Patterico: "THE NIGHT I COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED BECAUSE OF MY BLOGGING"
There's been a campaign of intimidation against people critical of convicted bomber Brett Kimberlin.
And let's dispense with all the left versus right squabbling, because this is about free speech and not allowing the bullying or even the death of people who speak freely, and this should not be a partisan issue but an issue for anyone of any political stripe who values civil liberties.
My friend, Orange County Prosecutor Patrick Frey, who blogs under the name Patterico, last year, in confidence, told me this chilling story of a SWAT raid on his house -- in which he could have been killed. Now he's blogged about it, and you should read it -- and read about the disgusting campaign of intimidation against those who've dared to post blog items critical of the vile Brett Kimberlin, a man who blew off the legs of an innocent father with a bomb he planted, later leading to the father's death.
Here's an excerpt from Patterico's original blog item on Kimberlin:
Brett Kimberlin set off eight bombs in Speedway, Indiana in 1978 over the course of several days. One blew up a police car. Another blew the right leg off of a Vietnam veteran named Carl DeLong. DeLong's left leg was also severely injured, and two of his fingers were blown off and then reattached. DeLong carried shrapnel in his body, causing him constant pain . . . which apparently became too much for him. DeLong committed suicide in 1983 by sitting in his van in his garage with the engine running.Kimberlin was identified by store clerks who sold him bombmaking materials. A search of his car revealed timers similar to those used in the bombing, as well as traces of the explosive used. He was convicted of the bombings. He has never been exonerated by any court.
Authorities suspected Kimberlin did the bombings as a distraction from a murder investigation. Kimberlin was enamored of a pre-teen girl named Jessica [a pseudonym given her by Mark Singer] who went on several unsupervised out-of-state trips with him. Jessica's grandmother expressed her disapproval of the relationship, and insisted that the granddaughters move into her house to get away from Kimberlin. Kimberlin became suicidal. Then the grandmother was shot in the head at her house. Nobody else in the world had a motive to kill her except Kimberlin. After police arrested Kimberlin and several confederates in Texas in a massive drug smuggling operation, the sole eyewitness to the murder identified one of Kimberlin's confederates as the man who killed Jessica's grandmother. But the witness soon died of cancer, and no charges were ever brought against Kimberlin for the murder.
While awaiting trial on the bombing, Kimberlin plotted with an inmate to murder a prosecutor on his case. He promised another inmate bail money to go set off another bomb with similar components while Kimberlin was incarcerated, creating an alibi for Kimberlin.
In addition to his convictions for the bombings, Kimberlin was convicted at trial of impersonating a military official. (He sometimes posed as a military official as part of his smuggling operations). He also pled to the drug smuggling charge in Texas. For all these crimes, Kimberlin was sentenced to 50 years in federal prison for these and other crimes, but was somehow paroled in the early 1990s.
This is a copy of the phone call that could have ended Patterico's life, thanks to the bogus SWAT raid that resulted from it -- and a voice comparison:
Patrick posts:
In other words, it is the opinion of an expert forensic examiner that Ron Brynaert's voice is probably the voice of the man on my swatting call. A call that could have gotten me killed.
Patrick notes the importance of this battle for free speech and against intimidation:
It's an important battle to take on. And I want to stress that this should not be a partisan issue. I believe Brett Kimberlin uses lefty politics as a tool -- but he doesn't believe any of it in his heart. He is looking for a buck. I have been heartened to see left-leaning people of all stripes stand up to this guy in the past, from Mark Singer, the author of Citizen K; to Ken Ashford, who refused to give up Aaron Walker's identity; to the left-leaning lawyer who represented Aaron pro bono.It is my hope that left-leaning blogs will recognize that this is not a partisan issue. It is a free speech issue.
Remember how I said one of my commenters was outed? And this crew started talking about his parents? And his divorce records? For being a commenter of mine?
What happened to me could literally happen to anyone. It could happen to you.
If you take nothing else from this post, remember that. It could happen to you.
