PART IV:  INVESTIGATING THE FEDS

Chapter 2:  Friend or Foe

 

Just prior to September in 2005, my partner and I visited Sturgeon Bay , Wisconsin.  We rented a small fishing boat and drove around on and in between Lake Michigan and Green Bay.  After checking our gas tank and getting a time extension from the marina, we decided to drive all of the way across Green Bay.  Unfortunately, we ran out of gas near the very center of the Bay.  Luckily, however, our cell phones had service and we called the marina.  They were very upset, but I heard someone in the background say we were under government protection. 

 

Two gentlemen drove out to us with gasoline, and we were charged a rescue fee.  I do not remember them working for the marina, but I did see them locally near our home before our trip.  Once found and refueled, we made it back to the marina before sunset.  I was very thankful, and this was one example that would make things so confusing in the future when I would be treated so horribly by people I knew were agents.

 

When I realized Hal was an agent of some kind, and he presented no knowledge of any actions taken by the government as a result of my call to the FBI, I knew there had to be denial or ignorance to our situation.  While visiting with our friends Hal and Ed in Chicago near the end of 2005, we stopped into several bars throughout the night.  While at the piano bar, I heard someone say that I felt safe with Hal as I knew he was an agent.  During the evening, Hal made some odd comments himself. 

 

First, he asked if we were still going online to chat with folks while telling me that if anyone brought it up, "lie, lie, lie, deny, deny, deny."  I was surprised he knew as I did not remember bringing it up to him.  I had never seen him there either.  Second, he made a comment that he was going home and we could go to the gay bath house if we wanted.  We had never been to the bath house, and it was insinuated that no one would follow us there. 

 

Odd statements and questioning from Hal, coupled with them having knowledge about our lives that no one should know, pointed to Hal being a Homeland Security agent.  In 2006 he would pull the typical “Is he crazy” self defense card while my partner and I were visiting for Chicago Pride, but I had a business card sized CD with me that had online chats I had saved in which agents admitted their identities. 

 

Once I showed my partner the contents, Hal’s attempt was unsuccessful.  I would later attempt to corner Hal with the same chat tactic in late 2007, but he chose to ignore my comments and only acknowledged he considers himself a sociopath.  If Ed was not an agent, Hal shared information with him.  Hal was among those within Homeland Security that did not believe my claims of "someone will always be there."

 

Ed had been a Republican activist for some time, and his relatives that migrated from Germany after WWII had ties with Prescott Bush, George Bush’s grandfather.  As Ed explained, look up the name Goebbles despite his last name being spelled differently.  With strong ties to the Republican Party and the Bush administration, how could something occur without their knowledge?

 

It was odd having protection, and it was most apparent while we were in public areas and away from political events.  They would often go invisible while we were with Homeland Security, so it was not surprising Homeland Security agents thought I was making things up.  The FBI’s role with Homeland Security was more investigative, and protection turned from water bottles at our local bar to people you would never suspect as agents. 

 

In addition, local Homeland Security agents would show up at locations beyond the agents who were assigned to flight risk responsibilities, and the “shopping” managers added a twist.  The complexity of the situation made it difficult to differentiate between those with good versus bad intentions.  One could almost suspect it was the same organization the entire time just buying extensions with new plots and compromises.

 

While federal agents and I started out getting along fine, attitudes would change.  Eventually the water bottle sales disappeared as they probably figured out Homeland Security agents were our stalkers.  Richard stated he was becoming well known.  Political party affiliation was utilized as an umbrella to keep me from exposing their identities and illegal behavior, but their intentions were politically motivated to help the marriage amendment to our state’s Constitution pass.

 

Things were beginning to get ugly, and while we were at our local gay bar, I heard one of the agents say, “We may have bitten off more than we can chew on this one.”  That should have been a clue that things were not what they seemed.  From this statement, one could conclude that Homeland Security’s actions against me were a repeated process.  If someone is accused of being a child predator, Homeland Security’s strategy is not as much of an investigation as it is a complete destruction of your life. 

 

At the end of January in 2006, my partner had an IBM training course in Orlando, FL.  I went with him, and we utilized the opportunity for a small vacation.  While at an Orlando gay bar one evening, we happened to run into one of our local friend couples, Jim and Kerry.

 

Something I noticed that was very odd was Jim and another gentleman talking to people and then joining up to talk.  They then would enter information into their palm pilots.  As I figured I knew what was going on, I asked Jim's friend if he knew I received a call from Oregon that night.  He shook his head yes.  There were clearly a multitude of groups that were infringing on my right to privacy. 

 

After my partner's conference was over, we decided to stay at the same hotel as Jim and Kerry.  We visited a gay bar down the road before returning to the hotel bar, and on the way back there was a group of approximately 20 people out front taking direction from a man as if he was their boss.  I heard one of the people say that they “hate doing this" yet were happy to hear that I called them versus targeting someone.  They were told to protect me, yet the boss also said that I was suspected of being a child molester.

 

I realized that I was being handed to a different boss while out of town, for investigative responsibilities if nothing else, and I was beginning to learn too much about the Department of Injustice.  This was perceived as threatening to them.  That night while we were all intoxicated, agents began a massive denial campaign to my partner while we were not together, and it caused my partner and I to have a rather large argument.  In fact, they were outright lying. 

 

An agent’s first defense mechanism is to cast doubt and try to make others believe that you are crazy, and it is easier for someone not in the know to be manipulated and convinced by a large number of people versus one person of an opposing view regardless of your relationship with him or her.

