended his actions, saying the use of the canister was appropriate “given ongoing assaults on officers,” the report said. But a review of videos and body cameras found that no one within the range of the officer was posing a threat or engaging in violent crimes. By throwing the canister overhand, the officer “did not exercise due care” and his “deployment appeared to be indiscriminate,” the report said. Based on those findings, investigators sustained the complaint saying the officer’s actions violated policy."

"Investigators also sustained findings against an incident commander who ordered officers to disperse a crowd, which led to the use of pepper spray and blast balls. Some protesters had opened umbrellas in front of a line of officers, and the officers responded aggressively. Another officer was found to have violated policy by throwing a blast ball at a man who was lying on the ground in the park with his face covered. The device struck near the man’s face and chest. His injuries required medical attention. Investigators said the man did not pose a threat and the officer should not have thrown the device “overhand.”

"On the night of June 7, about 1,000 protesters gathered near the East Precinct and clashed with police. Some threw projectiles at officers and others breached the line, forcing officers to move back. One of the officers threw four blast balls at the crowd and one hit a woman who had been standing in an intersection. Before the device was thrown, the woman had knelt on the ground several times and put her head in her hands. As she walked toward a group of people, the officer threw the blast ball and it hit her in the chest. “It was later reported that the subject went into cardiac arrest and needed to be resuscitated three times prior to being transported to the hospital for further treatment,” the report said. Medical records revealed that several other issues were a factor, including alcohol and taking medication to treat seizures. Investigations found that the officer violated department policy by throwing the blast ball overhand toward a person who was unarmed and not throwing projectiles at officers."

"All federal prisons in the United States have been placed on lockdown, with officials aiming to quell any potential violence that could arise behind bars as law enforcement prepares for potentially violent protests across the country in the run-up to President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration on Wednesday. The lockdown at more than 120 federal Bureau of Prisons facilities took effect at 12 a.m. Saturday, according to an email to employees from the president of the union representing federal correctional officers. “In light of current events occurring around the country, and out of an abundance of caution, the decision has been made to secure all institutions,” the Bureau of Prisons said in a statement. The lockdown decision is precautionary, no specific information led to it and it is not in response to any significant events occurring inside facilities, the bureau said. To avoid backlash from inmates, the lockdown was not announced until after they were locked in their cells Friday evening. Shane Fausey, the president of the Council of Prison Locals, wrote in his email to staff that inmates should still be given access in small groups to showers, phones and email and can still be involved in preparing food and performing basic maintenance."

Think Trump may have finally met his match? That is, someone more than willing to hold his sorry ass accountable? The Washington Post reports:

"On the other side of Donald Trump’s turbulent presidency, the lawyers are waiting."

"Leaving aside his Senate impeachment trial, mounting government investigations include a civil probe by New York Attorney General Letitia James, a criminal probe by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., and a federal probe by acting U.S. Attorney for D.C. Michael Sherwin that may include Trump’s role in the catastrophic storming of the U.S. Capitol this month. But already pending for the soon-to-be South Florida retiree is a trio of lawsuits that allege defamation, fraud and more fraud — all of which are helmed by one attorney. Roberta Kaplan’s clients include writer E. Jean Carroll, who filed a defamation case after Trump claimed she was “totally lying” about her allegation that he raped her a quarter-century ago in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room, and niece Mary L. Trump, who claims that Trump and two of his siblings deprived her of an inheritance worth millions. “I became the go-to person to sue the president,” says Kaplan, 54, with considerable relish."

"She is in many ways the ideal legal adversary to take on Trump. Kaplan is a brash and original strategist, with neither a gift for patience nor silence, a crusader for underdogs who has won almost every legal accolade imaginable. Kaplan, says New York Democratic Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo in an email, “has been indispensable in the fight against the cancer of hate and division that Trump spent four years exacerbating.” Before the presidency, Trump was often as engaged in legal tussles as he was in real estate, suing and threatening to sue his way out of financial trouble. With a return to private life, “his terror is that he will no longer be protected by the office and will have to deal with these lawsuits,” says his niece. Trump faces the prospect of spending considerable time in the role of defendant. Kaplan says she will seek to depose him in all three cases. Trump’s lawyers did not respond to requests for comment on the cases in this story."

"For much of her career, there was little in Kaplan’s professional bio to suggest she would become an attorney suing behemoths. Kaplan, known to all as Robbie, is a self-described “traditionalist,” in pearls, pumps and, pre-coronavirus, superior blond highlights, who long worked as a top commercial litigator at Paul, Weiss, one of the nation’s preeminent firms, where the fees tend to be if-you-have-to-ask-you-surely-can’t-afford-us. But she became increasingly identified as an advocate for liberal causes and outside-the-box legal strategies. She is a lesbian, an observant Jew and a die-hard Democrat for whom 12 hours constitutes a light work day. “My maternal grandmother always hated a bully,” Kaplan says during a series of phone interviews. “One really good job for going after bullies is to be a lawyer.”

"Since launching her own firm four years ago, Kaplan has initiated a constellation of cases against powerful, often intimidating forces: white supremacists, major Hollywood players, the president of the United States. Legal writer Dahlia Lithwick calls her “an attorney general for the resistance.” Stanford University law professor Pamela Karlan says of their frequent legal conversations: “Robbie’s not calling about feelings. She wants to fix it first. She’s the least diffident person I’ve ever met. Plenty of smart people worry about failing. They worry about every little thing. Robbie doesn’t worry about that. In a really disarming way, she doesn’t care if people view her as hyperaggressive.”

"In Kaplan’s third Trump case, she represents participants in ACN, a multilevel marketing company promoted on “The Celebrity Apprentice.” They’re suing not ACN, but the former host and his three oldest children, accusing them of endorsing the company as a promising business opportunity. While Trump billed himself as a populist, Kaplan perceived a consistent disconnect in how Trump University and other enterprises allegedly took advantage of the very people whose interests he claimed to champion."

“Because of his prominence, he marketed his ability to convince unsophisticated, very poor Americans to invest,” says Kaplan, who was indignant that Trump “would exploit people like this to line your own pockets.” (In a Business Insider story, a Trump organization spokesperson responded to the suit by saying, “Before enrolling with ACN, every participant acknowledged in writing that they are ‘not guaranteed any income.’ ” In that story, ACN co-founder Robert Stevanovski claimed the plaintiffs were told that Trump was getting paid to endorse the company. “I think it’s politically motivated that they’re going to sue him and the family and not us,” he said.)"

Nothing quite like excuse-making, is there? Indeed, a fine art none of them seem to have mastered. LOL.

"Kaplan remains most celebrated for the Edie Windsor case that, in 2013, successfully struck down the Defense of Marriage Act, paving the way with stunning alacrity for the legalization of same-sex marriage two years later to the day. Among Kaplan’s strategic moves — “I don’t know where I found the chutzpah to do this” — was to help coax Bill Clinton to publish a Washington Post opinion piece renouncing his 1996 support of DOMA before she appeared before the nation’s highest court. United States v. Windsor remains the only U.S. Supreme Court case that she has ever argued. “A little girl with a big mouth.” That’s how Kaplan’s grandmother described her, meant with affection. Growing up in Cleveland, she was a rigorous student who designed a plan. Head East to a top school (Harvard), train as a lawyer (Columbia), become a New Yorker. Five years ago, that plan expanded to landing a top Justice Department position in Hillary Clinton’s administration. So, no. Instead, in the summer of 2017, Kaplan launched her own boutique firm, still a rarity among female corporate lawyers, creating an unusual model that combines lucrative commercial litigation with a progressive public-interest practice. Free from the agendas of risk-averse institutional clients, Kaplan and her colleagues became free to take on any case they believed had merit."

"One week after the firm moved into its 71st-floor offices of the Empire State Building, the furniture yet to arrive, Charlottesville erupted. Believing that Trump’s Justice Department seemed unlikely to seriously investigate and prosecute the people responsible for the violence during the “Unite the Right” rally — he infamously claimed there “were very fine people, on both sides” — Kaplan announced, and this was her precise language to friends and colleagues: “I want to sue Nazis.” Because, why not? Within days, Kaplan and her team flew to Virginia. The firm adopted an outside-the-box approach and sued two dozen avowed neo-Nazis, white supremacists and associated groups, invoking the 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act to argue that they conspired for months to commit racially motivated violence, thereby making it more of a challenge for the organizers to adopt free speech as a defense. The case is scheduled for trial in October."

