Smoke and Mirrors 20

   What an emotional roller coaster this journey has been. There have been days that I just wanted to cry, there have been days were I have been so mad that I really could not think straight. There have been days that laughter and jokes were the only way too get past the other emotions. There have been days throughout this experience when I felt like I could not allow myself any emotion, or risk completely falling apart. Today, I have an overwhelming sense of joy, and peace... It's a feeling that comes from deep inside and it's really kinda hard to describe. I have only had this feeling a few time in my life, and I hope it is something I can remember forever.

   I would like to start today by addressing Mike personally. CONGRATULATIONS buddy... I can't tell you how happy I am for you and your family. I also want to tell you, if you have never realized it before, you are an inspiration to me. For as long as I have known you there is one thing that I can be certain of... Mike Meeks will always be Mike Meeks. You are an honest and genuine person, you don't put up fronts, you don't present yourself falsely, you are who you are - take it or leave it. I love that about you. I want to thank you, more than anyone else, for staying true to yourself. There was a time when you were offered a plea bargain, and you didn't take it. There were a number of people who expressed to me that maybe that wasn't the best move. They were wrong, and I told them as much. It took a lot of courage to let that opportunity go by and maintain your innocence to the end, and I respect you to and even greater degree for it. I never once had a single doubt in you. From the time you were arrested until today, not one doubt. WELCOME HOME!!!

   Next I would like to address Judge Victoria Roberts. Thank you... Thank you for making the picture above possible. Thank you for making a difficult decision, under what I am sure was a great deal of pressure. From a man who has become jaded, from a man who has all but given up on "justice" in our courts, I thank you for teaching me that there are still people who uphold the values of justice and truth. Thank-you for doing what you believed was right and fair, even when you will probably receive criticism for your decision. Thank-you. I know that it is not your job to make people happy, but you have made many people very happy this day. And while I have confidence that you did what you did because you felt it was the right thing to do, it is my hope that knowing you have given joy to so many people, may offer you a little happiness and peace in your own decision. Truly and sincerely... Thank you.

   Roy and Sylvia... I don't even know what to say to you. I can not even describe how I feel for, or about you. I am overwhelmed with joy for you. It has been a long hard road, and I have seen it take it's toll on the both of you. I am so glad this nightmare is over for you. You both hold a very special place in my heart. I have never known finer people. We go a long way back, and it hasn't all been pleasant. In my younger days I am sure that some of the things I was involved in with your other son, were the cause of more than a few of your gray hairs. But through the years you have never turned your back to me, or anyone that I know of. You have never closed the door of your home to me, but instead your doors stay open to all - to come in sit at your table, to laugh and visit, and to many... to have a place of solitude, peace, and safety. Through every struggle in my life your family has been there for me in some way. To help me along, without judgement, with love and genuine concern for my well-being. I can not repay you for that. I can only try to give you that in return. I love you both. CONGRATULATIONS!!!

   Mr. Mark Satawa, http://www.lawyer.com/mark-satawa.html first I'd like to apologize for spelling your name wrong throughout the rest of my blog. I'd then like to thank you for your dedication to defending my friend Mike. Thank you for defending my rights as well. I am thankful there are people like you who are willing to stand up and fight for what is right.
   I would like to thank all the attorneys for all the defendants; Mr. William Swor for David Stone Sr., Mr. Micheal Rataj for Tina Stone, Mr. Todd Shanker and Richard Helfrick for David Stone Jr., Mr. Arthur Weiss for Tom Piatek, Mr. James Thomas for Josh Stone, and  Mr. Henry Scharg for Kris Sickles. Thank you all for your hard work and dedication to this trial.

   My vote (If I get one) for MVP, is Mike's brother and legal advocate, Attorney Doug Meeks. Dude, you are a freakin' superstar. Your daily presence in the courtroom is only outdone by the countless hours you have spent making sure your brother was being taken care of, and properly represented. I am happy for you that your brother is free, and you can regain some type of normalcy in your life. Take ten deep breaths, and then take a vacation... You deserve it.

   Aunt Ann... You are a warrior. You have a very unassuming presence about you, but if a person takes up conversation with you, they had best be prepared for a confidant woman with passion and conviction for what she believes in. You are awesome. It has been a pleasure and an honor to have gotten to know you even  just a little. (Sorry I didn't get a better picture... But I could not leave you out of the honor roll.)

   Greg and Todd, I know how worried about your brother you have been. I am so glad that this will soon be a distant memory. You guy's are not just my friends, your my fishing buddies, in my world there's no higher honor... Salmon camp is looking good this year boy's... (You gonna make it this year Doug???)
   Greg, on a separate note, I can't express how happy it makes me that Sam will know his Uncle Mike. I think Mike missing a full year of Sam's life is a tragedy in itself, but there will be plenty of time now to turn that around. CONGRATULATIONS! There are too many blessings to be counted.

   There have been so many people to show Mike their support and friendship. Every single day, Mike had friends and family sitting in the courtroom. There have been too many for me to remember. I am sure that in his own time, and in his own way he will show his appreciation. But I would personally like to thank all of you. It was your love of Mike and your thirst for the truth that encouraged and inspired me to do what I did. I am still in a bit of a state of shock, as I am sure many of you are. But this is real. We did it. Mike is home.

   I want to make one more honorable mention, last but not least. Matt Anderson. Without Matt, much of what I have been able to do would not of been possible. Matt was my ride to court nearly every day. And he is a dedicated friend of Mike. And just an all around good guy. I have received many compliments and kind words about my blog, and I really do feel honored that so many people have followed the trial through me. But much of this praise is due Matt as well. Please remember it if you see him. Thanks Matt, more than you know, I appreciate what you did.
   Stan Piatek... sorry I missed you on your way home. CONGRATULATIONS! It is obvious how much you care about your brothers. Hat's off to you. Tom good luck in your life ahead. I hope the best for you. If ya' all are ever in town again...
   My best wishes to all the defendants (victims) in your futures. I wish for you all, that this had never happened, but it did. I am so happy it wasn't worse. Good luck. Enjoy your families and lives.
   On one final note. David Stone Jr., as I watched this trial unfold and talked with you outside on breaks. My heart broke for you. The absolute lack of any evidence of anything that you did, ate at me, and ate at me. I am glad that I had the opportunity to meet you personally. I hope that you are able to walk away from this and move on with your life, don't let this drag you down. Walk through life with your head high, be proud of who you are... You're a good man. I hope that you and Britanny drop me a line every once in a while and let me know how things are going. Good luck, best wishes...
   The smoke is dissipating, the mirrors are shattered. I will walk away from this very proud. I am proud to have been involved. But it doesn't end here. Not for me anyway. While we will all go our own way from here, and paths may cross here and there. I will walk away feeling like I witnessed something important, and I tried to do something about it. And through it all, the only thing I can guarantee... It wont be long before I'm back speaking my mind... 

