Wasilla man pulls gun on State Troopers during traffic stop. Surprisingly it's NOT Track Palin.

Courtesy of KTUU:  

A Wasilla man was arrested Saturday evening after he allegedly pointed a firearm at an Alaska State Trooper during a traffic stop in the Knik-Fairview area. 

According to an online dispatch, troopers pulled over a gray Dodge Neon for a moving violation near Knik Goose Bay Road and Clapp Street at around 10:48 p.m. last night. During the traffic stop, a passenger identified as 31-year-old Jerome W. Orton, exited the vehicle and drew a concealed firearm which he then pointed at a trooper. 

Another trooper who was nearby was able to quickly disarm the man. Troopers say Orton then resisted arrest, causing minor injuries to the two officers. He was eventually subdued and taken to Mat Su Pretrial on charges of assaulting an officer, weapons misconduct, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. His bail was set at $25,000 plus a third party custodian.

This is usually where I would say, "Just another day in the NRA's America."

But to be fair it's really just another day in freaking Wasilla, Alaska where this kind of thing is as common as domestic abuse, alcoholism, and accidental death.

Three things that are also extremely common in the Valley as well.

Love Mat-Su Valley style.

Courtesy of ABC News:  

A woman suspected of stealing an Alaska State Troopers patrol car that held her handcuffed husband in the back seat was arrested on suspicion of theft and other charges. 

Troopers acting on a tip found Amber Watford, 28, of Big Lake, and Joshua Watford, 38, at a home in Wasilla on Thursday. 

An officer had arrested Joshua Watford on Wednesday after receiving a tip that he was in a Big Lake pawn shop. He had been convicted of driving under the influence but had failed to attend court-ordered classes, said troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters. 

After Watford had been placed in the back of a patrol car, a passing motorist stopped and began speaking to the arresting officer. While the officer was distracted, troopers said, Amber Watford got behind the wheel of the patrol car and took off. 

Troopers recovered the patrol car an hour later. It had not been damaged. Nothing was missing from the car, including the handcuffs that had been on Joshua Watford's wrists, Peters said.

You know not everybody knows this but the definition of a good woman in the Valley is one that will jump into a police patrol car and drive you to safety. 

Oh yeah, this one's a keeper.

Speaking of stories finally getting national attention, somebody finally noticed that Don Young claimed to have killed a man.

Courtesy of TPM:

It is suddenly a bit of an open question whether the last person to touch Rep. Don Young (R-AK) somehow ended up dead. 

Earlier this month, according to the Alaska Dispatch News, Young's Democratic challenger Forrest Dunbar said that he had put his hand on Young's arm backstage while they were talking before a debate. 

“He freaked out. There is no other way to describe it," Dunbar told ADN. “He kind of snarled at me and said, ‘Don’t you ever touch me. Don’t ever touch me. The last guy who touched me ended up on the ground dead.'" 

A radio station employee who was backstage confirmed to ADN that she heard Young, 81, saying "something about the last guy who touched me, blah, blah" to Dunbar, who is 30. 

So what's up with that?

Well Roll Call wondered the same thing, so they asked him:  

He’s flouted ethics rules. Twisted a staffer’s arm. Even allegedly threatened a life, telling his Democratic challenger this fall that the last person to touch him “ended up on the ground dead” — a fact he told CQ Roll Call there was “some truth” to.

Okay enough is enough. If this old son-of-a-bitch is going to openly admit to committing murder and law enforcement both in Alaska and Washington D.C. do nothing about it what does that say about justice in this country?

How hard is it for the state troopers, the D.C. police, or the FBI to walk up to this old fossil and simply ask him #Whodidyoukill?

Indiana State Trooper quizzes woman over her church attendance during traffic stop.

Courtesy of Indy Star:  

Ellen Bogan expects police to protect and serve — not proselytize. 

But she says Indiana State Police Trooper Brian Hamilton pitched Christianity to her when he pulled her over for an alleged traffic violation in August on U.S. 27 in Union County. 

With the lights on his marked police car still flashing, the trooper handed Bogan a warning ticket. Then, Bogan said, Hamilton posed some personal questions. 