 

The next morning, I asked Jim why they did that.  Jim replied, "If you want to keep him, you're going to have to make him see it."  When we arrived back home, I told Richard that I could not see him anymore and tried to focus on rebuilding my once strong relationship with my partner.  On the way to our local gay bar once home, I pointed out there would be a car every quarter mile. 

 

As it was dark, and from the top of the hill on a county road near the junction of a highway, it was easy for my partner to see a long distance with cars nearly equally spaced.  As we live in a village of 3,000 people, which formerly had practically zero traffic, getting him to remember how it use to be was my first break through.  It was still difficult as he would not have the conversations or mind games played upon him as Homeland Security did with me.  

 

While John would sit in his usual seat at our local gay bar whenever we arrived, about 3 times over 9 months I asked him where they were at in my case and if they had figured out who was following us.  The second to last time I asked him he replied, “We’ve got nothing buddy.” 

 

I responded in telling him that I told five people I had called the FBI, and the chatter in the bar among agents turned to how I had messed up the investigation.  My view was that I was not told the FBI had taken the case.  Furthermore, the FBI did not give me any instructions after I called them.

 

One would have thought that giving John the names of the people I had told would have led to the source of corruption.  Otherwise, people would have kept following us.  I asked an agent who had arrived at our local gay bar, post my call to the FBI, to set up a sting.  I told him I would cooperate fully, and he nodded yes.  However, I was never notified of a sting operation, nor was I asked to participate or cooperate.  In addition, I did not sign up to be publicly smeared, and I certainly was not volunteering myself as Homeland Security’s victim.    

 

After Richard and I were over in February of 2006, any relationship I had with federal agents went sour.  When I asked John where they were at in the case at the very end of February, John told me to not talk to him again or he would get me kicked out of the bar.  I replied that I knew Clint was an agent, and he could probably do that if he wanted. 

 

The next time we were at the bar, we were told that we could not come back to the bar for 30 days as John claimed I had threatened to kill him.  Knowing that this was a lie and everyone would have to go where we go, we got into the car and drove all of the way to a gay bar at our state capitol.   

 

This began a string of other bar visits spanning three states instead of just seven miles from home.  What confused me was the FBI agent who told me he did not think Richard really liked me also told me my contact was supposed to be named Tom.  Yet, I was “DOJ style” interviewed by and checked for updates with John?  In hindsight, I believe we were kicked out of the bar by the FBI so they could figure out the discrepancy.  The ban for 30 days was reneged, but we did not go back for about a year.

 

John must have had a conversation with the FBI and explained what they were doing, but I was left in the dark.  The agents that were supposed to be protecting me became very rude for quite a long time.  The first sign of this was while we were at the Art Museum.  A woman who I still see on a regular basis told another agent, “You don’t expect him to just admit to it, do you?”    

 

In confusion and in seeking information, I emailed my US Senator as I had contacted all appropriate law enforcement agencies.  Through email, I told him that I had protection at times yet they seemed to have made up false accusations as their excuse for monitoring us. 

 

My emails to my US Senator lead to a US Senate Investigator call with the recommendation of sending a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) Request to the FBI.  After my FOIA request was forwarded to D.C. in early March, I received a notice of insufficient information despite getting the requirements from the US Senate Investigator.  I spoke with my father on the phone regarding my intentions of sending another FOIA request, but an agent nodded his head extensively while I was in the car briefly after my conversation with my father.

 

Everything pointed to the FOIA request being a non recommended option.  It was as if I was forced to play a game, but I had to figure out what the game was and how to win.  I turned to extensive online chatting to seek information as online chatting would surely include “someone will always be there.”  In addition, it was a lot more efficient and allowed for easy evidence collection versus in person.  I was considered the bait, and ignoring the game was not an option.

 

As was explained to me online, I was a protected witness.  Another person said that the only way I could not have federal agents with me was to move.  I was told on another occasion that sooner or later I would realize that I did not have to play to win, but instead I had to win.  I would eventually realize I was in a sting operation of some kind, and beyond local Homeland Security smearing me, I had a Homeland Security team that traveled with us as someone viewed me as a flight risk.  Plus, there were agents to protect me from Homeland Security.  However, considering no one wore a uniform, it took some time to understand.

 

A semi-local progressive organization, of which my partner and I were on the steering committee, held a troop fundraiser in June at a Republican owned restaurant.  The owner brought up a concern that he had heard I was under investigation for being a child predator.  He was told by two people, of whose names will not be disclosed, that I was under government protection. 

 

In August of 2006, my partner and I were refinancing our house to pay off credit card debt and for home improvement projects.  When we first came to the conclusion this was our best financial option earlier in the year, the agent who told me my contact was Tom and that Richard really did not like me said, “Oh no, he is smarter than the FBI…but he wants to be with Richard!”  The mind games would continue for years.

 

Not only did online chatting serve as information collection, but also as the perfect avenue for Homeland Security to publicly smear me with child molester accusations.  This online smear campaign continued for months until having a September lunch at Maggiano’s in Schaumburg, IL.  The people who I understood to be the managers of those who protected us sat at a nearby table, and one of the women said, “It is obvious he is innocent.  We will have to find a way to make it up to him.” 

 

Based on that comment, and another of “He’s had enough” when an opportunity arose to make a snide comment while walking through airline security in October of 2006, the federal agents who were supposed to help me had participated with Homeland Security’s online smear campaign.  It may have been undercover work to blend with Homeland Security.  Thus, I had both friend and foe agents, but my friend agents wanted to assure my innocence.  Their public approach I did not agree with, however.  Online was not the only smear campaign, and the political spin machine started to become evident.