   Update, Thursday March 29 2012


   I made it back to the courtroom one last time, David Stone Sr. and Josh Stone both plead guilty to one charge of possession of a machine gun. They now await their sentencing from home. I personally am sorry that it even came to this. I don't believe the FBI handled the investigation properly from the get go, and I don't believe that they had any cause to conduct the arrests and raids in the first place. None of them did anything to anyone. None of the defendants have ever been convicted of a crime before this. It just doesn't seem fair that their lives have suffered such a disruption, their worlds have been turned upside down, and their futures altered for ever. Overall, I am glad that things did not turn out worse, but I still think it is a tragedy.
   After the business of the court was over today, the Judge called the Jury in (as they were scheduled to be there) and addressed them, explained what happened over the time they were absent, she thanked them graciously, and then dismissed them. It was a very unique day in court. The first thing that was different about the day was that I walked through the doors of the courtroom with Mike. Matt Anderson and Wendy Lineweaver were also present to see the job done. The next thing I noticed that was different was the metal detector "check point" was gone from in front of the courtroom. And when I walked into the courtroom , most of the defendants and their lawyers were in the seats that have normally been filled with friends and family.
   One highlight of my day was after the Jury was dismissed, they were allowed to enter the courtroom and meet and talk to people if they so chose. So I got to meet several of the Jurors personally. And  in talking to them it became fairly clear that the same results would have been likely even if the trial had continued, and the decision was left to them. Then I had the honor of meeting Judge Victoria Roberts. Myself, Mike, Matt, and Wendy were led to Her Honor's chambers, and we had the very unique honor of chit-chatting with her for a few minutes and the opportunity to thank her personally.
   Then to top the day off, after we left Detroit we met up just a few blocks away from my home and shared a meal and a drink with David Stone Jr. and his wife Brittany.
   God Bless The United States Of America...

Smoke and Mirrors 19

   ALL CHARGES OF CONSPIRACY HAVE BEEN DROPPED, FOR ALL THE DEFENDANTS!!! MIKEY IS COMING HOME!!!
   Thanks to everyone for all your support. Life is good...

Smoke and Mirrors 18

   Well, Judge Roberts did not make her decision today. Court started early, and went into overtime. That seems to be par for the course with this trial. The jury was asked not to come in for another day while she reviews the arguments of the day, the proffers of the attorneys, and the evidence presented through out the trial. And she will give her decisions tomorrow. There won't be any open court tomorrow, so it will just be a matter of waiting for word of her decision. She will either dismiss some or all of the conspiracy charges, for some or all of the defendants, or the trial will go on as scheduled...
   The Lawyers made their arguments today, there wasn't really any new information to share. All of the attorney's who have worked in this trial have been... exceptional. I don't know, I don't really know a lot about this stuff. But I have been impressed by everyone in the courtroom at one time or another. This experience will change me. Not only has it been educational, it has been eye opening. And to be honest, it has given me an...uneasy feeling. 
   A thing happened today that I have been waiting to see for this entire trial. For all this time I have been talking about how I feel like our (mine and your) rights are on trial in this deal. And that's the uneasy feeling I'm talking about. What I have seen literally scares me. If these people, these American Citizens get found guilty of these charges we are in trouble. Today in court Mr. Michael Rataj stood up and not only did he defend his client, he defended all the defendants. He stood up in court today and defended me, and you. He stood up in court today and defended our Constitution, our way of life. And he did it with passion, and conviction. For that Sir, I salute you...

Smoke and Mirrors 17

   The prosecution continued with their case. Their next witness to the stand was Brett Laetherman. An agent for the FBI since 2003. He is a FBI crisis negotiator. He was tasked as a negotiator for the arrest of Josh Stone at Bob Dudley's property. He testified that they did not know for absolute certain where Josh was, and if he was in the house for sure. He testified that he had tried to call cell phones of people they believed to be inside. He said that they tried to call the house's land line phone. He said they had received no response. The FBI had set up a command post at a local church. And they had family members and Bob Dudley meet them there and made recordings of messages. They approached the house twice in an APC (armored personnel carrier) once around eleven to twelve noon, and once in the late afternoon. He addressed the house personally with a public address system, and played the recordings that they had made at the church command post. At some time around seven o'clock Josh and the others exited the house and surrendered peacefully.
   FBI Agent Jonathon Brand followed him on the witness stand. He manned a checkpoint near the Dudley Residence during the operation to arrest Josh. He said that he had interviewed Richard Booty. I'm not completely sure, but I believe he was in the house with Josh when the arrest took place. Agent Brand said that Booty had helped the agents perform a preliminary search of the property, and they recovered a bucket of ammunition by or in a barn and a 20 ga. shotgun by a tree in the woods. He stated that it got to dark to continue the search of the property. They continued their search of the property the following day and found additional weapons and ammo. He said they were found about a quarter of a mile back on the property in the woods.
   He also testified that he had no knowledge as to the ownership of these weapons, but he did know that Bob Dudley had told the FBI that they were his. He testified that there weren't any weapons fired during the "stand off", and that he never even saw Josh with a weapon in his hand. He also didn't know if the weapons they had confiscated had been finger printed. I'd be willing to wager the only reason he didn't know if the weapons had been fingerprinted, is because he knew Josh's prints weren't on them. I mean really, he's an FBI agent, he knows how things work. He knows those weapons were fingerprinted. I know those weapons were fingerprinted.
   Brian Luettke was next in line. Agent Luettke has been with the ATF for thirteen years. Before that he was a patrol officer. And he was with the Airborne in the Army. He is a firearms instructor, and a weapons expert.
He identified several weapons that were seized from Bob Dudley's property. Including two .50 cal. weapons (which belonged to Bob Dudley) that were missing their carriage bolts and were completely non-functional in their demonstrated condition.
   He also testified to the length of the barrels of a few guns that had already been admitted.
   And  they showed video of him firing automatic weapons that were proposed to belong to Dave Stone Sr., Josh Stone, and Ray Stone (who is not a defendant). It was brought up that no one from the defense team was present for the firing of these weapons. Nor was there an expert witness to stand for the defense present at the test firing.
   He was asked how many firearms he owns, he said somewhere around thirty. He was asked how old he was when he started collecting guns, he said when he was twelve right after his hunter safety course. He was asked if there was a limit to the number of guns a person can possess, he said there was not. He was asked about the .50 caliber weapons (which admittedly belong to Bob Dudley), he stated they were perfectly legal.
   He was also asked what he might infer if he saw gun powder near a loading press with uncased bullets next to it. He said he might assume someone was loading their own ammo.
   And finally we come to Agent Stryker, FBI explosives expert. I have seen some pretty fishy shit throughout this trial, but this rates right up at the top. Only to be outdone by the confiscation of David Stone Jr.'s Bibles... In my opinion. Agent Stryker took the stand first on Thursday morning. I came in a little late that day, and Stryker had already started his testimony. He was talking about some pipe bombs, I was immediately confused because I hadn't heard about any pipe bombs before this. I leaned over and asked the person next to me what was going on, where did the pipe bombs come from? She said the FBI. I was still confused, I gave her a look that said so, she told me they built them. I was still lost... So I just watched and figured I'd catch on. I did. And once again I could not believe what a farce the prosecution laid out for the jury. This guy was here to demonstrate the destructive power of the things the Hutaree had. Sort of...I have tried to write about this several times now without getting mad, but I can't do it.
   He talked all about explosives, and narrated his testimony with scientific terms, and chemistry, and physics, and made us all very impressed with his knowledge of explosives. But the real kicker of his testimony were his movies, filmed in high speed so you could watch everything in super-slow motion.
    Before I go any further I want to clarify some things. In Dan Murray's and Agent Houg's two year investigation of the Hutaree it was not shown one time that any member had ever been in possession of a pipe bomb or an EFP (explosively formed projectile) at any time. They did not confiscate any pipe bombs from any search of any members homes. It was never shown throughout this entire trial and investigation that any member of this group was ever involved in the construction of any pipe bomb or EFP. And yet here we sit getting a very impressive demonstration of what the FBI is capable of. And I'm not just talking about building bombs. This is the biggest smoke and mirrors show yet.
   They played a number of videos. In the first sequence I saw they were suspending a pipe bomb, that had a layer of ball bearings taped around it, in the center of a plastic fifty(?) gallon drum. When the bomb explodes, and we get to watch it in High Def at three different speeds, it distorts the drum, blows a couple holes in the drum were the end caps were expelled. There was a good size rip in one side of the drum. It was an impressive explosion. It ought to have been... They used an eight inch length of two inch diameter pipe.
   The next series of movies was of a pipe bomb on a fixed pole. It was surrounded by six or eight plastic human targets. Placed at strategic points to be most likely to incur damage in a sort of circle around the pipe bomb. For as large of a bomb as it was, I actually would have expected more damage, but it was still an impressive explosion. Again an eight inch length of two inch diameter pipe.
   From knowing Mike and his family, and watching this trial, I know of at least a dozen homes, and properties searched. They raided Mike's parents place with a joint task force of FBI, ATF, and Homeland Security, they surrounded their house with Humvees, multiple helicopters overhead, they came with a dog catcher, an ambulance EMT team, and a SWAT team. I think I was told there was over thirty agents (please correct me if I'm wrong.) that were on the property. And the arrests had already been made, Mike was already in custody. Mr. and Mrs. Meeks are not members of the Hutaree, their not accused of being terrorists. Mike didn't live there. The FBI knew Mike didn't live there. The Meeks' family are some of the finest people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. I'll bet the U.S. Government wasted a million dollars in that raid alone. At least a dozen properties that I know of. And all they presented for pipes as evidence was two (It looked like two to me) three-quarter inch pipes, six inches long. In a dozen properties, with all the alleged conspirators, with all the money wrapped up in this mockery of justice. You show me two little tiny pipes, that could have been sitting in someones plumbing bucket in their basement. And expect me to believe... WHAT? I don't care that the pipes you used in your demonstration hold more than four times the volume of explosives as the pipes you entered as evidence. All this and you only got two pipes... six inches long...and their going to levy war on who??? Come on, insult someone else's intelligence. Let me see you blow something up with a cardboard tube. They had some of those.
   The next series of of movies was of EFP's that the FBI guys built to blow up a Crown Vic. Ironic choice of cars guy's. Is that some FBI humor I smell. They put EFP's with FOUR POUNDS of smokeless and black powder in various positions around the car and set them off. They blew holes through the car. They were impressive explosions. But I don't think the FBI confiscated four lbs of smokeless powder from the entire Hutaree combined. Not one member ever had an EFP, no one built one, not one of them demonstrated one, not one of them ever even asked for one. What kind of crap are you tryin' to pull here???
   They blew up a suburban with C-4, detonated with blasting caps! Where the hell did that come from? C-4? Blasting caps? Did I miss something. Did the Hutaree have some C-4??? NO, of course they didn't.
   I can't believe this stuff was even shown. That is smoke and mirrors friends.
   I only have the recross-examinations of Leslie Larson, and Agent Houg left in my notes, but I can't get into it here. I am already to pissed off, and may say things that I will later regret. I may write about this in day's to come but I need to cool off for a while.
   As it stands right now, the prosecution has rested their case. The judge has ordered the prosecution to provide her with a proffer, that individualizes evidence against each defendant and shows a preponderance of evidence that supports the charges of a conspiracy. There are a lot of people sitting in the courtroom that are hoping that they will not be able to show this, that the judge in her wisdom will see through this farce the prosecution has outlined, and possibly dismiss some charges on Monday. There have been discussions of this nature for a little while now but I have not said much about them, I hate to lead someone to let down. From what I have seen, I certainly have not been convinced at even a notion of a conspiracy of sedition or any threat to use weapons of mass destruction. And I hope that things will call for a party on Monday...But to be brutally honest I don't have a lot of faith in our judicial system, and I have been astounded by the foul play of the government and it's agencies throughout this hoax.
   I will be in court Monday morning wearing the happiest face I can, hoping that my bud' Mike comes home. I'll have my camera in hope of some pictures of a happy Mother. But I have already decided that regardless of what happens with Mike, if any conspiracy charges stand for any of the defendants, I intend to see this thing to the end. My buddy Matt Anderson feels the same. What started as a plea for my friend, has turned into so much more. The longer I sat in the courtroom, the more I listened, the more I could not believe what I was seeing. And I am telling you the truth, if you value your freedom you should be hoping for dismissals too.