Did she have a home church? 

Did she accept Jesus Christ as her savior? 

"It's completely out of line and it just — it took me aback," Bogan, 60, told The Indianapolis Star. Bogan and the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana have filed a lawsuit in federal court against Hamilton. 

The lawsuit alleges he violated Bogan's First and Fourth Amendment rights when he probed into her religious background and handed her a church pamphlet that asks the reader "to acknowledge that she is a sinner."

Wow that is incredibly inappropriate. 

On the other hand the officer did not shoot her, taze her, or sexually assault her, so considering recent stories about law enforcement scandals this woman got off kind of lucky.

Still I think this woman has a strong case and I would certainly like to see this trooper at the very least get an official reprimand, and perhaps a reminder that the side of the road is really no place for proselytizing.

Pregnant woman accidentally shot to death by her husband, a state trooper.

Courtesy of Philly.com:  

Police released the identity of a pregnant woman accidentally shot to death Friday afternoon in Montgomery County by her husband, a state trooper. 

JoAnne Miller, who was 22 weeks pregnant, was taken to Mercy Suburban Hospital with a gunshot wound to the upper body. She died soon after she was admitted. Doctors performed an unsuccessful emergency cesarean. "The baby never had its own breathing or heartbeat," said the Montgomery County coroner, Walter Hofman. 

The shooting in the home on the 3000 block of Stony Creek Road in East Norriton occurred around 2:30 p.m. Friday, police said. The officer pulled the trigger while taking apart his .45-caliber handgun for cleaning but did not realize the gun was loaded, police said. 

I am not going to make any snide remarks because this is truly a tragedy.

However it is instructional in showing that any gun introduced into a household is far likelier to put the inhabitants in danger than to protect them, even when the gun is in the hands of somebody trained to use it for protection.

This gun had a purpose, and that purpose is ostensibly to protect life, but in reality a gun is only good for one thing. And that is the taking of life.

In this case the life of a mother and her unborn child.

The "End of the Land" in Alaska. Where the long arm of the law cannot reach.

Courtesy of CNN: 

Over the course of several years, Beth's boyfriend shattered her elbow, shot at her, threatened to kill her, lit a pile of clothes on fire in her living room, and, she told me, beat her face into a swollen, purple pulp. 

These are horrifying yet common occurrences here in the 200-person village of Nunam Iqua, Alaska, which means "End of the Land" in the Yupik Eskimo language. 

Yet the violence is allowed to continue in part because Nunam Iqua is one of "at least 75 communities" in the state that has no local law enforcement presence, according to a 2013 report from the Indian Law and Order Commission. 

"There would be someone to call for help" if there were police, said Beth, a 32-year-old who asked that I not use her real name because her abuser is still free. "Someone who could actually do something -- right there, as soon as they get the call." 
Seems reasonable, huh? 

Not in rural Alaska. 

Here, state troopers often take hours or days to respond, usually by plane. 

The flight takes 45 minutes, at minimum. 

Alaska State Troopers will tell you they're doing the best they can to police a state that's four times the size of California and has very few roads. 

The challenges are daunting, to be sure, and I don't blame the hard-working law-enforcement officers. But the logistics can't be an excuse for impunity. 

Alaska is failing people who need help most.

This is another portion of journalist John Sutter's amazing reporting on violence and rape in Alaska.

I think Sutter is doing an amazing job of exposing some of the horrifying details of life in the Last Frontier and I am going to do everything I can to help publicize his work.

As I have said before I work with the mental health community up here, and I have seen first hand the results of alcoholism, sexual assault, and child abuse.

We have a problem up here that will not be solved with a simple task force, political lip service, or even in depth articles like these.

This is a problem that is decades, if not centuries old, and it will not go away on its own, nor respond readily to a beefed up law enforcement presence.

Texas state trooper confiscates "deadly" maxi-pads from woman before allowing her to enter state capital. Could have been worse, could have been a gun. What? Those AREN'T being confiscated?

