Indicted birther, Pete Santilli, remains behind bars

Birther independent talk show host, Pete Santilli, remains behind bars pending trial for his activities in the occupation of an eastern Oregon federal wildlife refuge, reports Oregon Live. Santilli was charged with one felony count of conspiracy to impede officers of he United States and was arraigned February 24. Santilli has pled not guilty. A trial is scheduled for April 29, but reports say this will likely be delayed and additional charges filed.

Attorneys for Santilli maintain that he was there to cover the Burns standoff as a journalist, and there is no reason he cannot await trial at home. Federal lawyers countered by playing excerpts from his radio show that suggested that he was a flight risk and a danger to others, for example saying that he wanted to shoot former Secretary of State Clinton in her genitals. He also said:

I will die a free man, watch me. They will not take me away.

Santilli also published a video saying he had multiple unregistered weapons hidden. That seemed to be the point that convinced the judge to keep Santilli in detention.

Was Santilli serious in his threats, or was this just shock jock bravado? Judge Mosman was not willing to take the risk.

It’s possible that Santilli may be released to a halfway house in Nevada, where Santilli is also under indictment in the standoff at the Bundy Ranch in 2014. In Nevada Santilli and four others are charged with one count of conspiring to commit an offense against the United States, one count of conspiring to impede or injure a federal officer, four counts of carrying a firearm in a crime of violence, two counts of assault on a federal officer, two counts of threatening a federal law enforcement officer, three counts of obstructing justice, two counts of interfering with interstate commerce by extortion and one count of interstate travel in aid of extortion.

Ouch!

About Dr. Conspiracy

I'm not a real doctor, but I have a master's degree.
This entry was posted in Birthers Behaving Badly and tagged . Bookmark the permalink.

26 Responses to Indicted birther, Pete Santilli, remains behind bars

  1. Curious George says:
  2. Keith says:

    Well, he’s far from some pretty face in his non-lace camo, but maybe if he’d grow a ponytail and cultivate a wiggling walk to go with his giggling talk maybe he’d find that the world would start going around for him.

    There ain’t nothing in the world like a brown dressed nut, to make me act so funny in ridiculing him, make me spend my tax money on law enforcement, make me feel real loose when I take a dump, like to give him a long necked goose up the clacker with a microphone stand… Oh baby! That’s a what I like!

  3. Dave says:

    How did it take two years to get this indictment? I don’t see that there was much mystery about what happened at the Bundy ranch, or who did it. I must be missing something.

  4. y_p_w says:

    Dave:
    How did it take two years to get this indictment? I don’t see that there was much mystery about what happened at the Bundy ranch, or who did it. I must be missing something.

    They were basically waiting for Cliven Bundy to be arrested first before proceeding with any indictments. Bundy was kind enough to travel to a place (an airport) where neither he nor his supporters would be armed and made it known through social media that he was traveling to Oregon.

    Santilli was already in jail on the Oregon charges, so then they could just tack on the indictment.

  5. Rickey says:

    Keith:
    Well, he’s far from some pretty face in his non-lace camo, but maybe if he’d grow a ponytail and cultivate a wiggling walk to go with his giggling talk maybe he’d find that the world would start going around for him.

    There ain’t nothing in the world like a brown dressed nut, to make me act so funny in ridiculing him, make me spend my tax money on law enforcement, make me feel real loose when I take a dump, like to give him a long necked goose up the clacker with a microphone stand… Oh baby! That’s a what I like!

    The Big Bopper! Well done.

  6. And Mike Volin, and Joe Arpaio, Mia Marie Pope.

    Curious George: Didn’t corporal Zoo-low do an interview with Pete Santilli?

  7. john says:

    Wasn’t it Santilli that claimed he was going to jump over the White House fence.

  8. Something like that.

    http://www.obamaconspiracy.org/2014/10/birthers-basket-case/

    john: Wasn’t it Santilli that claimed he was going to jump over the White House fence.

  9. Rickey says:

    Dr. Conspiracy:
    And Mike Volin, and Joe Arpaio, Mia Marie Pope.

    Volin has spent time in prison, so perhaps he can give Santilli some advice.

  10. Notorial Dissent says:

    Actually having seen Santilli, I don’t think he could get over that fence with a forklift and jet assist. Even hot air can only lift so much.

  11. Keith says:

    Rickey: The Big Bopper! Well done.

    Sorry.

    When I read the guys name, it was ‘Chantilly Lace’ that went through my mind.

    I just couldn’t help myself.

  12. Curious George says:

    Rickey: Volin has spent time in prison, so perhaps he can give Santilli some advice.

    Birds of a feather.

  13. Curious George says:

    Dr. Conspiracy:
    And Mike Volin, and Joe Arpaio, Mia Marie Pope.

    More birds of a feather.

  14. We owe Michele Fiore a debt of gratitude for helping to set up the trap so a dangerous alleged criminal could be safely taken in to custody. 😉

    y_p_w: Bundy was kind enough to travel to a place (an airport) where neither he nor his supporters would be armed and made it known through social media that he was traveling to Oregon.

  15. Crustacean says:

    Thanks, George. That’s an interesting read.

    Courtroom scene I’d like to see:

    As the judge finishes handing down Santilli’s sentence (hopefully many years behind bars), she says, “and that’s frickin’ non-negotiable!!”

    Curious George: More on Pete Santilli…

  16. Curious George says:

    Crustacean:
    Thanks, George.That’s an interesting read.

    Courtroom scene I’d like to see:

    As the judge finishes handing down Santilli’s sentence (hopefully many years behind bars), she says, “and that’s frickin’ non-negotiable!!”

    You’re welcome. What I’d like to see is a recap of all the “guests” that Santilli has had on his internet show, and hopefully some interest in those people by the Feds.

