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Arpaio’s clock is ticking

By on May 28, 2013 in Crimes, Joe Arpaio

This is an utterly silly article. The headline on the Taitz web site says:

8 days left for Sheriff Arpaio and Investigator Zullo to file a criminal complaint against Obama in regards to his 100% forged birth certificate. If a criminal complaint is not filed, donors will will start asking for a refund of all donations.

That was posted May 26, making the deadline June 3. I left a comment:

image

Seriously, refunds? Since when did a failed birther effort, or a broken birther promise, ever result in a refund? While I don’t expect to see such a thing, imagine the chagrin if there were a birther class action lawsuit against the Maricopa County Cold Case Posse, claiming fraud, and asking for a refund as damages, or an injunction to force Zullo and Arpaio to take their fake evidence to court. That would be great birther theater!

Update:

In case any birther still has hopes that Arpaio will file a criminal complaint, let me introduce a bit of reality from the Maricopa County Attorney, via Obama Release Your Records:

Dear Mr. Reilly, Thank you for taking the time to write and for the concerns you have expressed. There are a couple of points of analysis, though, in determining whether a criminal charge can be filed, regardless of the charge or who the suspect might be. The first is whether I have jurisdiction over the case. That requires that some conduct had to have occurred in Maricopa County for me to have jurisdiction. From the Sheriff’s Office investigation into suspect documents produced by the White House to date, that investigation has not revealed any evidence that conduct occurred in Maricopa County. I have discussed this with the Sheriff. As for any issues regarding qualifications or information provided regarding the Presidential Election itself, that is a statewide election. Under Arizona law, the Secretary of State and the Attorney General have jurisdiction over statewide elections. I do not.

I will share with you, as well, that the criminal statute you cited in your message requires additional evidence that the MCSO investigation to date has not uncovered. Specifically, we would need evidence to affirmatively prove that Mr. Obama is not a US citizen. To date, there has been evidence presented leading to speculation that documents have been forged and other documents do not exist. That alone, though, is not sufficient evidence to present to a grand jury and actually have a reasonable likelihood of conviction. I cannot speak for other prosecutors at the state level around the rest of the country or for prosecutors at the federal level but Arizona’s ethics rules do not permit prosecutors to file a charge they can only hope to be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt at a later stage.

I stand ready and willing, however, to review any case submitted for charges and, fi (sic) the evidence is there, I will prosecute regardless of who the suspect/defendant may be.

Sincerely,

Bill Montgomery
Maricopa County Attorney

Family annihilator feared Obama reelection

By on September 29, 2012 in Crimes

A history of mental illness, the loss of a dear uncle, and a growing fear of Obama winning a second term in the White House took its toll on the mind of Mr. Peterson, a wealthy defense contractor, the friend said.

So reports the Daily Mail in a chilling story of murder and suicide. Defense contractor Albert Peterson shot to death his wife and two children (aged 13 and 16) and then himself. Neighbors told the newspaper that Mr. Peterson became increasingly paranoid about would would happen to the country if Obama was reelected.

The Washington Post reported another neighbor said:

He was worried about everything. He felt the economy was going in the wrong direction. He was worried about politics. He couldn’t shake things.

I’m somewhat of an expert on family annihilators, having watched a 2004 TV episode of Law and Order on that topic1. <faux expert>The family annihilator feels that they are at the center of their family and bear the total responsibility for the family’s wellbeing. If they become convinced that they cannot fulfill that role, they think it is better that the family, including themself, die rather than to fail due to his shortcomings.</faux expert>

Readers may be interested in this article by Catharine Skipp titled “Inside the Minds of Family Annihilators.”

1There was also a 2009 episode of Law and Order Criminal Intent on the topic.

Mainstream media rejects Arpaio results as “long debunked”

By on March 2, 2012 in Birthers, Crimes, Joe Arpaio, Media

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio got some media attention from his “Cold Case Posse1” investigation in to Barack Obama’s birth certificate, but probably not the kind of attention he wanted.

