Homeland Security put me under investigation after I was on the Above Politics Show…coincidence?

A few months back I was on the Above Politics Show with Martin Bain and Justin Case. They graciously asked me to come on the show to tell of my experiences during Hurricane Katrina.
www.abovetopsecret.com...
I was, and still am, very angry at how New Orleans is portrayed by not only the media, but the US government as the only place hit by Hurricane Katrina. I believe the government and the media look at NO because it is the politically correct way to view things and while doing so, they have forgotten what happened (which was far worse) to Mississippi.
Not two weeks after I posted this thread…and was on the show…my father (who lives in Arkansas) got a call from an agent with Homeland Security. He started asking questions (which he clearly already knew the answers to) of my father about what I had lost in the storm, where I was, and had I moved to Utah.
He called my mother who lives on the Coast, and asked her similar questions.
He tried to talk to one of my younger brothers, who told him to...well, let's just say my brother wouldn't talk to him.
I started getting phone calls from a number "6-000" and "6-606." Who can make a call from a number like that?!
I had come to Utah before the storm and ended up getting stranded here, because I had nowhere else to go. I had nothing to go back to (job, home, even anywhere at all to stay), so, I restarted my life in Utah.
He told my family I was under investigation for fraud, perjury, theft of government funds, giving false information (I guess that is different from perjury) and couple other things... All told, if convicted, I was going to be facing 60-70 YEARS.
By luck, if you call it that, I had a scheduled vacation on the week Katrina was to hit. However, Homeland Security wanted to say I moved from Mississippi a few days before the storm to live in Utah. Never mind, I only had one paycheck on me, my Mississippi apartment (which was gone) was full of my things, and my girlfriend and I both had requested vacation time three months before.
After Katrina, much of this was impossible to verify. My job, her job, and both of the places we worked were gone…not just closed…gone.
They wanted me to PROVE my intentions were to only go to Utah for a short time…how do I do that with nothing left? How does a person prove what they were thinking?
A couple months after my father had his conversation, I had to fly to MS and meet with a Homeland Security Agent, who was to say the least…rude. My former professor from USM was also a lawyer/judge on the Coast, so I was able to hire him to represent me.
I have never been more afraid in my life. I had a man in front of me, who not only wanted to, but had the ability to pretty much end my life.
After an hour or two of speaking with him, he left, clearly upset he had no case. The government dropped all the charges except for one. They say I still lied on how I got to Utah. I say, I left for Utah and got stuck, they say I told them I was displaced (a very minor difference, which I would never had said anyway). The charges are still hanging out there on me and may do so for sometime.
What really troubled me, though, was the information he had on me. He pulled up emails I had sent to family asking how they were doing, text messages to my brothers, and a list of phone calls I had made during the week Katrina hit….clearly, I was labeled as a national security threat and the Patriot Act was used on me.
I thought people might like to know the power of the federal government, and how quickly a person’s life can change…twice.
It has cost me over $15,000, but I will fight as long as I can. My professor says this is very much how the federal government works. They have virtually unlimited resources and clearly mine are finite. If it keeps up much longer, I will be force to plead guilty to a crime I did not commit and have a felony on my record.

I wouldn't worry to much...
I'm sure I'm on someones list too and some thick glasses clerk right now is coping and filing my reply away in some dusty cabinet...

People like us are not the ones their really worried about, after all for the most part were harmless and easley discredited....

the ones they really want are the people with the garage full of sacks of ammonium nitrate!

reply to post by DaddyBare


I know what you are saying, and i think you are right.
The issue I have it that the money I have had to put out to "prove" I didn't do anything wrong.
HS is the single most dangerous branch of the government and if they can do this to me...

Dude don't feel bad,my ex wife for some reason is on the TSA no fly list,I warned her when it came time to vote she would also experiance problems,they made a million excuses why they couldn't register her,after many attempts she was cleared a day before the deadline

Originally posted by DaddyBare
the ones they really want are the people with the garage full of sacks of ammonium nitrate!

I disagree.

Governments don't actually care about some yahoo making a bomb. You can't overthrow a government with bombs. You can't bomb your way to change or revolution. Bombing never hung elected traitors from light poles.

Governments are afraid of ideas and afraid of the channels through which ideas flow. Ideas unify people into armies and turn citizens into revolutionaries. Ideas show people how the government itself can become little more than a committee for treason and profit.

After all, government power is derived from an idea. If that idea is no longer shared by a majority of citizens, then the true power-base of the government has disappeared. Once the consent of the people is lost, all that remains to legitimize government power is the fear of reprisal of the people.

Jon

Originally posted by Oldtimer2
Dude don't feel bad,my ex wife for some reason is on the TSA no fly list,I warned her when it came time to vote she would also experiance problems,they made a million excuses why they couldn't register her,after many attempts she was cleared a day before the deadline

I have always been a defender of the government (to some extent) but I have to say, this is changing my perspective...a little anyway.
I can't believe my text messages were pulled up!

