Josh the Builder of the Hoop House Skeleton

I deeply apologize for not publishing a garden post the last two Sundays. The first one I was drowning in writing and activities for the Hand Recount and last Sunday I was in Fairbanks being a delegate to the Democratic Convention.

Believe me, I preferred to be in the garden!

This weekend is very exciting for me because I’ve been anticipating building a hoop house since the Botanical Garden Spring Conference in early March! Now, we finally did it!

And when I say “we,” I mostly mean Josh!

First, we started out with some great, detailed instructions for a 10′ x 21′ PVC pipe hoophouse. However, due to wind and other considerations, I made some alterations to the equipment list:

Instead of using 3/4″ PVC pipe, I chose to use 1/2″ EMT conduit. I figured the metal might make it sturdier than the plastic. I used 3/4″ PVC pieces for the spine, however.

I bought 1/2″ screw bushings to fit inside the “t” connectors and cross connectors. That way, I could screw the metal pipe into the plastic connector.

Because we used the 1/2″ EMT pipe, I had to find something different to use as stakes that fit inside of the pipe. I chose 24″ lengths of 1/4″ rebar.

I bought a box of 20′ x 100′ plastic sheeting for the cover. I bought it at Lowes. They had boxes on the internet of 20′ x 50′ (perfect size) but they wouldn’t deliver to AK.

While we bought some of the “snap” tee connectors to put across the “spine” to hold the plastic on, we ended up using binder clips only as the snap tees ripped the plastic.

While I’m still working out how I want to do the door on either side, we now have a functioning hoop house!

Mostly Done

I bought some velcro to test out on holding the plastic up to keep the doors open in the day. I’ll be adding to the post tomorrow, and add to the post when I do.

So, it’s not perfect, but what do you think?

On Friday, the EPA released the results of their long-awaited draft environmental impact statement on potential large scale mining operations in the Bristol Bay watershed. Their conclusion was not a surprise to anyone who has gone beyond a superficial look at the controversial issue of mining in this sensitive and highly seismic region.

The notion of a 700 foot tall earthen dam that would need to remain intact forever, while sitting atop one of the most seismically active regions in the world is one of those things you don’t need to be a scientist to feel nervous about. But now, the scientists have weighed in.

Even if a large mine operated smoothly, with no engineering failures and no human-caused disasters, the EPA said in its analysis that miles of salmon rivers and streams could be lost or blocked, as could thousands of acres of wetlands that are vital to juvenile salmon.

“The report does conclude that there is a potential for certain activities associated with large-scale mining to have adverse impacts on the productivity and the sustainability of the salmon fishery in the watershed,” Dennis McLerran, administrator of Seattle-based EPA region 10 told reporters.

At stake is the world’s largest remaining wild salmon fishery that provides 14,000 jobs, and almost a half billion dollars a year in salmon.

Proponents of the mine say it will bring jobs, and the mineralogical riches of gold, copper, molybdenum and other precious metals could top $80 billion. What they don’t remind us is that local jobs would be few, the benefit to the state of Alaska is almost non-existent compared to the benefits we get from oil with our current tax structure, and the beneficiaries of all that money are not Alaskans, but huge multi-national mining conglomerates, not even based in the United States.

At risk is not only the fishery, and the already existing sustainable jobs, but a native culture and subsistence traditions that span thousands of years. Alaskans take the risk, and the reward goes to Anglo-American in the UK. Something’s wrong with that picture.

Locals in the immediate area don’t want the mine. Fishermen don’t want the mine. Native Corporations don’t want the mine. Most of the people in the state of Alaska don’t want the mine. And yet, the plans still seem to move forward, heading to the permitting process. In Alaska, the “permitting process” is more of an initiation ceremony really. I can’t recall a permit being denied.

“We conclude that, at a minimum, mining at this scale would cause the loss of spawning and rearing habitat for multiple species of anadromous and resident fish,” according to the EPA watershed assessment released Friday. And that’s even without the failure of one of the massive tailings dams the agency said could be as high as the Washington Monument.

In that case, agency scientists said, more than 30 miles of salmon-bearing streams would be destroyed, and others would have “greatly degraded habitat” for decades.

And, of course, the Parnell administration who has never met a multi-national corporation it didn’t bend over backwards for, is saying that the EPA has no jurisdiction and no right to tell us what fisheries we can and cannot destroy. The EPA has been in the cross-hairs of Republicans across the nation, and Pebble Mine is set to be the place where the confrontation comes to a head.

“Until now, no one in Alaska has been willing to listen to people in Bristol Bay about what they want,” he said. “The governor has turned a deaf ear. The attorney general has been outright hostile. No one has listened to the tribes or the fishing industry, and it’s gratifying that somebody is taking seriously the responsibility to protect those resources,” said Tim Bristol of Trout Unlimited in Alaska.

So, what can be done? Fortunately, the situation is not hopeless. Despite the whining from Captain Zero in the governor’s mansion, the EPA actually does have the legal authority and obligation under section 404c of the Clean Water Act to prohibit the disposal of mine waste into the Bristol Bay watershed if the science indicates that the fishery is at risk. Well, the science is now in, and it said exactly what opponents of this project have been saying for years – the fishery is at risk. In an unacceptable way.

You can click HERE to visit the Eartworks (No Dirty Gold) website where you can submit a letter to Lisa Jackson of the EPA, asking her to stop the mine. Remember, the government can stop this dangerous project right in its tracks by invoking its privilege under section 404c.

Wrong mine. Wrong place.

In a recess appointment, Governor Sean Parnell has named Dianne Blumer to be Alaska’s new Labor Commissioner.

Always interested in Parnell appointments to such important jobs, I checked her facebook page. Ah…ironic on the day Facebook went public, Mrs. Blumer hasn’t figured out her privacy settings.

See, her facebook is listed under “Dianne Kiesel-Blumer”.

Kiesel, Kiesel, Kiesel…why does that name sound familiar?

Oh, that’s right, the pre-married Dianne Kiesel was found in contempt by the Alaska State Senate for ignoring subpoenas during the Senate’s Troopergate Investigation. She wasn’t alone. Todd Palin and eight other state employees had the same finding.

The vote was 16 – 1. Republican Con Bunde voted against it stating he thought there should be penalties attached.

I’m still checking, but I have yet to find another commissioner appointed, in the history of the state, who had been found in contempt of the Alaska Senate.

Pretty easy to figure out why Parnell didn’t appoint Mrs. Kiesel-Blumer during the session. He wouldn’t have the votes.

Captain Zero, no hero for Labor or Alaska.

According to his account of the infamous meeting with FBI informant Bill Fulton, there appeared to be no “plan” to kill federal judges, or anyone. His testimony does, however, reveal Cox’s desire to obtain the addresses of several State Troopers, an OCS worker involved in the domestic violence case against him, and a TSA Agent he knows from church whom he characterizes as “a nice lady” but says she may “have to go.”  Anderson has received full immunity from the government in exchange for his fascinating and unexpected testimony.

Anderson looks the part of a computer nerd, which is what he was supposed to be in the organization. His voice sounds youngish. He is 36, but appears younger. He’s wearing a periwinkle shirt with white buttons and a solid white collar.

Anderson met Cox when they were delegates at the 2008 Alaska Republican Convention, and they started spending time together when Anderson was laid off from his job in 2009 and began working construction and landscaping jobs with Cox.

Asked what he and Cox talked about, Anderson said that it was largely “general concern of economic collapse, (with) ensuing marshal law as a possibility,” he said. “We would want to be able to protect ourselves rather than just lay down and let it happen.”

The prosecution is questioning him.  They are looking at a sheet of paper on the screen that shows what assignments the “commanding officer” Schaeffer Cox is assigning to members of the Alaska Peacemakers Militia. It begins:

“I am the commanding officer” (…)

Les, and Bill, I would like you to be field officers and start out each in command of a company 30 men.

Mike and Dave, I would like you to be in a special tech/indirect warfare team that would probably be in Unit 2.

“Is that you?  The Mike?” asks federal prosecutor Steve Skrocki.

“Yes, I believe so. Schaeffer was interested in having me build electronic jammers, cell phone, and GPS jammers. Tech warfare stuff. That’s what he was interested in. I never answered him.”

Steve, I would like you to stay very low profile and serve mostly as a PR man and also give specialized counter-intelligence training to the men as needed.

Philip and Isaac, you can be privates in units 3 and 4 respectively.

Josiah, soon you will be old enough to be a part of the militia without the public criticizing us for having (members that are too young). (…)

Anderson doesn’t know who Steve is, and the others aren’t mentioned.

The discussion turns to Aaron Bennet, the owner of Far North Tactical in Fairbanks (formerly Blondie’s Gun Shop), a military supply and tactical store, who has been mentioned before in the trial.

“He had a friend coming – a congressman from Montana,” said Anderson. “Schaeffer wanted to go look at stuff in his store. Bennett was the store owner, that’s when we talked.”

Cox is scowling darkly as he listens to Anderson’s testimony. By the end of it, however, his face had softened a lot, and he even grins on occasion as you will see.

Anderson recounted his meeting with Bennett:

“It was in late July or early August of 2010 and I was assisting with a hot dog stand for a fundraiser that was at Far North Tactical’s new location. They had a Grand Opening. I was involved to set up a fundraiser and I was asked to assist. Bennett was there and his employees, and Bill Fulton was there, and customers. That was the only time I’ve met Bill Fulton. He ran a local gun store down here in Anchorage, (Drop Zone) and he was a friend of Aaron Bennett’s.”

Steve Skrocki asks Anderson to describe Bill Fulton for the court. Bill Fulton, as you may remember, is the guy who was working on Joe Miller’s security detail, and detained Anchorage journalist Tony Hopfinger. That guy. In this case, he is also an FBI informant. Anderson did not mince words.

FBI Informant Bill Fulton - Photo: Alaska Dispatch

“I found him to be extremely gruff – a fat drunkard, rude and extremely violent. He was invited there by Aaron Bennett, and was there to sell some goods. He brought goods to sell. I don’t know if he had guns there or not. Fulton had invited us to get together that evening and said Schaeffer had some idea, or some plan he wanted to tell us about. That’s what we were told. I came to the meeting to hear Schaeffer’s plan. I was already there so I figured I’d go.

“We got there 20-30 minutes into it, and  Schaeffer still hadn’t shown up. It was either Bill Fulton who called, or Aaron Bennett called him. Schaeffer was out doing some errands. He said, “Schaeffer, get down here we’re all waiting for you!” (Didn’t make out the name) showed up, Schaeffer’s 2^nd in command. And then Schaeffer comes in with his 2-year old boy.”

“Is this the same time he’s having issues with the state court system?” Skrocki asks.

“Yes. And he comes in and acts a little confused as to why he’s there. Bill Fulton asked him what the plan was that we’re here to hear about. Schaeffer talks for a while about how he’s being railroaded by the Court System and his philosophy. So, Fulton prods him, ‘Schaeffer, tell us why we’re here, and why you’re here.’ Then Schaeffer talks about filing paperwork in the court system. But this is not what Fulton wanted to hear. He said, ‘Not that! What we talked about!’

“He wants to know what the plan is, and keeps asking about the plan. So Schaeffer went into a generalized idea about that we’re going to arrest justices and put them on trial before his hearing. He didn’t say for what, exactly. This was on a Sunday and his court hearing was supposed to be on a Thursday. I was jut finding this out. So the idea was to arrest judges and put them on trial before the hearing. Bill Fulton wanted to hear what the actual plan was. ‘How are you going to do this?’

“Well, we could bury some Conexes (storage units), put them on trial…” (I have no idea what was meant by this, or who said it.)

‘How are we going to do this?’ Fulton kept asking.  Les Zirby pipes up – ‘There is no plan. We have no plan to do this!’ I don’t remember whether Fulton actually pulled out a knife, I think he did, but I can’t say it firmly. But I distinctly remember him lunging at Zirby saying, (And here, Anderson who had been very soft-spoken and measured, raised his voice and got really scary sounding.) “No Plan?! What do you mean you have no plan?! You’re supposed to have a plan! THAT’S WHY WE’RE HERE, YOU FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT! I’M GONNA SLIT YOUR THROAT! You’re supposed to have a plan!”

