Burns Chronicles No 44 – Mark McConnell
Burns Chronicles No 44
Mark McConnell
Gary Hunt
Outpost of Freedom
November 25, 2016
Notice: Because of her extremely biased judicial discretion, Judge Anna Brown has ordered that I remove the information that I obtained from a ‘prohibited’ copy of the Discovery for the trial of the defendants in the Malheur Occupation trial. I have fully complied with that order and removed all of those portions prohibited, according to that order. All instances of removed text will be marked “[REDACTED]”, which is the same method the government used in depriving information that should have been available to the defendants, as well as you, the reading public, with factual information needed in order for you to make a fair and logical assessment. The FBI redactions were the government’s efforts to “protect” their army of paid informants, but they did a lousy job, as I was able to identify them with the unredacted text.
I first interviewed Mark McConnell back in August 2015 That interview was in regard to Parris Frazier and his effort to steal cartel drugs and sell them (Arizona Misfits – A Bad Operation Gone Worse). McConnell seemed to have an extraordinary knowledge of some of the facts surrounding that incident, which was quite useful in researching for that story. It never occurred to me, at the time, that this knowledge would have been extremely beneficial to law enforcement, leading up to the bust.
The Criminal Complaint that lead to the arrest of Frazier and his cohorts began with the government putting an undercover employee (UCE) in a position provide access to Frazier to make the government’s plans to set Frazier up for the bust. This scenario omits what led up to the bringing in the UCE, so there was a substantial part of the story that was missing. It is quite possible that they chose not to mention a confidential human source (CHS) that provided the background that led to the setup of Frazier. Or, possibly, any such report was filed on form 302, an “Investigation Report”.
Let’s move forward to the events that occurred in Burns, Oregon, this past January. During the trial, the government, for whatever reason, outed McConnell as a CHS. In every other instance of a CHS being involved in spying on the occupiers, this would include nine who were at the Refuge and six who were not, the government has taken pains to conceal their identity.
This would lead one to conclude that they just wanted to wipe their hands clean of any association with Mark McConnell — to make him an outcast in both the government and patriot sides. What other reason could exist for intentionally expose just this single informant? Could it be his arrogance and air of superiority in dealing with his handler?
Many had determined that McConnell was an informant, early on. However, in an effort to find verification, I have interviewed McConnell 3 more times since LaVoy Finicum was murdered on January 26. The first was on January 30, as he was driving back to Arizona after having his vehicle returned to him. My purpose was simply to find out what happened from the first stop to his release, that evening.
That interview was much different from the video that was posted on YouTube where he talked about LaVoy rushing the Oregon State Police (OSP) officers. He had learned his lesson and wouldn’t claim that he saw Ryan get out of the LaVoy’s truck, only what Ryan told him, when they were placed on the ground together. And, he made clear that all he would say was what he saw, or heard. This interview was straightforward. The details he gave were consistent with what has subsequently been confirmed by others.
My next interview, on May 16, was an effort to find something that would support the accusations that he was an informant. Now, obviously, getting such a “confession” is nearly impossible. However, often clues come out that would support such a conclusion. McConnell said that there was a meeting on the Saturday, before the shooting, Brandon Curtiss, McConnell, Booda (Brian Cavalier) and Ammon had a meeting and Curtiss and McConnell explained that was over three hundred FBI agents in the area. Then, the night before the shooting, he had tried to talk the people out of going to the meeting at John Day. However, he was willing to drive to John Day and make sure that Ammon was in his Jeep.
On October 10, after McConnell was outed as an informant, I spoke with him, again. The only interesting point in this interview was the McConnell said that the occupation was a “criminal enterprise”. A rather interesting statement from one who participated to the extent that he did. This would raise a question of motivation as to why he participated in such an enterprise, at least as an accessory, unless he had a reason, and immunity, to do so. Here is what he told me (from my notes of the conversation):
He spent three nights at the Refuge, the second trip. He could not find a motel room. He did not agree with the occupation. He called it lies and bullshit. He also claimed that Payne and Joker J (Jason Blomgren) had given me [Hunt] money to secure supplies, listing pipes and pipe caps, stating, “That’s not what the statements I have found said.”
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