PART V:  THE VERDICT

 

Chapter 1:  Connecting the Dots

 

About a year and a half after I called a regional FBI office, one of my uncles told me that they are “very political.”  That seemed like an oxymoron to me as justice should not be political.  Perhaps their political involvement in the 2004 Presidential election opened their eyes to Homeland Security.  Regardless, I found this information useful.

 

In July of 2007, I emailed my high school friend whose mom was the FBI agent that had originally suggested I call our local FBI office.  I was hoping to try and get all of the federal agents to just leave and not bother me anymore.  It had been well over two years since I had called them, and I saw no results.  Unfortunately, I heard back that her mom was retired.    

 

Like magic, I received a call from my mother asking how I was doing.  I explained how frustrated I was with these folks.  I noted some specifics including employment, interfering with my company's activities, spreading false rumors, treating me like a criminal with constant questioning without notification I was under investigation, and bringing up conversations to me that I had with my partner in our own house, via online chats, in casual conversation, and more.

 

My mom noted that maybe federal agents would leave me alone when a new President was elected, but that seemed like forever and a day.  I spoke with my father that day as well, and I asked him if the government can force you to work for them.  Shockingly, he said “yes!”  I had overheard agents say I had to become an agent, but that did not sound like “the land of the free” to me.

 

At a fundraiser for our State Senator at the home of Sue in September of 2007, I overheard Bruce talking with Leah and Ray.  Our State Senator is a moderate that has Republican as well as Democratic support.  Bruce said in a fearing demeanor, "oh no, he knows what we're trying to do, and he has his own agents.  Everyone thought he was crazy.  What are we going to do?  We were trying to hire him."  They certainly had an interesting way of hiring people, and that was obviously not the entire story.

 

I informed Bruce that I knew he was an agent via email afterward, and my partner was kind enough to let me write his September local news article representing the Democratic view.  The topic centered on the disgrace to our Constitution since the war on terrorism began, and I noted US Senate investigations into Homeland Security smearing Democratic candidates due to comments on CSPAN2.  The next month, Bruce was kind enough to purposely email me a virus versus some pictures of his newly acquired home.  However, I did not open the .exe file.

 

I had mentioned to Jenn that I called the FBI while at our County Treasurer’s birthday party a year prior, and Jenn felt it her duty to spread “someone will always be there” among Homeland Security.  This fueled controversy and concern within Homeland Security.  Their immediate response was denial, and their second response was trying to find a way to arrest me in order to hide their identities and their actions.

 

Homeland Security’s tenacity in mass destruction exposed their organizational structure. For example, Gloria at our local grocery store stated to a Homeland Security manager, “He doesn’t deserve that.  They should arrest him.”  This was a common theme at local restaurants and retail establishments.  Even doctor and dentist visits were informative to the structure of Homeland Security, and leaving potential malpractice lawsuits aside, receiving quality and accurate medical treatment proved to be difficult.

 

Our annual Democratic steak dinner in October further proved which political pundits were agents.  Bruce, Leah, and Jenn sat together, and I overheard a portion of their conversation.  Bruce stated, “Apparently it was [my partner], and he called Richard a criminal [in an online chat].”  Jenn replied, “Awe, that’s too bad.”  I was not aware of anything major that my partner did wrong, but I knew they were all agents at this point given association and sharing of information.

 

At our November county Democratic Party meeting, Ed and Mary sat in the row behind me.  Word must have traveled as a result of me calling out Bruce as well as me having some agent oversight.  I overheard Mary comment that she wondered who they were, and she said that I probably knew.  When the pizza arrived, Ed walked to the line right behind me.  He bent down near my right ear and said, "I hear you are getting ready to go over a very big bump."

 

Clearly Homeland Security was concerned, and this was one example of them fishing for excuses to arrest us.  Even at a bar after the meeting, Bruce was pushing to have my partner arrested.  His rationale was that I belonged with Richard.  Another agent who was a Democrat replied, “If he loves [my partner], we can trust him.”

 

If they had any evidence against either my partner or myself breaking any particular law, they obtained it illegally and could not utilize it in a court of law.  Perhaps they purchased our emails and phone calls from a telecommunications company when they realized they had no grounds for their actions over the last three years.  Obviously they did not have credible or legal evidence.  We had always been, for the most part, law abiding citizens.

 

Intimidation was discussed as an option to keep us from blowing the whistle, but that was shot down considering there were agents that looked after us.  There were several Homeland Security teams, however, that would attempt intimidation and play the fear card into mid 2008.  But within a few visits to the YMCA, Buffalo Wild Wings, at a gay bar, or online, they would figure out that intimidation was not going to serve any other purpose than exposing their identities.

