I have not showered or shaved since Thursday morning. That’s next, but I need to get this out. PLEASE READ and share!
A few of the meager things we were given in the jail.
I’m exhausted, but glad to be with family. Thank you all for the kind
words, prayers and pressure placed on officials. They were totally
hammered by your calls and that likely had a big effect on my dad Grant
and I being released, as they planned to hold us longer. Rumor is they
were getting so many calls they shut down the switchboard.
Videos are coming soon. I had a chance to see them for the first time
tonight and they are incredible and awful at the same time. Patriots
showed up at the court on Thursday because we learned before the trial
that they were rigging the court to make an example of Tell Shasteen.
See the original article here. It seems when a public official commits a crime, they in turn charge a citizen with whatever THEY committed.
The morning dawned like no jury trial you have seen.
Security was in the parking lot questioning everyone and asking if they
were jurors, so they could usher them away. Police were everywhere and
all hands were on deck. But on Jan 15th, a small band of patriots stood
up to them and to the court like America has never seen.
It happened fast. I had run out to the car for a power cord and the
moment I was out, they sprang. When I ran back into the courtroom it was
in complete chaos. Douglas county sheriff’s deputies where dragging
Nathan, body slamming anyone in their path and hauling him out. —
Patriots were blocking the doors as police dragged Nathan out, kidnapping him from the courtroom
at special request from the judge before she even entered the chambers.
He had done nothing illegal and was literally sitting quietly in a
chair waiting for things to start. But they knew that he, like me, had
been helping Tell, as a friend, get ready for the big day.
I rushed in and addressed Judge Judith L. McCauley, who had just
entered, calling her out on what was happening. They tackled and
arrested me, hauling me off. There’s more, but that will be clear in the
video.
Off I went to jail!
I don’t mean to whine here. I stand for justice and there is a cost
to that stand. But you need to understand how the jail system is
mentally abusive and demoralizing. Not necessarily physical abuse, for
it is sometimes done politely. It’s that the entire process is designed
to break the spirit of all who enter. Lights are on even when sleeping,
jailers come in and work in the middle of the night to break your rest.
When moving you around, they leave you in tiny stone rooms for more time
than necessary; just so they can gleefully remind you that THEY are in
control!
At great effort YOU must keep your head held high.
Everyone locked in these walls is treated as
subhuman, regardless of crime or guilt. Understand that nothing about
these halls had anything to do with justice. It’s a dark reflection of
the tyrannical system we have allowed outside. It was quite an
experience, being in there with my father and that part was a great
comfort.
To give you an idea, After a night of barely any sleep, we checked
out and moved from Chelan to Okanogan County. Locked in chains, we were
put into the a small steel cage in the back of a van. When we arrived,
now in our street clothes having checked out of Chelan, we were informed
that we would be attending a hearing over video with Douglas County.
They actually made us undress and get into prison clothes simply to
stand in handcuffs before the judge.
I was arrested without charge, except them saying I was resisting
arrest (a charge they removed from my citation) and was left in a tiny
cement cell. Outside I could actually hear police on the phone with the
prosecutor, talking about what they could charge me with. Shortly after I
was taken, my dad was arrested and charged with multiple counts for
simply not sitting in his chair. The judge had VACATED the chambers. The
Sheriff himself, Harvey Gjesdal, who actually assaulted the defendant
in the courtroom, demanded that my dad sit down or be arrested. He stood
up to him.
According
to the courts OWN rules, it was supposed to work this way: You notify
the judge that you will be filming proceedings. They cannot just refuse.
They are required to respond with the conditions, or in rare cases,
“why” they are disallowing filming. They have to articulate a legitimate
reason to restrict. It cannot be simply because they “don’t want
filming”. If you have any question on this feel free to contact the
Washington State Attorney General. You can also read the court rule.
The fact is we were addressing the court on their own rules and they
were in open VIOLATION of them. We had given them notices in writing
that we would be filming and that Nathan and I would be there to assist
the defendant. This is in no way in violation of the law. I was NEVER
arguing with the judge about whether I could “represent” the defendant
as news media is falsely reporting. I was addressing the judge on the
illegal removal of Nathan and the fact that they were violating the law.
We we out of the picture, but Tell Shasteen handled himself
incredibly as he defended himself to the jury. He had rulings and law
that the prosecution was in no way prepared for. SO THEY SIMPLY REFUSED
to let him speak about it and the judge readily aided the prosecutor in
blocking him.
They might might as well have forced the jury to convict him or skipped it all together.
The Douglas county court obstructed justice in nearly every way. All
for asking an officer a question, they rigged the court and sentenced
Tell to 5 days in jail and a year probation and fines. This is like a
sentence that an assault, or DUI offender would receive.
JUST FOR ASKING A QUESTION.
He is not in jail now however and the court violated so many of their
own procedures and laws, that the entire case will likely be tossed out.
Their actions match perfectly the definition of
Kangaroo Court.
Douglas county is beside themselves with vengeance, but it won’t
work. They have made up violations and charged me with Obstructing a
Court, Disorderly Conduct, and Contempt of Court. Which are in fact only
some of the crimes that THEY committed. My dad was charged with
Obstructing a court, and Contempt of Court. Offenses that could (though
rarely) result in over a year of prison.
This battle is the same one as the fight for our guns and our
liberty. The actions of Douglas County took the court systems are in
open assault on liberty. It will not stand.
Thank you all for helping,
donating
and standing. This is just getting started. We need all the help we can
get, but liberty is worth the effort and this is going to be huge.