Courtesy of Americablog:  

A woman was apparently waiting in line to go watch the Texas Senate debate and vote on new restrictions against abortion, and a state trooper searched her and confiscated her Maxi-Pads as being too dangerous to bring into the state senate visitors gallery. He then started showing them to other people. 

“In front of, all of these male troopers took away my maxi-pads, and made a huge deal out of flashing them around and showing… and then saying that I couldn’t go into the gallery, I couldn’t take maxi-pads into the gallery. I’ve never been… I’ve never been so humiliated in my life.”

Yes, well to be fair there is really NO telling how many lives she could have taken with those dangerous female hygiene products.

However, and this will blow your mind, actual weapons, ie guns, WERE allowed into the Capitol building during these debates.

In fact, guns even help you to get in faster: 

At the State Capitol here, a legal concealed gun is the equivalent of an E-ZPass. 

To enter the sand-colored building, most people — schoolchildren on field trips, out-of-state tourists — must wait in line to pass through a security area outfitted with metal detectors and scanners. But those with state licenses to carry concealed firearms can enter in a matter of seconds. They simply hand their permit to a state trooper, who verifies its authenticity. No metal detector needed.

To be fair, it appears that the reason the feminine hygiene products were being confiscated is for fear that a pro-choice protestor might throw one and it might hit a legislator.

So to be clear, the Texas law enforcement is MORE worried about flying tampons, then it is about flying bullets?

Only in Texas my friends, only in Texas.

Here is your crazy thought processes of the day. Alaska militia style.

Coleman Barney

Yesterday during the Schaeffer Cox trial, prosecutors were questioning his co-defendant, Coleman Barney, about the reasoning behind why he and fellow militia members walked around heavily armed, seemingly intent on engaging law enforcement officials in a firefight.

Courtesy of Alaska Dispatch:

One issue jurors will likely be asked to think about as closing arguments near is whether Cox and his group sought out or created the conditions that would have yielded the potential for violent conflict. Cox had established rules of engagement for the group, centered on whether government came after him or left him alone. Yet by skipping a court date in a minor weapons case, Cox assured his non-compliance with the law and solidified his status as a fugitive, raising the potential for his arrest. 

Coupled with Cox's public displays of disrespect to and defiance of the court system, a climate was brewing that could have become a self-fulfilling prophecy. 

Prior to skipping a court date, Cox had encouraged supporters to come to other, earlier court hearings in ploys to get attention and intimidate state court judges. Barney has said during these courtroom appearances, Cox had twice taken his antics too far. Telling judges that people wanted to kill them in the middle of the night, and telling Alaska State Troopers that the militia had them "outmanned and outgunned" was too extreme, Barney said. As a result of his growing discomfort, Barney had asked Cox to tone it down. Even so, the impact of Cox's courthouse grandstanding has been difficult for Cox and his men to shake. 

During their federal trial this week, when Skrocki asked if Cox was "using the militia to threaten the court system," Barney said "yeah." 

Staying with the theme, Skrocki attempted to show jurors that the security details in service to Cox were more than a group of guys exercising their Second Amendment rights to bear arms. These were men who intended to go to great lengths to keep their man safe. 

"This would have caused a lot of heartache with law enforcement at any level," Skrocki asked, using his right hand to hold up an AR 15 semi-automatic assault rifle in the courtroom. The weapon, a Valentine's Day gift from his wife, was among those Barney carried during a protective detail for Cox in November 2010. Skrocki's point was, if police or troopers or the FBI came across men carrying such weapons in public, they'd be inclined to check the situation out. And yet, it was a confrontation with law enforcement that Cox feared, and the very scenario that had given way to the prospect of launching the retaliatory 2-4-1 plan. 

Barney said he was aware that certain situations required more decorum. A protective detail for Cox outside a Fairbanks courthouse was kept more simple, with maybe nine men armed with handguns, including himself, working to make sure Cox made it safely from the courthouse exit to a waiting car. But when Cox was due for a television appearance, the situation was different. 