I think I got most of that right, but it was very alarming in the court room, and it distracted me from my typing. In any case, you get the idea. The important parts are verbatim.

~Eerily lifelike rendering of Michael Anderson 

“Things finally calmed down after a couple minutes of this,” Anderson continued.

“’We don’t have logistics.’ (I think he said Cox said this. Then Anderson imitated Fulton again, in a shouting voice) ‘What do you mean we don’t have logistics?! I spent $30,000 to get men and equipment up here! You want me to send them away!?’

“So Schaeffer says, ‘I’ve never been in a fight in my life. I’ve never even punched someone in the nose, and I don’t want to start now.’ And Fulton says, ‘So do you want me to call it off?’ And Schaeffer says, ‘Yes, call it off.’”

“The plan of arresting judges – it never got into an actual worked out plan,” Anderson said of the meeting. “The whole thing was really strange. Finally the whole thing ended. Bill Fulton said he was going to go to a bar, get drunk and beat up some soldiers.”

“That was your only exposure to Bill Fulton?” asked Skrocki

“Yes, thank God,” said Anderson, and really sounded like he meant it.

I was left feeling like Anderson was not the slam-dunk witness for the prosecution we were led to believe in the beginning. It also makes you wish Bill Fulton had managed to get on trial for something instead of being in the witness protection program. The prosecution has no plans to call Fulton to the witness stand, either. But they did call Anderson, and they will call their other informant JR Olson. Why not Fulton? Clearly, from Anderson’s testimony, Fulton and Cox had a conversation that would be of relevance. (“Not that! What we talked about!) Curious.

“Did Mr. Cox ask you to do something for him when he had issues with the state case concerning his wife?” Skrocki asked.

Anderson clarified that he was talking about the domestic violence case against Cox when he was arrested for assaulting his wife while driving.

“Just the organizing of the meeting so he could tell people his story. The judge had ordered him not to have any weapons in his house, so several days after he was arrested he asked if I could hold them for him. His attorney was there, and I picked up his weapons and stored them for him.

“I saw a bunch of rifles – 20-25 rifles, hand guns, a bunch of ammo, at least one tactical vest, a homemade gun, some empty grenade bodies attached to the tactical vest.”

Boxes were brought to the witness stand, and also the white bucket with green spray paint from earlier, that was full of grenade bodies.

Anderson was given rubber gloves to put on.

He took the gun out of the box, and identified it as one of the guns he took from Cox’s house. “Schaeffer said it was a homemade automatic. He said he had built it himself.” Next, came a .22 and a silencer. “The silencer was at the bottom of a duffel bag of guns he’d given me.” Anderson had found it because he was curious and had rummaged around in the duffel bag.

MJ Haden objects to calling it a “silencer.”

“With respect to the item attached to the end of that pistol, was it attached to anything at the time?”

“No,” said Anderson.

“When you saw it did you understand the intent of what it was?” asked Skrocki. “Yes, I understood the intent,” said Anderson. He went on.

“There were five to ten grenade bodies attached to a tactical vest. I remember they were attached. I put them all in my tool shed behind my house. There was a 30 caliber 1919 – a Browning, and a couple of semi-automatics, some ARs and a couple AKs, and a couple hunting rifles and hand guns. They were at my home about 2 months.  Schaeffer came by and picked them up a couple months after I took them from him.”

“Did you do other things for him?” queried Skrocki.

“Yeah. One day he called up and was going to have a meeting with the OCS officer and it was going to be at his father’s church. It was spring or summer 2010. Schaeffer called me the night before the special meeting and asked if I’d be part of a security team to help him get away if they tried to take his son. It was at the Baptist church. Zirby was supposed to be there as well. He never showed.

“Schaeffer wanted me to show up half an hour beforehand so we could have breakfast and talk about it. Wendy Williams was the OCS officer in charge of the case. I didn’t make it to the pre-meeting. That morning I threw a tactical vest and an AK in the back of the car, and about a mile or two from the house I started thinking, ‘Why do I  have this crap in the back of my car?’ But I went, and Schaeffer went in. I thought, ‘I’m here… I’m not going to do anything, but I’ll see how it goes for him.’ Eventually Schaeffer walked out and left, and I left and went about my business.”

“Your house was searched by law enforcement and items were seized from your home?” asked Skrocki.

“Yes.”

Shown on the screen are pictures taken during the raid of  Anderson’s home.

• The AK47 firearm that he put in back of the car for security detail
• A wood stove, on right side a pouch with AK47 magazine
• The same pouch with clips that fit in AK. He took one clip with him on that day, but there were 5 in the picture.
• A ‘flak vest, technically’ he says. It’s just made of Kevlar
• A desert camo vest – fabric vest with pockets for ceramic plates

A box is taken to him containing the tactical vests and a helmet belonging to Anderson. He didn’t take the helmet because he didn’t have it then. He made several references to things he “didn’t have then” leading us to believe that he’s increased his collection of arms and related items since the time he’s being questioned about.

The questioning now turned to the OCS employee that Cox had issue with. “Schaeffer wanted to know where Wendy Williams lived so he could go talk to her,” said Anderson, so he started to look up her address. “I couldn’t figure it out, so I took one of the potential addresses, drove by the house and snapped a picture of the license plate. I was going to run it through the DMV, but it doesn’t work like that. So I just deleted the picture. I don’t know if it was actually her house or not.”

There is then shown on the screen an image of a piece of paper with 2 Wendy Williamses on it, and what looks like the preliminary results of a Google search – age, cities with addresses, relatives. One has a lot and block number, and a street name. Anderson says it’s from a public records search, and he thinks that’s the house he drove by but he’s not sure.

Cox asked him about it and, “I told him I hadn’t found it yet. He said that he needed to know where she was because ‘if she hurt his family, she might get a bullet through her windshield.’”

The woman from yesterday is reading the Bible again.

Anderson is back and still under oath. Cox contacted him about a couple other things. He told Anderson,“I need names of Federal Marshals,” because he was trying to figure out who might be after him – a possible lead to find out who they are.

He talks about notes on a paper entered into evidence. It’s a short list.

Paperwork from Vernons? – (Can’t remember what that’s about.)

SWAT? – (Again, had to do with who could be after Schaeffer.)

Gary Tolop – (A trooper that lived two houses up the road from Schaeffer. “He thought he was maybe sorta OK, but called him ‘Trooper Butthole.’ Cox is trying only semi-successfully to suppress a grin at the mention of “Trooper Butthole.” He looks like a kid in the back of the class. “He was giving me some names to get started with on the whole database thing because I didn’t know how to start.”)

The letters ‘Bu’ scribbled out – (Was going to be Burt Barrick… Schaeffer ran into him. I never heard his name before, so I scribbled it out. I never went back to it. He’s a Trooper Captain in Fairbanks.)

Ron Wall – (Cox gave him the name. Trooper Lieutenant in Fairbanks.)

Cox appears to be deep in thought throughout this, and is actually sitting with his hand under his chin, like Rodin’s Thinker.

Lonnie Vernon has his chin resting on interlaced fingers. His eyes are closed and his eyebrows raised.

Anderson suggested to Cox that he could stake out the federal building to see who might be following him, and snap pictures of license plates.  There is a rudimentary diagram of the Federal Building in Fairbanks, drawn by Anderson.

~Copy of Anderson’s sketch of the Federal Building in Fairbanks

He says the dots represent foliage. The lines represent spaces in the parking lot. Cox gave a speech at a Tea Party rally about some letter he delivered to Mark Begich’s office. This was the Spring of 2009. “I said you can set up a camera behind the parking garage to see what cars are going in.”

Next up is another piece of paper with hand written notes:

3 of them – Curtis female  DHS, border control

Tom Stedler DHS

Anderson doesn’t remember what Cox said about them. He couldn’t remember Curtis’ first name. Anderson was not given a reason for why Cox wanted information on them.

Trina Bowcamp TSA

She is a TSA trainer whom Anderson never met. Cox said she was someone he knew. “He said ‘She goes to my church. She’s a nice lady, but some day she may just follow orders, and she may have to go.’

“Schaeffer and I had met, and he asked how it was going with the whole database thing and also talked to me about that he thought there was a hit team out to get him. He thought the feds had sent a hit team after him and he wanted to know who they might be and where they might be.”

Anderson knows the Vernons through IACC (The Interior Alaska Conservative Coalition) and some of the work Schaeffer has done. And he has seen them at the Second Amendment Task Force. Schaeffer gave him the phone numbers at the top of the page, but he doesn’t remember why. He did no research on any of the names.

Next is a sheet with lots of mathematical calculations and formulas. Anderson explains they are calculations of air flow. They don’t appear to be related to the case. On the right hand side of the page, scribbled in the margin it says “Ron Wall and Lawrence Piscoya.”

When asked why the names were on this particular page, Anderson says “maybe he called me up while I was working on it… I don’t know why it’s on this page.”

Next is an envelope containing a yellow notebook seized from Anderson’s residence.

He uses it for survey information for mining claims he was looking at. Anderson has worked as a mining engineer. Inside is written on one page at the top:

Federal Hit list:

Jimmy Johnson: Federal Marshal; Anc

This must be the “Federal Hit List” the prosecution talked about in their opening statement. There is nothing else on the page.

Anderson, when asked why he had written it, said, “After Schaeffer told me about the feds being after him, and through my own anger at the time, I started to look things up. I found [Johnson’s] name in a news article. I think it was about a drug case. I wrote that down, and I remember thinking, ‘I don’t want to go there. I don’t want to be that hateful. And I shut the book and never looked at it again.’

“It was out of my own anger and because of what was going on in Schaeffer’s life, or what I believed to be,” he reiterated. “I went to Google and I typed in Federal Marshal something or other. News articles popped up and I found his name in a news article.”

Skrocki went on to the next subject. “Does the name Malik Jones mean anything to you?”

“Schaeffer called me about him once… I think in October 2010. One of Schaeffer’s friends had been picked up for an expired license plate near Cantwell. He was arrested, and the passenger was left there not knowing where the person arrested was going to. Schaeffer wanted to know where (Jones) was based so he could go bail the guy out.”

“What about David Roener?”

“I shook his hand once, but don’t know … it was at one of Schaeffer’s sovereignty groups… Alaska Assembly post meetings. It’s the only one I ever went to.

“Schaeffer called me up and asked where the guy (Roener) worked. I remember looking at the executive and judicial salary list. That lists the town the person works in. I told him he worked in Fairbanks. I don’t remember looking up the lot and block number, but it’s there.” He shrugged.

Malik Jones’ full address with zip code is there, plus the subdivision, block number and lot number of the residence in North Pole. It also says “Former Army.”

The name of Officer John Marion comes up.

“He pulled me over for an expired plate, and left me in a parking lot at 30 below. I looked him up and was going to leave a nasty-gram in his mailbox but I never did.”

He got to know Coleman Barney in jail. He first met him only a few days before the arrest.

Next, a document is put up on the screen.

“In the matter of Seth Cox.” The name highlighted is Wendy Williams, the OCS worker. It is an affidavit from her, with large portions redacted.

We find out that Anderson spent 8 months in jail in connection with the charges. At first, he was put in “segregation” for 30 days, which he describes as “a small cell by myself.”

“Was that difficult for you?” Skrocki asked.

“Yes. I had just been charged with conspiracy to murder someone I thought was Schaeffer’s friend, and a judge I’d never heard of before. I wondered how I’m going to prove my innocence. What was Schaeffer up to? How was I going to get my family through this? I thought they’d be better off if they didn’t have to live with this at all.”

“Did you try to take your own life?” Skrocki asked.

He said yes, he had. As he went on, you could hear his throat tighten up. He did not cry, but it was clear it was emotional for him to talk about it. “I chewed the guard off my glasses. In the cell was a bench with a pivot, moving parts, and I squeezed it to a sharp point. I sat with my back to the camera, and I started to slit my wrist. It wasn’t very sharp. It was more like digging away at chunks of flesh. I did that for several minutes, unsuccessfully. I looked at the floor, with blood dripping on the floor. I closed my eyes, and all I saw was a black frame with flames. And I thought, ‘I’ll have to get through this somehow.’