Phoenix New Times

It’s the latest entry in a long line of publicity stunts for Arpaio, and this one just so happened to take place while the sheriff’s taking heat for the several hundred sex crimes his office bungled, and the Justice Department’s claim that he’s running a shop with the worst-racial profiling practices in U.S. history.

Fox News

The Obama birth certificate controversy has been widely debunked but remains alive in the eyes of some conservatives. Last year, Donald Trump most prominently revived the issue while entertaining a possible bid for the presidency.

Slate

This was the wrong news day for Sheriff Joe Arpaio to release the results of his "cold case posse" investigation of Barack Obama’s birth documents. A quick read reveals nothing that hasn’t been published on WorldNetDaily before, and Jerome Corsi, WND’s psuedo-investigator, was on hand in Phoenix to make his usual claims.

The Arizona Republic

You didn’t seriously fall for the claim that Arpaio’s intent was to announce some great discovery concerning President Barack Obama’s birth certificate, did you?

The Christian Science Monitor

Critics say Arpaio has much to gain by injecting himself into the so-called birther issue, which could deflect attention from his troubles while appealing to conservative supporters. He remains under federal investigation for potential civil rights violations, and a separate federal probe centers on accusations of abuse of power.

Associated Press

Arpaio on Thursday unveiled preliminary results of an investigation, conducted by members of his volunteer cold-case posse, into the authenticity of President Barack Obama’s birth certificate, a controversy that has been widely debunked but which remains alive in the eyes of some conservatives.

BBC

His investigators found "probable cause" the certificate may have been made by "forgery and fraud", he said.

Mr Arpaio, known for his tough stance on immigration, is being investigated over allegations of racial profiling.

Politico

Although objections to the authenticity of the president’s birth certificate have been widely debunked, some conservatives continue to make the country of the president’s birth an issue.

The Telegraph

Most Republican critics of Obama have given up pursuing such widely discredited "birther" allegations. But the investigation by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, carried out by what he described as five-member volunteer "posse," was prompted by a request last August from a group of conservative Tea Party activists in the Phoenix valley.

The New York Times

There is an argument that it’s best to ignore crazy people. You have nothing to gain by reasoning with the guy on the subway shouting about the end of the world. But what if the crazy guy’s a prominent law enforcer, and what if he’s shouting about the president of the United States?

Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the self-appointed terrorizer of the Hispanic population of Maricopa County, Arizona, who is currently under federal investigation for discriminating against Latinos, held a press conference today that might stir up the ridiculous “birther” movement.

USA Today

Critics also have sought Arpaio’s resignation for more than 400 sex-crimes cases over a three-year period ending in 2007 that were either inadequately investigated or weren’t investigated at all by the sheriff’s office after the crimes were reported.

AZ Central

Given that he has now secured the “birther” vote, it would not surprise me if the sheriff would now direct his volunteer posse sleuths to appease other the conspiracy theory folks who might assist him in the polls in November.

“Proving” that we all watched a “fake” moon landing is an obvious choice, of course, but not the only one.

1I renamed them the “band of birthers.”

Racist burns church to protest Obama election

By on December 26, 2011 in Crimes

Michael Jacques was sentenced to 14 years in prison for the November, 2008, the night of Obama’s election, burning of a predominately black Macedonia Church of God in Christ in Springfield, MA. The church was being rebuilt and was 75% complete at the time of the fire. Jacques and his accomplices were ordered to pay $1.6 million in restitution to the Church and its insurance company.

According to the Huffington Post:

[Accomplice] Haskell told police that Jacques "was angry that the country was going to have an African American president and that the blacks and Puerto Ricans would now have more rights than whites," according to court documents.