 

Over Christmas in 2007, we stayed at my parent’s house.  We had a rather heated conversation on Christmas Eve pertaining to Homeland Security, and my mom was asking why I was writing a book about them.  I replied that it was about justice.  Apparently she worried about my safety, but how did she know anything about them?  Perhaps it was the CIA agent she told me about during our visit that explained to her that our government is not what it seems.  Perhaps she was a Homeland Security agent and showed the same sociopath characteristic as the others.  Considering what I knew about Homeland Security, I agreed. 

 

When we were leaving to come home, I told her that I would not have to look for a job if it was not for Homeland Security.  She replied that she knew of that fact.  However, I knew that Homeland Security was intertwined within our society to the point that finding a job while holding them accountable would be next to impossible given “new” Steve’s comment that I must never want to work again. 

 

If I did find a good job without Homeland Security interference, they would likely send someone with me claiming protection or investigation as they had done before.  I threw my resume online with some decent nibbles, but the decent nibbles would have come with a price of zero justice.  This was a battle brought to me, and it had to be finished before I could move on with my life.

 

On Christmas Day, my partner and I spent some time with his younger brothers after the holiday festivities were over.  We went to see a movie with one of his brothers and his girlfriend, and we then stopped in at her apartment to relax.  We found ourselves company to another visitor of theirs that brought over marijuana, and we politely declined.  When we arrived back at my parent's house that night, my father commented to my mother that we were back so we must not have partaken in the festivities.  He also noted with discontent that they will have to pay me, and that he was hoping I would have to work for a living. 

 

I had been very direct in the fact I was seeking justice and wanted a settlement from Homeland Security.  The equivalency to a wrongful terrorist suspect arrest with case law damages seemed appropriate.  Considering I was a victim of State based terrorism, it was a quiet and simple way of handling a fatal blow to Homeland Security and specific agents.  Although I ran a risk by not exposing every agent, it was more important to out only those needed to explain their operation.

 

I called out Jenn in March of 2008 via email, and among other things, I wrote, “I did like you until I realized you were one of the Homeland Security folks that broke the law and wrongfully smeared my name and my ability to earn a living.”  With the typical denial, a portion of her reply included, “I have NO idea what the fuck you are talking about. Home land security? smeared your name? I have no clue what you got in your head babe but, I have NEVER said one fucking thing bad about you!!” 

 

As I knew Jenn was lying, my reply included, “When my book is done, if a settlement is not made, I'll pay for you to take a lie detector test with questions that I write if you wish to refute reality.”  I did not get a response.  Beyond the annual Democratic steak dinner, I also knew of her involvement as a result of her conversation with Leah at a February Assembly candidate fundraiser pertaining to what they had done and their disbelief I had a business lead. I thought that perhaps she felt guilty, but this was an incorrect assumption.

 

While at our YMCA in March, one of the agents that I would consider more of a friend versus foe commented that whoever my accuser was finally admitted to making up the entire story.  This ended most of the verbal slander, but now that I knew who many of the federal agents were, some rightfully feared retaliation.  It is one thing to investigate someone, but what my own government did to me was catastrophic.

 

At the CD delegate selection, myself and some others where in the Clinton support camp.  Jenn said to those around her that I must still be upset at them for what they did.  I found that silly as their actions were truly unforgivable.  Ed noted that he would love to hire me, but he figured that if I needed a job, my own team would hire me.  A job could not replace three years of my life, not short or long term economic effects along with who it made me as a person.  Among others sitting together involved in this conversation were Mary, Bill, and Bruce.

 

The semi-local progressive organization had several events, the second being held in April of 2008, that helped me realize what was occurring.  First was an October 2007 presentation by Matt Rothschild where people were accused of crimes they did not commit, their reputations were degraded, they were illegally arrested, and they had to move across the country to find work after years of unemployment.  However, I did enough research into who and why to write this book and hold specific people accountable.  With help from agents I would consider friends, despite not knowing them very well, I had hopes Homeland Security would “right their wrongs.”

 

The second presentation, Torture:  Rights & the Law, was in April and was given by Robert Ashmore.  Parallels were created between Homeland Security and State based terrorism versus occurrences in the Middle East, and I could not help but recognize a man named Joe in the audience.  He kept looking back at me, and he said to the man sitting to his left, “He knows who I am.”  It dawned on me that I thought I had seen him at our local gay bar in 2005, and perhaps at the downtown YMCA branch.  I believe I even shared the sauna with him at one point. 

 

Joe asked a particular question to the presenter, and it was how a federal agent could be held accountable when s/he was not in uniform.  He did not open my eyes to anything I did not already know regarding the lack of uniforms on agents, but the question itself with his arrogant smile confirmed he was not ignorant to the matter.  In addition, as many times as he looked to the back row to look me in the eye, I felt uncomfortable enough that I began to lean forward and hide behind other visitors. 