"In the wake of Harvey Weinstein’s sexual misconduct revelations, Kaplan co-founded the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund, which offers financial assistance for plaintiffs filing harassment cases, and she now serves as chair of the Time’s Up organization. Many women who say they have been sexually harassed or assaulted have come to her. The actress Amber Heard sought Kaplan’s representation in ex-husband Johnny Depp’s $50 million case involving a 2018 Washington Post opinion piece by Heard; he alleges she defamed him by implying that he domestically abused her. (The op-ed does not explicitly name him.) In the complaint, the actor denies any abuse took place. Heard says of Kaplan, “I’m instantly drawn to the type of individual who can look upon the Goliath and say ‘I think I can take you.’ That kind of energy and temerity is rare in the world, especially in the legal world.”

Called Uncommon Valor by a select few. Especially, in light of the following:

"Suing the powerful has brought repeated threats. Kaplan has an apartment in Manhattan but requested that her country home’s location, where she has spent the pandemic working, go unnamed."

Sad, isn't it? -- All the more reason great courage is required to stand up to great evil.

"Kaplan says the greatest abuse she’s received on social media has come not from neo-Nazis, white supremacists or Trump’s true believers, but from Depp’s vehement online champions."

"A hallmark of Kaplan, Hecker & Fink is crafting complaints in layman’s language that pack a wallop. The Mary Trump brief is a doozy. “For Donald J. Trump, his sister Maryanne, and their late brother Robert, fraud was not just the family business — it was a way of life,” the complaint begins, before alleging three duplicitous schemes, “The Grift,” “The Devaluing” and “The Squeeze-Out.” Says Mary Trump, “That brief is literature.”

"The president’s lawyers, in an effort to have the case tossed, claimed that the complaint is “laden with conspiracy theories.” When Carroll first met with Kaplan, the lawyer quickly understood her client’s objective. “I don’t give two flying figs about an apology,” Carroll says. “I am dying to get him in a deposition. I want him to say that I’m not a liar. I just want him to admit that he lied and that, yes, it happened.” The last few years of Kaplan’s professional life, with her firm swelling from four to 43 elite lawyers, are inextricably intertwined with Trump. Without his election, Kaplan may not have launched her own firm as quickly or filed three lawsuits against him. “I’m ready. I’m excited,” says Kaplan. In the Carroll case, Kaplan believes that Trump’s proclivity for false and misleading statements, with more than 30,000 of them during his White House term, according to The Post, will be tested when he is under oath. During a 2007 Trump deposition, lawyers caught him making exaggerated claims 30 times, according to a 2016 Post investigation. “When we depose you, you’re not going to get away with that,” Kaplan says. “He had the mantle of the presidency, and that’s now gone.”

"Kaplan is celebrated for her candor. She’s active in LGBTQ causes, recently serving as the board chair of the Gay Men’s Health Crisis. She rhapsodizes about her “big gay Jewish wedding” in 2005 to Rachel Lavine, a liberal activist who serves on New York’s Democratic committee. Yet Kaplan remained in the closet until law school graduation. “Robbie is one of the most conventional radicals you’ll ever meet,” Lithwick says. In 1991, Kaplan came out to her parents at age 25. It did not go well. Her mother walked up to a wall and began banging her head, repeatedly, in dismay. “Which she has apologized for over and over again,” Kaplan says. The family remains close. Kaplan experienced a rare episode of depression, which led her to consult a therapist named Thea Spyer, who referenced her lesbian relationship in an effort to comfort Kaplan — and whose death in 2009 left a punitive estate tax bill to her partner, Edie Windsor, because their marriage wasn’t legally recognized, sparking the Supreme Court case that helped define Kaplan’s career. Why did such an outspoken person hide her true identity for so long? “I’d never been a burn-down-the-ramparts sort of person. I believed in working in institutions,” says Kaplan. “Living a life very much on the margins didn’t appeal to me. I really wanted to have kids. I really wanted to be part of the Jewish community. I really wanted to have a career. All of this would have been unavailable in the world I grew up in.” She has all of that — the marriage, a son (Jacob, now 14), a goldendoodle. On Sunday mornings, she participates in a Talmud discussion group with her rabbi and Lithwick."

"Citing logistical challenges that were better served by local counsel, Kaplan’s firm no longer represents Heard in the defamation case that is scheduled for trial in May. Yet Kaplan continues to offer Heard legal advice on the case and other legal matters. They speak regularly, sometimes daily. “She is the bravest lawyer I have ever met. She doesn’t get intimidated or scare easily,” Heard says. “The well-behaved woman never interested me. There’s a rebellious part of Robbie. I think of her as my Jewish mother.” Kaplan’s close friend Sharon Nelles, head of litigation at Sullivan & Cromwell, says: “If you can come at the world the way she does, you are not reined in by whether there are social constructs or boundaries. You can create your own mold. Lawyers for the most part react. Robbie acts.” Nelles recalls a time when Kaplan called to consult on a case. “She’s yapping at me on the phone and then lets out a little screech.” Nelles asked what was wrong. “Oh, I’m having a medical procedure,” Kaplan said. “Let me call you back when I get off the doctor’s table.”

"Mary Trump hired Kaplan to sue President Trump, his sister Maryanne Trump Barry and the estate of his late brother Robert Trump “because I want justice for my daughter, and for me, and for my dad. If Donald Trump is not going to be held accountable for other things, he needs to be held accountable for this,” she says, adding: “Maybe that will start the dominoes to fall. Maybe other people will feel that they, too, have options and will come forward.” Kaplan’s firm regularly fields inquiries from potential clients who wish to sue Trump."

Capitol rioters included cops and military personnel. The Associated Press reports:

"As President Donald Trump’s supporters massed outside the Capitol last week and sang the national anthem, a line of men wearing olive-drab helmets and body armor trudged purposefully up the marble stairs in a single-file line, each man holding the jacket collar of the one ahead. The formation, known as “Ranger File,” is standard operating procedure for a combat team that is “stacking up” to breach a building — instantly recognizable to any U.S. soldier or Marine who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was a chilling sign that many at the vanguard of the mob that stormed the seat of American democracy either had military training or were trained by those who did."

"An Associated Press review of public records, social media posts and videos shows at least 21 current or former members of the U.S. military or law enforcement have been identified as being at or near the Capitol riot, with more than a dozen others under investigation but not yet named. In many cases, those who stormed the Capitol appeared to employ tactics, body armor and technology such as two-way radio headsets that were similar to those of the very police they were confronting. Experts in homegrown extremism have warned for years about efforts by far-right militants and white-supremacist groups to radicalize and recruit people with military and law enforcement training, and they say the Jan. 6 insurrection that left five people dead saw some of their worst fears realized."

“ISIS and al-Qaida would drool over having someone with the training and experience of a U.S. military officer,” said Michael German, a former FBI agent and fellow with the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University. “These people have training and capabilities that far exceed what any foreign terrorist group can do. Foreign terrorist groups don’t have any members who have badges.” Among the most prominent to emerge is a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and decorated combat veteran from Texas who was arrested after he was photographed wearing a helmet and body armor on the floor of the Senate, holding a pair of zip-tie handcuffs. Another Air Force veteran from San Diego was shot and killed by a Capitol Police officer as she tried to leap through a barricade near the House chamber. A retired Navy SEAL, among the most elite special warfare operators in the military, posted a Facebook video about traveling from his Ohio home to the rally and seemingly approving of the invasion of “our building, our house.” Two police officers from a small Virginia town, both of them former infantrymen, were arrested by the FBI after posting a selfie of themselves inside the Capitol, one flashing his middle finger at the camera. Also under scrutiny is an active-duty psychological warfare captain from North Carolina who organized three busloads of people who headed to Washington for the “Save America” rally in support [of] the president’s false claim that the November election was stolen from him."

"While the Pentagon declined to provide an estimate for how many other active-duty military personnel are under investigation, the military’s top leaders were concerned enough ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration that they issued a highly unusual warning to all service members this week that the right to free speech gives no one the right to commit violence."

Clearly, their oath of office to protect and defend the United States Constitution was falsely sworn:

"The chief of the U.S. Capitol Police was forced to resign following the breach and several officers have been suspended pending the outcome of investigations into their conduct, including one who posed for a selfie with a rioter and another who was seen wearing one of Trump’s red “Make America Great Again” caps. The AP’s review of hundreds of videos and photos from the insurrectionist riot shows scores of people mixed in the crowd who were wearing military-style gear, including helmets, body armor, rucksacks and two-way radios. Dozens carried canisters of bear spray, baseball bats, hockey sticks and pro-Trump flags attached to stout poles later used to bash police officers. A close examination of the group marching up the steps to help breach the Capitol shows they wore military-style patches that read “MILITIA” and “OATHKEEPER.” Others were wearing patches and insignias representing far-right militant groups, including the Proud Boys, the Three Percenters and various self-styled state militias. The Oath Keepers, which claims to count thousands of current and former law enforcement officials and military veterans as members, have become fixtures at protests and counter-protests across the country, often heavily armed with semi-automatic carbines and tactical shotguns. Stewart Rhodes, an Army veteran who founded the Oath Keepers in 2009 as a reaction to the presidency of Barack Obama, had been saying for weeks before the Capitol riot that his group was preparing for a civil war and was “armed, prepared to go in if the president calls us up.”