He described how the wound got infected and he had to open it up to drain it and clean it out, and he used cotton batting of some kind to dress it. “The guard saw the blood and they placed me on suicide watch.”

He didn’t have much contact with Cox after the Bill Fulton incident in the hotel room. He saw him 3 or 4 times, and they talked on the phone once or twice a month. He said he didn’t know what he was doing… “just sovereignty redemption stuff in the courts.” He remembered something he heard Cox say that he said made him cringe. “I remember he said ‘We have the troopers outnumbered and outgunned and could have them all dead in one night, but we don’t want that. We want to live in peace.’ He said that to the judge.”

“Did you have anyone to help you in jail after the incident?” Skrocki asked. “A mental health worker came by a week later. She interviewed me.” He did not look impressed. When he asked how he was doing now, he said, “I’m doing fine now.”

“Did there come a time where people contacted you about your database?”

“Yeah. It shocked me. I didn’t know what was going on. All of a sudden this guy calls and asks me for it – JR Olson. Occasionally Schaeffer would call and ask how it was going but Olson was the one who called me. “ (Olson, and Fulton were the two government informants.)

“When you were in jail, what kind of interaction did you have with Schaeffer Cox, Coleman Barney and Lonnie Vernon?” Skrocki wanted to know.

“We would see each other in gym and at church.” He estimated they’d see each other about 5 times a week. It was pretty easy to have contact with them when they were allowed out, he said.

“Did you have discussions with them about your lawyer?”

“We talked about the possibility if my lawyer was federal agent under cover.” Anderson said he was wondering about it, and expressed that to Schaeffer. “He thought it was interesting and thought maybe that was the case. I didn’t trust him (the lawyer) at all, and considered he might be a federal agent.”

It wasn’t until after he was out of jail that those fears subsided.

Cox wanted him to write an affidavit about what was going on regarding his feelings about the attorney, Mr. Hertz. “…that Mr. Hertz was there to collect information about me to incriminate Schaeffer on another case. I took his advice and I wrote down my thoughts and had it notarized and gave it to Schaeffer. I had handwritten rough draft copies of it, but I threw them out when I left jail. Schaeffer said he was taking it to give to his attorney.”

Then he went on to tell a story about something they’d discussed in church while in prison. “In church, there was an article in the News Miner, with a large picture of the 22 with the homemade… ‘thing’ on the end of it.”

He was remembering Haden’s objection to calling it a silencer. Skrocki said he was free to call it what he thought it was.

“the…perhaps silencer on the end of it. He wanted people to sign it, because someone in his dorm wanted an autographed copy.” So Cox, Barney, Vernon, and Anderson all signed it.

Haden objects and says it’s irrelevant. The judge tells the jury that the exhibit  ”is not offered for the truth of the information in the news article. You should not consider it for the truth of what is in the news article. It may be admitted.”

“You mentioned a JR Olson and that you were contacted, I think it was 2/13/11.”

“He wanted the database that I had started to put together. He said Schaeffer asked him to call. I called him back. He said, ‘Yeah, JR’s part of the militia.’ I don’t specifically remember if he said he told JR to call. I called Schaeffer and said, ‘I’d rather see you instead.’ He said OK. I haven’t met Olson to this day that I know of.”

He said that Karen Vernon had called him after that, and that she had just asked, “Do you have something for Schaeffer?”

“I got mad at her. I said I don’t, and he’s starting to piss me off.”

After that phone call Schaeffer came by Anderson’s house on March 7. It was Anderson’s first day at a new job, and he was at work. Cox left a phone number with his wife, and said Anderson should call it from an untapped phone line.

“I drove up to the Hilltop Truck Stop – a gas station about 7 miles from my house. We talked for 20 minutes or so. He talked about court paperwork and it became generalized discussion. He was talking about his trouble with the courts. I told him, everyone who does that sovereignty stuff ends up going to jail. He didn’t have the public following he did before. He should go back to the Liberty Bell. I talked to him about the importance of being non-violent. I just wanted to work for a while, make a bunch of money, and if the economy collapses I’ll have gold and silver to buy land, or leave the country.”

Then Cox asked him, “Do you have anything for me?” Anderson said, “Uh huh.”

“He was on the lamb at that point from his misdemeanor. He had skipped his court date for a Class B misdemeanor weapons case, and the judge had ordered a $7500 bond on him for failure to appear when he missed his court date. Then I asked him to meet me in town at a friend’s house. He showed up and Coleman Barney was with him.”

Lunch break

When we get back, and before the jury shows up, Judge Bryan says he’s just discovered that he’s held court in 36 different cities. “What do I get for that?” he joked. “Miles?” someone suggested as he got a golf clap from the room.

Anderson is back.

“You testified before federal grand jury. After your arrest in 2011, were you interviewed by law enforcement?” Skrocki asks.

“Yes.”

“Sandy Klein of the FBI and Officer Meredith from the Fairbanks police did the interview.” he reminds Anderson.

“I was probably 80-85% truthful,” Anderson confesses. “I held some things back. A significant part was when I stated the information was never to be used for any violent purpose. The truth was, it was for a defensive violent purpose. And I stated I’d never worked on it, and that wasn’t true.

“On March 7^th, Schaeffer came by my house, and left a note with my wife with a phone number to call. I drove to town, drove to gas station and told him I was coming to town and wanted to see him, and I drove into town. I arranged for the location of the meeting. Coleman drove him and was with him. Evening. I thought he was coming for the database but by that time I had already gotten rid of it and was trying to lure him in to talk to him. That was the first time I’d been able to get ahold of him for 3 weeks. I finally had contact and I wanted to see him. I gave him a perceived reason to meet with me so he’d be able to – obtaining the database I had no longer.

“I downloaded a program off the internet for wiping hard drives and I wiped all the information. I did it immediately after JR Olson had called me – within a day or so. I didn’t know what was going on. I didn’t know what Schaeffer was planning, and if he was planning Also if there was something going on, I didn’t’ want to be implicated in it.

“The program was Eraser, I think. I used it to wipe the hard drive. Later on I smashed it with a hammer. I put it on a concrete floor and I smashed it until little parts of it fell out. Then, I threw it in the trash.  At the very end of our meeting, I said, “oh by the way, I destroyed that thing. He didn’t say anything. His only reaction was a facial surprise.”

The prosecution is finished with Anderson.

Nelson Traverso for Schaeffer Cox was up next.  “When you were in jail, you felt that you hadn’t done anything wrong. You couldn’t understand why you were in jail, correct?”

“Yes.”

“When you were going through the distress, you met up with Schaeffer in the gym and church. Was he belligerent to you?”

“He was one of the reasons I got through it. He was great.”

Traverso smiles and nods. “When you and Schaeffer met, back in 2008, you guys had a lot of intellectual discussions about your political beliefs. Yours were different than his, but there were similarities. Did he ever talk to you about Gandhi – that he didn’t believe in violence?”

“Yes we had those discussions.”

“You don’t believe in violence, correct?”

“Correct. I have my moments of failing but… “

“You got angry.”

“More with just encounters I’d had with law enforcement, and encounters I’d heard of others having.”

“When you were discussing political beliefs, did he ever discuss with you that he should belong to an organization to overthrow the government?”

“For the purpose of overthrowing the government? No…  I would call myself a Constitutionalist. I believe that the government had grown too powerful, and at some point through its own corruption it would collapse upon itself. And we wait for that time, to rebuild.”

Traverso says that Cox (I think) had called Anderson an Anarchist. And then he asked, “Is that true?”

“It’s partially true. I consider myself an Anarchocapitalist. I believe that no group or person has the right to instill violence on another group of people. I consider government to be violent, and so I cannot support the government, as it exists today. I am opposed to violence, and taking down the government by violence is something I’m opposed to.”

“Did he ever espouse killing people to overthrow the government?”

“I wouldn’t say that specifically, no.”

“Did he ever talk about when the government collapsed that there would be a need for protection, using deadly force?” asked Traverso.

“Yes, we discussed that.”

“When there was martial law… when there’s just no control in the street, basically.”

“Right.”

“When you say that 85% of your interview with Officer Meredith from the Fairbanks police department, and FBI special agent Klein … that you were truthful 80% of the time…”

“That’s a guesstimate. I was trying to figure out what was going on. That’s why I was talking.”

“Schaeffer kind of had an unusual philosophy about his advocacy and with the 2^nd Amendment Task Force, and Liberty Bell, he would engage the other side. He would go to a police officer if he had a dispute, right?”

“Yes.”

“You said one time he had a dispute with a trooper and talked to him for 3 hours. He didn’t go with weaponry or rounds of clips or anything.”

Objection! Foundation.

“Are you aware of whether he would take armaments with him?” Traverso tried again.

Objection! Foundation. Sustained.

And again. “Was there a time you, Schaeffer and some other people from the 2^nd Amendment Task Force talked to an Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) agent? Did he take a gun with him?”

Objection!

“Did you go through security? Were there two forms of security? Like here in the courthouse?”

“Yes.”

“Did any guns or weaponry get revealed in that course of interaction?”

“Not that I am aware of.”

“You went to the ATF agent. What was the purpose of that meeting?”

“Schaeffer was delivering a document he had written up that a bunch of people had signed, espousing right to bear arms and other rights.”

“Did the subject of homemade weapons come up?”

Objection. Overruled.

Anderson answered, “I don’t remember that subject coming up. ATF was only concerned with interstate commerce.”

Objection!

The judge says Anderson can testify as to what he heard, and he does.

“He said he was the only ATF agent north of Cantwell and was only concerned with weapons that traveled through interstate commerce, and was too busy to deal with anything else.”

“Do you have an association with Aaron Bennett?” (The owner of Far North Tactical)

“A friendship – not real good friends, but…  I attended some outings that he had. Basically we’d go out and play Airsoft.” 

“Did it come to your attention that Schaeffer Cox was afraid of Aaron Bennett at some point?”

“I knew that they didn’t like each other. But not that he was specifically afraid.”

“Was Bennett critical about how he conducted his militia activities? The APM Motto – Defend All, Aggress None, is that counter to what Aaron Bennett would want?”

Objection! Speculation.

“Was there a strong disagreement with how militias should be run? One maybe pro-violent and one not so much?” Traverso asked, trying to phrase the question properly.

“The times I spoke to Aaron Bennett, I spoke to him about the importance of being non-violent.”

“When Bill Fulton was frustrated with Schaeffer Cox about not having a plan, and that he had spent $30,000. Did he say anything about ‘assets’ (men) coming up?”

“Yes.”

“He wanted to provoke some kind of confrontation with authorities?”

Objection! Speculation.

The judge says Anderson can testify to what he observed, not what was in someone else’s mind.

“What did you hear about some sort of engagement by Mr. Fulton?” Traverso asked.

“Fulton said he was bringing men and equipment up, and he’d spend 30k on it and he wanted to go ahead with some plan, and was looking for a plan.”

“Was any info given from notes you took on the database?” asked Traverso.

“The only one I remember ever looking up was Ron Wall when Schaeffer wanted to go talk to him.”

“Did he ever ask you for a name so he could go shoot someone, so I want his address?”

“No.”

“Was that part of the philosophy – to engage the other side as much as you can?”

“That’s what he espoused.”

“When you got your information off the DNR website, would you transfer info to the database or just write notes.”

“Typically I would just save the web page.”

Did you enter Trina Bowcamp? No. Did you enter Trooper Barrack? Don’t remember. Ron Wall? I think I saved him. How about Gary Tolop? Don’t remember.

“You said that you saw a name in the newspaper, an article about a Marshal Jimmy Johnson. Schaeffer never asked you anything about him, did he?”

“No.”

“When you were being interviewed by Ms. Klein and Mr. Meredith, you stated that you didn’t enter into any kind of surveillance, is that right?”

Anderson said he’d like to just say what he did and let everyone else decide what “surveillance” means. “What I did was I took one picture of one license plate. It was the only picture I ever took. I looked up some stuff on public information and that was it.”