Two accomplices, Benjamin F. Haskell and Thomas A. Gleason, pled guilty previously, but Jacques maintained his innocence, alleging that his confession was coerced and that the two accomplices were lying. Gleason testified against Jacques at trial in March, telling jurors Gleason outlined the words “hate nigger” in accelerant on the edge of the burn site.

The three were caught as part of a government sting operation; an undercover agent posed as someone looking for an arsonist to burn a business. The jury convicted Jacques after an 11-day trial last April.

Michael Jacques’ trial begins: wwlp.com

Jacques maintained his innocence and that his confession after a 6-hour interrogation came from his withdrawal from the narcotic painkiller Percocet that Jacques had been abusing daily for years.

The obvious question is whether the arsonists were birthers. U. S. District Judge Michael A. Ponsor judge said:

“That something like this should happen in our community is appalling … but it had another side to it. This was a group of shiftless, pathetic young men … It was vicious, but purely blind stupidity almost beyond comprehension,” the judge said.

That sounds like fertile ground for birther beliefs, but hardly conclusive.

Read more:

Birther convicted

By on October 25, 2011 in Birthers, Crimes

Darren Wesley Huff was convicted today in Knoxville, Tennessee, on a federal firearms charge stemming from a planned protest against officials in Monroe County who refused to indict President Obama. Huff had pled guilty previously to state charges previously when he tried to force his way into the grand jury room.

The jury, after a day and a half of deliberation found Huff guilty of carrying a firearm in interstate commerce with the intent to use it in a civil disorder. He was acquitted of a second charge of carrying a firearm in relation to a felony. He faces up to 5 years in prison. Huff was taken into custody following the verdict.

Sentencing is scheduled for next February.

Read more:

Huff jury hung

By on October 24, 2011 in Crimes

After one day of deliberation the jury in United States v Darren Huff said:

We are hung.

Huff says he wasn’t trying to cause trouble, and indeed bought coffee and biscuits for the police there.

I’m not surprised the jury is having trouble figuring out Huff’s intent. He said what he said, but then he did what he did.

The jury will try again tomorrow. Stay tuned.

For coverage of the trial and a photo of Huff’s infamous truck, check out the Knoxville News Sentinel.

Government rests. Huff takes the stand. (update 2)

By on October 20, 2011 in Crimes

imageDarren Huff (pictured right) took the stand today, the third day of his trial on federal weapons charges before U.S. District Court Judge Tom Varlan, charges that could carry a 7-year prison sentence. Huff, who was found carrying a pistol and an an assault rifle in his truck after declaring that he was on his way to make arrests of judges and other officials in Tennessee, testified that he did not touch the guns in his possession on that day and that violence was not his intent. His Colt .45 and the AK-47 were locked in the truck’s tool box according to Huff’s testimony Thursday.

Huff says he and 14 others were just going to protest the trial of birther Walter Fitzpatrick III and had no intent to use violence. On the other hand, he was in possession of a citizens arrest warrant for court officials, accusing them of treason. Huff was arrested some days later after not having actually committed any violent act, taking over the court house, or arresting anyone. Huff denied reports that he said he intended to take over the court house.

I never said anything about taking anything over.

Was he deterred by heavy police presence? Is Darren Huff a scary militia madman who poses a serious threat to public safety, or is he, as his attorney claims, just a guy who talks big? I’m surprised they didn’t charge him with conspiracy to commit kidnapping.

The prosecution cross examines Huff tomorrow. Stay tuned for the verdict.

Read more:

Update:

The case has gone to the jury, who will begin deliberations on Darren Huff’s fate Monday.

In summary remarks, defense attorney Green said:

Sure, he’s a loudmouth. Actions speak louder than words, though, and these actions are not consistent with someone hellbent on getting to Madisonville to take it over. We’re not here today if he doesn’t run his mouth. Just because he’s a loudmouth and his views are different than yours does not mean you convict him.

Prosecutor Theodore responded:

It is because of his actions. There are so many people who have extreme political beliefs. It is what he did on April 20 and what his intent was on April 20.

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