"Adam Newbold, the retired Navy SEAL from Lisbon, Ohio, whose more than two-decade military career includes multiple combat awards for valor, said in a Jan. 5 Facebook video, “We are just very prepared, very capable and very skilled patriots ready for a fight.” He later posted a since-deleted follow-up video after the riot saying he was “proud” of the assault. Newbold, 45, did not respond to multiple messages from the AP but in an interview with the Task & Purpose website he denied ever going inside the Capitol. He added that because of the fallout from the videos he has resigned from a program that helps prepare potential SEAL applicants. Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Larry Rendall Brock Jr. of Texas was released to home confinement Thursday after a prosecutor alleged the former fighter pilot had zip-tie handcuffs on the Senate floor because he planned to take hostages. “He means to kidnap, restrain, perhaps try, perhaps execute members of the U.S. government,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Weimer said. “His prior experience and training make him all the more dangerous.”

"Army commanders at Fort Bragg in North Carolina are investigating the possible involvement of Capt. Emily Rainey, the 30-year-old psychological operations officer and Afghanistan war veteran who told the AP she traveled with 100 others to Washington to “stand against election fraud.” She insisted she acted within Army regulations and that no one in her group entered the Capitol or broke the law. “I was a private citizen and doing everything right and within my rights,” Rainey said."

"More than 110 people have been arrested on charges related to the Capitol riot so far, ranging from curfew violations to serious federal felonies related to theft and weapons possession. Brian Harrell, who served as the assistant secretary for infrastructure protection at the Department of Homeland Security until last year, said it is “obviously problematic” when “extremist bad actors” have military and law enforcement backgrounds. “Many have specialized training, some have seen combat, and nearly all have been fed disinformation and propaganda from illegitimate sources,” Harrell said. “They are fueled by conspiracy theories, feel as if something is being stolen from them, and they are not interested in debate. This is a powder keg cocktail waiting to blow.” The FBI is warning of the potential for more bloodshed. In an internal bulletin issued Sunday, the bureau warned of plans for armed protests at all 50 state capitals and in Washington, D.C., in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, police departments in such major cities as New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Houston and Philadelphia announced they were investigating whether members of their agencies participated in the Capitol riot. The Philadelphia area’s transit authority is also investigating whether seven of its police officers who attended Trump’s rally in Washington broke any laws."

Even if these people never stormed the Capitol, what the hell could they possibly been thinking?

"A Texas sheriff announced last week that he had reported one of his lieutenants to the FBI after she posted photos of herself on social media with a crowd outside the Capitol. Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said Lt. Roxanne Mathai, a 46-year-old jailer, had the right to attend the rally but he’s investigating whether she may have broken the law. One of the posts Mathai shared was a photo that appeared to be taken Jan. 6 from among the mass of Trump supporters outside the Capitol, captioned: “Not gonna lie. ... aside from my kids, this was, indeed, the best day of my life. And it’s not over yet.” A lawyer for Mathai, a mother and longtime San Antonio resident, said she attended the Trump rally but never entered the Capitol. In Houston, Police Chief Art Acevedo said an 18-year veteran of the department suspected of joining the mob that breached the Capitol resigned before a disciplinary hearing that was set for Friday. “There is no excuse for criminal activity, especially from a police officer,” Acevedo said. “I can’t tell you the anger I feel at the thought of a police officer, and other police officers, thinking they get to storm the Capitol.”

"Nearly 30 sworn police officers from a dozen departments attended the pro-Trump rally at the U.S. Capitol last week, and several stormed Capitol with rioters and are facing federal criminal charges as well as possible expulsion or other discipline. The officers are from departments large and small. There was a veteran officer in Houston, the nation's eighth-largest department; a sergeant in the small town of Rocky Mount, Va., and a group of Philadelphia transit officers. Five people were killed in the riots, including Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick and Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt, who was shot by an officer when she attempted to breach a barricaded door inside the Capitol. Houston police officer Tam Pham, an 18-year veteran, resigned Thursday in the wake of federal charges against him, Houston Chief Art Acevedo said in a tweet. Photos emerged showing Pham inside the Capitol during the riots holding a Trump flag alongside other pro-Trump extremists. Federal prosecutors are investigating. "In Virginia, photos emerged showing Rocky Mount Police Sgt. T.J. Robertson and Officer Jacob Fracker inside the Capitol with other rioters. Robertson told The Roanoke Times that he and officer Fracker did nothing illegal. "Where I was at there was no violence. There was no fighting with police officers." Federal prosecutors say otherwise. Each officer has been charged with one federal count of "knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority and one count of violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds," according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. Both were arrested and released without bond."

"In a since-deleted Facebook post, Fracker wrote after the riots: "Lol to anyone who's possibly concerned about the picture of me going around... Sorry I hate freedom? ...Not like I did anything illegal...y'all do what you feel you need to." And in screenshot of a Facebook post circulating, Robertson wrote: "CNN and the Left are just mad because we actually attacked the government who is the problem and not some random small business ... The right IN ONE DAY took the f——— U.S. Capitol. Keep poking us." Asked for comment, Town Manager James Ervin said in an email to NPR that the town supports their employees' "rights to engage in speech and assembly but expects the actions taken while doing so to be lawful." Ervin declined to comment further, citing the criminal probe. The officers are currently on paid leave, Ervin says, as per town policy."

"The federal charges and ongoing investigations are likely to further erode public trust in police and again raise concerns about oversight and accountability, especially in the wake of 2020's nationwide protests against police brutality and for racial justice following the killings of Black men and women by police officers."

"Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, told NPR the charges against off-duty officers are all the more reprehensible because many officers on duty at the Capitol "acted heroically that day."

"Police officers should know more than others that engaging in mob behavior is abhorrent. At a time when people are questioning police legitimacy, this isn't helpful. It's worse than that, it's despicable. It's despicable because you have 50 officers hurt and one who died. This is just unconscionable," Wexler said, adding, "those officers who engaged in mob behavior should be held accountable and should not be police officers. Period."

"Sue Rahr is the former King County, Wash., sheriff who now runs the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission. "One of the top philosophical statements we make to recruits is you are guardians of the democracy. You're not just there to investigate crimes, but you're there to actually uphold the democracy, because our country depends on the rule of law," Rahr told NPR. "And what happened at the Capitol was completely against everything that the concept of the rule of law stands for."

"In Texas, Bexar County Sheriff's Lt. Roxanne Mathai, an eight-year veteran of the force, is on unpaid administrative leave after posting photos of herself in the pro-Trump mob on a Capitol balcony after rioters stormed past police lines. She called it on Facebook "one of the best days" of her life. She also faces possible federal charges. A post on her Facebook page also says "and we are going in... in the crowd at the stairs...not inside the capitol like the others. Not catching a case lol." Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar told KSAT TV: "My intent is that she never set foot in this building again."

"Mathai's lawyer, Hector Cortes, told the news station that "her role in the chaos is really just attending a political rally for a president who she supports." A department spokesman, Deputy Johnny Garcia, told NPR that Mathai already was on administrative leave from a previous incident involving "an inappropriate relationship" with an inmate in the jail. Garcia declined to elaborate on either case since both are under investigation. The New York Police Department is looking into allegations one of their officers was among the rioters. John Miller, the NYPD's deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism, said on Thursday, "We're taking outside tips, we're getting information from the FBI," adding that internal affairs "is the recipient of any allegations that anybody who is an employee of the NYPD conducted any illegal activity." Seven off-duty transit police officers in Philadelphia also face scrutiny after they attended the Trump rally preceding the attack on the Capitol, NPR member station WHYY reports. "They are being investigated to see if they were involved in riotous behavior or for violations of our social media policies," said Chief Thomas Nestel of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority. In Seattle, two police officers who attended the rally are also under investigation. Interim Police Chief Adrian Diaz in a statement said that while he fully supports all lawful expressions of free speech, "if any SPD officers were directly involved in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, I will immediately terminate them. While OPA investigates, these officers have been placed on administrative leave."