 

I believe I saw Joe at the downtown YMCA in 2007 when the city was planning a ban on convicted pedophiles from local areas such as parks.  It also dawned on me that there was a complaint to the YMCA branches for housing and allowing convicted sex offenders use of their facilities.  In addition to the YMCA’s reluctance when my partner and I became members in February of 2007, despite being nice enough to give us a couple rate, rumors had to have been brewing for years.  From what date, however, I was unsure.

 

In May of 2008, while walking by the Jeanine’s household to our beach association, they noted how “the system” worked.  They said they would probably do it again, but not to a politician.  I guess that would have not fit into the previous Karl Rove model of any Democrat will do.  This was the second clue, beyond what I had heard in our local gay bar years before, that their object was complete destruction. 

 

Ann’s warning that some conservatives were trying to get rid of me were undeniable.  During that conversation, the first African American family to move into our village came up as well.  As the only black family in a nearly all white village of 3,000 people, there was quite a bit of gossip among neighbors despite the family living on the other side of the Lake.  Ann stated, “Don’t you think they are trying to get rid of them too?” 

 

Child predator accusations were created and utilized in my case as the means despite not having credible evidence or an abused victim, and being a public figure helped the rumors disperse quickly.  Having a victim was impossible, however, as I was definitely not a child predator.  Despite my offer to take a lie detector test years beforehand, and despite logic that the first part of an investigation should have been interviewing any specific victim, the fabrication was simply an excuse for domestic surveillance and the means to getting rid of me by local federal agents.  In addition, this was not an uncommon strategy of our government.

 

May brought additional information as Scott and his next door neighbor “new” Steve were laughing and joking of the irony in having protection for them because of what they had done to my reputation and career.  Both live directly across the street from my partner and I, and the Jeanine household near our beach association was a seven iron away from our house.  Both Scott and Steve showed no remorse despite their illegal activities, and this was a common theme among those that work for Homeland Security.  They show both psychotic and sociopath personality traits. 

 

Considering the marriage amendment in 2006, smearing me helped them achieve their political objective of the amendment passing.  I would learn this on the last day of May in 2008 from Cal’s residence.  During Cal’s outdoor chat, with not only his family but also Carla’s family, I also heard that nothing was going to appear on our background check because they had no evidence.  I heard the same from the Jeanine’s household while walking to our beach association, and the man said, “What a waste of time.”

 

Further in Cal’s outdoor chat, it was noted that if I chose Richard, they would know where I am and can come beat the “living shit” out of me.  I had been hearing for nearly a year that there was going to be a day that I was supposed to make a decision of this kind, but when was just as big of a mystery as my three plus year nightmare.  When his teenage son asked if they were going to arrest us, the response was that they could not because I called the FBI.  Obviously there was a rather large group of people that did not like me whatsoever, and their objective being squashed made them very unhappy.

 

While walking in front of Tom and Ellen’s household on the way to the beach association on the same day, I overheard Ellen complaining that Homeland Security was going to agree to a silent settlement and pay me.  She said, “The joke is on us.”  She had thought that they were so close to getting rid of me, and she was upset that they may be stuck with me forever. 

 

Ellen’s feeling of “The joke is on us” was echoed by Steve, who lives one house to our North, with the added comment that they were probably going to lose their jobs and have to move if a Democratic President won in November.  In this scenario, he was going to have to move because he could not sustain their residence without their Homeland Security income, yet their goal was to get rid of my partner and I.

 

Contrary to Cal, however, Steve was under the assumption I had protection for life.  Thus, he was upset that they would never be able to do anything about the ultimate outcome of their quest.  I was outside at our fire pit when I heard this, and I realized they would not stop the investigation and smear tactics until my partner and I moved, I exposed their illegal operation and they were held accountable, or we agreed to a settlement.

 

The following day on June 1^st in 2008, I would overhear Cal’s neighbor, Carla, talking with her sons while down at the lake.  Her son was sad that they believed the Republicans’ accusations and helped destroy my reputation and career, and their motivation centered on the passage of the marriage amendment to our state’s Constitution.  She noted that considering I was going to get the money, hopefully I would forgive them and not become a Republican.  After much thought, I am unsure if it was a show, sincerity, or reverse psychology.

 

What I could conclude was that neighbors, political pundits, online chatters including Richard, the intimidation agents, and the flight risk crew were all connected.  The Republicans had a political motive, and the Democratic Homeland Security agents went along with “the system” as they believed the fabricated accusations.  When I would not leave my partner and move after the November election of 2006, Homeland Security had to step up their propaganda to avoid the disclosure of their actions.  Considering I had everything figured out, and I had not received a settlement, there still had to be a final outcome