“Did you give that information to Schaeffer afterwards? ”

“No.”

“Have you engaged as far as you know in any conduct that you believe the objective being with Schaeffer was to commit a crime?”

“Not that I’m aware of.”

“You had another lawyer, Lori Bodwell who worked for the state. The FBI and another person had gone to her to speak about you?”

It was decided at this point that Anderson needed to consult with his attorney out of the courtroom before answering any more questions regarding this topic, so we take a brief recess.

When we begin again, we learn that Anderson will claim attorney-client privilege and answer nothing about Bodwell’s state of mind, or what she communicated to him.

I noticed before, when Anderson walked out of the courtroom with his attorney, that he was wearing a brown belt with blackish pants, and that the extra part of the belt, after you buckle it, wrapped completely around to his spine in the back, and was fed through several belt loops. I wondered if he had to borrow a belt from someone much heavier than himself, and drill a hole in it.

“Did you feel pressure to cooperate with the federal government?”

“At that time I felt some.”

Objection! Sustained.

Traverso marched on. “Was the pressure you were feeling because there was an effort to make you become a witness against Francis August Schaeffer Cox? What kind of pressure were you feeling?”

Anderson spoke haltingly, unsure of himself and how he would phrase things.

“ …I couldn’t put a finger on it. It was kind of general there. They were wanting me to say something used to be incriminating… but I didn’t know from whom. It was like a paranoia…”

“I asked you about whether or not you knew if Aaron Bennett had a strong dislike of Schaeffer Cox.”

“Mmhm.”

“You mentioned that they espoused different views.”

“Yeah.”

“You had been concerned about information that Schaeffer had some sort of plan, through Aaron Bennett.”

“Bennett had heard it secondhand from Bill Fulton.”

“Did you have information of Schaeffer having some sort of plan?”

“I did not.”

Next up, Tim Dooley for Coleman Barney.

When you were at Blondie’s Gun Shop (also known as Far North Tactical) Coleman Barney was not there.

No.

You had very limited contacts with Coleman Barney.

Yes.

You called him on the phone to talk about food storage.

I had recently started selling storable food for an AMWAY type program and he was interested in buying some from me.

You had not met him at that time.

No.

Never heard him ask about information on any persons, never asked you to maintain a list or a database.

No.

You went to 2 meetings of the APM, and Coleman Barney was not there.

The 1^st one no, the 2^nd I don’t remember.

“It must have been difficult for you to be arrested on March 10. You were put in this hole, this isolation for 30 days. Your wife from Russia, you could not hug her or kiss her or anything.”

Objection! Irrelevant.

“Your Honor, it’s very relevant,” said Dooley.

Overruled.

“You had not received any documentation about the charges against you.”

“Not for several days.”

“After 30 days in the hole you were released to “general population” where you discovered there are really criminals in the jail.”

“Yes.”

“You have never committed a crime in the past.”

“Correct.”

“Your wife was very unhappy with you being in jail.”

“Correct.”

“Eventually you are released, you must have celebrated. But later on you learn that the fed government wanted to speak with you, and you were willing to do that.”

“Yes.”

“One day a group of men came to the house where you were staying.”

“Uh-huh.”

“You had told people where you were staying.”

“People knew.”

“Suddenly a large number of men, federal agents swarmed the house, and they had the helmets and bullet proof vest. Brandishing weapons.”

“I don’t remember them having weapons. They were reasonable with me, and nice… sorta.”

Dooley regroups. “OK, nice federal agents. They arrested you. What did you feel like when that happened?”

“A little angry because I was just getting fed up with the whole thing.”

“They transported you to Anchorage”

“The Fairbanks jail. They said there were no charges, and I had immunity to speak to the grand jury.”

“In your mind you had done nothing wrong, correct?”

“Correct.”

“Except to get on the radar scope.”

The judge wants to clarify that this was his second arrest on a material witness warrant.

“Yes. They said if I told the truth, I would not be charged.”

“With conspiracy to murder,” Dooley clarified.

“While you were in prison in Fairbanks, was Coleman Barney honorable to you in his dealings?”

“Yes.”

“Honest?”

“Yes.”

“Was he helpful or hurtful to you?”

“Helpful.”

“I’ve been told you save money by getting hard drives out of dumpsters.”

“I get everything out of dumpsters,” Anderson says laughing, but with pride. “90% of my wardrobe comes from the dump.”

(The mystery of the belt is solved!)

“Occasionally you found some distasteful things on those hard drives.” says Dooley.

“Two of those I never looked at and two I reformatted for my own purposes.”

“That’s all I have for you, Mr. Anderson. Good luck.”

I should mention here, that Tim Dooley has a very nice voice. If you were going to cast a voiceover for an attorney that made you feel good that he was your attorney, you would cast him. It’s sort of soothing and smart at the same time.

MJ Haden up next and represents Lonnie Vernon.

“You rarely have contact with Lonnie Vernon.”

“Correct.”

“You see him a couple times a year at social events.”

“Correct.”

“The meeting at Far North Tactical, Lonnie Vernon wasn’t there.”

“No.”

“As far as you know, LV never participated in the Liberty Bell. Never answered a call.”

“No.”

An email is showed on the screen. It’s the one we saw at the beginning. “This letter that describes what Mr. Cox would like different individuals to do in the APM – Lonnie Vernon’s name is not on there, is it?”

“I don’t see it.”

“Let’s talk about names we’ve been discussing. Gary Tolop is a state officer right? An Alaska State Trooper? Ron Wall, Alaska State Trooper? Burt Barrick? Alaska State Trooper. Malik Jones, Alaska State Trooper. All state employees.” (Emphasis Hayden’s. She’s done this before too.)

“Yes.”

“We saw a piece of paper that had the name Jimmy Johnson. You wrote on a piece of paper ‘Federal marshal.’ You Googled it. You wrote it down in weatherproof book and you put it away and never looked at it again. Never passed it on.”

“Correct.”

“During this time period when you are working on this database, I believe we looked at an exhibit with the drawing of the federal building. There was a notation with Vernons’ phone number. But you never called them.”

“No.”

“And a notation to ask for paperwork but you never got any.”

“No.”

“Lonnie Vernon never asked you to look something up, never came to your house, never called you, never asked you anything about this database.”

“No.”

“That’s all I have.”

Steve Skrocki is back for the prosecution.

“Do you have any idea how many meetings Coleman Barney and Lonnie Vernon may have had in 2010 or 2011 together?”

“No.”

“Do you know there are recording of conversations?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know there are a lot of them?”

Objection! Reopening direct.

“How many people were on that database? From what areas?”

“15-20. A few troopers, a few Fairbanks police, and the one OCS worker that I remember. I’m guessing. I didn’t count them.”

“Those names came from Mr. Cox.” Skrocki said.

“A few of them.”

“Nelson Traverso asked you about Mr. Cox’s engagement with the other side. The word Gandhi was mentioned too, as part of your philosophical conversation. Mr. Cox made a statement to a judge, do you recall that and how it relates to nonviolence?”

“You mean, ‘We have the Troopers outmanned and outgunned, and we could have them all dead in one night, but we don’t want that, we want peace?’ That may not be word for word.”

That quote has been in the press many times, but I never heard the “but we don’t want that, we want peace” part before now.

“With respect to statements about Gandhi, and that he wanted peace, did you ever hear Cox tell anyone he knew where they lived?”

“No.”

“Anything else you remember about how peaceful he might have been?”

“I didn’t see him much after that event. I think I saw him once. I didn’t see him much at all.”

“Thank you Mr. Anderson.”

Mr. Anderson is excused and walks out of the courtroom looking like a hundred pound weight has just been lifted off his shoulders.

The prosecution now calls Alaska State Trooper Derek Degraaf.

Yvonne Lamoureux questions him about his credentials. He is a Supervisor of the Alaska technical crime unit. He’s been a computer forensics examiner for 5 years. He’s conducted hundreds of examinations on computers, servers, cell phones, and digital cameras. He also oversaw others’ examinations. He got a Trooper of the Year award for his work.

They are talking about a Dell computer found in Ken Thesing’s residence.

He explains that he took a “forensic image.” This involves removing the hard drive, attaching it to a device called a “physical right blocker” (I think) that allows him to make a copy of it without altering it. Then they put that on the server to examine the copy, and not the original. They verified the image, then installed the hard drive back into the computer so it could be submitted into evidence.

Now he is brought the tower seized from Mr. Vernon’s residence. He recognizes it. The same process was done on that computer.

“Did you encounter features or settings that limited your ability to retrieve information?” Lamoureux asks.

“The newer version of Internet Explorer has a privacy feature that tells the web browser not to retain some information, what searches, how many times you’d visited a website. Those privacy settings were enabled,” explained Degraaf.

3 documents found on hard drive are offered into evidence.

Coleman Barney’s wife is here. I think she’s been here every day, along with several others who sit in the middle of the second row. She’s in a long skirt with large pink flowers, a pink fleece jacket, a pink bag, curled bangs, no makeup, white socks and Mary Janes. She looks like she could be in Little House on the Prairie, if they had fleece back then.

The first document is a Declaratory Decree – offered to show the relationship between the Vernons and Schaeffer Cox. The common law jury trial date matches. The Declaratory Decree has blank lines for signatures.

The second document is a Homeland Security guide for emergency communications.  There were a number of radios at the residence, Lamoreaux says, and Lonnie Vernon made statements about taking out radio towers to interrupt communications. There are law enforcement channels listed in the book, to be able to be on frequencies the police are using.

Lonnie Vernon is leaning forward and squinting hard.

Hayden says that no radios were found in Vernon’s residence. There were in Coleman Barney’s residence.

The third document is the “Goodbye letter” from yesterday’s cliff-hanger. It appears it was admitted, though heavily redacted.

Haden objects – We don’t know how these documents got on the computer. They could have been emailed by Mr. Cox. There is no evidence that he ever even used the computer. And Mr. Vernon had no radio.

The judge says the exhibits may be admitted. “The objections go more to weight than admissibility.”

Declaratory Decree (Judgment).  (Graphic image of the ‘Civil flag’)

Organic, Alaska republic A.D. 1867 – A foreign Nation

Francis August Schaeffer Cox Vs. State of Alaska

Michael Gray prosecutor

We’ve seen this document before.

It has come to attention of this justice that agents/officers of your foreign administrative,  …upon the family, liberty, chattel and property under stewardship of Francis August Schaeffer, family Cox, with threats of extortion and intent to do bodily harm. These acts were carried out by paramilitary agents and corporate agents under the guise of law rendered by administrative agents acting as a judge in an administrative tribunal calling itself a “criminal court” which is in reality a Roman civil court…(…)

The next page is a place for jurors to sign and print their name, and respond to a judge in Washington.

Next slide

National Interoperability

Field Operations

Guide

US Dept of Homeland Security

This shows the different structure for government radio systems – fire, police, and how radio is set up across the country.

Page 4 –

Recommendations for programming federal inoperability channels

Law enforcement plans

Frequency ranges

 

Page 6 –

Digging deeper about frequencies.

Public safely, EMS, tactical channels

General public safety

Wide and narrow bands that are used.

Next up is the “Goodbye letter” – the non-redacted part.

The document was created 3/5/11 and modified two days before the Vernons’ arrest on 3/9/11.

Dear Beloved Family and Friends,

This is the most difficult letter we’ve ever had to write. If you are receiving this it is because we are no longer living upon the Earth.

We truly hope that our resistance will one day be helpful to others. That has been our main goal. The federal government of the United States of America needs to be reigned in and put back in its proper place and perspective. We pray that our physical deaths have not been in vain. We want better for our children grandchildren and generations to follow.

(…) We will not freely give our home land or personal property to this coward nor will we lick their jackboots

The lead deficiency of those who (…) was corrected as best we could.

(Lead deficiency corrected?! Yikes. I wish I’d gotten the exact quote on that one.)

Haden has questions about the reports/metadata presented by Degraaf.

“Looking at your report, you can’t determine whether this document was created on this computer,” she said flatly.

“Correct.”

“It could have been downloaded from an email, thumb drive or disc.”