"In Chicago, there are calls for the resignation of John Catanzara, who heads the powerful police union. Catanzara at first strongly defended the rioters, called them nonviolent and echoed the president's false claims about election fraud in an interview with NPR station WBEZ. He later apologized. In Oklahoma, social media posts raise questions about Canadian County Sheriff Chris West, because of statements attributed to him on a since-deleted Facebook account. West said at a press conference that he only attended the rally and did not push past police or enter the Capitol. Last Friday, West said the "egregious crimes on our beacon and bastion of last hope for our nation, breaking into that and terrorizing it, I rebuke all of that, every bit of it." But KFOR TV in Oklahoma reports that a man named Bryan Harter claims he was in the Capitol with the sheriff during the insurrection, posting on Facebook, "I was in DC for the protest at the capitol with Sheriff West. I took a week's vacation spent my own money and drove 40 hours round trip! After 23 years of military service, I felt it my duty to stand for us. For fair elections. Honestly they are lucky we just occupied. We literally pushed past the police said we are here and left. Burned nothing looted nothing. Now we are called terrorists. People better wake up, before its too late."

"And in the deleted Facebook account, KFOR reported, Sheriff West appears to embrace the baseless claims of election fraud pushed by President Trump. "If they're okay rigging an election and foreign help to steal the white house and control of WeThePeople, then I'm okay with using whatever means necessary to preserve America and save FREEDOM & LIBERTY."

"Police training executive Rahr says she sent a memo to all her recruits and staff reminding them of the important role law enforcement can play in reassuring the public "that our democracy can survive the politically divisive conflicts that are erupting." Rahr adds the majority of law enforcement officers in this country "are just as ashamed and disgusted as I am because the storming of the Capitol is, there's there's no defense for that. There just isn't."

"During the chaos at the Capitol, overwhelmed police officers confronted and combated a frenzied sea of rioters who transformed the seat of democracy into a battlefield. Now police chiefs across the country are confronting the uncomfortable reality that members in their own ranks were among the mob that faced off against other law enforcement officers. At least 13 off-duty law enforcement officials are suspected of taking part in the riot, a tally that could grow as investigators continue to pore over footage and records to identify participants. Police leaders are turning in their own to the FBI and taking the striking step of reminding officers in their departments that criminal misconduct could push them off the force and behind bars. The reckoning within police departments comes as plans for new demonstrations this weekend and on Inauguration Day are solidifying, with authorities warning of the potential for violence in state capitals. Participants are expected to protest election results that made Joe Biden president-elect. “We are making clear that they have First Amendment rights like all Americans,” said Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo, who on Thursday accepted the resignation of an 18-year veteran in his department due to his involvement in the riot, which followed a rally at which President Trump urged his supporters to not accept his defeat. “However, engaging in activity that crosses the line into criminal conduct will not be tolerated.” The revelation that officers participated in the chaos was the latest hit for law enforcement’s reputation, coming on the heels of a year in which police violence spurred nationwide protests and activists called for cutting police funding. As photographs and videos of some off-duty officers at the riot emerged on social media, some residents back home felt betrayed, while police officials worried about a black eye for the entire profession’s credibility."

"Acevedo, president of the Major Cities Chiefs Association, said the behavior is so egregious that it is often fellow officers who are alerting police chiefs and others to their colleagues’ participation in last week’s mob attack on the Capitol."

Certainly, encouraging. -- The 'Blue Wall' has been an egregious problem for decades.

"It marks a notable break in the so-called “blue wall of silence,” an aspect of police culture that encourages officers to turn a blind eye to misconduct by fellow officers. Craig Futterman, who directs the University of Chicago Law Civil Rights and Police Accountability Project, said the Capitol riot was different. “The ‘Code of Silence’ is fundamentally about loyalty to your fellow officer and that ‘no one understands what we’re going through but us,’ ” Futterman said. By contrast, there’s something “fundamentally anti-police” about storming the Capitol, he said. That fellow police officers were the target of much of the mob’s brutality is another important factor that may have prompted whistleblowing. U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian D. Sicknick was among the five people killed as a result of the riot. Dozens of other police officers were injured. While some officers have said they were merely at the rally, rather than participating in the riot, others were found to have gone farther."

"In Rocky Mount, Va., the presence of two officers in the riot, which included displays of the Confederate battle flag, came to light after a colleague and another city official leaked photos of them inside the Capitol to an area activist. The president of the local Black Lives Matter chapter posted them on her Facebook page and one of the officers quickly defended himself and threatened future violence. “A legitimate republic stands on 4 boxes,” Officer Thomas Robertson, 47, wrote in response on his Facebook page. “The soapbox, the ballot box, the jury box and then the cartridge box. We just moved to step 3. Step 4 will not be pretty...I’ve spent most of my adult life fighting a counter insurgency. I'm about to become part of one, and a very effective one.”

"Robertson and fellow officer Jacob Fracker, 27, were both arrested Wednesday by the FBI and are so far the only law enforcement officers facing federal charges, which include one count each of “knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority” and one count each of “violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.” A Washington Post analysis shows that at least 29 current and former officers attended the Jan. 6 rally, with some proceeding to the Capitol, according to a review of officers’ social media accounts, FBI reports and news reports. Of those, at least 13 officers are under investigation for possible participation in the rioting, as well more than a dozen Capitol Police officers who may have assisted the mob that seized the Capitol. The officers — and at least one police chief — came from tiny departments with less than a handful of officers to large agencies with thousands on their force. Reports of police among the rioters at the Capitol has police leaders worried about erosion of the public’s trust in law enforcement."

“It creates an issue where the public has a hard time believing that the ... decisions they make off duty do not impact their choices and decisions they make while on duty,” said Andrew Walsh, a deputy chief with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. That force is investigating reports that “employees” may have been at the Capitol, he said. Since the start of his presidency, Trump styled himself as a champion of law enforcement who would restore to policing a level of respect, freedom and power he perceived to have been diminished under President Barack Obama."

Our sick, deluded fuhrer, the Trump nazi, ironically, accomplished the direct opposite. What a goddamned jackass.

"Even before Trump declared himself the “law and order candidate” at a 2016 campaign event, he portrayed use of force against racial justice protesters and suspects in police custody as virtuous: As a candidate, he offered to pay the legal fees of his supporters who assaulted protesters disrupting his rallies. Not long after taking office in 2017, he told a crowd of police not to worry about injuring the people they arrest."

"In the four years of Trump’s administration, he has reversed police reform efforts and curbed the use of “pattern and practice” investigations into police departments for civil rights violations — something that had been a staple of the Obama-era Justice Department and is expected to resume under Biden. Police were keen to return the favor when Trump ran for a second term with many police unions enthusiastically offering their endorsement. Dennis Kenney, a former police officer and professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, said he was “not too terribly surprised” police were among those at the pro-Trump rally that preceded the riot, citing what he called “some pretty strident” police union support for Trump and “an authoritarian sort of regime.”

Unless and until that thinking changes, an unwanted, dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looms. ... Hear the rumble?

"Police unions and policing groups backed Trump in the 2020 election, with the head of the National Association of Police Organizations last summer deeming him “the most pro-law enforcement president we’ve ever had.”

An insane, goddamned f--king nazi dictator. ... One reason of many law enforcement has no credibility.

"However, union leaders said they are shocked by how some of their members appeared to cross the line at the Capitol. They also said officers who breached the Capitol should not expect their unions’ support in their legal battles."

“We took an oath to protect the constitution and the rule of law,” said Patrick Yoes, national president of the Fraternal Order of Police. “When people decide they are going to violate that — they are alone.”

Ferociously pointedly, again, where you been all these decades? All the abuse? All the murders of innocent, unarmed civilians? The hypocrisy? Stunning.

"Doug Griffith, president of the Houston Police Officers’ Union, said he had joked with Acevedo about how absurd it would be for any of the department’s 5,300 officers to be involved in the mob that stormed the Capitol. He said the resignation of 48-year-old Tam Pham, after having been identified as having been at the Capitol, has not changed how he is communicating with his members. Griffith believes the line some officers crossed is so bright, it doesn’t need to be explained to the rest of the force. Attempts to reach Pham were not successful. “We took an oath to uphold the law, not violate it,” Griffith said. “You have to have common sense and walk away. Think about it. There are [Capitol] officers being beaten. How, as an officer, do you not help out? How do you not understand that you shouldn't be there?”

... To say nothing of the failure to uphold, protect and defend the United States Constitution.

"David Ellis, the police chief in Troy, N.H., attended the Trump rally. As he approached the Capitol and saw the mob was pushing past the Capitol Police, he understood he needed to turn away, he said. As he boarded a charter bus at Union Station with the rioting underway, he gave an interview to New York magazine, saying the violence was “not going to solve a thing” and characterized the way the Capitol Police were being treated as “ridiculous.” He defended going to the rally, saying, “There’s a lot of Trump supporters that are awesome people. Like me.” Ellis’s small department has three full-time officers, including him. Richard Thackston, chairman of the Troy Board of Selectmen, has defended Ellis. But the blowback on town officials was immediate and fierce. More than 100 people sent emails and voice-mail messages threatening violence. Troy Town Hall is now closed indefinitely."

