Smoke and Mirrors 5

   I made it back to the courtroom today, court actually resumed on Tuesday but my ride arrangements didn't work out so I didn't make it yesterday. I understand I didn't miss anything to critical... If it was anything like today, I'd say not. I already have a bit of a...beef, with the American Judicial System. I think it's wrong when an eighteen year old kid goes to prison  for stealing a few gallons of wine and some car stereos, and in the amount of time he does, he sees child molesters come and serve half the time, go home, and in a few months be right back in the same institution on  another case. There is something wrong with that. That's been my personal experience, anyway. But let me tell you... The more I watch this trial... I don't even know what to say, we'll just say I'm gaining a whole new perspective.
   All last week they questioned Leslie Larson, the whole week...Not one time was a plan of  "sedition" outlined. I didn't see any evidence of a weapon of mass destruction, other than a street sign and a couple of coffee cans. This is the head of the investigation here. All week long! They talked about Stones religion, they talked about his views on the government, they talked about them running training drills, and having weapons, and collecting food, they talked about planting strippers in the backs of police cruisers to distract the cops. They talked about them attempting a trip to Kentucky. This is the best we get from the head of the FBI's investigation. Come on. The only evidence I saw all week that proved any crime other than being stupid, was the two, possibly four illegal fire arms. She was shown (as well as her team) to be unprofessional and prejudicial in her investigation, she seemed to have a small habit of mis-speaking while giving her testimony, and I thought she was rather forgetful...Unless the prosecution was asking the questions, funny how the prosecution didn't ever have to "refresh" her memory.
   I thought maybe this week with Murray taking the stand, we would hear something more solid, I figured they would play more of the recordings that Murray took and we would here what the big deal really was. Well, they have been playing more of the recordings, but I'm still left scratching my head.
   I already wrote this entry almost all the way through once. I went through my notes for the day and spent a good deal of time trying to report the minutes of the day, but the more I wrote the more pissed-off I got. So I started over. The prosecution led their direct exam of Murray all day yesterday, all day today, and by the sounds of it they will probably continue most of the day tomorrow. And it's more of the same crap.
 First off, the recordings are very hard to understand. Often multiple people are talking at the same time, there's a lot of background noise,  it's a hidden microphone so you hear his clothes rustling when he moves, and him breathing. They display transcripts of the conversation that is relevant, but those are hard to read and see as well. But if you listen carefully you can at least follow the concept of the conversation, sometimes. Anyway, they brought Stones religious views back to center light, and his political views and opinions. They had an email in which Stone stated several examples were he felt ATF was pushing legal boundaries, and he implied that if they continued to do so, he would "answer". They also played a recording of Stone talking to Murray, in which Stone details how the police pulled up and on or by his property and he just stepped out of his door and bap, bap, bap, he shot the cruiser, and they just left...And another time he shot the DNR's truck and they haven't been back since, but the county cops came out to ask him why he did it....WHAT!!! This is evidence of what? The fact Stone is a liar, and talks a lot of fanciful bullshit. That's not illegal.
   They showed a video of a training session Dan Murray attended with a couple of the defendants, they ran live fire drills. Nothing illegal, you could hear guys laughing and joking, making silly noises. The person leading the drills, I think it was Josh or Dave Stone Jr., was safety minded, telling people to watch lines of fire and make sure you hold position and formation to avoid accidents. It was impressive to hear the guns firing and I'm sure the jury heard that loud and clear, but that wasn't the point of showing that video, you see, it was snowing...Earlier in the trial it was demonstrated by the defense, how non-committal these guys took their training by stating that they often called off training sessions due to bad weather. Well, here's proof that, yes, these guys shot their guns in the snow too.
   They showed that the Stones had a conversation with Mark Keornke. It doesn't matter that they were talking about two way radios. You know, prices, and ranges, specifications...No, what matters is that the conversation was with Keornke. Another high-profile person who made headlines in other militia issues here in MI. They just want to associate the reputation. You know, no one ever heard of the Hutaree before this investigation, so they need to add a little infamy to the name by connecting a member or two to someone that EVERYONE has heard of.  IT'S CRAP!!! Their blowin' smoke up the juries ass, and I'm hoping they see it as clearly as I do.
   I have really been feeling like the jury has a hard task ahead of them. These guy's are all being tried together, but they're supposed to be judged as individuals. How does the jury take in all this information about who said what, who's political views were who's, peoples religious views, and keep it all separated, keep one guy's opinion from reflecting on the group as a whole...But the more I watch, in my view, the juries job becomes easier and easier. Because that's all it is, talk, talk, talk. I want to call this whole thing a joke, but it's not. These guy's lives hang in the balance. Their family's lives hang in the balance, and our rights as Americans hang in the balance. I'm not going to sit here and tell you that these guy's are above reproach, I won't even say that they didn't do or say anything wrong. But there's a big difference in someones opinion of wrong and illegal. And an even bigger difference when speaking to matters of sedition.
  We can't lock people up because they believe differently. Whether they or we believe in Allah, Christ, or the Antichrist. We can't target someone because they believe in the Book of Mormon, or the Book of Revelations. We can't arrest and imprison people because they speak out against the government, or express a willingness to stand their ground against an unjust government. We can't arrest and imprison people for two or twenty years for being asses.
   Mike was not present in any of the meetings they referred to today or yesterday, he was not referred to in any of the testimony, that I can recall. And yet, how much of what has been said today will reflect on the jury's view of him and the other defendants who weren't even present during these conversations?
   Mike has really had a lot of support from friends and family. Every day I've been there, we take up the majority of two benches in the courtroom. And Mike always has smile and a nod for everyone as he walks by. Sometimes you can get in a word or two of encouragement. And you can see the appreciation of the support in his face. There's a core group that is there every day, and all along different faces have popped up in the courtroom from day to day. I know from personal experience that seeing those faces in the crowd goes a long way in helping you face the next day with a positive attitude, and keeping your mind on track. So come on down sit in the court room and be another face in the crowd. See for yourself just how much of this trial is based on smoke and mirrors. Get Involved....