Smoke and Mirrors 16

   After Houg's testimony was finished, the prosecution called Walker Sharp. He works for the FBI doing computer Forensics. I think he said he has eleven years in his field of forensics and six years with the FBI. I didn't like the evidence he was testifying to, but as far as FBI operatives have shown, I thought he seemed like a pretty stand up guy. He answered questions readily, thoughtfully, and I thought honestly. He reviewed the digital evidence relating to the case. He accessed their computers and hard drives, as well as some cell phones and other digital devices. The evidence the prosecution admitted was ten chat sessions taken form Josh Clough's computer. 
   The conversations here were not any less ridiculous than any others we have heard in the recorded conversations. Some of it was even more ridiculous. Like a conversation that was proposed to be Josh Clough and Kris Sickles (broadydudester is proposed to be Kris's screen name), it seemed like they were relating to an unpleasant experience with law enforcement. Supposed Sickles mistypes something along the lines of - I ate cops. Supposed Clough says something along the lines of - Did u say u ate a cop? lol. Supposed Sickles says something like - yeah, after I kill them I eat them...lol.
   I don't understand how the prosecution can argue this stuff as evidence of sedition, or anything for that matter. At least in an audio recordings you have the possibility of recognizing a voice, you can hear tone and inflection, and at least feel like you can better understand of the mood or the sentiment of the conversation. I have some issue with the audio recordings too, especially the way they are snips of conversations strung together to paint an uninformed image to the people who hear them. But these chat sessions are beyond that. Mr. Walker himself said that there was no way to tell who was physically sitting at the keyboard. The chats were full of acronyms, pseudonyms, abbreviations, misspellings, improper grammar. There was really no context to the chats as they were missing beginnings and endings. There was no reference to the links that were included in the chats. Whether they were links to games, or photo's, or articles, or if the links were even good. There isn't really any way to tell if the persons involved in the conversations are serious or joking. There aren't really any facts you can guarantee the validity of in these chats.
   Matthias Savino also took the stand. At the time of the arrests he was a state commander in another MI based militia. It was shown that he knew at least some of the Stone Family. All of his testimony dealt with Josh Stone though, and the Jury was instructed only to relate Savino's testimony to Josh.
   Savino said that he had received a phone call from Josh after the arrests were executed. He set up a meeting for Josh to meet a couple his friends at a 7-11. They then proceeded to Savino's residence were Josh  Stone and the people he was with along with Matthias Savino and the people he was with, sat in Savino's living room and talked about the situation. Savino said that there was a child with them. Savino testified when asked by prosecutors that during this conversation, he thought Josh seemed scared, he said that Josh had said he didn't know why everyone was arrested, that Josh had asked him for back up, and arms. Savino stated that he told Josh that he couldn't be of any help without more information. And then referred, or brought (I wasn't clear) them to an abandoned trailer in a trailer park. He said the following day he went to state police because there was a child involved. 
   One of the things the prosecution was trying to show with Savino's testimony, I believe, is that Josh was following some sort of emergency "protocol" by contacting Savino. The defense stated that there was no connection between the two militias. Savino agreed. There was no prior agreement between him and the Stones. Savino agreed.
   After Savino was finished, Mark Vaghn took the stand. He is with Homeland Security, He is a Border Patrol agent. He is detailed to a "joint terrorism task force". He testified that he had notified the Hudson PD of potential danger. But no specific threat was described. In cross-examination Mr. Thomas pointed out that the Hudson PD had not received notification until the arrests were already executed. 
   Next was George Nikolopolis. He's an FBI agent of twenty-four years. And an FBI SWAT team leader. He led the team that executed Josh Stones arrest. The arrest took place at a North Adams property. I am not clear how Josh got from the trailer to there, but the arrest was executed at Bob Dudley's house in N. Adams. Agent Nikolopolis stated that they set up "observation" points, and set up a command post at a local church.
   He said they approached the house twice in a CPV with a public address system, and tried to make contact with the occupants of the house. He said at one point in the afternoon a light on the outside of the house came on and then went off. Then he said sometime around seven (?) o'clock Josh and the others exited the house and peacefully surrendered.
   There jury was dismissed for the day and the attorneys debated with the judge about  possible Brady violations. I talked about this once in a previous post, but basically implies that the prosecution knowingly withheld pertinant facts, and that in doing so they may have denied the defendants due process of law by affecting defense strategies, and blocking possible lines of questioning for the defense to explore with Leslie Larson. It was also brought up that Agent Houg may not have been completely truthful either.
   Judge Roberts had Agent Houg return to the court room temporarily and asked him a couple of questions personally. She asked him if he had any involvement with militias before this case. At first he said he had not. But it was shown that while he has not had any undercover experience with militias he had worked on cases with militia relations.
   Houg was also asked his definition of the word militia, he said a group of people, training in military fashion, some of which may be illegal...According to Webster a militia is:

1 a : a part of the organized armed forces of a country liable to call only in emergency b : a body of citizens organized for military service 2 : the whole body of able-bodied male citizens declared by law as being subject to call to military service

   The defense had earlier reserved the right to call both Leslie Larson, and Agent Houg back depending on these decisions. And the court decided that they would both be called back to the stand.
   I  have to take another break. I think I will have everything up to date in one more post. I will probably do that tomorrow morning, but I may not be able to resist the impulse to start still tonight. Either way you'll hear from me again soon...

Smoke and Mirrors 15

   Thing's are moving towards a close with this trial. The prosecution rested today, and the defense recross-examined Leslie Larson and Houg. There will not be any court tomorrow as the law teams cross their t's and dot their i's, and release their paperwork to Judge Roberts. As I understand it, the latest the trial will go is into the first week of April. And I am just now starting to remember who everyone is.
   I would like to state at least one more time, that I could get some things wrong. I am sure I have misspelled some names. I've probably confused a few details. I could easily misinterpret some of my own chicken scratch that I call notes. There also have been things that I just flat didn't understand. But this is my best effort to get the information as I understand it out to others. Don't take what I write here as fact's. These are my opinions based on what I have seen and heard.
   Michael Rataj, Defense attorney for Tina Stone followed Mr. Sitawa in the cross examination of Agent Houg. The first thing he pointed out was how few of the training meets she attended. And the fact that she most often stayed behind with children, or cooked while the others went to train.
   Mr. Rataj went down the list of meetings that Houg had attended and asked him, did anyone present a specific plan? No. Did any one present a specific target? No. Did anyone present a specific place or time? No. At no time throughout this trial was it shown that there was a specific plan of action, target, or time, that all the defendants have agreed to, to attack law enforcement. Or to levy war against the Government.
   Mr. Rataj pointed out that attendance at meets dropped as Houg's investigation continued, there were about twenty-two people at the first training session Houg attended. Then eighteen, then fifteen, and towards the end of his investigation only eleven people in attendance.
   He revisited things that have been brought up many times throughout the trial. Their lack of preparedness, the defensive nature of many of Dave Stones talks, how the April "real op" was about recon, tuck and hide, and staying hidden. The fact that Stone had said (in reference to when the war was going to start) he was in no hurry, he was content  to put another log on the fire and lay back. He referred to Stones talk of a "bicycle brigade". Then he pointed out that none of this had been included in Houg's 302 reports, a 302 report, if I understand correctly is a summary of the agents observations while undercover that day.
   Mr. Rataj spoke of an instance where Houg proposed a question to Dave Stone. Houg asked Stone - what if we hit the feds first - fast and real hard? Stones answer was really easy to understand - "No." That wasn't in Agent Houg's 302 report for that day.
   At Josh Stones wedding Agent Houg prodded Dave Stone for a target again...Dave Stone said "There isn't one..." That wasn't in Houg's 302 report for that day either.
   He asked Agent Houg if he thought that all this information was relevant to the case. Houg answered that he did.
   He referred to a conversation were Tina had jokingly said she would have to take one for the team and drink more wine. Houg had suggested that he could use wine bottles to build devices. Mr. Rataj asked him if Tina had ever given him a wine bottle. Houg stated that she hadn't. And I don't personally recall any wine bottles in the physical "evidence". I actually don't recall any physical evidence that was directly related to her. She's barely been in any of the recordings.
   I have really enjoyed watching Mr. Rataj present Tina's case. He is a bull dog. He's a no bullshit kinda guy. All of the attorneys representing these people have been awesome to watch. The prosecuting attorney's are very competent as well, I have found the entire process fascinating, as well as nauseating at times. But Mr. Rataj makes things very easy to understand for someone of my legal stature (absolutely none) and knowledge (very little).
   His final questions to Houg summed up this whole case from my point of view. There has been no action from these people, it has not been shown that any plan to levy war against the government ever really existed. It has been shown numerous times that when presented with opportunities to engage police in combat nothing has ever happened. And in fact some of the members of this group including Mike Meeks worked in a joint cooperative with local law enforcement in an effort to search for missing persons. These efforts took place in February and March of 2010, in Bridgewater, MI. One month before this group was alleged to be going to war...
   In his final questions of Houg he asked him if in his extensive FBI and police training, had he ever had training about the First Amendment, Houg stated that he had. The second? Yes. The fourth? Yes. The fifth? Yes sir. Then you have had training and understand peoples rights? Yes. Then you would agree sir that vulgar speech is protected by the First Amendment? Yes. Vile? Yes. Hateful? Yes. Illicit? Yes. Anti-Government? Yes sir. As always I maintain this is not verbatim, but you get my point, or more importantly Mr. Rataj's.
   Tom Piatek's attorney Art Weiss followed . The first thing he pointed out is that when Houg was first instructed in matters of this case, before he ever infiltrated the group, he was told not to base his investigation on First Amendment speech. He was told he would hear things that were distasteful, he would hear things that he would find personally offensive but he was not to let these things affect his investigation. And yet, it seems to me, to be the basis of this whole trial.
   Mr. Weiss pointed out that after being so shocked at what he saw (card board tubes, and hobby fuse. And some pyrotechnics in a training drill.) He proceeded to bring a thirty pound bucket of nails (shrapnel) the very next time he came. Interesting point I think.
   Mr. Weiss referred to a conversation between Houg and Dave Stone, they were talking about who the "solid guys" in the group were. Tom Piatek's name was not mentioned in this conversation. He then pointed out a number of trainings and meetings that Tom was not even present for. He pointed out that Tom Piatek was not at Dave Stones wedding. He was not at either wedding for that matter. Nor was he present for either of the explosive demonstrations that Houg had so graciously volunteered. And he was not at any meeting were the "April Op" was discussed.
   That finished the cross examination of Houg. Much more has happened since then that I will get to. I plan to make another post this evening, and it may take another beyond that to get caught up to date. But my stomach is complaining, and I have things to take care of today that I really need to tend too. I have found it nearly impossible to make it to court everyday, stay on top of everything else, and still have time to write. I have developed a good deal of respect for all the jurors who have had to put their entire lives on hold, and made it to every session of court, and listened to the case. They are not allowed to talk about the trial outside of court, they are not supposed to watch media, or read material relating to the case. They are expected to watch and listen for six to eight weeks, to all the evidence presented. And then in their deliberations keep all that information separate and individualized for each defendant. That's a mighty tall order...My hat's off too them. And my heart goes out to them as well, I have commented on the pressure I have felt just trying to write my own biased opinion of what I see, I can only imagine how much more pressure they are probably feeling in their unique positions. 
   Anyway, here's another chapter to chew on, until next time... 