The television station was on private property, Barney believed. Because of this, he said he didn't think being more heavily armed would cause public distress. To this location he brought side arms, the AR 15 and 180 rounds. For extra "non lethal" defense tactics, he mounted a grenade launcher to the rifle and loaded it with a canister of rubber pellets -- an illegal combination, according to the indictment. Another man rode the wooded perimeter of KJNP, and Lonnie Vernon, similarly armed, worked the entry point of the lot. 

Skrocki tried to get Barney to admit he'd been given orders by Cox that night to shoot to kill. But Barney was clear, opening fire on law enforcement was only intended as a last resort. And, a last resort only to be invoked if unidentified people, including undercover agents who failed to identify themselves, showed up and started shooting. 

Attorney for Alaskan man indicted on charges of plotting to kill State Troopers and local judges gets bail reduced from two million dollars to $100,000. WTF?

Courtesy of the Fairbanks News Miner:

Attorney Tim Dooley said he planned to file documents on Wednesday asking for a federal bail review for North Pole resident Coleman Barney, who is being held without bond. If the move is successful, the 36-year-old electrician hopes he can gather enough money to get out of jail, Dooley said.

Barney convinced state Superior Court Judge David C. Stewart on Friday to drop his bail on state murder and kidnapping conspiracy charges from $2 million to $100,000.

Dooley said relatives and supporters have scraped together enough money to pay the bond.

Dozens of relatives, friends and church members sent letters to the court requesting a lower bail for Barney. His wife, Rachel, is scheduled Friday to give birth to the couple’s fifth child.

Barney remains imprisoned, however, because he also is charged with federal weapons violations.

“If it was just the state charges — which are more serious than the federal charges, I should add — he’d be out,” Dooley said.

Barney is one of five local defendants with ties to the Alaska Peacemakers Militia who are accused of concocting an elaborate plot they dubbed “241.” That effort, which was reportedly discussed during hundreds of hours of secret FBI recordings, involved a conspiracy to kill two Alaska State Troopers or state judges anytime a militia member was arrested or killed by authorities.

Prosecutors say the plot was concocted to protect Schaeffer Cox, the militia leader who was a fugitive last February for failing to appear at trial in February on misdemeanor weapons charges.

Coleman and Rachel Barney also are charged with harboring Cox as he hid from authorities.

I'm sorry but reducing this guy's bail to one-twentieth of what it was originally set is completely insane.

The guy was plotting to kill state judges and law enforcement officials, and these people want him out on the streets? The whole reason that it was set so high was to ensure he would NOT be getting out, so asking for it be reduced defeats the entire premise of setting such a high amount in the first place.

What, do they think this guy became LESS dangerous while sitting in his jail cell fuming over his incarceration and plotting his revenge?

And WHO would donate to the fund to get him out?  Did they not see what this guy was charged with?

According to the complaint, "The plan would then have the tactical teams going to the target's houses, cutting the power, shooting the inhabitants as they come out to check on their power; then the team would kick the target's residence's doors in, kill everybody inside and set the house on fire. Then the team would lay in hiding and take out the initial responding officer before moving on to the next target."

What else does he have to do to demonstrate that he is mentally unstable and a danger to his community, dress in colonial garb while carrying an automatic weapon?

Oh yeah, that's right.

What in the hell is wrong with these people?

The Alaska State Troopers serve the Wasilla Police Department with search warrant. Well isn't THAT interesting?

before

Courtesy of the Mat-Su Frontiersman:

Police Chief Gene Belden confirmed today Alaska State Troopers served a search warrant on his department one week ago as part of an ongoing internal investigation.

The Frontiersman received an anonymous tip Thursday about the AST search warrant from someone who works for the City of Wasilla, but could not confirm the report until Belden acknowledged the warrant today.

“Not many police departments that I know of have ever been served with a search warrant in a criminal investigation,” the April 28 email from “John Doe” states, adding he or she has to be very careful to protect his or her identity because of the sensitive nature of the subject and the fact that only a few people knew about the warrant.

Asst. Attorney General John Novak would not comment on the report Monday except to say his department is still conducting an investigation on the city.

“If you’ve got some information, you’ve got some information, but I can’t give it to you,” Novak said Monday. “As an involved prosecutor, I cannot provide information on a pending investigation.”