“Correct.”

“As far as the Homeland Security document, which is a pdf file – it’s a public document that can be downloaded off the internet.”

… and I have to call it quits for today. I will most likely not make it back to the courtroom tomorrow due to other things I must attend to, and believe me nobody is more bummed out than I am.  But I will be back as time allows.

It’s been a long, snowy, mooseless winter. Our hooved friends all headed for lower elevations where navigation was easier and roads were more plentiful. But all that’s over now, and we’re starting to see the reappearance of moose up here at Mudflats Central.

I stood out on the porch taking pictures of a beautiful girl in the driveway, and she seemed just as interested in me as I was in her. It was sunset, and she walked right up to the door, bathed in a beautiful orange glow. Look at those ears! Right after I snapped this shot I decided I’d probably better shut the door, but she must have felt the same way, and turned around and trotted off into the brush.

I’d like to think she’s one of the twins from a couple years back – right age, right gender. You never know!

Hand Counting Plagued with Rampant Errors, No Clear Procedures, Security Breaches; Still Not Following Municipal Code

Anchorage, AK — The Municipal Clerk’s office announced in Media Advisory 15 that the hand count will continue Wednesday at 1:00 pm. The Advisory states that this will be a count of already hand-recounted precincts and that the results need to be “clarified.” In truth, this count is happening because observers from the Election Hand Recount Application Signers discovered that the results for certain races did not match the Accu-Vote counts and pointed this out to the Municipal Clerk on Friday and Monday.

These are not the first problems. On the first day of counting, Wednesday May 9th, the tally sheets were all off because the incorrect ballots were pulled from the ballot storage closet. In truth, there has not been one single day of the hand count when where at least some of the races if not entire precincts required additional counting due to inaccurate and inconsistent counting procedures:

1) According to members of the Election Board, there was no direction forthcoming from the Municipal Clerk’s Office on how to count the ballots for the hand recount. Therefore, each team of two ballot counters (unlike the four-person teams the State of Alaska uses) was forced to come up with their own counting method.

2) When it was pointed out to the Municipal Clerk multiple times by multiple observers that one team was plagued with errors, that team returned to count the next day and the next, bringing with them the same errors.

3) In precinct 925, Huffman Elementary, their hand count even flipped a race (Proposition 1 – ASD school bond).

4) The Election Hand Recount Application Signers have maintained from the beginning our concern that the teams were counting facsimile ballots rather than the originals from which the election board copies the information to scan it into the machine. This opens up a Pandora’s Box of potential inaccuracy and security breeches. A written comment on the tally sheet from an election board member counting Hanshew 830 stated that a facsimile ballot “did not match” the original.

5) The Municipality has so far refused to count the unused ballots. They have not provided them for visual inspection.

6) There are rampant security lapses.

a) Hanshew 830 had a note on the tally sheet that there was no “seal” on the ballot container when they started counting.

b) Hand Count Observers watched in shock on Monday while a Municipal Clerk Office employee entered the “ballot vault” in room 155 all alone with no other employee present. (Photo attached after she exited with documents, leaving the door open) We had been assured by Barbara Gruenstein that no fewer than two employees ever entered.

7) The counting teams start a precinct with a tally sheet that has the Accu-Vote total marked at the top.

The hand recount continues to violate the “Rule of Law”:

a) The Municipal Clerk compared the count to the Accu-Vote totals rather than the signed register, as is also required in AMC28.90.040 “The election board shall check the number of ballots cast in a precinct against the registers…”

b) Assembly Chair Ernie Hall and Municipal Attorney Dennis Wheeler have not replied to either of Hal Gazaway’s letters as to whether they will do the recount of the absentee & questioned ballots required in AMC28.90.040. “…and shall check questioned and absentee ballotsvoted against questioned and absentee ballots distributed.”

3) No one in the Municipality has responded to the group’s records request that submitted with our recall application on May 2nd, nor have we received any explanation for the delay, as required in AMC3.90.060: “If the records and information cannot be located in time to make a response within two working days of the request, the requesting party shall be promptly advised, and, if the requesting party still desires the information or records, a reasonable and diligent search shall be made for it.”

The counting reconvenes this afternoon at 1:00 pm, City Hall Rm 155.

There was a lot of wrangling going on about what evidence to admit or not, before the jury came in.

There are documents in question and MJ Hayden, Lonnie Vernon’s attorney is saying that they are more “prejudice than probative.” It sounds like they are more pictures of firearms and the have notes written on them, but there is no indication that he wrote the notes or saw them.

The prosecution cites case law that shows documents found in the trash can be admitted even if the handwriting cannot be identified.

Judge Bryan says he’s “inclined to admit exhibit 446 into evidence. The objections are well taken, he said, but they’re admissible anyway.

The next objection goes to the “sten gun” found in the home. I didn’t know what this was until I had the chance to Google it.

The STEN (or Sten gun) was a family of British 9 mm submachine guns used extensively by British and Commonwealth forces throughout World War II.

Vernon is not charged with having an automatic weapon, she explained as the reason for her objection to the evidence.  Schaeffer Cox is charged with having a “similar value” weapon, and the jury may be confused and not be able to tell the difference, she said. “We don’t concede that it is a prohibitive weapon. We shouldn’t have to do that, because he is not charged with anything related to this.” The lab report said the weapon did not “fire automatic,” but it did have the components to do so.

Lamoreaux says the prosecution is not going to push that, but will mention the firearm that was hanging on master bedroom wall, and the 2 firearms found in the vehicle, which they feel show intent to murder and capability to murder.  Lonnie Vernon looked grim with his jaw set as the prosecution was speaking.

Hayden says that an FBI agent testified yesterday that this gun was a machine gun. The judge looked startled, as did the prosecution. Yvonne Lamoreaux said she will check with that agent and clarify the point today.

The judge looked distressed and said there should be no reference to that, and that the gun is not illegal. “It should not be referenced as a machine gun.”

Hayden also asked that another piece of evidence be referred to as a “trip wire.”  Don’t refer to it as a “booby trap,” she requested. Judge Bryan said that was a fair request. “It could be set up to BE a booby trap, but it was less than what I would call a booby trap,” he said, and categorized it more like “a bunch of wires.”

The next bit of evidence sounded interesting, and was referred to as “Goodbye letters.” The defense said they wouldn’t agree with that characterization. This batch of evidence consisted of 13 letters, made out to family and friends, which were in stamped envelopes, and addressed. They were signed, “Lonnie and Karen.” The signatures are in the same handwriting. Vernon’s attorney objects because the bulk of the letters, she said, deal with the Vernon’s prolonged struggle with the IRS. “If they have meaning it’s about the battle with the IRS,” nothing that Cox or Barney is concerned with.

The judge says he is going to bypass that for now, and wants to look at them today.

The prosecution has a couple items as well.  They do not plan to offer the Anarchist Cookbook as evidence, but they do plan to offer other books on the table where that one was found. They plan to ask the witness if there were any other items on the table, and the witness may make reference to it at that time.

Hayden objects to the prosecution asking if other items were on the table.  She reminds the judge that she had previously objected to any mention of The Anarchist’s Cookbook. If it’s mentioned, then the court has to read it from cover to cover to make a determination as to whether it’s admissible. “It’s not relevant. It’s just reading material.” She cites case law that says “it shouldn’t even come in, particularly if it’s just a reference.”

Lamoreaux says that you can read from recipes in the book that you can add phosphorous to grenades. There must have been a reference to this from the explosives guy the other day. “We weren’t planning to offer it, but we can if the defense would like it,” she says.

The judge piped up, “I agree with you Ms. Hayden, you’d better stop while you’re ahead. She can testify that it was there with other things, but I think there’s more heat than light in this. If she starts talking about what’s in it, it’s a whole different ball game, and I think you should avoid discussion of what’s in that book.”

The jury is back in now. “We’ve been working on evidentiary issues that will hopefully make things go more quickly,” Judge Bryan told them.

One of the jurors is not feeling well, and has a bad cough. “I Chlorasepticked the Hell out of it this morning,” he says proudly, as we discover how Chloraseptic can be used as a verb. He seems to enjoy explaining his ailment and wish not to infect his fellow jurors to the court. Another juror is not here because she was admitted to the hospital over the weekend.  Alternate Juror #1, in a hoodie, moves to seat number three. One alternate down, three remaining.

Special Agent Copper Resumes the witness stand, still under oath.

She will testify to items found in Vernon’s home on 3/12/11.

They found several copies of the Alaska Peacemakers Militia No-fluff Training Manual around the house.

There’s also a print out of an email:

*******

Subject: official APM Bulletin Monday 2/1/10,

From: Philip Clark

To: Ken Thesing, Lonnie Vernon, Lance Roberts, Gary Brockman and Isaac Clark.

 

I find it difficult to keep from giggling when the prosecution asks what the email for Lonnie Vernon is, and the response is happynbuzzy@xxxxxxx.com.  There are many ways to describe Lonnie Vernon. Let’s just say that ‘happy n buzzy’ are not adjectives I would have chosen.

The email talked about the “breakdown and cleaning of the main weapon,” malfunction drills and emergency reloading. Reaffirm battle zero using a “lead sled” at a private run on Chena Hot Springs Road. Follow up at home.”

Coleman Barney seems to always have some assortment of family and friends in the courtroom. Today, one woman in Barney row was reading a soft-covered leather Bible with lots of colored sticky tabs to mark passages. She seemed to not be paying attention to what was being said, at least for a time.

The next piece of evidence was handwritten notes on stationery from the Alaska Millenium Hotel –

Training & certs

APM familiarity

First aid & medical

Salute deals with enemy

Activity

Size

No response

Artillery

Damage control

Winter survival

E1-3

Phase level training 123

“Develop a good Book”

Light infantry tactics – book

Comm security comsac

Tactical mind set self taught strategy

Special opps – Think tactically

Militia Air – private carriers

 

458-****

3 guns

Ruger SKS Ruger revolver

 

Next was a purple notebook

There was a page with a sticky note about military radios “perfectly clear for miles.” Then a page that said:

Loyalty Discipline Spirit and Drive

That and my rifle will keep me alive

Motto 1^st marines Pennsylvania 1778

Millenium Hotel – Bill Fulton Drop Zone

(Names and phone numbers.)

****I had to leave to attend a meeting, and was able to return about an hour and a half later*****

When I came back in, MJ Hayden was making a motion. “I move for a mistrial,” she said. (!) Clearly, I missed something! Apparently, during Agent Copper’s testimony, despite having an agreement with the government, one of the prosecutors had indeed asked, “Do you know if this is an automatic weapon or not?” I assume this was regarding the sten gun that was the topic of discussion earlier.

“The government intends to offer videotapes of Cox firing an automatic weapon,” she said. The jury is going to associate Vernon’s sten with Cox’s sten, she worries.

And the answer from Copper was hearsay, and “highly prejudicial” Hayden said.

“It was an unfortunate question,” the Judge said, sounding very much like a dad who just told his kid not to back into the mailbox, and five minutes later he backed into the mail box. “But the agent’s answer didn’t indicate whether it was or was not an automatic weapon.”

The jury returns.

Nelson Traverso for Schaeffer Cox is first up to cross-examine the witness. He’s definitely grumpy, and there is a back-and-forth with her that feels like watching someone trying to nail Jell-O to a tree.

Starting with Traverso:

“Is there anything illegal about owning firearms?”

“I’m not privy to the person’s criminal history.”

“Assuming no prior felony conviction, is there anything illegal?”

“I’m not an expert on the legality of each firearm.”

“Is there anything illegal about getting an official APM Bulletin?”

“It would depend on the contents… but not that I am aware of.”

“Is there anything wrong with people organizing a spaghetti feed?”

“I don’t think I said there was anything wrong with organizing a spaghetti feed.”

“I didn’t say that you said that, I said is there anything wrong with organizing a spaghetti feed.”

This went on for a while.

Is there anything wrong with organizing volunteers? Is there anything wrong with recruiting or training for the militia?  The witness didn’t want to answer yes or no, stating that it would depend what the activities were, what they were organizing to do, etc.