Smoke and Mirrors 14

   Josh Stone's defense followed Mr. Swor's cross. Mr. Thomas showed that there were offences that could have illicited the execution of arrests far earlier in the investigation of the Hutaree, and that they did not execute these arrests, but instead took them by the hand and led them into a much bigger scenario.
   He explored the relationship between Agent Houg and his partnered informant Dan Murray. Houg stated that he had previously assessed Murray and thought he would be able to work with him.
   He brought up the infiltration of Houg into the group. Houg said he had not infiltrated the group, he had been invited to join. But Mr. Thomas pointed out that the invitation was given based on falsehoods. I don't understand why Houg was so reluctant to say he infiltrated the group, it's what he did isn't it? But he clearly did not like the word.
   Mr. Thomas then went on to explore the relationship between Josh Stone and Agent Houg. How Josh looked up to him as a mentor, or roll model, possibly a father type figure. He pointed out that Agent Houg had stood in Josh Stones wedding, as his best man as well as his fathers wedding.
   He then went on to talk about different times the group had referenced and talked about cache's of weapons and supplies. And yet, as much of a trusted member of the core group as Agent Houg had become, He did not ever see them bury anything, in nearly a year of investigating the group he did not know of any secret cache's.
   He pointed out that the group had no effective means of communications. Conversations about communications and radio's really seem to raise a red flag for the FBI. It seems to be one of the prosecutions favorite topics. They sure have entered a lot of talk about wanting to own "radios" as evidence of sedition. Fair warning to all you Ham Radio operators operators out there, you could be next on the list.
   It was also shown that not only didn't they have any functioning "communications" operation, they had no means of Mobility. After all, The FBI had to provide them with a van so that six members could try to go to Kentucky. (Two of the six that went were FBI operatives by the way.)
   Houg had told them what he needed to make shape charges (cans and street signs), and it took months, and repeated reminders from Houg himself, before anything was brought to him. And none of the components of any of the explosives or devices that Houg demonstrated (without provocation) came from any member of the Hutaree. Both times Houg showed up and said he had explosives he wanted to demonstrate, he did it with out any previous knowledge of any Hutaree member. What kinda crap is that?
   Mr. Thomas brought up how ridiculous much of the speaking in the recordings can be, and how often the people in these conversations are laughing and obviously joking. He pointed out a particular incidence where Josh was outlining a possible plan, Josh suggested they should distract the cops by placing strippers in the back of or around a police cruiser, (laughing), and then replies to his own plan by saying it would never work, it would backfire, and they would be the ones distracted by the strippers...(more laughing).
   Mr. Thomas was also gracious enough to point out the word "war" has many meanings, and contexts. Such as war on drugs, war on poverty, spiritual war, psychological war, political war...etc. Mr. Houg agreed.
   Next was the team of Shanker and Helfric for David Jr. Mr. Helfric brought up some words that have been mentioned in conversation throughout some of the recordings. Things like pressure-pads, chemical fuses, and pipe bombs. He asked Houg if he had actually seen any of these thing. He had not.
   Mr. Helfric also pointed out that when David Jr. detonated the six (fireworks) IED's at the training session dealing with tripwire evasion. He had not given any instruction on, nor did he distribute any (fireworks) IED's.
   So here's another heads up from yours truly, if you have cardboard tubes in your home, or gunpowder. You could be on the FBI's list. Oh wait, David Jr. didn't have either in his home. So I guess I should say you just have to like setting off fireworks to make the list. Because that's all he did. Oh wait, I'm wrong again...He likes to read the Bible too. But the FBI made sure that there a three less of those that he can get his hands on.
    I'm sorry, I can't help but be sarcastic. I realize how important the reality of this case is, but this is the reality of this case, and it absolutely infuriates me to see some of the things that have taken place in this facade. The United States Government and the FBI are making a mockery of our Constitution right before my eyes. Right under your nose.
   Mr. Sitawa took the pulpit next on behalf of Mike (Meeks). He addressed the Trilateral Commission List that Mike had and Josh Clough called a hit list. Mr. Sitawa showed Houg did not make a single attempt to warn anyone on this list of any impending threat.....Ahhh, your Honor I'd like a sidebar please...
   ...Not one time throughout this trial, not one time, do I recall Agent Houg making any effort what so ever to notify any party threatened of that threat. Not once. Houg argued in some of the incidences that he had included it in his 302 report at the end of the day (or whenever he got to it), or that he might have reported the threats to Leslie Larson (the only correspondences I have heard from FBI agents have been mocking the group, and making fun of it's members, not discussing any eminent threat). But let me ask you this. If you were an FBI agent working undercover, and you had reason to believe that there was an eminent threat to another law enforcement agency, or officer, or government official, wouldn't it be your first priority to personally notify the threatened party at the very first chance you had? Or at the very least make sure that someone had made immediate contact with that party.  Or would you wait until the end of your work day and include it in your summary report, and hope nothing bad happens in the meantime?
   Mr. Sitawa also brought up the fact that Mike was not at many of the dissertations that Stone Sr. presented, he pointed out that the meets and trainings Mike did show up to he was often late. Read my very first post about the trial, I've been knowing Mike a long time, one thing about Mike...He's often late. (Especially if it has anything to do with roofing.)
   As far as explosives go, Houg brought the EFP (explosively formed projectile), Houg built the EFP, Houg demonstrated the EFP. Mike was not present for either of the unwarranted explosive demonstrations that Houg gave, and he didn't collect any materials for Houg to build further EFP's or explosives. It was clearly shown that Mike had nothing to do with any of the explosives testimony. No wait, It was pointed out earlier in the trial the by the persecution (I meant prosecution) that Mike had in fact talked about a bomb that he had made. The prostitution (I meant prosecution again, sorry) failed to mention that this was while Mike was serving in the Marines and was going to demolitions school. Does it seem wrong to anyone else to use a combat decorated Marine's honorable service to our Country against him in an effort to convict him of sedition and attempting to use weapons of mass destruction? I don't know, just curious...
   Mr. Sitawa  referred to a comment that was made by someone that alluded to the fact that when the Health Care Bill passed the shooting would probably start. But didn't that Bill already pass? A long time ago...in a government far, far away. Did I miss a war some where in that time period? I don't think I did.
   But this is priceless. PLEASE take the time to click this link,and read this article http://www.annarbor.com/news/bridgewater-township-turns-to-militia-for-help/  , notice the date this article was posted? March 2010. One month before they are planning to levy war against the Government of the United States, supposedly by killing a member of local law enforcement and bombing the funeral to incite a reaction from the Government. One month before, the members of this group worked cooperatively, peacefully, and effectively in joint efforts with local law enforcement in active missing persons cases. Do you suppose they told the police involved with that effort something along the lines of we'll help you out this month, but next month we're gonna kill ya'??? Come on let's get for real here. Can we get the FBI to go catch some real criminals? There are real domestic terrorists in this country you know. Foreign ones too...Hell, go arrest Dan Murray for that matter, he's guilty of more violent acts than the entire Hutaree combined!
   Does anyone know of a deserted island I can buy for cheap? At least I'll be able to talk to myself without having to worry about being accused of a conspiracy.