“They are saying we are members of the Klan. They are calling us Nazis. They are saying we should be taken to a firing squad,” Thackston said. “There is a line for us. I don’t think we tell people they cannot attend rallies. They have First Amendment rights.”

"Chuck Wexler, director of the Police Executive Research Forum, said for years police chiefs have wrestled with racist, white supremacist and violent rhetoric that some officers post on social media. In those instances, Wexler said disciplinary action may be taken since such actions are often considered “conduct unbecoming an officer.” It tarnishes the credibility of the officer, making it difficult for them to testify in their own criminal cases, impairing their ability to fulfill their job duties. “This is an evolution, a big leap from the difficult waters that police departments have waded through in recent years as officers take to social media to express their political and sometimes racist views,” Wexler said. “What happened at the Capitol the other day is new territory. Going from freedom of speech to participating in a riot where a police officer dies, that takes it to a new level.” Brian Levin, a former police officer and director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism in California, said white supremacy and far-right-wing groups are successfully recruiting local law enforcement officers. They also encourage their young members to enter law enforcement, he said."

“We are encountering a new insurgency, as far-right extremists become more active, as their connections to mainstream politics becomes attenuated, but police agencies have yet to adapt to this new threat which directly impacts their ranks and also national security,” he said."

"Bridgette Craighead saved videos of her dancing with Robertson, the Rocky Mount officer, at a Black Lives Matter event she organized in her Virginia hometown over the summer. She said she also became close to Officer Fracker. She was proud of the relationship they forged. “I thought we would be an example for the rest of the world,” Craighead said. “When we left our last protest, they told us they loved us. They escorted us home. Now I feel betrayed.” On Jan. 9, three days after the riot, Craighead received a copy of a photo of Robertson and Fracker posing inside the Capitol during the siege. They were standing in front of a statute of Revolutionary War General John Stark, who is know[n] for a toast he once wrote — “Live free or die.” Fracker is holding his middle finger up to the camera. She quickly posted it on her Facebook page. The next day, the two officers were placed on paid leave and the FBI was notified, according to a joint statement by Police Chief Ken Criner and Town Manager C. James Ervin. Criner and Ervin did not return calls seeking additional comment. In response to Craighead’s post, Robertson, who, according to local news reports is an Army veteran who received sniper training and served in Iraq, said he did not see a conflict or disparity between supporting local Black protesters and his protest that involved a breach of the Capitol. “I can protest for what I believe in and still support your protest fro [sic] what you believe in,” he wrote. “Just saying...after all, I fought for the right to do it.”

"Fracker, who military.com said previously served as a Marine, also defended himself on Facebook, saying he believed he did nothing wrong. “Lol to anyone who’s possibly concerned about the picture of me going around,” he wrote. “Sorry I hate freedom? Not like I did anything illegal, way too much to lost [sic] to go there, but y’all do what you feel you need to do.” Three days later, Fracker and Robertson were arrested by the FBI."

"The FBI informed the Defense Department of 68 current and former military members who were investigated in domestic extremism probes in 2020, according to a senior defense official. The FBI continues to investigate last week's mob attack on the Capitol and make arrests that include current and former military service members. Now NPR has learned the domestic extremism problem within the ranks may be more serious than officials realized. A senior defense official who was not authorized to speak publicly tells NPR that there were 143 notifications of investigations by the FBI last year of former and current military members. Of these, 68 pertained to domestic extremism cases the FBI had opened with current or former military personnel as subjects of investigation. The vast majority are former military; many with unfavorable discharge records, according to the official. The majority of these cases involve anti-government/anti-authority motivations, including attacks on government facilities and persons in positions of authority. One-fourth are associated with white nationalism."

"As the rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol, many of the police officers had to decide on their own how to fight them off. There was no direction. No plan. And no top leadership."

"One cop ran from one side of the building to another, fighting hand-to-hand against rioters. Another decided to respond to any calls of officers in distress and spent three hours helping cops who had been immobilized by bear spray or other chemicals. Three officers were able to handcuff one rioter. But a crowd swarmed the group and took the arrested man away with the handcuffs still on. Interviews with four members of the U.S. Capitol Police who were overrun by rioters on Jan. 6 show just how quickly the command structure collapsed as throngs of people, egged on by President Donald Trump, set upon the Capitol. The officers spoke on condition of anonymity because the department has threatened to suspend anyone who speaks to the media. “We were on our own,” one of the officers told The Associated Press. “Totally on our own.”

Not acceptable. Under such conditions, surprising there weren't more fatalities.

"The officers who spoke to the AP said they were given next to no warning by leadership on the morning of Jan. 6 about what would become a growing force of thousands of rioters, many better armed than the officers themselves were. And once the riot began, they were given no instructions by the department’s leaders on how to stop the mob or rescue lawmakers who had barricaded themselves inside. There were only enough officers for a routine day."

How could that happen? Especially, in view of all the intelligence available for weeks before the assault.

"Three officers told the AP they did not hear Chief Steven Sund on the radio the entire afternoon. It turned out he was sheltering with Vice President Mike Pence in a secure location for some of the siege. Sund resigned the next day. His assistant chief, Yogananda Pittman, who is now interim chief, was heard over the radio telling the force to “lock the building down,” with no further instructions, two officers said. One specific order came from Lt. Tarik Johnson, who told officers not to use deadly force outside the building as the rioters descended, the officers recounted. The order almost certainly prevented deaths and more chaos, but it meant officers didn’t pull their weapons and were fighting back with fists and batons."

"Johnson has been suspended after being captured on video wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat while moving through crowds of rioters. Johnson told colleagues he wore the hat as a tactic to gain the crowd’s confidence as he tried to reach other officers who were pinned down by rioters, one of the officers said. A video of the incident obtained by the Wall Street Journal shows Johnson asking rioters for help in getting his colleagues. Johnson, who could not be reached for comment, was heard by an officer on the radio repeatedly asking, “Does anybody have a plan?”

"John Donohue, a 32-year veteran of the New York Police Department who advises the Capitol Police on intelligence matters, sent a memo on Jan. 3 warning of the potential for an attack on Congress from the pro-Trump crowd, according to two law enforcement officials with knowledge of the memo first reported by The Washington Post. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the internal memo. Donohue was well-versed in the extremist threat. At a congressional hearing in July, before he starting advising the Capitol Police, Donohue told lawmakers the federal government needed a system to better monitor social media for domestic extremists. “America is at a crossroads,” he said in his testimony. “The intersection of constitutional rights and legitimate law enforcement has never been more at risk by domestic actors as it is now as seditionists actively promote a revolution.”

"For major events, the Capitol Police normally holds meetings to brief officers on their responsibilities and plans in case of an emergency. Three of the officers interviewed by the AP said there were no meetings on or before Jan. 6. It’s also unclear whether the department held over its overnight shift or called in more officers early to help those who would be on duty that day. “During the 4th of July concerts and the Memorial Day concerts, we don’t have people come up and say, ‘We’re going to seize the Capitol,’” one officer said. “But yet, you bring everybody in, you meet before. That never happened for this event.” Another officer said he was only told that morning to pick up a riot helmet. He said he had training on dealing with large crowds, but not on how to handle a riot. “We were under the impression it was just going to be a lot of yelling, cursing,” he said. As Trump called on his supporters to go to the Capitol, telling them to “fight like hell,” members of the House and Senate were inside the building to certify Biden’s victory over Trump in the Electoral College. Crowds of Trump supporters, many of them linked to far-right or white supremacist groups, began gathering on both sides of the Capitol. An officer working the western front of the building, which faces the White House and where risers were set up for the inauguration, quickly realized that the crowds were not peaceful. The rioters began breaking down short fences and systematically clipping off “Area Closed” signs, the officer said. Videos from the event show the crowd climbing the walls on the western side and eventually breaching the building."

"One officer listed the various weapons used to hit him and people near him: batons, flagpoles, sections of fencing, batteries, rubber bullets and canisters of bear spray that went further than the chemicals the officers themselves had. Some of the rioters showed their badges from other law enforcement agencies, claiming they were on the side of the Capitol Police, the officer said. Most of the insurrectionists left without being arrested, which officers who spoke to the AP say was because it was next to impossible to arrest them given how badly the force was outnumbered. That was underscored by the rioters taking away a man who officers had tried to arrest inside the Capitol. “The group came and snatched him and took him away in cuffs,” one officer said. “Outside of shooting people, what are you supposed to do?”

Not only the rioters need to be held criminally accountable. So do the Trump nazi and his staff involved in the rally. To say nothing of the brass in law enforcement egregiously derelict in their duties to lead.

