Archive for January 2018

Flags and Flowers

Flags and Flowers
Honor Veterans Every Day, Not just on a Holiday

Gary Hunt
Outpost of Freedom
January 18, 2018

When I called Preston Sharp, he answered the phone. I heard the voice of a very young person. However, as the conversation ensued, I heard words of commitment, well beyond the age of the person on the other end of the line.

When I met Duane Ehmer in Red Bluff, California, he handed me the business card of Preston C. Sharp. He had gotten the card when he visited Preston at a cemetery where Sharp was busy planting flags and artificial flowers (Red Carnations) on the graves of military veterans.

Duane, a veteran himself, knew that I was a Vietnam Veteran, and felt that I would be interested in this story. That has become an understatement, as I interviewed with Sharp.
When Preston, now 12 years old, started setting Flags and Flowers on graves back in 2015, he made a commitment that he has held to since then. But, more about that, later.

On Veterans Day, 2015, he went to his grandfather’s grave. His grandfather had been in the Navy. He thought that there would be flags on the graves, but there weren’t. He was frustrated that they were not being properly honored on such a day. So, he decided that he wanted to get funding so that they would be honored for their service.

When he returned home, he set up a GoFundMe account in which he raised $100.00 on the first day. With that and subsequent funding, he placed over 40,000 flags and flowers on Veteran’s graves.

To place flags and flowers, he can spend two or more hours in a cemetery. If the headstone is dirty, he cleans it. He then says aloud the veteran’s name and a “Thank you for your service”.
He was conducting visits every Sunday, from Redding, California, where he lives, to Sacramento. However, he has now branched out into other states; his goal is to eventually get to every state in the union. To his credit, he has placed flags and flowers in California, Nevada, Oregon, Virginia, and Florida. A commendable start with 10% of the states. This includes 30 to 35 cemeteries. Often, local people in his target location assist him with his work. This work includes replacing torn flags or replacing flowers.

He told me, when asked how long he would continue doing “flags and flowers”, his answer, without hesitation, was, ” ’til I can’t bend down anymore.”

However, his commitment to veterans does not stop with flags and flowers. Preston had occasion to visit with Tim Whiting, 71, a Vietnam Veteran from Oregon who because of deteriorating health, moved to a Redding facility. Tim had to leave his friend, a dog named Rusty, with friends in Oregon. However, the four-hour trip could only rarely be made.

Preston, instead of asking for a laptop for Christmas, chose to adopt Rusty and bring him to Redding, thus allowing Tim to spend time with Rusty, whenever he wanted to. When asked why he did that to help Tim, he answered, “I would do anything to make a veteran happy.”

As I told Preston, and the end of the interview, HE is what we were fighting for when we joined the service of our country. He is what America used to be about, and, hopefully, will return to being what it is about.

At present, because of the distances he must travel, he can only travel when funds are available. His webpage, prestonsharp.net, has a link to donate to this very worthy cause.
If you believe in America, as it should be, and you want to help this wonderful example of patriotism, please help by donating to help him reach the other 45 states, and, with such help, perhaps all of the veteran’s cemeteries in the country.

So, with tears in my eyes, I say, “Preston Sharp Thank You for Your Service.”

The Bundy Affair #25 – Steven Myhre and His Fraud upon the Court

The Bundy Affair #25
Steven Myhre and His Fraud upon the Court

Gary Hunt
Outpost of Freedom
January 2, 2018

Recent events in Las Vegas have led to a completely new perspective on the misdeeds of government.  Failure to provide timely Discovery, especially that of an exculpatory evidence (proving innocence or to impeach witness testimony).

As Judge Gloria Navarro pointed out in the seven known violations, six of them were deemed “willful”, where the seventh could possibly be inadvertent.  However, in the closed session that followed the declaration of a Mistrial, there may have been as many as 20 more violations of either Brady or Giglio.  Those cases establish precedence with regard to the timely disclosure of evidence to the Defense.

Before we proceed, perhaps reviews of the timeline of primary events in this case are necessary:

  1. The events that are addressed in the Indictment occurred in the first half of April 2014.
  2. The initial Indictment was February 3, 2016.
  3. The Superseding Indictment was issued March 2, 2016.
  4. The current trial, now on hold pending a decision with regard to Mistrial or Dismissal, began in late November 2017.

The Government’s Response to recent motions by Ryan Payne, suggesting Dismissal, and Ryan Bundy, demanding Dismissal, begins as follows:

“As with any large case, this multi-agency, multi-defendant, multi-trial case has presented significant discovery challenges: hundreds of thousands of pages of documents, hundreds of hours of video and audio recordings, and thousands of emails, to name a few, balanced against factors such as witness security and disclosure procedures acceptable to the Court.  This complexity notwithstanding, and ever mindful of its Constitutional, statutory, Department, and Court-ordered discovery obligations, the government has always strived to meet these challenges with diligence, fairness, and efficiency.

First, let’s put a little perspective on timing.  It was 23 months from the event (1) that led to the Superseding Indictment (3).  It was another 14 months to the commencement of the trial (4).  That is 37 months, or, 3 years and 1 month.  However, they had the initial Indictment (2) and then modified it to the Superseding Indictment (3), in a month.  You would think that in those 23 months, they would have reviewed the records that they had to assure that they were truthful in what the presented to the Grand Jury, for both the initial Indictment and the Superseding Indictment.

And, most assuredly, they would not have accused the Bundy supporters of lying to the public about calling people to come to the Ranch because the government had snipers and posed a threat to the Bundys, knowing full well that they did have snipers and an FBI SWAT team in place, three days before Ryan Payne arrived at the Ranch.