The prosecutor objected saying that Traverso’s line of questioning was “going into opinions, beyond the scope of the witnesses ability to answer, and argumentative.”

The Judge agreed it was starting to be argumentative, so it continued in a lighter tone.

Again, starting with Traverso:

“Is passing out flyers wrong?”

“It depends what they contained. But to my knowledge no.”

“Anything illegal about owning, body armor, or ballistic vests?”

“It depends on the purpose.”

“I assume you can acquire these items on the internet, can’t you?”

“Some items are military grade and cannot be bought on the internet. I don’t know specifically.”

“Which kind are illegal?”

“Everything from a handgun to a nuclear weapon that are military grade. In investigations I’ve conducted, I have dealt with items that are restricted to military use only.”

“A lot of military grade weapons that make it to the market are NOT prohibited.

People buy those things, sometimes because they just have a fascination with it. Do they not?”

“Yes.”

Traverso is finished with the witness.

MJ Hayden is now up presenting defense exhibits, which are a series of photographs of the Vernons’ garage.

“I’d like to draw your attention to the metal shelves.” She talked about a ton of paper products that mostly looked like toilet paper, jars for preserving food, vinegar for preserving food, large cans of green beans, a 20 pound bag of corn meal or flour, can of lard, tools and a chain saw in an orange plastic case.

The Agent couldn’t identify if the item in question was a chainsaw. “I don’t own a chainsaw,” she said. She was not from Alaska, clearly.

Then there was another large supply of paper products – paper towels, and toilet paper. There was a refrigerator with even more toilet paper stored on top of it. By this time we were up to about 6 or 7 of those gigantic bales of toilet paper you get at Costco. Either these people consume a lot of fiber, or they are going to be the last people in Alaska with toilet paper when the government collapses.

The next picture showed another refrigerator/freezer, a wood burning stove, an orange piece of machinery like a bobcat.  Next was a lot of tools, including an air compressor, a vise, nuts bolts in plastic drawers, and assorted hardware items, and welding equipment.

Next is an overall view of garage.  They use a select and magnify feature to show something in shadow at the back of the garage – more toilet paper. Then a truck, with a load of firewood in the back, saw blades, tape measures, carpentry tools, hammers, drills, another giant case of green beans.

There were also MREs. – “Meals ready to eat,” which is military food, freeze dried so that you can use it for many years. You just add water to prepare the meal.

The agent says she just came to participate during the exercise of the search warrant. There were about 10-20 people involved, and the search took over six hours from beginning to end.

“Quite a tedious job, isn’t it?” Hayden asked.

“For some,” said Copper.

“You want to be thorough. You don’t want to miss anything.”

“No, we don’t.”

On to paperwork:

*******

Team leader Sgt. Vernon

Report by end of month – summary of activities

Keep log of weekly phone calls

Report on practice activities 1 to 2 hours together

Weekly contact of more often as needed

1 get together per month

If there are members who are no longer willing to participate, recommend they be removed to inactive.

“Did you find any summary of activities?” Hayden wanted to know.

“It depends what you mean by ‘activities.’”

“Did you find phone call records?”

“I didn’t read every paper.”

“Is it true that names on this list are state court judges?” Hayden asked, with special emphasis on “state.” I’m wondering if, since the state charges were dropped due to Alaska’s privacy clause in the state Constitution, but the federal charges stuck, if the jury will be asked to disregard any indication that this crew may have been targeting state judges, and must only consider the federal judges…

“I’m from Denver. I don’t know.”

(Aha! I was right. No way an Alaskan cannot recognize a chain saw in a case.)

“You didn’t find any hand grenades did you?”

“I do not recall any being found.”

“Did you or anyone else find any hand grenade bodies?”

“I don’t recall any found in the home.”

“Fuses?”

“Don’t recall finding any fuses to a hand grenade.”

“Did you find hornets nest canisters? CS canisters? Grenade launchers?, etc.”

“Yesterday you spoke of finding over 1200 rounds of ammunition. Is there any restriction on the amount of ammunition you can legally own?”

“To my knowledge, no.”

A picture of toilet paper is flashed on the screen.

“Did you have an understanding of how many people lived in the home?”

“Two.”

“Is that a lot of toilet paper for 2 people?”

I had a little mind movie of standing and calling out, “Objection! Calls for speculation, and is outside the scope of the witness!”

Next was another hand-written piece of paper:

Security team

1) rifle, pistol armor, grenades, radio comm.

If an agent draws down on Schaeffer, Mary or Judge Bettels – shoot him.

Use grenades to stop (…).

Next witness is Josh Moore – statewide drug enforcement. SWAT team.

Lots of questions about a trailer he was assigned to locate. It was found in Fairbanks in the parking area of the Ice Park in Fairbanks (where the annual ice carving competition is held).

Exhibit 330 is a photo of the trailer. It’s big with what looks like a full-sized door on the side. It was parked along the wooded area between two entrances. It was ultimately taken to the Fairbanks Airport police and fire station.

Is there a connection between vehicle you were searching on 3/11 and this trailer?

He went on to talk about a black Dodge pickup truck (presumably Coleman Barney’s truck we saw the other day) and how there was split birch wood in that truck, and also split birch wood under the tongue of the trailer to keep it from sinking into the snow. Also the hitch on the trailer had a larger than average ball on it – a 2 ¾ or larger one. The trailer and hitch on the Dodge pickup matched up.

He also searched the truck of Lonnie and Karen Vernon. There were pictures of a cell phone (appeared to be a Blackberry) and a hand gun found under the center console of the truck, nestled in a plaid yellow blanket.

Then, a picture of a nylon pouch containing ‘stripper clips’ filled with ammunition, an SKS rifle found in the rear seat. It has a folding stock, which folds up to make a weapon shorter so it can be used in tighter quarters. It was loaded.

Stripper clips are preloaded with ammunition, and can be used to reload the rifle quickly.

A big white box is taken to witness stand. It’s the rifle in question that was found in the rear seat. Also a set of gloves, and a scope on the rifle. There’s a fiber optic thing for aiming. Moore describes in detail how everything works. The judge tells him not to point the firearm at the jury.

Just when you thought we were finished with firearms, back they come.

“The forestock covers the gas operating tube in the barrel, that has mounting points for different types of accessories. The front sight flips down so you don’t get it in the way of the optic. You can use it if the optic fails. It also has rear site. The holes allow for the dissipation of heat. As you fire a high-powered rifle, and put repeated rounds through the barrel, these holes allow for the dissipation of heat.” He puts the gun back in box.

More pictures of ammunition, and another rifle.

Next are three sheets of paper. Hayden objects to their relevance. Dooley and Traverso join the objection. The Judge reads them and says they may be admitted.

*******

The Oath Gmail  karenvernon happynbuzzy @********.com (Maybe Karen and Lonnie share the email? Maybe Karen is happynbuzzy.)

Sons of Gad 3-day will begin Jan 14 @ 6pm and end Sunday the 17^th. Meals and lodging are provided but we will split the cost of food 20 ways.

Items to take:

Local uniform tan carharts black bd belt $60 uniform shirt

AR15

5 mags

100 rounds

sleeping bag

cover

cup spoon plate

 

Overwhites BDU multicam

order

plate carrier w/ plates

kevlar helmet

camelback

snack food pouch

Molly gear as needed – (The witness explains that Molly gear is accessories that you hang on a molly vest that you’d buy at a tactical store. The backs weave into the webbing and snap to pouch so you can interchange types of gear.)

From the Liberty Bell system

This one appears to be his renunciation of citizenship of the fake, corporate United States as he sees it.

The United states for America

Certificate of political (…)

I, Lonnie Gene Vernon, state under penalty of perjury under the laws of USA (…)

I hereby declare on oath that I absolve and renounce all allegiance to any foreign (…) including any allegiance to, or to be clothed with the fictional status of US citizen or citizen of the US as a misnomer declared in the (…) by congress and amended including 42 USA (…)

(…)…which are not laws of the US and any such use for the status of a “citizen” of the United States is under the law of necessity that I have never knowingly willingly or intentionally waived any of my unalienable Rights and Birth Rights (…) secured in the Constitutional Republic of the united States….

Dated December 8, 2010

Signed by Lonnie Vernon

Stamp and bar code lower right

There is a similar one for Karen Vernon. Their pictures are in the lower left of their respective documents.

Next is a receipt from Office Max

Karen Vernon’s name is on the receipt and it came from Lonnie’s truck. It is for a self-inking custom rubber stamp that says:

This property is included in my estate (…)

Which falls under foreign (…)

As defined in 26 USC 7781 (a) (31)

$29.99

They will be moving to a different search scene after lunch. The jury is excused. Now we get back to the “Goodbye letters” and whether they will be admitted into evidence.

The judge states that these letters were unmailed. They were stamped and addressed but unmailed. “We’re getting into an issue that may be a side issue or may not,” he said. They all have something to say.

Traverso – As to Cox & Barney, the letter and the assertions by Lonnie Vernon that he has a 26-year battle going on with the IRS is not relative to Schaeffer Cox and Coleman Barney. It doesn’t’ have anything to do with a conspiracy with Cox or Barney. Dooley, Barney’s attorney joins the objection.

MJ Hayden says she thinks it’s clear that the subject matter has to do with his issues with the IRS and Judge Beistline and has nothing to do with this case.

Lamoreaux for the prosecution notes that these letters were found in the truck they drove to the weapons takedown. The first note is written to JR Olson, the government informant, and shows the trust they had with him.

The letters were to be mailed and opened after any event that happened “after they were no longer living.” The contents are similar – thank you for your unwavering friendship and brotherhood, blessings to you and your families, may we not have died in vain.

Judge Bryan says it doesn’t look like the IRS is what they’re talking about in the letter. There is no reference to Judge Biestline. There is reference that Vernon made statements that he wanted to kill law enforcement. Also, there is some dispute going on in the Alaska Court system, and more on Dunn & Bradstreet. The last paragraph refers to the federal government, saying it has become a gigantic “ring of theft and deception” and is “the largest terrorist organization in the world.” It goes on, “We will not freely give our home land or personal property to this coward nor will we lick their jackboots.”

~Jackboots

MJ Hayden says that the letter does reference US District Court judge several times. They are protecting their home from the IRS foreclosure, she argues. They will go down protecting themselves and their home from the overreaching federal government. This has nothing to do with Schaeffer Cox or Coleman Barney, and this case.

Will Bryan admit the “goodbye letters” as evidence?

“Have a nice lunch,” he says.

A cliffhanger! I’ll try to find out today if they were admitted.

Here’s a brief recap of the portion of the trial that happened after I left Wednesday, to catch you up to speed for my post below from Thursday morning.

Cox, the 28-year-old leader of the Alaska Peacemaker Militia and an ideological force in the Alaska “sovereign citizen” movement, once rescinded a guilty plea to a 2010 reckless endangerment charge by filing a notice to the recorder’s office in Fairbanks. A copy of the notice and other filings in his case were among the documents seized in the search of the home of co-defendant Barney, 37, a major in the militia.

The jury saw a copy of the seized set of documents — the standard court order dated March 10, 2010, accepting his plea deal, providing for no jail time and two years probation, and the surreal documents Cox used to abrogate the plea, including the paperwork for his now-famous “trial” in a Denny’s restaurant before a jury of his pals in which he was acquitted. Among the papers was the document filed in the recorder’s office — a repository mainly for land transactions — in which Cox captioned his case, “State of Alaska, a fiction, plaintiff, v Schaeffer Cox, a natural Man, victim and witness, waiving no rights, EVER.”

This story was filed by Richard Mauer of the Anchorage Daily News. Also covering the trial are Sam Friedman of the Fairbanks Daily News Miner, and Jill Burke of the Alaska Dispatch. I also saw Michael Carey there today, and I’ve seen Lori Townsend of APRN, and Yereth Rosen from Reuters. I’m sure there are others I’ve missed.

Here is our cast of characters:

Defendants: Schaeffer Cox (attorney Nelson Traverso), Coleman Barney (attorney Timothy Dooley), Lonnie Vernon (attorney MJ Hayden).

