Congrats and thanks.
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I say let's turn over some cars in celebration ...
Who's climbing the street lights today?!
Congrats to Rack and his legal team and many thanks to all the supporters who chipped in.
Squaregrouper
Kragaphile
I hereby declare August 28th to be "Freedom Day". It may only be a holiday here, but it is ours!!!
Rack...congratulations on the win, considered money well spent! And paidback WITH INTEREST!
K3LAG
Active Member
Wow, it sure is uplifting to win one for a change. Congratulations Rack. Maybe this will be the beginning of a trend.
Courtgratulations! Glad your counsel passed the Bar,,, I'll be happy to not pass a Bar with you!
Congratulations.. Well worth the" kicked in" from all of us... Way to stuff it to them...
- Nov 6, 2015
- 236
Congratulations!
Thanks Patriots!
It was apparent to me and the PP crew on August 4th when we saw the barricades going up: these barricades are for Fairfax County Police CONVENIENCE and not because there are any obvious safety issues for demonstrators.
Fairfax County Police Lieutenant Dalton Becker —a 22-year veteran with that agency and the person who arrested me—struggled on the witness stand to delineate why the “police line” was erected.
He testified that on the day of the Hogg Protest that he had four or more conversations with me about the barricading. He said I had objected numerous times about the restrictions placed on our freedom of movement.
Lt. Becker was not just a senior officer on scene at the NRA demonstration. On the stand he identified himself as the Commander of the Civil Disturbance Unit. He said he worked in tandem with “an intelligence unit” and other agencies. He said it was his decision to block the road and put in barricades to “separate the anti-gun people and the pro-gun people”.
As the person with “overall operational control” of the street in front of the NRA, he said his intelligence-gathering, which included reading Facebook and reading Patriot Picket “blogs”, led him to believe that 8,000 people were going to gather. He said Black Lives Matter was expected along with a line of buses filled with anti-gun people that would be used to block the road.
The State’s case started to crumble when Lt. Becker admitted there were no threats of violations, just concerns about it.
More posts to come.
It was apparent to me and the PP crew on August 4th when we saw the barricades going up: these barricades are for Fairfax County Police CONVENIENCE and not because there are any obvious safety issues for demonstrators.
Fairfax County Police Lieutenant Dalton Becker —a 22-year veteran with that agency and the person who arrested me—struggled on the witness stand to delineate why the “police line” was erected.
He testified that on the day of the Hogg Protest that he had four or more conversations with me about the barricading. He said I had objected numerous times about the restrictions placed on our freedom of movement.
Lt. Becker was not just a senior officer on scene at the NRA demonstration. On the stand he identified himself as the Commander of the Civil Disturbance Unit. He said he worked in tandem with “an intelligence unit” and other agencies. He said it was his decision to block the road and put in barricades to “separate the anti-gun people and the pro-gun people”.
As the person with “overall operational control” of the street in front of the NRA, he said his intelligence-gathering, which included reading Facebook and reading Patriot Picket “blogs”, led him to believe that 8,000 people were going to gather. He said Black Lives Matter was expected along with a line of buses filled with anti-gun people that would be used to block the road.
The State’s case started to crumble when Lt. Becker admitted there were no threats of violations, just concerns about it.
More posts to come.
This is great news! Congratulations Rack and DL on the successful litigation. Looking forward to the "Full Monty"...ummm read-out of the trial and the comments to follow.
So they used the old “Chicken Little” defense?
Nice try.
Nice try.
Back on the laptop for a bit before I head out for dinner with my daughter, who is visiting from NYC for just 36 hours.
One detail I have not yet described is that prior to going into court, the prosecutor announced that he would the play Fairfax County Police video of my arrest, in an apparent ploy to intimidate me. I told my attorney, "Let 'em play any video they have....it won't show anything different from what our video shows....bring it!'.
And with that, we were faced with a final decision: try the case today, or ask for a postponement to come back next month with our videos and pictures to argue our case on a broader battleground. Going to trial today would be to focus on the language of the statutes that give police the authorization to barricade. I told Thomas Plofchan, let's go, we can win it here. I knew on Aug. 4th the barricade arrangement was not proper, and had said so. Research into the language myself after my arrest solidified my confidence in my case.
When Lt. Becker took the stand to recount my arrest, the prosecutor led him through a series of declarations designed to create an impression for the judge that he and his team were extremely concerned about August 4th. Becker described his multi-agency "Incident Action Plan", as well as the concerns from his "Intel Unit" about the size of the predicted gathering. He described for the judge how he had instituted "rules" for attendees at the demonstration"--specifically that "I told both sides that I would give them one free cross" to go from one side of a barricade to the other.