  17. Crustacean says:

    The ACLU would tell you to cool your jets and think of this as a free-speech issue. Not sure I agree that inciting an insurrection against law enforcement officers who were just doing their jobs should be protected speech, but Santilli calls himself a journalist, so I guess that makes a difference?

    I’d still like to see Santilli pay a price for what he did, but after reading the Oregon ACLU’s take on the subject, I’ve at least put away my torch and pitchfork.

    http://www.aclu-or.org/blog/first-amendment-rights-pete-santilli

    Curious George: What I’d like to see is a recap of all the “guests” that Santilli has had on his internet show, and hopefully some interest in those people by the Feds.

  18. Curious George says:

    Santilli is an agitator, an instigator and an active participant in the Bundy anarchy, in my opinion. I believe he used his so called PRESS patch as a cover for his activities. His comment as he received his 3% patch, which he put on his sleeve, was that he was “all in” or words similar to those as I recall. Lock him up and throw away the key.

  19. Daniel says:

    Crustacean:
    The ACLU would tell you to cool your jets and think of this as a free-speech issue.Not sure I agree that inciting an insurrection against law enforcement officers who were just doing their jobs should be protected speech, but Santilli calls himself a journalist, so I guess that makes a difference?

    I’d still like to see Santilli pay a price for what he did, but after reading the Oregon ACLU’s take on the subject, I’ve at least put away my torch and pitchfork.

    I find it interesting that the right wingnuts, and evangelicals, almost to a person, hate the ACLU with a passion, and yet the ACLU continues to fight for their rights, regardless.

  20. Notorial Dissent says:

    There is an immense difference between being a reporter of events and a press secretary for the instigators, Santilli crossed and burned that bridge a long time ago. I really do resent his claiming to be a journalist after what he has done, he is neither a journalist nor honest.

  21. JD Reed says:

    Daniel: I find it interesting that the right wingnuts, and evangelicals, almost to a person, hate the ACLU with a passion, and yet the ACLU continues to fight for their rights, regardless.

    You’ve sure got that right, Daniel. Most hard core ACLU haters won’t believe how much the ACLU protects their rights if you shove the evidence in front of their faces. But it needs to be said now and then, anyway.

  22. Lupin says:

    How we forget…

    Julius Streicher was a journalist. Editor of the vehemently anti-Semitic newspaper Der Stürmer, Streicher was convicted of, in the words of the judgment, “incitement to murder and extermination at the time when Jews in the East were being killed under the most horrible conditions clearly constitut(ing) a crime against humanity.”

  23. Crustacean says:

    Very good points, gentlemen. Now, where did I put that pitchfork…

    Notorial Dissent: There is an immense difference between being a reporter of events and a press secretary for the instigators

    Lupin: Julius Streicher was a journalist.

  24. chancery says:

    Crustacean:
    The ACLU would tell you to cool your jets and think of this as a free-speech issue.Not sure I agree that inciting an insurrection against law enforcement officers who were just doing their jobs should be protected speech, but Santilli calls himself a journalist, so I guess that makes a difference?

    I’d still like to see Santilli pay a price for what he did, but after reading the Oregon ACLU’s take on the subject, I’ve at least put away my torch and pitchfork.

    http://www.aclu-or.org/blog/first-amendment-rights-pete-santilli

    The Oregon criminal complaint is posted here: http://res.cloudinary.com/bdy4ger4/image/upload/v1453933656/AmmonBundy1_kkivkn.pdf The section quoting statements by Santilli is at pages 23-30 of the attached affidavit.

    You’ll see that Santilli’s comments are all over the map, partly because he’s not a disciplined speaker, partly (I suspect) because he’s trying to have it both ways. Some comments probably fall into the category of sympathetic observer/reporter. Other times he steps into the role of a participant but qualifies his conduct by calling for thousands of “unarmed” people to join the occupation. I think that he has not shielding himself from criminal liability by emphasizing that he’s asking people to come unarmed, since he’s asking them to assist an armed action. The law of criminal conspiracy is extraordinarily powerful, and easily reaches defendants who offer almost any kind of assistance to a conspiracy involving violence, whether or not the individual actions involve any violence or threats of violence.

    In other comments by Santilli the call for armed action is explicit, although occasionally salted with disclaimers:

    I[quote]if you’re a patriot, ok, and and you believe in what we’re doing here as to ah protecting our god given rights, ok, you need to get in your car and come out here ok. Good patriots will do good things. Now’s the time, time to staff up, ok. Time to staff up. I, I saw a compound that is so [video skips] … alright, that’s what I’m calling for, that’s what I’m provoking here, alright! Uh, we have a Second Amendment right uh to do that, to keep and bear arms. So those patriots that do keep and bear arms lawfully and constitutionally, it’s time to staff up now![/quote]

    Similarly this:

    [quote] Ok, I’m sure they had original intentions to be extremely peaceful. Ah, of course, ah, we, ah, we must get the Federal government to comply with our peaceful demands, ah, otherwise we have to explore all opportunities that we have made available to us through our founding fathers[/quote]

    However, even though there is, IMO, strong, perhaps compelling evidence against Santilli, lots of the specified comments are mixed int with behavior that is probably protected by the First Amendment. It’s a good thing that the ACLU is involved and pushing hard, in order to keep the government honest and to limit the kind of evidence that’s admissible against Santilli

  25. Notorial Dissent says:

    The Oregon charges do not look good for him, the ones waiting for him in NV are far far worse, if they can be proven, and I doubt they would make the charges if they didn’t have the backing. Santilli can claim to be a simple unbiased reporter, or a prima ballerina for all it matters, it doesn’t alter the facts that he isn’t.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.