Smoke and Mirrors 13

   The cross-examination of Agent Houg started with David Stone Sr.'s attorney, William Swor. He started with some general questions, he pointed out that stone had not just suddenly started preparing for a war and that Stone had been collecting his weapons and gear over a lifetime. He pointed out that Stone worked for Colonial Fireworks for quite some time. He pointed out that Stone talked, a lot. He is full of if's and when's and could's and should's. He talked a lot...but was a man of little action.
   He pointed out that Stone never asked Houg to bring explosives, he didn't ask Houg to build the device that he built, he had never even expressed a desire that he himself had wanted to build shape charges.
   He pointed out the fact that Houg's persona within the group was a lie, a fabrication without truth. He pointed out the fact that he presented himself to the group as someone who wanted to participate in violence, as some one who wanted to break the law. He did after all show up with explosives without previous knowledge or request from any one within the group.
   He brought up the fact that the lumber Houg showed up with was never used. Stone had expressed a desire to fix the place up, Houg brought the lumber in June of '09 and claimed it had "fallen off a truck" (wink, wink). Swor asked him if they had used the lumber, he said not that day but he thought Stone had used it inside. Yet Swor had a picture of the lumber still sitting there, and I believe the picture was after the arrests in  2010. Houg said there was no way for him to tell if that was the lumber he brought.
   He pointed out the fact that there was alot of talk having to do with communications, and radio trailers. But that there was no functioning radio tower or trailer. And that the most they ever had was a few hand held, low range, hobby radios.
   Swor went on to cover the fact that Stone had never asked Houg to come up with a bomb-making warehouse. Once Houg revealed  he had the place Stone never asked for a key, he never came to check the place out, and he never asked for any bomb-training. He never saw the warehouse until Houg specifically asked him to come.
   The speech that Houg asked Stone to read on the return trip from not going to Kentucky, the speech that the prosecution has made such a big deal of. The speech that they seem to think presents a threat (which it does not...) He felt so threatened by it that he told Leslie Larson in a correspondence that if you played the Star Spangled Banner, or the Battle Hymn of the Republic, while she read it that it would give her goosebumps.
   Swor asked Houg if it was his job to perpetuate David Stone's activity with explosives, Houg stated that it was not his job to do that. It sure seems to me that it is exactly what he did though. 
   He took up the subject of pressure pads and asked Houg if he had actually seen any pressure pads. Houg said he had not. He asked Houg if he had included anything in his 302 report about pressure pads after the date in question, Houg Stated that he could not recall. Funny how much the FBI agent's memory capacity changes from prosecution to defense. It seems to be a common problem amongst them.
   Swor made reference to how shocked Houg was at the things he saw at the Tomer Rd. property. But played a recording of Houg talking on the phone to another agent, he was mocking Stone for his cardboard tubes and for being afraid of larger explosives. He never once used the word shocked in this conversation, but he did state how funny he thought they were about a half a dozen times.
   Swor also revisited an email correspondence from Leslie Larson where she related that the UCE (Houg) had complete control in the group, and that they (Hutaree) had followed every single instruction the UCE had given, and that they (FBI) had no reason to believe that this time would be any different.
   He also pointed out that Houg felt that Stone was ridiculous and outrageous just as his correspondences indicate. So much so, Swor pointed out, that when Stone made a threatening statement in regards to the Hudson Police, Houg made no effort to inform the force of any danger. 
   He addressed the wedding, which makes me to mad to talk about. 
   He addressed the way the prosecution puts the recordings together. Stringing snippets of selected audio together. He referred to a conversation the prosecution had presented. He then played the same conversation with the omitted "irrelevant" materiel that the prosecution left out. And what could have been interpreted as a conversation amongst people bent on breaking the law, suddenly becomes a conversation of being prepared  with things like fuel making towers (which they never had or built), and using bicycles and scooters for mobilization. Houg thought this was ridiculous. They talked about stealing cars (which is the part the prosecution plays), but it was Houg that brought it up as his alternative to bikes.
   Reference to burying things in hidden cache's has been brought up several times throughout the trial. And yet when asked, and it was clearly shown that he was a trusted member of the group, Houg stated that he had never seen them bury anything. They had just talked about it.
   Swor talked about the fact that the first time there was conversation of road signs was in August '09. It was shown that any time there was talk of signs or coffee cans it was Houg that initiated the conversation. And the only sign that was given to him, Stone was clearly unhappy about and made it clear that he did not want anyone to do that again...It was too loud, and made a lot of sparks. This sign was given to Houg very shortly before their arrests. He had to talk about it and bring it up for months before anyone ever brought him one. And then made clear that he wasn't going bring another.
   I am a little behind on writing, they only have the recross of Houg left, I am quite confident that they will not even spend a half a day on that. The prosecution says they have nine more witnesses to examine, but they expect to be wrapped up by Wednesday. And everyone seems to feel that they are still on schedule to finish arguments by the end of the month. That time does not include jury deliberations. I should be able to get up to date over the next day or so...
   Mike had a great showing in the galley today, parents, brothers, aunts, cousins, friends... I have been continuously impressed over the years at the comradarie, and loyalty of the Meeks and extended families. They are a wonderful group of people. I will be so happy for them when Mike comes home to them. I do believe he will.

Smoke and Mirrors 12

    I fell asleep writing last night, I guess I needed the sleep. I have still been making it to court but I have been busier than usual, the list of things I need to get taken care of keeps growing and I haven't seemed to be able to make it much shorter. Sitting in the courtroom every day has turned out to far more exhausting than I ever expected. It's a lot of information for my little pea brain to process. There have been quite a few people checking in regularly. Much of Mikes family, and many of his friends, obviously. But also some of the other defendants families as well. And my family. I have also gotten attention from at least one of the defense team, and I imagine the government has taken a peak as well. I'd also wager there are some people with militia interests looking from time to time. I have had attention from around the world. And I'm not going to kid you, I've felt a little pressure from the attention. I'm not real comfortable being the center attention. But I feel strongly enough about this case that I feel like I need to put my own...insecurities aside and try to relay what I am seeing. I went to court originally to support Mike. Because I KNOW he was not planning on going on a cop killing spree. I KNOW that Mike Meeks is not guilty of sedition. But it has become so much more than that. I can't believe some of the things I see happening in court. Our rights are on trial here, and that scares me more than a little attention.
   I have had everyone waiting for a while now. I wanted to hear all the prosecution had to cover with Houg before I wrote too much about it. And I'm glad I did. There have been several times now that I have made a comment only to have been somewhat contradicted the very next day. I won't retract anything I have said, because it is only what I thought as the trial progressed. As I have said before I am liable to get some information wrong. The only way to get the real scoop is to sit in the courtroom yourself. So take what you want and leave the rest.
   I have tried three times now to write this post, two nights ago (I am writing this on Friday night) I started a post, I did not finish it that night and by the next day I wanted to say something else. Last night I already mentioned I fell asleep writing a post. And by today, I have a whole new view and I feel like a little better perspective to share.
   In Hougs testimony they covered many things, but I think the most critical points were his first couple of meetings with the Hutaree, the introduction of explosives into the group, the Kentucky Summit trip, and the insidious so called plan to kill police.


   (Jump-break...Damn it, I did it again...It is now Saturday morning.)


