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...