Judge: The Hon. Robert J. Bryan

Prosecution: Representing the United States, Yvonne Lamoureux, Steven Skrocki, others

We’ve now moved on from munitions to paperwork. Fascinating stuff.

The witness on the stand when I enter is Alaska State Trooper Kelly Howell.

She is discussing Exhibit 196, which is a green portfolio that was found in the office area of Coleman Barney’s house, the source of our evidence for today.

I’ll have to warn you right away, that I typed as fast as I could, and that I’d have loved to have gotten it all word for word, but there was not enough time. This kind of evidence is far more interesting than buckets of grenades to me, but alas it’s harder to type it all down and get everything accurately. So, I’ll give you what I have to the best of my ability, with some holes, and perhaps a slight and inadvertent error here or there. The slides showing the paperwork were all coming at a break-neck pace – much faster than my fingers could go.

Whenever you see (…), it means there was more that I didn’t have time to copy. Wording in parentheses is my addition. Pages are separated by “*******”. Contents of pages are indented.

The first sheet of paper from Coleman Barney’s office was a form that said:

3 Steps (to a common law trial – I think this is about the Denny’s trial)

• Fill out a common law complaint form
• Declare your status as a sovereign and rebut you status as a legal fiction
• Stamp your license (I think this means your drivers license, like the one belonging to Schaeffer Cox yesterday, that was entered into evidence. It had an embossed stamp on it that said, “Without Prejudice – Non Asumpsit – Sovereign – All Rights Retained Without Recourse”)

*******

Next page:

Possible jurors:

Mom
Dad
me
Rach
Adam
Sara (crossed out)
Dave (crossed out)
Val
Ken Theising
Lonnie Vernon
Karen Vernon
JR
Gary
(…)

Please note that the selection of these jurors for Cox’s trial at Denny’s apparently used quite a different process than the selection of jurors for the trial I’m now attending.

Exit Team:

Bill Renzel
Val Marchbanks
Lonnie Vernon (defendant)
Mike McManus
Gary Brockman
Joe Nichols
JR Olson (government informant)
Scott Walker
Coleman Barney (defendant)
Bill Barney
Mike Anderson (who will turn on them, eventually)
Paul Harrel
Ben Finwick
Ben Svenson
Bill Lathrop

3:30 Friday, Court Room 202

*******

The name “Ken” was written in the left margin next to some of these names, and there were also stars and check marks indicating several of the names. And I chuckled (in light of the upcoming Wisconsin gubernatorial recall) to see the name Scott Walker on the list.

There was a second page of this list with names as well.

Walt Ames

Larry Dotson

Boss Josh

Marie Renzel

Sara Barney (…)

Then we paused so that Barney’s and Vernon’s defense could leaf through a yellow pad, to approve which sheets could be viewed on the screen.

As they did this, the Judge explained to the jury that this was part of the due process of law. “Defense counsel has the right to notice of what the government is going to do and have an opportunity to object if an objection is appropriate,” he explained. “It’s part of our system that protects everybody’s rights.”

Dooley says that the actual documents aren’t paginated and it’s going to be a mess, but he has no objection.

Exhibit 199 is 4 notepads seized from the office in Coleman Barney’s house. The writing is in very uniform box-like and neat letters all about the same height. The notes are organized well, with bullet points, indentations, headers, and other indicators. There are many misspellings. The ones I caught, I’ll mark with (sic).

The first sheet they look at says:

Commissioned August 11

• Val Marchbanks
• JR Olson
• Bill Barney
• Scott Walker (…)

Prospectives – (list of other names)

********

Public reach out campaign

2 approaches if there is breakdown

1) High profile display of defense of family and community

If we have total breakdown, show up on street corners, all geared up to deter anyone who could have ideas of mischief (…)

2) Stealth approach just go and take care of business. Super high speed, light weight (…)

*******

There was also a description of how the Alaska Peacemaker Militia is organized.

5 man teams

4 privates and one corporal

Need to get new guys active immediately while the fire in their spirits is fresh. Encourage them to have their wives get to know each other and get involvd with each other.  (…)

*******

New activity (Activities of the organization)

Range

Paintball

Weekly contact

Monthly meeting

(…)

*******

Invited to Commissioning so far (list of 16 names including)

Josh

Larry Dobson

Rand Daily

(…)

Then, there was an illustration with four stick figures that looked something like (insert this). Funny that I’m drawing stick figures of someone else’s stick figures.

*******

Testimonies – Schaeffer Marty and Ken

The hudle (sic)

Uniform

Security detail for KJND (radio station in North Pole)

Call friends and everyone to cram the court house

Get guys scripted one liners about how the Alaska court system is a fraud

People to bail us out?

Get building scheduled for big meeting prior to court date

(…)

*******

Coleman

Call APM guys for Denny’s hudle (sic)

At court 2 guys in uniform close to Schaeffer

At court bring Camera’s (sic)

(…)

*******

Parable of the Duck Hunt

Complaining about your life or the situation are (sic) country is in without action is like going duck hunting with blanks there will be a lot of noise but the effect is pointless.

Now is the time (…) Make it count.

*******

The next page had completely different handwriting. It was much less blocky, and more fluid with more variation in the height of the letters. It was large, and filled the space between the lines. I don’t know who wrote it. I want to say it looked like a woman’s handwriting, but I couldn’t be sure.

Schaeffer’s court hearing was today. The judge put out a warrant for his arrest for not showing up. Asked for $1000 fee and not be released with bail until after an appearance in court (…)

*******

The Judge objects to the next exhibit, and feels it’s an oversight by the government. He suggests rather than to recess to deal with it right then, that they should go on to something else, which they do.

Exhibit 201 is The Alaska Peacemakers Militia manual, 4 invoice sheets, and some DVDs.

First was a packing slip from:

US consumer products

Close Combat Training

Shipped to Coleman Barney 5/14/10

“Scientific Self Defense” DVDs, volumes 1-3

(As far as I can tell, here’s a website for Close Combat Training, and here is a link to the guy who does the DVDs. The description of the DVDs promises that you’ll learn ”Secrets so vicious, you can kill another man with just one or two movements. Yet, so simple, you can MASTER them in just a couple hours—without ANY practice whatsoever.”)

Then the DVDs themselves were entered into evidence, including another DVD about “Basic Brutality” from the same company, described on the website as “Dark, grungy, and absolutely brutal (hence the name), learn the 6 tools of how to quickly, easily, and permanently finish any street or battlefield encounter.”

Also were 4 DVDs called “Accelerated Battlefield Combatives – Close Combat Training.”

The manual was next. The cover read:

Alaska Peacemakers Militia

Defend All Aggress None

No-fluff Training Manual

The name C. Barney was written in marker on the top in the first handwriting from the notepad. I’m assuming it’s his own.

A brief shot of the first page…

*******

Big Ideas – Section I

Structure & Leadership  - Section II

(…)

Team, Unit, Company, Division

5 men form a team

3 teams of 5 form a unit

2 units of 15 form a company

2 companies of 30 form a division

*******

And the most interesting page so far, I thought…

Qualifications:

Be male

Make confession

Have gear

Show up or be excused

Recommendation from member, and interview with commanding officer

You must follow orders or turn in your uniform

(…)

*******

Then there were several pages that showed line drawings of men in military gear making different hand signals for things like:

Tear gas, cover me, sniper, door, window, commander, regroup, down, don’t worry, ammo, and others. It looked very much like this:

There was also a list of voice commands for instructions like: moving, move, loading, load, clear, and so on.

*******

Team job description:

Leader – calls the commands

Full auto guy – pins enemy down

Grenadier – helps pin enemy down

Rifleman – move in on enemy to kill

Sniper – cover and long shots

Then came a couple illustrations of patrolling formation graphics. I couldn’t find something really close, but it was sort of like this, only more  professional, and militaristic looking.

Wedge – can fire in all directions

V – to envelope an enemy

Line – max fire power to the front

It looked something like this, but a little more professional and militaristic.

Tactical Rifle Section 4 showed shooting positions illustrated.

Prone

Kneeling

Standing

There were detailed speed reloading instructions, followed by “should be able to do this fast with eyes shut.”

Malfunction Drills

SPORTS stands for

Slap mag

Pull charging handle

Observe chamber

Release bolt

Tap

Shoot

(…)

Tap, Rack, Bang:

Tap the magazine

Rack the bolt

Bang!

Remember! Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.

*******

Sight adjustment for AR15 rifle instructions:

Sighting and Aiming:

The shooter is concerned with correctly pointing the rifle so the bullet will hit the target  when fired. To do this, the shooter must have the rear sight, the front sight blade and the target or aiming point in their proper relationship. (…)

Trigger Control:

Trigger control is the skillful manipulation of the trigger causing the rifle to fire without disturbing the alignment of the rifle with respect to the target (…)

Zeroing:

To understand the principle of zeroing you should have a basic knowledge of the relation between the path of the bullet in flight and the line of sight. In flight a bullet does not follow a straight line, but travels in a curve or arc, which is called its trajectory. The maximum height of a bullet’s trajectory depends on the range of the target. The greater the distance a bullet travels before impact, the higher the trajectory (…)

*******

At this point, Nelson Traverso wants the first page of the manual read aloud, since the rest is being read. The Judge says this can happen in cross-examination. I think this is the “Big Ideas” section that will discuss the philosophy of the militia.

The prosecution has “culled the documents” but Traverso still objects to including an affadavit from Wendy Williams, a social worker with child protective services (OCS.) He feels that not only is it hearsay, but doesn’t want Cox’s domestic violence case to be mentioned because it is irrelevant to this case.

The prosecution argues that the paper was found in Coleman Barney’s office, and will “show their intent” regarding Wendy Williams. Schaeffer Cox links the OCS investigation to what he believes was a federal plot to kill him, and it’s all part of the motive in this case, argues the prosecution.

Judge Bryan agrees with Traverso that it is hearsay. He said it may come later, but it needs to be tied more closely before it can be admitted as evidence.

MJ Hayden, Vernon’s attorney, objects to Exhibit 194, page 52 and 53 because of a whole range of things including confrontation, hearsay and relevance. Judge says it’s overruled, or will be. if she objects to it when the court is in session.

Then the judge with his gruff, and gravely voice said that many were “thanking me for my patience. There is no patience. You can thank me for waiting.” There was chuckling, but you could tell that the judge was not enjoying all the waiting and organizational issues.

The jury re-enters. Today’s juror hoodie count is only one. On the first day, there were four jurors in hoodies. The second day there were three. I don’t know why I mention this except that I find it interesting. It’s quite a contrast to the defendants in their snappy suits. Cox was back with the shiny baby pink tie today.

Exhibit 194 –was a whole bunch of pages from a notepad.

First was a page of signatures in ink – Kenneth Thesing, JR Jerry Raymond, Mae Lynn, Bill Renzel, Coleman Lee, (…).

Next page was titled:

Jury Sign in

Joe Schwartz

Nicole

JR Olson

Coleman Lee

Lonnie and Karen Louise (Vernon?)

Bill Rensel

Adam Jiban

(…)

*******

Page three just had scrawled in very large letters at an angle:

Miranda Rights?

Exhibit 4 was an envelope from the Alaska Court System addressed to ”Francis August Schaeffer Cox”, at his Fairbanks address, with a postmark dated 12-17-2010.

There were documents inside, which the agent removed and read  for the jury.  These were part of the documents described by Richar Mauer above as “surreal” and having to do with the famous trial at Denny’s.  These were written just like actual legal documents, and the wording was technical, and the type was small and hard to copy quickly, so I didn’t get much.

One talked about “foreign agents” including Jane Kauvar whom the document said was “masquerading as a district court judge.” According to the  Alaska Court System, she is an actual District Court Judge.

There were two official looking seals on the document. When asked, the agent says she didn’t recognize either of them. One incorporated the outline of the state of Alaska. In the space that looked like it had been signed by a judge, the name was “Daniel Bartels, sovereign.”

“Do you recognize that judge?” Skrocki asked. “No,” the agent replied.