"Two days after Guy Reffitt joined the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, federal officials said, he returned home to Wylie, Tex., and proudly told his family of his escapade. But by Jan. 11, when Reffitt learned the FBI was on to him, he changed his tune, according to an affidavit. “If you turn me in, you’re a traitor and you know what happens to traitors … traitors get shot,” Reffitt, 48, said to his son and daughter, according to his wife, who recounted the conversation to the FBI, which did not name the relatives. On Saturday, the FBI caught up to him. Reffitt, an oil worker with ties to self-styled militia and right-wing extremist groups, was arrested and charged with obstruction of justice for allegedly threatening his family and unlawful entry into the Capitol. Reffitt is one of more than 100 individuals who have been charged with breaching the Capitol earlier this month. In recent days, the FBI has arrested several with alleged connections to extremist groups, signaling the investigation into the violence at the Capitol is homing in on people who were more prepared, organized and encouraged violence, The Washington Post reported. Reffitt’s wife told federal agents that her husband is also a member of the Three Percenters, a right-wing movement founded on the false belief that only 3 percent of colonists fought the British during the Revolutionary War. According to an affidavit from FBI agent Thomas B. Ryan submitted in D.C. federal court on Saturday, Reffitt appeared in video footage of the insurrection published by Reuters. The footage was later shown on Fox News, according to court documents. Reffitt is seen wearing a blue jacket, tactical-style vest and a black helmet with a GoPro camera affixed to the front as he appeared to pour water on his eyes to flush out chemical irritants. The Post obtained hours of video footage, some exclusively, and placed it within a digital 3-D model of the building. (TWP) The FBI agent identified Reffitt by comparing the image in the video to his driver’s license, according to the affidavit. The agent then found his cellphone and email address on a website for “Texas Freedom Force,” which the FBI identified as a militia extremist group. Cellphone tracking data placed Reffitt at the Capitol on Jan. 6."

What could these insurrectionists possibly been thinking? That authorities weren't capable of tracking them down? That their fuhrer, the Trump nazi, would pardon them?

"Federal agents searched Reffitt’s home on Saturday. His son told an FBI agent that his father came home two days after the attempted insurrection carrying his AR-15 rifle and a Smith & Wesson pistol and revealed he had gone armed to Washington, “stormed the Capitol” and recorded the events on his GoPro. Reffitt’s son told authorities that around Jan. 11, he told him and his sister to “erase everything.” The man then allegedly told his son that if he “crossed the line and reported Reffitt to the police, putting the family in jeopardy, Reffitt would have no option but to do Reffitt’s duty for Reffitt’s country, and ‘do what he had to do,’ ” the affidavit said. Reffitt then allegedly threatened his daughter, Reffitt’s son said, warning her that if she recorded his comments or posted anything about it on social media, he would “put a bullet through” her phone. Reffitt’s wife, who was not home when her husband allegedly threatened their children, confronted her husband. She says he told her “he was trying to protect the family, and if someone was a traitor, then that’s what’s going to happen,” according to the FBI. Reffitt’s wife told the FBI that her husband is “super passionate” but didn’t believe he would act on his threats. She added he “did not indicate regret or take anything back,” according to the affidavit. In an interview with KXAS, Reffitt’s son, who is 18, said his father has become increasingly obsessed with politics over the past four years. His son blamed President Trump for manipulating his father. “I love him but I hate him,” he said of his father. “I don’t really know him anymore.” Upon his arrest on Saturday, Reffitt told agents he brought a disassembled pistol to D.C. and that he attended the Capitol on Jan. 6, but “did not go inside.” It is not clear who is representing Reffitt or when he is due in federal court."

"Members of President Donald Trump’s failed presidential campaign played key roles in orchestrating the Washington rally that spawned a deadly assault on the U.S. Capitol, according to an Associated Press review of records, undercutting claims the event was the brainchild of the president’s grassroots supporters. A pro-Trump nonprofit group called Women for America First hosted the “Save America Rally” on Jan. 6 at the Ellipse, an oval-shaped, federally owned patch of land near the White House. But an attachment to the National Park Service public gathering permit granted to the group lists more than half a dozen people in staff positions for the event who just weeks earlier had been paid thousands of dollars by Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign. Other staff scheduled to be “on site” during the demonstration have close ties to the White House. Since the siege, several of them have scrambled to distance themselves from the rally."

"The riot at the Capitol, incited by Trump’s comments before and during his speech at the Ellipse, has led to a reckoning unprecedented in American history. The president told the crowd to march to the Capitol and that “you’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength, and you have to be strong.” A week after the rally, Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives, becoming the first U.S. president ever to be impeached twice. But the political and legal fallout may stretch well beyond Trump, who will exit the White House on Wednesday before Democrat Joe Biden takes the oath of office. Trump had refused for nearly two months to accept his loss in the 2020 election to the former vice president. Women for America First, which applied for and received the Park Service permit, did not respond to messages seeking comment about how the event was financed and about the Trump campaign’s involvement. The rally drew tens of thousands of people. In a statement, the president’s reelection campaign said it “did not organize, operate or finance the event.” No campaign staff members were involved in the organization or operation of the rally, according to the statement. It said that if any former employees or independent contractors for the campaign took part, “they did not do so at the direction of the Trump campaign.”

"At least one was working for the Trump campaign this month. Megan Powers was listed as one of two operations managers for the Jan. 6 event, and her LinkedIn profile says she was the Trump campaign’s director of operations into January 2021. She did not respond to a message seeking comment. The AP’s review found at least three of the Trump campaign aides named on the permit rushed to obscure their connections to the demonstration. They deactivated or locked down their social media profiles and removed tweets that referenced the rally. Two blocked a reporter who asked questions."

"Caroline Wren, a veteran GOP fundraiser, is named as a “VIP Advisor” on an attachment to the permit that Women for America First provided to the agency. Between mid-March and mid-November, Donald J. Trump for President Inc. paid Wren $20,000 a month, according to Federal Election Commission records. During the campaign, she was a national finance consultant for Trump Victory, a joint fundraising committee between the president’s reelection campaign and the Republican National Committee. Wren was involved in at least one call before the pro-Trump rally with members of several groups listed as rally participants to organize credentials for VIP attendees, according to Kimberly Fletcher, the president of one of those groups, Moms for America. Wren retweeted messages about the event ahead of time, but a cache of her account on Google shows at least eight of those tweets disappeared from her timeline. She apparently removed some herself, and others were sent from accounts that Twitter suspended."

"One of the messages Wren retweeted was from “Stop the Steal,” another group identified as a rally participant on a website promoting the event. The Jan. 2 message thanked Republican senators who said they would vote to overturn Biden’s election victory, including Josh Hawley of Missouri and Ted Cruz of Texas. She also retweeted a Jan. 1 message from the president promoting the event, as well as promotional messages from one of the president’s son, Eric Trump, and Katrina Pierson, a Tea Party activist and a spokesperson for Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. Wren did not return messages seeking comment, and locked her Twitter account after the AP reached out to her last Monday to ask her about her involvement in the Trump rally and the tweets she had removed. Several days later, she blocked the AP reporter."

"Maggie Mulvaney, a niece of former top Trump aide Mick Mulvaney, is listed on the permit attachment as the “VIP Lead.” She worked as director of finance operations for the Trump campaign, according to her LinkedIn profile. FEC records show Maggie Mulvaney was earning $5,000 every two weeks from Trump’s reelection campaign, with the most recent payment reported on November 13. Maggie Mulvaney had taken down her Twitter account as of last Monday, although it reappeared after the AP asked her about the account’s removal."

"Maggie Mulvaney retweeted several messages on Jan. 6, including one from the president that urged support for the Capitol Police. Trump’s Twitter account has been suspended, but the message could be seen in a cache of her Twitter account captured by Google. She also retweeted a message from her uncle, urging Trump to address the nation. Maggie Mulvaney did not respond to messages seeking comment."

"The insurrection at the Capitol prompted Mick Mulvaney to quit his position as Trump’s special envoy to Northern Ireland. He told CNBC a day after the assault that remaining in the post would prompt people to say “‘Oh yeah, you work for the guy who tried to overtake the government.’” The leaders of Women for America First aren’t new to politics. Amy Kremer, listed as the group’s president on records filed with Virginia’s state corporation commission, is “one of the founding mothers of the modern day tea party movement,” according to her website. Her daughter, Kylie Jane Kremer, is the organization’s treasurer, according to the records. The IRS granted Women for America First tax-exempt status as a social welfare organization a year ago, with the exemption retroactive to February 2019. The AP requested that the group provide any tax records it may have filed since then, but received no response."

Why not? If nothing to hide, why not cooperate? Resolve all unanswered questions and issues raised by all the exceptionally strange behavior?