Stay tuned. — Gav
The rest of the story:
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Numbers you can call:
- Douglas County Non-Emergency Line: (509) 663-9911
- Okanogan County Sheriff (holds political prisoners for Douglas): (509) 422-7200
- Douglas County Sherriff: (509) 884-0941
- Douglas County prosecutor Steve Clem: (509) 745-8535
- Douglas County Commissioners – Ken Stanton, Dale Snyder, Steve Jenkins: (509) 745-8537
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But the citizen and the patriots are taking them on!
Douglas County Washington is a farm community with a population of
under 40,000 and lots of crony politics. Officials are spending massive
taxpayer dollars to try and punish a man for demanding a police officer
tell him why he was being stopped. It’s one of the many Counties in
America where corruption is disguised under a covering of respect and
politeness. Don’t let that fool you.
We see a lot of stories about the worst of the worst and police that do really bad things. In my recent article about
what makes a good cop
I raised the question. What about those officers who don’t seem so bad?
This case illustrates the massive problem of micro-tyranny within
America. Cases of abuse where life is not taken, but government goes to
any length to keeps the jack boot of tyranny on the necks of citizens.
The case is going to trial! The patriots Are Coming.
This man is standing up. Myself and many fellow patriots are standing with him.
Douglas County in turn is blocking every path they can,
withholding information and attempting to hamper the citizens rights to
defend himself in order to uphold their abuse. We the people will NOT
allow this behavior. Join us and pack the courtroom. Jan 15th, 8:30AM at
the Douglas County District Court, 110 2nd Street Northeast #100, East
Wenatchee WA. — Join the Event!
Government all over America is using illegal harassment to punish law
abiding citizens under color of law and keep them in their place. The
governments greatest fear is a people that will stand up. If a fraction
of these abuses were taken to jury trial, with the defendants boldly
representing themselves; this system of micro-tyranny would collapse and
with it the larger abuses would be taken on.
This man is standing up to them and it’s going to jury trial. This is
a County that does not even have it’s own jail, yet has the gall to
waste tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars. Just to punish a citizen
who dared to question their authority with a simple demand that the law
be respected.
This is not about one case. It’s about a long train of abuse. It’s the same conversation we had when we nullified i594.
We plan to pack the courtroom and expose them. Judges and officials
answer to the people and their authority does not override the
Constitution.
On a lonely dark highway in Douglas county, officer Evan O’Mally
stopped Tell Shasteen who was driving with Tammy Seim returning from a
family dinner in Wenatchee. The officer comes up to the window and the
driver reaches for his information as he asks the officer the reason for
the stop. The officer then refuses to give the information, even though
Washington State law requires officers to verify reason for their stop (give their authorization) when asked.
The driver asked a common question. Knowing about the issues with
unmarked police cars in Washington and that people impersonating drivers
are more frequently getting people to stop on the road at night to rob,
assault or worse, he made the right choice. While this car was marked,
the driver could not see that in the darkness . Officers can’t just stop
you. They have to have a legal reason to do so and the driver wanted to
verify that.
The officer refuses to comply. Despite the fact that even if there
were no such a law, it’s a perfectly reasonable question. When the
driver fails to give his papers fast enough, the officer opens his door,
violating the 4th amendment even while admitting the driver was not then under arrest.
The officer claims he does not need permission to open the door.
The driver demands that the officer close the door, but he refuses and
arrests the driver, charging him with obstruction, but later changing it
to a lesser, but still criminal charge of non compliance. All using the
same RCW that he (the officer) failed to comply with when he refused to
give his authorization for the stop.
As it turns out the driver was stopped for doing 16 mph over the
speed limit (he is not fight that citation). But despite his oath of
office and the
mission statement
of the Douglas County Sheriff, the officer was more concerned about
punishing this man for daring to ask a question that would help to
legally verify the stop.
Kudos to this young man. As a side note. Always lock your
door and always film. Had the driver done this, the officer likely would
have backed off.
The driver, an employed 19 year old with no record, attempted to
redress his grievances with elected Sheriff Harvey Gjesdal and
Prosecuting Attorney Steven Clem. Both refused to deal with the lawless
behavior of the officer, his violating of the Constitution, or the
complete needlessness of the arrest. It makes you realize; this is about
making sure people are obedient to government. It has nothing to do
with law or justice. The corruption goes all the way to the top and they
are all protecting each other.
The driver motioned for dismissal in Douglas County district court,
but judge Judith L. McCauley refused to dismiss. I sat in the courtroom
for some of these hearings. The judge was rude, disrespectful and
intimidating, rather than upholding her oath and the mission of the
County government.
For their part, County officials are doing whatever they can to make
it hard for Tell to defend himself in court. They abuse rules, hide
what’s really happening and use whatever they can obstruct justice. But
we don’t have to tolerate that. We are turning the tables and many of
the elected officials in Douglas County have been subpoenaed to be
questioned by the citizens at the trial.
The prosecutors office continues to obstruct justice by
failing to provide evidence in discovery and ignoring legal requests
from the defendant.
It’s time to start rooting out micro-tyranny like an infected cavity.
It’s time to start taking back out courts. Judges, officials and
prosecutors have shown neglect and obstruction of justice. We are
gathering on the 15th to hold them accountable.
Because no judge or elected official is above the the law. We will make
sure they behave with respect, follow the Constitution and honor due
process.
Stand up for liberty. — Gav
Douglas County Official Contacts.
- Douglas County District Court: (509) 884-3536
- Douglas County Sheriff Harvey Gjesdal: hgjesdal@co.douglas.wa.us, 509) 884-0941
- Douglas County Prosecutor Steven Clem: 509-745-8535
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