Several times, my attorney objected to disrupt the narrative that the prosecutor was trying to put on. The objections were focused on opinions that Lt. Becker offered about what he thought was in the minds of the Patriot Picket and the anti-gun side as to their plans. The judge said those opinions were out of order because the Lt. was not in a position to guess at what I or anyone else there was planning or thinking.
Lt. Becker also made his case weaker, I believe, when he also testified that his barricade arrangement allowed the media the freedom to cross the police line at will to "give both sides equal time with the press". (As I rolled my eyes, I saw the judge look over at me.)
When asked if I had said anything at the time of my arrest, Lt. Becker said I repeatedly declared that my arrest was a violation of my right to be in the public square. (I could NOT have testified on that point any better myself!)
OK, I will pause here and recount more tales from the courtroom a bit later. Again, thanks to everyone who displayed the confidence that we would win, and showed it by contributing to the Defense Fund.
Also a shout out to our Patriot Picket co-leader, Ed Leary, who is on home hospice now. We hope he is as amped up as we are by this win. Ed, see you tomorrow afternoon!
One detail I have not yet described is that prior to going into court, the prosecutor announced that he would the play Fairfax County Police video of my arrest, in an apparent ploy to intimidate me. I told my attorney, "Let 'em play any video they have....it won't show anything different from what our video shows....bring it!'.
And with that, we were faced with a final decision: try the case today, or ask for a postponement to come back next month with our videos and pictures to argue our case on a broader battleground. Going to trial today would be to focus on the language of the statutes that give police the authorization to barricade. I told Thomas Plofchan, let's go, we can win it here. I knew on Aug. 4th the barricade arrangement was not proper, and had said so. Research into the language myself after my arrest solidified my confidence in my case.
When Lt. Becker took the stand to recount my arrest, the prosecutor led him through a series of declarations designed to create an impression for the judge that he and his team were extremely concerned about August 4th. Becker described his multi-agency "Incident Action Plan", as well as the concerns from his "Intel Unit" about the size of the predicted gathering. He described for the judge how he had instituted "rules" for attendees at the demonstration"--specifically that "I told both sides that I would give them one free cross" to go from one side of a barricade to the other.
Several times, my attorney objected to disrupt the narrative that the prosecutor was trying to put on. The objections were focused on opinions that Lt. Becker offered about what he thought was in the minds of the Patriot Picket and the anti-gun side as to their plans. The judge said those opinions were out of order because the Lt. was not in a position to guess at what I or anyone else there was planning or thinking.
Lt. Becker also made his case weaker, I believe, when he also testified that his barricade arrangement allowed the media the freedom to cross the police line at will to "give both sides equal time with the press". (As I rolled my eyes, I saw the judge look over at me.)
When asked if I had said anything at the time of my arrest, Lt. Becker said I repeatedly declared that my arrest was a violation of my right to be in the public square. (I could NOT have testified on that point any better myself!)
OK, I will pause here and recount more tales from the courtroom a bit later. Again, thanks to everyone who displayed the confidence that we would win, and showed it by contributing to the Defense Fund.
Also a shout out to our Patriot Picket co-leader, Ed Leary, who is on home hospice now. We hope he is as amped up as we are by this win. Ed, see you tomorrow afternoon!
gamer_jim
Podcaster
Congrats and glad I could be "on the team".
- Mar 8, 2013
- 6,993
I am proud to have participated on the 4th, had numerous exchanges with the LEO on duty (including Lt. Becker) and the County Executive, and witnessed the inequal treatment and Rack’s unwarranted arrest. I would have been happy to testify. But what matters even more is that by contributing just a few bills, along with many others here, a good friend with stones the size of bowling balls was able to take a stand in court, with another good friend Deep Lurker by his side, and prevail over the government sanctioned violation of our rights to freedom of movement and expression on a public sidewalk.
If you don’t agree this was a good day for all you are not paying attention.
If you don’t agree this was a good day for all you are not paying attention.
There will be significant funds left over from today’s big win.
As a gesture of our appreciation for all that Ed Leary has done to defend liberty in Maryland, I would like to ask that we convert the donations into what will become the Ed Leary Legal Defense Fund.
Can I get a second?
As a gesture of our appreciation for all that Ed Leary has done to defend liberty in Maryland, I would like to ask that we convert the donations into what will become the Ed Leary Legal Defense Fund.
Can I get a second?
It is my high honor and distinction to second the motion.
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