   I can't go minute by minute on this, there is simply to much for me to cover. But starting with Houg's infiltration of the group I will try to summarize things. They played tapes from his first meeting with Stone at Denny's. The recordings were nearly impossible to hear, and I couldn't see the transcripts. So I'm really not clear on what happened there, but he established his entrance into the group and was invited out to Stones place.
   Houg is a FBI agent, with I believe 16 years in the agency. He was on the police force before that. He was embedded into the Hutaree as Steve Clark, and was to play the role of a short haul truck driver from New Jersey.
   At his first visit to Stone's place he recounted first walking through the trailer on the Tomer Rd. property. He was talking about some of the things he saw as he walked in and around the trailer. He said there was too much stuff to take in, that the place reminded him of an Army, Navy surplus store. He talked about seeing a bucket with some cardboard tubes and some hobby fuse in it. And how shocked he was to see things of this nature.
   He then did some training ops with the group. They did some maneuvers and covered some ambush tactics. They did some training with trip-wire detection and avoidance. In which I think several people died including Houg, they were ambushed by another team as they were breaching a trip wire. At some point Stone was talking to the guys about different ways ambush points are set up, what to watch for, there was talk of pressure pads and chemical fuses. Not that they had these things they just talked about it. And again Houg expressed his shock and concern to hear such talk of pressure pads and chemical fuses. These are things he was taught to use in his extensive explosives training. Again, they were only talking about them...
   Stone often times says words like die, dead, kill, and talks about blowing up in reference to his team, and the other teams during these training sessions. But really if you think about it, when you are training like this within a militia group isn't it important to understand the magnitude of your actions. Isn't it important to understand and realize that if this were real, you might be dead right now. Many people do not understand militias. Many people are afraid of militias. Militias are not a joke. Most of the people who belong to them take it very seriously. And there really may come a time when militias need to stand for our country, and I for one will be glad they are there. I think it is important... No, critical, to have these groups in place to remain a safe and free citizenship. "Necessary" is what the Bill of Rights says. And training sessions such as these do not prove any intent to levy war on anyone.
   Any way as the day progressed the team Agent Houg was on made it make to the trailer, they are hanging out talking, and they here an explosion back towards the training area. Someone laughs and jokes, and points out that someone must have hit a trip wire.
   Then later in the day all  the teams gathered at a central location in the woods. And David Stone Jr. safely detonated the remaining devices. By technical definition I suppose these cardboard tubes with wadding and black or smokeless powder could arguably be considered an explosive device. But I would certainly not call them bombs, more like fireworks or pyrotechnics, an M-80 or something. And I don't think I know anyone who would call them weapons of mass destruction.
   And at some point throughout the day Stone had described one of his pyrotechnic creations to Houg, called the Bouncing Betty, it was described as some kind of contraption with a wire, an electric match, and some Popsicle sticks. I didn't quite understand it. But the Bouncing Betty didn't seem like a very ominous weapon to me.
   How ever at their next meeting, at Arby's, Houg tells Stone Sr. that he had explained his Bouncing Betty to some friends of his at a quarry in New Jersey. And he patted Stones ego by telling him how cool the guys thought it was and how impressed they were. He also brought a truck full of treated plywood, and a bucket of nails with him because Stone had expressed a wish previously to fix up the property. How nice of him to just show up with materials without being asked. They go back to the Tomer Rd. property to drop of the building materials. Stone has a talk with everyone about how people need to start pulling their weight. Even if it is just packing packs, or manning the radio (which they didn't have), it didn't matter what people did, all the jobs are important and people needed to start pulling their weight to get things done.
   They then recounted a BBQ event at the stone residence, there was talk of guns (go figure), and favorite weapons for different situations. There was talk of pressure pads and trip wires. Someone mentioned how deer or woodchucks could set off a trip wire, Stone just said yeah, but we don't leave them unattended. Then there was talk about "what if the enemy hit us with our pants down" and Stone clearly states their pants are down by saying "We are not ready." He also makes mention of recruiting, and that he had a line on two new recruits. A couple of guys were going to join from the SMVM, because they were not happy with the situation there.
   The next meeting Houg had with Stone, again at Arby's, Houg showed up with explosives in his vehicle. He told Stone he had gotten them from his friends in the Jersey quarry. He basically made fun of the stuff Stone was using in his training exercises, and said he wanted to detonate this stuff for him, so Stone could see the potential of the stuff he had access too. Houg told the court his intent for showing up with the explosives, was to see if Stone wanted to get into more serious explosives. Stone never asked him or anyone else before this point to obtain explosive or explosive materials. Just like the building materials, Houg just showed up with them.
   It was at this point in the trial that they broke from Houg's testimony to accommodate Nancy Blade. It was at this point that I wrote entry eleven. The testimony of Nancy blade did not even take a full day, and to me seemed to be utterly useless, and then they continued with Houg.
   Stone and Houg left the Arby's and headed for the Tomer Rd. property once again. Upon arrival I think they entered the trailer talked to some others that were there for a very brief time. They did not mention the explosives to anyone else. Stone and Houg then left the trailer together and proceed by themselves to a field on Sword Rd. No one else from the group was present, and no one else from the group had any knowledge of what was going on. They set up the explosives in the field, lit the detonator fuse and retreated to a safe distance. When the explosion happened of course Stone got excited, so did Houg you could hear it in his voice. They both fed off the adrenaline. They both tee-heed and giggled like little girls.
   The explosion attracted the attention of others on the property, and Stone and Houg were met by others on their walk back to the trailer. They wanted to know what that was. They played a lot of recordings at this point that were almost impossible to decipher any clear words from. There was too much back round noise, and rustling from Houg's gear on his microphone. And their foot steps as they walked sounded like a giant heartbeat through the speakers in the courtroom.
   Someone asked Houg what the explosives were, he expressed it was a secret recipe made with a "little bit o' love." He expressed that he could make devices with the explosives, he needed the group to collect coffee cans, and street signs, and he could make it happen. He told them that that they could use any size can really. A three inch shell would take out the interior of a car, a five inch shell could take out the entire car, and a twelve in shell had the capability to take out an APC (armored personnel carrier).
   There was more that I couldn't understand. Then at one point Stone outlined how easy he thought it would be to deal with a police force if ever confronted by the situation. He said that all you had to do is kill one cop and the retreat...fall back and wait for them to gather at the funeral. And then you bap, bap , bap... bang, bang, bang... Boom... Let me explain that this is not the conversation quoted verbatim, I only have my notes and my memory to work from. I can't write fast enough to keep up with everything, and I'll be the first to admit my memory is not always the best. But it is an accurate example of how ridiculous conversations with Dave Stone can be. He did not say he was going out cop killing. He was relating how simple he perceived the task of facing a force such as the police. I want to be very clear. At no point through this entire trial have I ever heard Stone or anyone else in this group say they were going to outwardly attack anyone. Every single time I have heard any talk of killing anyone or blowing anything up, it has been in a hypothetical or theoretical sense. And most of the time in a ridiculously, joking fashion. Stone often talks about such things in reference to a time when the shit has hit the fan, when we are invaded by foreign armies, when the Anti-Christ's minions mobilize, when the enemy comes for us. It has been demonstrated that Stone has said repeatedly he does not want conflict, they will not fire the first shot, that they will defend their beliefs and rights. That he hopes the war will hold off for a while. I am convinced that he does believe that there will be a war, but I am also convinced that he will not start one. Stone has said in recordings that they are on the governments list, that they are coming for them. He has said that anyone who is in a militia is on the governments list... And look were they sit... I guess he was at least right about being on their list. They did come for them, they did seize their weapons (and their bibles), they did arrest and imprison them. And did a war break out? No, everyone went peacefully, and without incident. Leslie Larson herself said in an email that she authored, that was admitted as evidence in a court of law, we need to send a clear message to all militias.
   All right, sorry, I'm getting off the subject. Back to Houg and Stone, they also discussed after the detonation of the explosives, the stability of these explosives, and Stone liked the fact that they were stable and had the potential to be stored safely for long periods of time. But that he was hesitant to use larger explosives and he said something along the lines of, I'll take the small safe explosive over the the big unsafe boom...
