Supporting Joe Robertson
By Danielle Ahrens
On Tuesday July 19th I went to Missoula, Montana with the team of Redoubt News to support Veteran Joe Robertson at his federal sentencing hearing. I sat down with Joe, his wife and other supporters to listen to their stories of what they were going through and to read documentation such as the Kagel Environmental report on the case.
On Wednesday morning about 50 of Joe’s supporters from several states gathered in front of the Federal courthouse and held flags, banners and signs in support of Joe, Lavoy and other ranchers who have been targeted by the government. We looked up across the street and could see DHS looking down on us from the Windows with their gear on in a ready position and we could not use our cell phones adequately because of the stingray surveillance being put into effect there.
The atmosphere was becoming very ominous and then press started arriving. The crowd stayed calm and were giving pictures and interviews trying to get the message out about the level of tyranny that the average American is living under now. Additionally, they shared how our ranchers and farmers are being targeted with the WOUS rulings with the example of the egregious treatment that Joe and other Americans are facing for private property decisions.
Next we entered the courthouse where you and your property are searched and wanded, then an officer takes your cell phone to keep and issues you a number to reclaim it when you come back down. We followed Joe into the courtroom and filled both sides of the galley with supporters.
As Joe’s public defender spoke in a dispassionate voice, I was struck by how absolutely detached he was from the case. I had witnessed earlier that Joe had tried to talk to him and the attorney was noticeably irritated and walked away. As the government prosecutors spoke they were very nasty in their personal remarks to Joe and, shockingly, to his supporters in the gallery, however, his lawyer never objected. The situation in the courtroom was becoming very tense as the judge ordered person after person to leave the courtroom as they audibly gasped or let a comment slip on what was happening during the 3 1/2 hours we were there.
The judge, defense and prosecution all agreed that the case was being decided on the waters of the US EPA ruling ( WOUS ) and that it was murky at best (since the Supreme Court had ruled 4 for 4 against and 1 abstaining) so that it was up to the lower courts to define this on a case by case basis.
I sat there knowing that they had brought a radical left wing judge out of retirement just for this case. Judge Molloy had some personal history with Joe, had a record of pro EPA rulings, and fought back twice on delisting the wolves so he had a proven record of bias. I also sat there, having been retired from law enforcement, in complete disbelief at the utter contempt and callousness shown to this man by the judge, the prosecutor and his own public defender. Here is Joe: a rancher, firefighter, veteran and community member who dug ponds to water livestock, allow helicopter dips for fighting fires, creating areas for wildlife to thrive and helping his community.
The sentence rendered is essentially a death sentence. At 77 years old, with severe PTSD, in precarious health along with needing his service dog, he should not have gone to prison. The judge said Joe was a danger to society and needed to be punished so he was to be immediately cuffed and taken to prison. I was incredulous and my heart dropped as I watched his own attorney not bothering to object. It was the ultimate dog and pony show. This had all been set up.
The Federal officers surrounded him and all I could see was his two hands sticking out in front of him. Those two hands that had served us in the United States Navy. The cuffs clicked as his dog looked up at him and he was taken away. His wife didn’t even get to say goodbye as she stood there next to me crying. All of this for a pond.
His sentence is 18 months in Federal prison, and then 3 years supervised probation, with a lifetime ban on owning firearms. He is never to be in the presence of any firearm, along with not being allowed to ever have a scanner or any surveillance equipment in his home, can’t apply for credit unless the court approves it, and cannot refuse searches of any kind from any agency.
He is required to use Counseling programs at his own cost, pay $129,000+ fine to restore a wetland, $12,000 for his public defender, and on and on. It was clear this was a message to other Americans to not question the system and do as you are told or else.
I left the courtroom very sad and disheartened. You can read about how our Republic is very precarious but I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t sat there in that courtroom. It could have been you or I, and I saw that justice is for those who can afford it. This man was railroaded into this judgment. The Kagel Environmental report said that he had actually improved his land, but the judge wouldn’t allow this into evidence nor let the expert witness speak.
As the prosecutor said all men should be aware of all laws ,rules, regulations and policies that could affect them in their daily lives. The absolute lunacy of that statement struck me. How can we know the extent of the city, county, regional, state and federal laws that now engulf us.