The Mayor of Wasilla and his police chief are denying that this has anything to do with a report of dangerous driving on the Mayor's part, and I would also be quite surprised if it had anything to do with that.

I have been hearing some very troubling reports about the Wasilla Police Department, as well as the APD in Anchorage, but I have no idea if anything that I have heard is relevant to this investigation.

However I will keep my ears open to see if anything especially juicy is revealed.

Especially if it has to do with you-know-who or her family.

Sure in Alaska our ex-half term Governor was a moron, and the majority of our politicians are whores for big business, but dammit our dogs are heroes!

From Huffington Post:

Anchorage Alaska-The video on the troopers' website shows the German shepherd running to meet the trooper's vehicle, then racing to the house on Caswell Lakes on April 4.

Troopers say Buddy and his owner, 23-year-old Ben Heinrichs, were in the family workshop when a heater ignited chemicals. Heinrichs told Buddy: "We need to get help.

The dog eventually found a trooper responding to a call about the fire.



Now THAT is an anmial who earned an extra doggy treat or two.

Moore up North from 12/26/2009.

Part One

For this first segment you may need to have your hankies at the ready.



Part Two

God this lady is an absolute jewel!



Part Three



Part Four



Part Five



Another excellent episode!

Palin administration leans on Troopers until they recant allegations of interference in Johnston drug investigation.

The union representing state troopers has backed off allegations that a drug investigation of Sherry Johnston was slowed down last fall to shield the national candidacy of Gov. Sarah Palin.

An inquiry Monday by officials for the Public Safety Employees Association concluded that investigators did not delay a search warrant for political reasons, said union president Rob Cox. Charges of political meddling erupted last week because of misunderstandings between investigators working on the case and senior state public safety officials, Cox said.

The drug-selling case against Johnston -- whose son, Levi, is the father of Palin's new grandson, Tripp -- did draw unusual scrutiny from top public safety officials, Cox said. He said union and state officials hope to meet Tuesday to sort out any misunderstandings and determine whether political considerations had any effect at all.

"At this point, it really is a non-issue," Cox said.

Public Safety Commissioner Joe Masters issued a statement late Monday, repeating his assertion that the governor's office was never clued in to the drug investigation and that trooper leaders were only trying to assure that the case was handled like any other.

So let me get this straight. A trooper involved in the Sherry Johnston drug investigation sends an internal e-mail to his union complaining of "interference".

He never intends for it to be made public and therefore has no other agenda then to inform the union of potential harm to the investigation. And yet we are to believe that Trooper Young is less believable then an official denial issued by Palin appointee Joe Masters, who was featured just today in Countdown's "Worst Persons in the World" segment. (As seen below)

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Do you buy it? Because I sure as hell don't.

I seems fairly obvious that once again the Palin-bots are desperately trying to put out a fire caused by somebody telling the truth about their use of political pressure to make sure the needs of Governor Sarah are always put first and foremost before the needs of the citizens of Alaska. And how do they put out that fire? By applying even more political pressure. I believe the term "one trick pony" applies here.

And once again Palin and her stormtroopers are tone deaf as to how this is going to appear to their constituents. After all of her blatant lies and obvious obfuscation does she really believe that she can put this genie back in the bottle?

Just because the local Alaska media is kissing her feet does not mean that the average Alaskan will buy this load of moose crap.

Remember that Trooper Kyle Young sent this e-mail to "all the union members in the state". You don't do that unless you are pretty damn sure of your facts.

And also remember that "Union officials backed up Young at first, saying they had verified his allegations with the rest of the Mat-Su drug unit."

So did you get that? The Union backed Trooper Young up after they "verified his allegations with the Mat-Su drug unit". The Union did not simply go off half cocked to protect one of their own. They had their ducks in a row and were confident the facts backed up Trooper Young.

Facts don't change, which means their original statement was true and this is nothing more then a Palin administration manipulation of reality. And at this point who has not seen that a dozen times or more?

It is time for the Union to reach down to adjust their "boys" and stand up to these bullies once and for all. If they do that they will have the support of grateful Alaskans all over this state.