The continued to lie, through the first two trial and into the current trial, claiming that there were no snipers however, the conspired to “wash” some documents of record by having a more senior FBI Special Agent, who is also the FBI agent that is assisting the US Attorney in the current trial.  See The Bundy Affair #24 – FBI and Prosecution Conspire to Falsify Evidence.

Next, let’s consider the government’s explanation that no harm was done by not providing the information required by both law and the Rules of the Court.  From the last paragraph, page 7/55

. Continue reading ‘The Bundy Affair #25 – Steven Myhre and His Fraud upon the Court’ »

Burns Chronicles No 62 – Jon Ritzheimer, Facebook, and Justice

Burns Chronicles No 62

Jon Ritzheimer, Facebook, and Justice

Gary Hunt
Outpost of Freedom
January 1, 2018

Jon Ritzheimer was scheduled to report to prison on February 16, 2018 to serve his year and a day, less time served and good time off.  That would probably amount to about 8 months.  He had time to prepare things for his family, to make their life easier while he was in prison.  He also had work to do to make sure that he got on the ballot in his run to replace the retiring representative, Trent Franks.  Jon’s goal was to be fully prepared to go to prison in February

However, a single event and a Facebook post have undermined his planned preparations.  Though he had been abiding by all of the rules imposed on him, a simple trip within the same county of where he was approved to go has undermined all of his efforts and goodness.

Once again, Facebook was the downfall of a good man.  There is no doubt that his Facebook page is monitored, and once the monitors saw the picture (above), they probably gleefully contacted Judge Anna Brown and reported that Jon was, finally, in violation of his release conditions.

Judge Brown then sent the following chastisement and order to the respective attorneys.  I have not spoken to Payne about this, though you will see that he has lost a major part of his freedom, as well.  Considering the restrictions imposed on their freedoms, it would seem that they should get credit for time served, or at worst, half credit for time served, as a consequence of this absolute denial of freedom of movement and communication, and consequences for violation thereof.

I have received and reviewed the messages from Ms. Hay and Ms. Wood.  Thank you for your prompt responses.

Although I do not intend to issue warrants based on the information discussed in our correspondence today, I am concerned that Defendants have taken advantage of this Court’s release accommodations in their favor.  So that this Court’s release conditions are perfectly clear going forward, I intend to take the action outlined below.  If any of you wish to be heard as to these decisions, please notify Mr. Rifer, and a hearing will be scheduled early next week.  In the meantime, please notify your clients that, in addition to all existing conditions, they are now subject to the following:

With respect to Mr. Payne, I agreed that he could be released from custody on the Oregon hold only in order to be able to confer meaningfully with his co-defendants and their counsel in the ongoing preparation of their mutual defense in Nevada.  I certainly did not intend to authorize his travel more than 80 miles from the Las Vegas Courthouse to the Bundy Ranch for social purposes.  Please inform Mr. Payne that, effective immediately and for purposes of his temporary release from custody on the Oregon case, the following specific conditions apply:

1. When his approved travel to Montana concludes, he is to return directly to the approved residence in Las Vegas where he will be on   “home detention” — meaning, he is to remain at that residence unless he   is going directly to or from court (including any pretrial office); the   offices of any defense counsel; or church, medical, or treatment   services.  He is not to return to the Bundy Ranch or to engage in social   activities with his co-defendants.

2. If it is determined by Chief Judge Navarro that the Nevada case against Mr. Payne will be dismissed with prejudice, Mr. Payne is to   surrender immediately to the U.S. Marshal in Nevada so that a hearing   can be conducted within 48 hours of that decision to determine whether   he will be detained or released pending his sentencing in Oregon.

3. If it is determined by Chief Judge Navarro that the Nevada proceedings against Mr. Payne will continue, he may remain on release   from the Oregon hold subject to all previous conditions and the “home   detention” described in Paragraph 1, above.

With respect to Mr. Ritzheimer, I have seen some of his email and text correspondence to his Arizona release officer regarding the request to travel to an “Airbnb” in Las Vegas for his wedding anniversary.  In a text, Mr. Ritzheimer wrote:  “I will not be going to the Trial or Federal Courthouse to see the Bundy’s [sic] if that’s what you’re thinking.  Just wanna to [sic] make that clear.  This is a trip for me and my wife’s anniversary.”  It’s clear to me Mr. Ritzheimer was not authorized to travel to the Bundy Ranch.  Nor was he authorized to make Facebook posts about the Bundy Ranch visit.  Rather than deal with his equivocating explanation in the context of a warrant and hearing to determine whether he violated release conditions, however, I’ve concluded the more reasonable course is to advance his surrender date for his prison sentence to next Friday, 1/5/18.  To implement that decision, I’ll enter an order early next week modifying the surrender date and directing him to surrender to the U.S. Marshal in Phoenix by Noon on 1/5/18.  Even if a BOP facility has not been designated by then, he will get credit for voluntarily surrendering to the U.S. Marshal as ordered.

Ms. Hay and Ms. Wood, please do the necessary to ensure your clients are aware of the particulars of this message.  Appropriate orders will enter early next week.  In the meantime, it will be a violation of the Oregon release conditions for your clients if they again travel to the Bundy Ranch.

This led to the consequences addressed above, and, ultimately, to Jon having to make major changes to his well-laid plans to be prepared to turn himself in on February 16, 2018.

In Jon’s own words:          Continue reading ‘Burns Chronicles No 62 – Jon Ritzheimer, Facebook, and Justice’ »