The matrix of control is complete and our shackles are heavy. Our children will suffer the tyranny from our abdication of our Liberty.
What is the answer?
That is up to you?
The Americans Are Coming!
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Our good friend, Steve Neugebauer, who is a Licensed Hydrogeologist/geology engineer provided a few comments about this case that he authorized me to post here to share with everyone who reads this article:
“It is very unlikely that there is any wetlands in Missoula, and the Corps methods do not meet any kind of science, in fact they ignore the science and their own guidance documents. Unfortunately, unless he can appeal (and has the means to appeal, like the Sacketts did), this will be another travesty of justice for many reasons, but the most obvious is that there should not be any wetlands present and that the Corps staff do not even come close to following their own guidance, let alone the science of wetland hydrology. Also, as the SCOTUS has said many times, the CWA is ambiguous, it does not mention wetlands anywhere in 33 U.S.C., and the reasons wetlands are protected are actually blocked by the fact that they are regulated as Navigable Waters of the United States, which prevents them from removing pollutants which is one of the fundamental reasons these features are protected. Also, they enhance flooding, they do not reduce it, and there are no threatened or endangered species in the United States that are totally dependent on wetlands for their survival. This shoots down all three reasons wetlands are protected, and one of them is simply because they are regulated by the Clean Water Act which prohibits discharging any pollutants into any Navigable Waters of the United States without a permit. Also, the Commerce Clause that is used to enforce the CWA was not designed for this purpose, it was and is to define how the United States government can tax to make the money necessary for the federal government, which was limited to the taxation of international, interstate, and tribal trade until the 16th Amendment was passed.
This is just another example of false prosecution, abuse of the constitution, and the conflicts caused by administrative laws that are not passed by elected officials, but are passed by hired staff. This is like having the fox guard the hen house.
We have similar problems in several states, but the federal overreaching of the Corps and USEPA, especially on wetlands is bogus and inconsistent with the actual codes that define what a wetland is. In fact the only reason wetlands are regulated (they are not regulated in the actual Clean Water Act) was due to a SCOTUS case that indirectly identified wetlands as Navigable Waters of the United States.
Cheers!
Steve Neugebauer”
THE AMERICANS ARE COMING!
Is this America?? This is a very foreboding ruling, as well as a very sad turnout. I feel really bad I was not there. I had expected thousands of people to show up to this ruling. Our organization and outreach to inform our neighbors and community is apparently horribly lacking.
What just happened to this veteran is about to happen to every rural living person and guess what, nobody will care, because we failed to organize, failed to bring in others from the community, failed to inspire enough people who would be willing to stand in this man’s defense.
We didn’t mind while he fought for us. We didn’t mind while he was doing good for America while his family missed him, and now we can’t even organize and inspire enough attendance to make a stand to save this guy.
While this report is great and while they attended and I did not, I can’t help but have a very sick feeling in the pit of my stomach because we all failed him. So when any of us need help, will we never see it? When they come for us and our water and our property, will everyone be so busy with their computers and video games and personal preferences that nobody will care?
Lavoy was the first one down, Joe Robertson is the second, more or less. When are WE going to decide that we had better get organized and pull in every single willing participant we can find so we can decide it’s important enough to make a stand and put a stop to this tyranny??
What good are militias that won’t defend? What good is it to be an American, when a group of liars can get together and defeat you because none of your own countrymen can be bothered to help you? These are the questions we had better hurry up and get answers for. These are 2 people that should have never been victimized…EVER.
One solution is pushing this info into the masses asap. It will do nobody any good at all if we all keep this garbage to ourselves. This is the kind of event that can only change for the better when everybody starts talking about it everywhere. This is not a secret that should be kept quiet. Clearly, people are victimized and run over when these kinds of secrets are kept. I just have to wonder why this was not ever the center of attention all across Montana, ID, WA, and OR? I am as much to blame as the next person, granted I am inundated with fighting for property/water/livestock rights in my own area.
Organization…? Include everyone- let’s get it on the road. We need to get him out of there. That is not acceptable.