   That must be why at the very next training meet, Houg told Stone he had acquired an explosive device, not just the explosive, but an actual device that he wanted to demonstrate for Stone. Again, Stone did not request this of Houg, he just came up with the shit all on his own. And five days later Houg met Stone at the Arby's again, and they proceeded to Sword Rd. to detonate the device Houg had provided. It was a powerful device, as it blew a hole through, I believe, a three quarter inch steel plate. Houg reiterated what he needed to build these devices and implored Stone to get the group collecting materials. Stone stated his reluctance to collect the street signs, and wanted to talk about other options. Houg argued that street signs were perfect, and there were plenty of them on these back roads. He more than encouraged them, he damn near had to beg them... For months, before anyone brought him anything. And I was wrong in an earlier post, I said they had collected three coffee cans and one street sign, because that was what was said by the prosecutions witness. But the evidence photograph showed two soup cans, and a bean can the size of a coffee can. Whatever...
  Then they covered David Stones wedding to Tina. I feel so bad for her to be in this mess. Not only has she barely even been mentioned, but the worst testimony I hear regarding Tina Stone, is from the FBI when the they are dogging her out and calling her lewd and vicious names in their correspondences. I won't give them the regard to repeat them. Look in the Mainstream Media if you want to hear that crap. Agent Houg stood in the wedding, not only did he stand in the wedding he was Dave Stone's best man. He signed their wedding certificate with his undercover name! I have expressed some disdain for David Stone, and I wont retract that. But this is despicable, he participated in their Holy Ceremony, he prayed with them, he stood for them, and he celebrated with them. And I find it absolutely heartbreaking that he would disgrace it with his lie, the whole time he is slowly slipping a noose over their heads and drawing it tighter.
   Enough of that, I can't write about that anymore, or I will lose any dignity I might retain otherwise. It's disgusting.
   You know, what is the point of the prosecution showing a photograph of someone who is not a defendant, who is holding a weapon. Asking the witness to identify the person in the picture, who is not a defendant. Then asking the witness if they can identify the weapon that the person who is not defendant is holding. And finally asking who that weapon belongs to. I don't care which defendant the witness pointed out, you just showed me a picture of someone else holding the gun. How is that proof that one of the defendants owned it? I didn't quite get it I guess, from what they showed me it made me wonder how many of those other guns might be found in other pictures in the hands of people who are not defendants. (Just wondering.)
   The prosecution also covered the first visit of David and Tina Stone to Houg's bomb making warehouse. Also something Stone never asked for. Even after Houg told Stone about the warehouse. He never asked to see the place. Houg had to invite them, before they ever showed any interest.
 There they discuss the upcoming April op again. These are things I heard Stone say, tuck and hide, recon, not offensive, middle of nowhere, does not expect confrontation, avoid confrontation at all costs, etc...
   They discussed the trip Kentucky again.
   Stone talked about the President signing an executive order to partition the country, and appoint ten Governors to run the new territories. I don't know the truth of these statements, look it up, investigate things yourself if your interested, I'm really not. This is just what I hear in the court.
   Houg questioned Stone about the loyalty, and integrity of Josh Clough.
   The prosecution then went on to too many things to mention. So I'll just get to the trip to Kentucky. The played several videos from the trip the first couple were really hard to understand. And it was early in the morning so the video was black because the sun was not up yet. There was some talk of different police forces, and a general sentiment that police are corrupt, however Tom Piatek did mention that he thought that Indiana cops were all right.
   The next was of Stone talking about needing national support, in order to make any difference. He commented that single groups are easy pickin's. He commented that things in this country "ain't well," and said we just need to hit the reset button. And I don't think he was referring to just the Hutaree, but the citizenship in general.
   And again, as so many other times through out the trial, Stone expressed that he doesn't want trouble. That he doesn't want conflict. How he really hoped the war would hold off for a while.
   It was snowing heavily, and the roads were icy. They never made it to the Kentucky Summit Meet, they got about half way there and turned back for home. They were slowed down enough that even had they pressed on they would have missed most or all of the meet anyway.
   The way the prosecution has played their recordings makes it very hard to get a clear picture of context of most of the conversations. In the beginning of the trial most of the recordings were very short, sometimes only single sentences with very little foundation, five to fifteen second snippets. Now the recordings are five to fifteen minutes, but it is all shorter snippets strung together. It is really misleading at times, as you are only hearing the portions of the conversations that the prosecution wants you to hear. All the recorded audio really seems rather unfairly presented to me. The defense has played some portions of conversations that were left out of the prosecutions presentation that really change the entire meaning of what was presented. I hope that the jury has seen the same thing. The prosecution is biased, and so am I. I have intentionally left out many of the dumb things that have been said, there has been a lot of that. You can read almost any news paper out there to get that information. But as far as I am concerned it is just what it sounds like, people talking. I am more interested in actions. And if you look at the actions of these men you get a whole different perspective. 
   Anyway, the trip goes on. There is more small talk and then Houg turns to Stone and suggests that since they didn't make it to the meet, he should read the speech he prepared to them. The speech dealt with the New World Order, some talk of foreign enemies, how he feels that Americans are sleeping at the wheel. He expresses a need to prepare for coming war, and ends his speech saying, welcome to the new revolution. As I said in a previous post, it sounded very similar to some of the speeches I heard Sarah Palin give when she was running for the office of President. Not to mention countless other Tea Party members.
   At some point on their way back home they passed a cop who had made a traffic stop. One of the guy's recognized him, and made his dislike of him clear. There was a suggestion that he could be one of their targets, and yet they just kept driving, and joking around. No one even attempted to kill the cop. No one even said slow down, let's take a closer look. They never even broke stride.
   There was a conversation were Piatek related a story about a police officer coming up behind him while he was driving his truck. He said he pulled right toward the shoulder of the road, and the cop pulled him over for crossing the white line. He went on with his story, but he finished his statement by saying he gives the cops the same attitude they give him. Hell, I'm not any different, I don't care who you are, you give me shit, I'm liable to give it right back. And I would like to point out that Piatek didn't shoot that cop either.
   The prosecution then moved on from the trip to Kentucky. The moved to the next meeting. It was here that the fact that no one had collected any materials for Houg came up. And what a surprise that it was Houg himself who brought it up. Stone expressed serious doubts about using street signs. It was obvious that he did not like the idea. And again Houg told them signs were perfect, and urged him to get the guys collecting materials.
   There was also a recording of Stone on this date, he was concerned with their numbers. The drills and exercises he liked to run required two teams of nine, he complained that he was lucky to get half that at most meets. He stressed his desire for people to show up and participate.
   At another point in this meeting Kris Sickles relates to someone that he was afraid his wife thought he was going to run off with the Hutaree when or if the shit hit the fan. But he said the reality of the situation was exactly the opposite. He stated that he was training like this to learn to protect his family, that his family is everything to him. And without his family he is nothing...Does this sound like a guy involved in a conspiracy of sedition? They played this tape in court. To me it flat out says that the Hutaree is going to be the furthest thing from his mind in a "shit hit the fan" scenario.
   There is so much more that I should write about, but I can't... at least not tonight. I have been trying to write this all weekend. I had to stop last night because I started feeling ill. All day today I have been struggling to keep food down, and every time I stand up I feel like I'm going to throw up. I don't think I'm coming down with a bug or anything, but I have been so stressed out about this trial that I can't sleep right. I can't get it out of my mind. It's there all day, every day... This trial is literally making me sick. It is completely exhausting. I will be back in the courtroom bright and early though, because I have to hear for myself. I have to stick it out to the end. And I will continue to relate what I hear, here. Again, these are my views, these are my opinions. I don't want to give you the same stuff the Media gives you. I am trying to give you a different perspective than you might otherwise get. I don't agree with a lot of what some of these guys believe. But I believe they have the same right I do, to form their own opinions, and to believe the way they choose.
   I am also convinced that none of this would have ever happened if the FBI had not infiltrated the group. Dan Murray was embedded in this group for almost two years, and they never came up with anything to prosecute these guys. It wasn't until he started to crack, that they implanted Houg. I believe the FBI had too much invested in the investigation, and were unwilling to walk away without convictions. I believe it was Steve Houg's job and objective to take these guys by the hand and lead them into a trap. And I believe that is exactly what happened. There would have been no bombs with out the FBI, there would have been no trip to Kentucky without the FBI, there would have been no bomb-making warehouse without the FBI. There would have been nothing to build this case on without the FBI. And I pray that it is as obvious to everyone else who investigates this trial of smoke and mirrors. Until next time...