There was also an image that was American flag-like, but it was turned 90 degrees so the stripes were vertical. There were blue stars on a white field. I did a little poking around and found that this flag is associated with the sovereign citizen movement and found out it is known as the “Civil Flag.” This was the flag on the document:

Here’s part of an article titled ‘The Civil Flag’ – Forgotten Flag, or Flag of Fiction?” that I found. Neither the article, nor the Civil Flag were discussed at the trial, but I thought it was interesting.

“It is believed by some historians that the Civil Flag was discontinued after the Civil War when the federal government imposed military governments in the States and disbanded civilian government. As a show of its power over the States, Civil Flags were discontinued and Old Glory became the sole emblem representing the People of the United States of America, united under military (or admiralty) rule. For over 100years, the Civilian U.S. Flag was flown by a select citizenry that could afford to buy them. While most were of the design of the Customs Bureau and its American Eagle, many continued to adorn the original look from 1777 with a constellation of stars on a blue field and with red and white vertical stripes. By 1900, the Civil Flag had all but disappeared except for the occasional use by the government’s revenue cutters and more recently, the Coast Guard with a modified design. By 1980, nearly all documentation of the Civil Flag had been omitted in school text books and its existence left as a mystery in a few old photographs and a rare mention in classic books”.

There was a reference in the document  to the “Corporate Agency State of Alaska.” This one was signed “David-Clair Bartels” from Big Lake, Alaska.

*******

Page 14 included

Directed to any and all agents of the Corporate Entity and assigns DBA:

Alaska, State of

Fairbanks, City of

Alaska Court System – private corporation DUNS #(…)

State of Alaska Department of Public Safety

(…)

*******

I think there were more items that had DUNS numbers listed.  There were at least four or five of them, but I don’t remember which ones they were, but the numbers were all listed out, next to the relevant agency.

Restraining Order

This order is issued for the following reasons:

It has come to the attention of this justice that agents/officers of your foreign administration, bankrupt corporate de facto entities have invaded the Republic under color of law, with acts of war, under arms with threats of violence, attempted seizure of the man Francis August Schaeffer Cox without proper due process of law of Alaska Criminal rules of procedure (…)

Note for show cause hearing set for January 16, 6pm ,1929 Airport Way Fbx AK

Date 14^th day of December.

If you Google the address, you discover that’s the location of Denny’s.

Page 50 has State Trooper Tiffany Weir’s name and other OCS personnel highlighted in yellow.

There is more description of the OCS worker Wendy Williams coming to the Cox residence, and listed the counts against the defendants.

They returned again later that day, and again on 4/2. This is harassment, stalking, trespassing, and attempted kidnapping . They trespassed his property and demanded to see his son (…)

Count 4 -  Agency officials and State Troopers conspired to create fraudulent criminal charges against Francis August Schaeffer Cox, a secured party jurisdiction of the corporation, nor do I consent to give any statutes the force of law by contracting with the de facto corporate government. If the third party defendants have nay lawfully documented evidence to the contrary let them come forth now… (…)

Then came Cox’s proposed remedies for this unlawful conduct by agents of the government.

Opportunity to cure

The several individual third party defendants have 14 calendar days to cure their dishonor by a combination of the following determined by the (…)

Dismiss any and all claims against the third party plaintiff with prejudice

Pay the plaintiff the amount of $250,000

Expunge from the record all past judgments proceedings, allegations, liabilities etc., against secured party creditor

Pay all damages as indicated by counterclaim contained herein with real money.

In addition to the monetary penalties in this counterclaim, all defendants must confess in public (…)

Damages assessed against you should you fail to meet the requirements as provided in the opportunity to cure contained herein

Failure to state claim upon which relief can be granted will be $2 million per defendant, per count, per violation (…).

This was followed by page 101, a long typed list of who exactly would owe $2 million to Cox, and for what. The list ran down the full length of the page and totaled $32 million.

Page 102 stated that failure to pay the counterclaim in full within 30 calendar days of defulat contained therein would result in $1 million interest per month and 1.5% interest per month compounded daily from the date of default.

“The defendant must expunch from the record all past judgments prodeedings, allegations liabilitied against secured creditor.

The document was signed Francis August $chaeffer Cox, Secured Party Creditor, and the S had two lines through it, like a dollar sign. The document was dated 5-19-2010.

Page 104 was a list of names:

Wendy Williams (Children Services Specialist II OCS worker)

Yvonne Hill (supervisor social worker)

Sara Alden (Staff manager)

Colleen Turner

Sonja Zasrow

Mary Anderson

Tammy Sandoval

Patrick Hefley

William Hogan

(…)

Attorney General Daniel Sullivan

Agent Howell’s current assignment is to work child abuse situations, she said. “Any time Troopers respond to a domestic violencev call, if there are children, we have to make a report to OCS.” She explained that this automatically happens and is part of AST policy. If there’s just an argument between people, it may be at their discretion, but they will make a report.

No other questions for this witness from the prosecution.

Neal Traverso then asks her to refer to the APM manual, and to read the introduction.

Big Ideas

If you are to defend your individual liberty effectively these days, you will need others who are willing and able to come to your aid, and join with you in a necessary use of force that will be far easier to do, if we all have in common skill at arms, and some other basic (…)

Oath:

“Before God and men, for the sake of my conscience and the safety of my family: I will defend and observe the principles of individual liberty embodied in our founding documents by example, persuasion and force of arms and assist my neighbors as they do the same, never abandoning another who is fighting to live free! I will Demand liberty, Destroy tyranny, Discern justice, Defend all, aggress  none and follow orders to that end.”

I get the impression that this Alaska Peacemakers Militia oath will play a central part in the defense of Cox, because it’s been referenced before as a self-defense issue, “Protect All – Aggress None.”

Timothy Dooley, Barney’s attorney, brings an exhibit to the witness on the stand, and the prosecution objects. The judge says he can’t rule, because he has no idea what the exhibit is. The prosecution doesn’t know what it is either, which is why they objected in the first place, they say. They move forward to see.

“This is an empty box correct? For 22 rounds, correct?” asks Dooley. Yes, says the agent. “Winchester brand?” Yes. “Look at the upper right, it says that box would hold 5000 22 rounds. Correct?” Yes.

There had been testimony earlier that there were 20,000 rounds found in Barney’s office and 10,000 of them were 22 rounds. He just wanted to point out that 5000 rounds of 22 caliber ammunition “…fit in a box like that. That’s the box they fit in.” The box was about 7”x7”x14ish” if I had to guess. Dooley’s point , I think, was that 5000 rounds sounds like a crazy big amount of ammunition, but in reality it just fits into this harmless-sized little box. The empty box was admitted into evidence.

Dooley went on to remind the agent that she had just testified regarding a number of weapons and rifles that were admitted into evidence. “All those rifles are perfectly legal for a citizen who is not a felon to own. Nothing you testified to… all the bullets are perfectly legal to own. There is no restriction under the law on how many bullets you can have, or how many legal rifles or pistols you can have. The documents – there is nothing illegal about any of the documents, correct?” “Not that I’m aware of,” said Agent Howell.

Dooley continued,“You testified about a cell phone. You were talking to Rachel Barney at the time you took the cellphone. You took her purse, emptied out the purse, and took from that her cell phone and kept it.” Agent Howell said, “I think she had it in her hand, not the purse.”

“Alright, so she had it in something attached to her person.  Why did you seize the cell phone?”

“The warrant allowed for seizure of electronic devices in the residence.”

“A cell phone is legal, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Did you arrest Rachel Barney?”

“No I didn’t.”

“Do you know what is meant by the term assault rifle?”

“Not particularly.”

“Thank you.”

MJ Hayden for Lonnie Vernon has no questions.

And then one final page. It looks like it might be the back cover of the APM manual. It simply says:

Live free or die,

For death is not the worst of evils

Underneath it is the colonial flag with a white Roman numeral II in the space in the center of the circle of stars.

Next Witness: Alaska State Trooper and Investigator Albert Bell

He is called to the stand with the most uninteresting testimony of the trial so far. He took a computer tower from the office space of the residence. He took two cell phones from the dashboard of Coleman Barney’s black pickup truck.

(Raise your hand if you totally guessed that he drove a black pickup truck.)

MJ Hayden, Vernon’s attorney wants to see the phone.

“These have been available to the defense for a year, Your Honor.” says Skrocki, visibly exasperated.

“What I saw a year ago, may not be what’s up there right now,” Hayden says by way of explanation, which makes me wonder how on earth she would remember what a cell phone she hasn’t seen for a year looked like. Nevertheless, she and her fellow defender take the phones one by one out of the sealed evidence bags, open the flip thing, stare at them, and turn them over, examining them carefully like they were large jewels.

Skrocki, who had handed the phones over rather like an exaspreated teenager to show his disapproval, stood audibly sighing, and drumming his fingers loudly on the side of the podium.

“Thank you. No objection,” Hayden says.

And the phones are admitted into evidence.

More testimony about the custody of the phones, the phone numbers, the date of the seizure, the emptying of the contents of the phones so the data can be analyzed, when the transfer of data happened, what kind of phone it was (3G iPhone), who else performed the “forensic extraction” on the phone, and where the information went.

And that was all from Trooper Bell.

No questions from the defense, and he is excused.

Next witness: Officer Phillip Whitley of the department of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. (Huh. They added explosives.)

Philip Whitley is a square-faced witness with a little renegade piece of hair hanging down over his forehead. He is soft-spoken with a vague, faded southern accent. He deals with explosives and incendiary devices.  Federal prosecutor Yvonne Lamoreaux seemed quite enamored with Whitley’s job description and reminded me of a little kid who gets to meet a fireman, or an astronaut. He went on about how he collects and processes evidence, disassembles explosive devices, and makes determinations under the law and declares if something is or is not technically and legally an explosive. He also provides testimony in court and has been doing so for 7 years.

~Federal prosecutor Yvonne Lamoreaux, and Philip Whitley from the Bureau of  ATF&E

In his current position he has made in excess of 100 determinations. He was also a bomb technician for over 24 years. As a military bomb technician, he would determine how a device had been built, for intelligence purposes, so soldiers in the field could prepare themselves for what they would find in the field. He did a tour in Afghanistan and another in Iraq while in the Army. He took “post-blast devices,” and reconstructed them to see how they were built, and did forensic analysis of unexploded bombs to figure out how they work, and find clues that would lead his team back to the bomb makers.

He also ran a chemical analysis lab, did analysis of the residue, or (if  the device was intact) determined what kind of explosive they were dealing with. For instance with C4, you can tell whether it’s Iranian or from the US. This way the army could tell if the enemy was stealing American supplies or whether it was being supplied by terrorists. Over 500 devices came through his shop in Iraq.

He also does anti-terrorism assistance visits to embassies around the world to do threat assessments, and to work with local law enforcement.

He first joined the military in 1988, and did 21 years active and reserve. He says he’s lucky to have been an Explosive Ordinance Demolition tech with the US army for entire time. I thought he meant he was lucky not to have been blown up, but he said, “I’m lucky because I enjoyed that profession.” Alrighty then. It is lucky for us that there are people like this, and that they are good at what they do.

He loved the guys in the Explosive Ordinance Disposal Company. He retired from the military in December of 2009.

“Have you received any awards?” Lamoreaux inquired. He’s got a Bronze Star for missions in Afghanistan. And he received the Johnny Massengill Memorial Award for Explosive Investigation work. Massengill was killed in early 1990s doing an explosive disposal. He received the award for taking part in an investigation of a bank bombing in Oregon.

It was time for me to take off, but as I was walking out, he was talking about all sorts of other explosive achievements, and I even heard something about nuclear devices before the outer door closed.

I was sorry I didn’t get to hear his testimony, but he sure had an interesting resume.

The trial resumesl Monday. It was an interesting first week. More to come.

In lieu of Linda giving you something to smile about in the plant department, I shall endeavor to give you something to smile about in the animal department.

I have more pictures, which I will post later, but here’s a sneak peek of who came a-callin’ this weekend. This little guy could have sat in a shoebox, and I’m guessing he was in the 10 pound neighborhood. This picture shows him looking up through the bottom of my sliding glass door.

As it turns out, he was not alone. More on that later!