If you care about free speech, please blog, tweet and Facebook this entry and/or Patterico's originals, diffusing the ability to attack those who exercise their free speech and who support that for all.
Added to my blog as well.
This guy needs to be locked up.
Jim P. at May 26, 2012 5:28 AM
"And let's dispense with all the left versus right squabbling,"
Unfortunately, that's not possible in this case. Kimberlin's activities are being funded by the Tides Foundation, the organization controlled by John Kerry's wife, and having deep connections to the Democratic Party and the President. It's pretty clear that the the Democratic Party is employing Kimberlin to intimidate its political opponents. Compared to this, Watergate was jaywalking.
Cousin Dave at May 26, 2012 10:07 AM
CD,
I take it you have heard of George Soros?
Something needs to be done about that bastard. He has a right to speak, but he hides his speaking behind organizations that sound reasonable alone. When you start adding it together you are fucked.
Jim P. at May 26, 2012 10:27 AM
It's a shame that Patrick Frey experienced such a thing. Perhaps if that had happened before the Kathryn Johnston episode (Atlanta police shot a 92-year-old woman in her home, left her to bleed out and die, then altered the crime scene), Patrick may not have so quickly jumped to the defense of the SWAT tactics in Atlanta when that story first broke.
Billy Beck mocks Patterico a bit. Harsh? Maybe. But unlike Kathryn Johnston, he's alive.
Elliot at May 26, 2012 12:50 PM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2012/05/26/patterico_the_n.html#comment-3206355">comment from ElliotI looked that up, Elliott. Patrick first urged people not to jump to conclusions.
http://patterico.com/2006/11/22/libertarians-jump-the-gun-in-story-of-shooting-in-atlanta/
A little different from "jumping to the defense of SWAT tactics."
His later post is here:
http://patterico.com/2007/04/26/two-cops-who-killed-kathryn-johnston-plead-guilty-to-manslaughter/
I have huge problems with the War on Drugs and the no-knock warrants served in service of that. But, these two events are unrelated. You apparently have a burr up your butt against Patterico, so you strrrrretched and tied these two events together. Nice work!
FYI, the issue here is people criminally trying to intimidate others out of their free speech rights.
Amy Alkon at May 26, 2012 1:30 PM
The Tides Foundation, the Threshold Foundation, and the Barbara Streisand Foundation are all refusing to comment on what they know about Kimberlin, whom they have all donated money to. Also, apparently a lot of leftist organizations are funding Kimberlin via a money-laundering mechanism called a "donor advised fund". It allows them to get tax deductions and also conceal their involvement with the funding.
Cousin Dave at May 26, 2012 4:27 PM
Amy: Frey was dead-wrong about that every single step of the way. Those of us who understood the principles involved were *right*, from the very beginning.
Billy Beck at May 29, 2012 10:24 PM
After chastising Instapundit for "[m]aking the mistake of relying on Radley Balko for his facts," (in the end, Radley Balko was 100% correct) and pointing out there were drugs found in Kathryn Johnston's house (planted by police), he wrote:
As a prosecutor who thinks that raiding the home of someone over drugs, using deadly force, is not doing "anything wrong", Frey is part of the immoral War on Drugs, propping up that utter monstrosity which is the driving force behind the horrifying drift of law enforcement to incrementally destroy any semblance of reasonable interpretation of due process, property rights, etc., with the cooperation of idiot legislators, executives, and judges.
If more people in law enforcement, from cops to judges, were the victims of wrong address or fake 911 call raids, and got to experience the terror, they might be a bit more thoughtful about the use of armed raids for anything less than hostage situations, actual terrorists, and the like. Also, considering that a good portion of the politicians, judges, cops, and prosecutors likely have used (or still use) marijuana, alcohol, or other drugs, and are living proof that one can do so and not be some sort of "Reefer Madness" fiend, they should also stop locking up those who did nothing worse than they did. If you can laugh about smoking "weed" and "maybe a little bit of blow", when your life would have been ruined if you got caught, you should be four-square against locking up anyone else who does likewise.
Elliot at May 30, 2012 11:35 AM
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