"In a statement issued the same day rioters attacked the Capitol, Amy Kremer denounced the assault and said it was instigated after the rally by a “handful of bad actors,” while seeming to blame Democrats and news organizations for the riot. “Unfortunately, for months the left and the mainstream media told the American people that violence was an acceptable political tool,” she said. “They were wrong. It is not.”

Quick to blame Democrats but take no personal responsibility? The national socialist, fascist Republican way, isn't it? Following the example of your fuhrer, the Trump nazi?

"The AP reviewed social media posts, voter registrations, court files and other public records for more than 120 people either facing criminal charges related to the Jan. 6 unrest or who, going maskless during the pandemic, were later identified through photographs and videos taken during the melee. The review found the crowd was overwhelmingly made up of longtime Trump supporters, including Republican Party officials, GOP political donors, far-right militants, white supremacists, off-duty police, members of the military and adherents of the QAnon myth that the government is secretly controlled by a cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophile cannibals."

Interesting, isn't it? Think the FBI and other agencies investigating the assault on the Capitol are not investigating all this?

"Civil liberties advocates are warning that the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol could lead to new police and surveillance powers. If history is a guide, they say, those tools could be used against Blacks and other people of color in the justice system, not the white rioters who stormed Congress."

... Hear the rumble? Too deaf to hear? An unwanted, dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looms.

"Albert Fox Cahn watched in horror last week as rioters beat and shoved their way into the U.S. Capitol. The civil rights lawyer said the images made him angry. "You know, in that moment, I myself felt that same anger, that I want to catch these guys after seeing what they did to our Capitol," Cahn said. "And that anger, that frustration, that desire for justice, can lead us to very dangerous places."

"Cahn is executive director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, a group that fights what he calls invasive surveillance technologies. Those include tools like facial recognition and the use of cellphone location data. Cahn says he worries that all of those things are on the table as lawmakers confront how close they came to danger last week — and that such things are being embraced even by members of Congress who have been open to the idea of reducing police power."

Indeed, we should all be worried about these invasive surveillance technologies. For damned good reason. Carefully, consider the following:

"Incoming Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat who previously supported such a move, has now proposed expanding the federal no-fly list to add Capitol rioters. "These insurrectionists, many of whom are at large, should not be able to hop on a flight," Schumer said at a news conference this week. The head of the FBI's Washington Field Office, Steven D'Antuono, would not rule that out at a separate news conference in Washington, D.C. "As for the no-fly list, we look at all tools and all techniques that we can possibly use, within the FBI, and that's something we are actively looking at," he said."

"Critics say the no-fly list is bloated and often ineffective since it has information that can be wrong or out of date. The list has provoked lawsuits from Muslims who allege they were put on the list because of racial profiling. The deadly assault on the Capitol is also reviving the idea of creating a new federal crime of domestic terrorism. That idea has won support from former national security prosecutors and a trade group for FBI agents. President-elect Joe Biden has expressed openness to a new domestic terror law too. But Gregory Nojeim, who directs the Freedom, Security, and Technology Project at the Center for Democracy and Technology, says not so fast. "The reason there's not such a crime is that there's concern, and it's legitimate, that such a statute could be used to squelch free expression," Nojeim said. Nojeim pointed out that the acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, Michael Sherwin, is already considering the charge of sedition against some culprits. That carries the potential for a 20-year prison sentence. "It would be a shame if the response to poor policing was to give the police more authority that would infringe on civil liberties," Nojeim said. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., agreed. This week, Omar tweeted: "We cannot simply expand the tools that have oppressed Black and Brown people. The answer is not a broader security structure, or a deeper police state. We have to stay rooted in a love of justice and of human rights and of civil liberties as we seek accountability."

That's right. Also, must be pointed out all races have been subject to abuse by the criminal jackbooted bastards in law enforcement.

"FBI officials wouldn't confirm whether they are using facial-recognition tools to help identify members of the mob that stormed the Capitol. But civil rights lawyers have a hunch they are. Faulty facial-recognition tools have led to wrongful arrests of Black men and an ongoing lawsuit in New Jersey. "Until those racial disparities are fixed," said Catherine Crump, director of the Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic at the University of California, Berkeley's School of Law, "this is not a technology that should be deployed on a widespread basis."

Readers are reminded we already live in a de facto fascist police-state. A democratic republic in name only. To further empower these criminal jackbooted bastards would be a serious mistake with catastrophic consequences.

"As rioters overran the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, an officer guarding the building shook hands with two people in the mob and admitted defeat, according to the account the men provided FBI agents. Robert L. Bauer and Edward Hemenway told an FBI agent that after they rushed into the building with the crowd, one Capitol Police officer shook their hands, gave one a partial hug, and told them both that “it’s your house now.” “Sorry,” Hemenway recalled telling the officer. “It’s your house now, man,” he said the officer replied. Bauer told the FBI he “believed that the policeman was acting out of fear,” according to an affidavit filed in federal court in the District. No specific officer is identified in charging papers by federal law enforcement officials, who are relying on the defendants’ own recounting of their experience inside the Capitol. A Capitol Police spokeswoman did not immediately return a request for comment regarding the account in the affidavit. Other court documents have described Capitol Police officers’ failed attempts to hold back the crowd. One said he was unable to detain a rioter because there were too many others threatening him. More than 50 D.C. police officers and an unknown number of Capitol Police officers suffered injuries."

"War-like imagery has begun spreading in Republican circles after the attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters, with some elected officials and party leaders rejecting pleas to tone down rhetoric calling for a second civil war. In northwestern Wisconsin, the chairman of the St. Croix County Republican Party was forced to resign Friday after refusing for a week after the siege to remove an online post urging followers to “prepare for war.” The incoming chairwoman of the Michigan GOP and her husband, a state lawmaker, have joined a conservative social media site created after the Capitol riot where the possibility of civil war is a topic. Phil Reynolds, a member of the GOP central committee in California’s Santa Clara County, appeared to urge on insurrectionists on social media during the Jan. 6 attack, declaring on Facebook: “The war has begun. Citizens take arms! Drumroll please….. Civil War or No Civil War?” The heightened rhetoric mimics language far-right extremists and white supremacists have used for years, and it follows a year of civil unrest over the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, by a white police officer and its links to systemic racism. Some leftists have used similar language, which Republicans have likened to advocating a new civil war.

"Democrats say the uptick in war talk isn’t accidental. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., said Trump began putting his supporters in the frame of mind to make the opening charge years ago and is “capable of starting a civil war.” “Since his first day in office, this president has spent four years abusing his power, lying, embracing authoritarianism (and) radicalizing his supporters against democracy,” she said in arguing for impeachment. “This corruption poisoned the minds of his supporters, inciting them to willingly join with white supremacists, neo-Nazis and paramilitary extremists in a siege of the United State Capitol building, the very seat of American democracy.” There are parallels between now and the run-up to the Civil War, including a fractious national election that ended with presidents — Abraham Lincoln in 1860 and Joe Biden in 2020 — who millions rejected as illegitimate victors, said Nina Silber, co-president of the Society of Civil War Historians. Lincoln won the Electoral College but came away with only a plurality of the popular vote in a four-way race. Biden won the popular vote by 7 million over Trump and defeated him decisively in the Electoral College, 306 to 232. Dozens of lawsuits by Trump and his allies seeking to overturn the results failed, some of them turned away by federal judges Trump himself nominated. Then-Attorney General William Barr said the Justice Department could find no evidence of widespread fraud that would have changed the election’s outcome. While the same geographic split doesn’t exist today as when the Civil War started in 1861 and there is no mass preparation for all-out conflict, Silber said white anger and resentment fueled both eras. “At the time of the Civil War, this took the form of Southern white men angry at the idea that the federal government would interfere with their right to own Black slaves. Today, I think this takes the form of white people who believe that Black and brown people are making gains, or getting special treatment, at their expense,” Silber, who teaches at Boston University, said in an email interview."

"The top federal prosecutor for the District of Columbia said Friday that investigators have not uncovered direct evidence at this point of any "kill/capture teams" targeting elected officials during the U.S. Capitol insurrection, contradicting allegations made earlier by federal prosecutors in Arizona. U.S. prosecutors in Arizona said Thursday in a court filing against Jacob Chansley, also known as the "QAnon Shaman," that they have "strong evidence" members of the pro-Trump mob wanted to "capture and assassinate" officials. Michael Sherwin, acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, attributed what he called the "disconnect" in Arizona, and at least one other district, to the sprawling and complex nature of the investigation. There are preliminary hearings taking place in districts across the United States. "At some of those hearings, there were other prosecutors, there may be a disconnect, may be adding information that's not directly related to what we have," Sherwin said at a news conference."

"Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday explicitly placed blame on President Donald Trump for the deadly riot at the Capitol, saying the mob was “fed lies” and that the president and others “provoked” those intent on overturning Democrat Joe Biden’s election."

"McConnell’s remarks as he opened the Senate were his most severe and public rebuke of outgoing President Donald Trump. The Republican leader vowed a “safe and successful” inauguration of Biden on Wednesday at the Capitol, which is under extremely tight security. “The mob was fed lies,” McConnell said. “They were provoked by the president and other powerful people, and they tried to use fear and violence to stop a specific proceeding of the first branch of the federal government which they did not like.”

"McConnell said after Biden’s inauguration on the Capitol’s West Front — what he noted former President George H.W. Bush has called “democracy’s front porch” — “We’ll move forward.”

"The start of the new session of Congress will force senators to come to terms with the post-Trump era, a transfer of power like almost none other in the nation’s history. Senators are returning to a Capitol shattered from the riot, but also a Senate ground to a halt by the lawmakers’ own extreme partisanship. Republican senators, in particular, face a daunting choice of whether to convict Trump of inciting the insurrection, the first impeachment trial of a president no longer in office, in a break with the defeated president who continues to hold great sway over the party but whose future is uncertain. Senators are also being asked to start confirming Biden’s Cabinet nominees and consider passage of a sweeping new $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill."

"The Senate returned to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to start the 117th Congress, facing a possible impeachment trial looming for outgoing President Donald Trump, a slew of confirmation hearings and legislative proposals from the new Biden administration. Tuesday is the Senate's first return to the U.S. Capitol since the Jan. 6 attack by radical Trump supporters, who attempted to disrupt Congress' certification of Biden's electoral victory. In remarks on the Senate floor, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell gave his most vocal condemnation to date of the violence at the Capitol two weeks ago. "The last time the Senate convened, we had just reclaimed the Capitol from violent criminals who tried to stop Congress from doing our duty," he said. "The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the president and other powerful people."

"McConnell had previously refused to return earlier to receive Trump's second impeachment from the House and begin the trial.

"McConnell's remarks on Tuesday indicate a growing faction of Republicans who are open to possibly convicting Trump for inciting the Capitol attack, which led to hundreds of arrests and five deaths. The supporters had attended a heated rally by Trump near the White House before they marched to the Capitol and began the assault. If the Senate convicts Trump on the charge, he would almost certainly be barred from ever holding federal office again."

"Joe Biden became the 46th president of the United States on Wednesday, declaring that “democracy has prevailed” as he took the helm of a deeply divided nation and inherited a confluence of crises arguably greater than any faced by his predecessors."

"Vice President Kamala Harris broke the barrier Wednesday that has kept men at the top ranks of American power for more than two centuries when she took the oath to hold the nation’s second-highest office. Harris was sworn in as the first female U.S. vice president — and the first Black woman and person of South Asian descent to hold the position — in front of the U.S. Capitol by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor."

Quite a bit of history this January: First Wednesday, violent insurrection at the Capitol incited by our former president, the Trump nazi. Second Wednesday, that very same nazi dictator impeached a second time by the House. Third Wednesday, peaceful ultimate transfer of presidential power.

Couldn't have ended better than that. Could have ended far, far worse.

Although sadly remaining a de facto fascist police-state in reality, clearly our nation demonstrated since January 6 it is far more than just a democratic republic in name only.

Next few months will certainly determine whether or not our formerly great country recovers. -- Not only from all the damage done since the MeCarthy era of the 1950s and all the decades since, but particularly the last four years of the Trump nazi.

The effort to expose Wells Fargo egregious deceptive trade practices continues. Several years ago to determinedly apply renewed pressure on our truly worthless, egregiously self-serving Texas Attorney General, now Governor, an excoriating email was sent to the bastard. Copies of which were also passed on to both offending Wells Fargo officers. A copy was also sent to the Davis campaign and others at the time.

Voters did have a right to know as Attorney General, the GOP candidate for Governor apparently selectively investigated, or not, bona fide complaints filed by citizens against banks too big to fail. Possibly, Wells Fargo could have lined his pockets in some fashion. That has yet to be determined.

The bastard and his office, no matter what, failed to respond to the complaint originally snail mailed several years ago. This material, figuratively targeting Wells Fargo and the governor 'wannabe' now Governor, had been posted and can be found by scrolling all the way down and clicking on the links well below. ... Governor? Wells Fargo bribe you to look the other way?

Will continue to do all I can to publicly expose this to all, both in this publication and elsewhere. Have done precisely that with the following email sent to Matt Turner, Matt Turner Video Services, Marble Falls, TX. A copy of it was also sent to Wells Fargo officer Amanda Wright. She has, indeed, been promoted branch manager. Reverse Darwinism. Survival of the unfittest.

This young woman has indeed been rewarded by the Wells Fargo corporate management suite for engaging in criminal deceptive trade practices and her undying loyalty to her corporate masters. The process to update those already informed of this fiasco has finally been completed. This latest material can be found by clicking onWells Fargo Deceptive Trade Practices Salvo 240, 2-8-19 .

-- Despite the fact these businesses were, and are, being egregiously f--ked by these very same bastards. Tough, isn't it? Impossible to entertain any sympathy for cowardice, however. Especially in view of the fact this writer has placed himself in great jeopardy taking on these corrupt, abusive, inept criminal bastards. Alone.

Exactly, why you see no investigative material highly critical of these sons of bitches in other local rags. Sadly, cowardly, all advertising income immediately dries up. Consequently, the bastards continue their criminal chicanery with impunity. On a rampage. Thus, you get what you truly deserve. Always. Precisely, why this earlier name change to Liberty In Peril remains appropriate. -- Despite the fact this writer has not yet left the area. Ten years after originally intending to do so. Thirty years in this goddamned godforsaken hellhole.

This writer, then and now, remains primarily interested in state, federal, and international issues. Another reason for this publication name change. Despite the fact I stupidly cluelessly remain here, local issues must be addressed. Can't be ignored. That's where you come in dear readers. Have the courage to inform this writer of local abuse, corruption, ineptness you are aware of, have personally experienced.

... Information these criminal bastards do all they can to conceal, cover up. Otherwise, how can they effectively sustain the charade and intended result? Loot confiscation through a boot heel on the throat of the citizenry.

The only way, short of an unwanted dreaded second American revolution, to force badly-needed change is to expose all this to the light of day. These bastards are beginning to understand they have a problem. No question, the growing rage of those they've abused, looted, egregiously f--ked. It's time to stand up. Expose this corruption to glaring sunlight. Otherwise, as fools, cowards, you will remain under their thumb. From the loftiest business owner to those on the bottom of the food chain. Wake up. Grow a pair.

Still don't think that likely to happen. After all, you're bought and paid for. Owned. Not only by your government masters, but their masters. The corporate management suite. Your employers. Think not? Wake up. You're human chattel. Corporate-owned, bought and paid for. Precisely, why you cowardly, compliantly, literally bare your asses for corporate inspection by the company doctor. Willingly, compliantly, cowardly piss in a cup under employer supervision. To sit in front of a keyboard or stock shelves all day. You have no control of your lives. You're owned. Forget? For a measly salary, no job security, reduced to no benefits. At a time of record corporate profits and cash reserves.

Then, you gallingly complain about the oppression as you tolerate egregious theft of your labor. Not only by your corporate masters, but their bought and paid for government lackeys. Too cowardly to stand up, allow disclosure of your identity when you rightfully complain to this publication of being mercilessly f--ked. Some of you falsely arrested, criminally assaulted, bogusly fined for 'offenses' you did not commit. To line County coffers. Keep the peasants in line and under control. A fascist police-state. Nazi America.

Again, yet another reason why this publication is called Liberty In Peril. Most galling? Nothing changes if you fail to step up and challenge corrupt, abusive, inept authority. Too afraid, cowardly compliant to let the bastards know who you are. Did it ever occur to the cowards out there if the identity of the accuser is kept under wraps the bastards will falsely claim it's all made up by this publication? Thus, conveniently killing all credibility. Wake up.

Cowardice is unbecoming, unworthy of our formerly great country. Insult to injury? There are the hopelessly deranged who believe the chicanery reported here to be manufactured anyway. No matter the effort. No matter the research. No matter the proof. Wake up. This writer cannot do it alone. Snowball's chance in hell. Then again, cowardice, delusion is always amply, justly rewarded. Always. You continue to 'enjoy' the very best government money can buy. Literally.

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Tim Chorney, Publisher
P.O. Box 151
Buchanan Dam, Tx. 78609
libertyinperil@protonmail.com

Liberty In Peril

... Formerly

The Llano Ledger