Tuesday, February 27, 2018

OREGON STANDOFF LATEST:  HARSHER SENTENCE FOR RYAN PAYNE THAN OTHER DEFENDANTS


Citing a recently publicized audio recording involving a conversation by Idaho III percent leader Brandon Curtiss and blogger Gary Hunt, along with pictures of him with Jon Ritzheimer and Ammon Bundy taken at Bundy Ranch in December,  US District Judge Anna J. Brown came down with a 3 year and one month sentence for Ryan Payne today.

In addition Payne was fined 10-thousand dollars and given three years probation.

Payne was convicted in the second rigged Oregon Standoff trial, rigged by federal prosecutors adding misdemeanor charges to felony ones and by Judge Brown limiting the defense case and having a bench trial where she decided the misdemeanor charges.

With Payne already serving time, he will serve roughly the same sentence as other defendants recently sentenced by Judge Brown.

Brown ordered Payne not to have contact with the "Operation Mutual Defense" individuals like Hunt and Curtiss or defendants in the Oregon Standoff and Bunkerville Standoff case.

Payne offered a letter of apology to the court at sentencing.

A psychologist testified about Payne's aspirations to serve his country, his military career, his two tours of duty in Iraq and how that formed his thinking about the protest in Oregon to defend the Hammonds from the federal government's violation of their rights.

Its worth nothing that individuals like Brandon  Curtiss did not support Ammon Bundy's plans for protest in January 2016 and their decision to get involved afterwards created a militant appearance to a non-violent protest being conducted by an unarmed leader, Ammon Bundy.

Libertarian activist Gavin Seim, a supporter of the protest, condemned the audio deliberately timed for recent release (apparently in connection with today's sentencing) as an attempt to entrap the defendants.

The information was kept under seal by the federal government and was apparently timed for release ahead of sentencing last weekend.

After  Ammon Bundy quietly started the protest and was talking to media an armed convoy sent by these type people who initially opposed the protest showed up and got the media's attention.  Bundy had to ask them to leave.

In her sentencing, Judge Brown said it looked a "victory" picture when Payne was photographed at Bundy Ranch in December with Ammon Bundy and Ritzheimer.   She also expressed her disdain for the audio recording of Hunt and Curtiss.

Inside the ranks of III Percent and militia it appears are operators who are 'handmaidens' of the federal government.   The ranks of these groups were peppered with FBI informants who hung out around the protest and tried to entrap defendants in actions that appeared militant or extreme.

The audio release points to an apparent doubling down by the federal government in general and the US Attorney's office in Oregon in particular.    The Oregon US Attorney, Billy Williams, appointed by the Obama Administration temporarily has now been nominated in President Trump's name as permanent US Attorney for Oregon.

Getting back to those on the audio, Brandon Curtiss was recently arrested in Idaho in connection with his handling of money from tenants.   Curtiss was a property manager.

Gary Hunt has spent much of his adult life writing about federal government abuses of power with his experiences going back to the days of Waco and Ruby Ridge.  Judge Brown jailed Hunt for a time because Hunt outed FBI informants on his "Outpost of Freedom" blog and only released him when Hunt agreed to remove the posts.

Hunt carries with him pain and hurt from the federal government's abuses of power and a desire to do something to counter them.

Oregon Live Story 2/27/2018


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