Good on the op who ever you are, if your telling the turth. They just want to keep everything quiet, and have this rosey picture of america that does not exist outside the top 5% of the population over there.

Keep talking, i would advise you, and remember your not the only one, to have your life gone into.

Governments don't oppress the people with guns until they have first bound them tightly with laws. After all, most cowards fear a free person, but gloat at the ones they have abducted. Each link in the chain from our collars to the "masters" hand is formed with a law needed to protect the weak. And in proportion to the number of laws to protect the weak, the weaker we all are as a whole.

most definitely your cellphone and any communication you make on or around it should not be considered secure or private.

reply to post by TheFreeBird


And here is somethng else...
THere is nothing to keep this investigation open...forever. In another 6-8 months, we are going to ask for a letter of "non-procecution," however, they don't have to give it.
It is a way to keep tabs on me...not that I am a big threat or anything...but still, the more people they have directly under their infinite thumbs, the better.
I wonder how many people have this sort of investigation open on them.

Well...... Like "The Man" said..... "You are either with us or against us... with us or against us...." You know what I mean? Love us or leave us. We may not be perfect but we're the best there is. Insanity oozing through telephone cables, oozing into the ears of all those poor sane people, infecting them! Whackos everywhere! A plague of madness. You're out of order! YOU'RE OUT OF ORDER! This is God's country! Who are you to blaspheme against the people of God?

Orwell sez...

"There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment. How often, or on what system, the Thought Police plugged in on any individual wire was guesswork. It was even conceivable that they watched everybody all the time. But at any rate they could plug in your wire whenever they wanted to. You had to live—did live, from habit that became instinct—in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every movement scrutinized."

WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.

"Never again will you be capable of ordinary human feeling. Everything will be dead inside you. Never again will you be capable of love, or friendship, or joy of living, or laughter, or curiosity, or courage, or integrity. You will be hollow. We shall squeeze you empty and then we shall fill you with ourselves."

"Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power."

BWA...HAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAA..........!

Welcome to the "real world"... brother.

"I started getting phone calls from a number "6-000" and "6-606." Who can make a call from a number like that?!"

Odd.... I also get calls from those numbers?????????????

reply to post by KOGDOG

Now, I am a skeptic, so that side of me has to be honest. I guess there is a chance it is some telemarketing scam or sales HQ which somehow has a number like that. How? I have no idea, but then again I do not know all there is to know about the phone companies and how numbers are given out.
I do know, I was too freaked out to answer them. Later, when I got my...nerve...up, I tried to call it back. I didn't get anything.
As one of the calls was coming in, I showed it to a guy at work who just sort of back away from me. I think he thought the phone was going to explode or something

reply to post by Voxel


I agree with you 100%
I wanted to bring this out right after it happened to me, but my professor/lawyer told me to let things be for awhile. He said he didn't think it had anything to do with me coming on the Above Politics Show, but it was better to be safe. He said, "You never know who is watching and when. You may p*** off the wrong person at the wrong time."
But you know, while he is right, if everyone sits back and waits for things to blow over, then no one know that it ever happened to begin with.
I only hope a new administration will temper what clearly has gotten out of control.
They seem to forget, and investigation here and there...can destroy lives.

there are two different protocols for telephone service. There is the 10 digit protocol that we are used to, and the other is the same type that the white house and DOD use.....same up here in canada. The other is called the trunk protocol, used for direct contact or inter office communications. the general public has no access to this system and most don't know about it unless they have read a telecommunications textbook from school or an old bell handbook.

that is probably why you don't recognize the number(s) or have ever seen it before.

but before i say too much.............

Makes me wonder.... let's suppose for a moment, they have.... hmmm... a computer program- that calculates your chances for being a revolutionary, and somehow predicted your views when you went on that show. it would explain their attempts to tear you down before you ever get the chance to do whatever this wackjob computer predicted you could.


Methinks the Govt is a scary, frightening thing....

The only way to fight Government is with Government.

I had a serious problem with the local HazMat agency where i had a company in California, 1989. A group of kids broke into a wafer manufacturing plant down the street and stole entire crates of silicon wafers. Not knowing what they were and dumped them into the trash bin at my company. The garbage company saw it refused to pick themup and called hazmat. Hazmat wanted me to pay for clean up, which would have cost over 200,000. I called the EPA in Washington DC which called the superiors of the people at Hazmat and cleared up the situation. It cost me a few hours and couple of bucks in telephone calls and faxes.

A second situation occured when a Retired Military officer embezzled over 146,000 on a defense contract. He was a decorated combat and intelligence officer and hid behind the flag when i filed charges. The DOJ didnt care too much for his actions and tossed him behind bars, he is currently serving time for the crime. He had also embezzled funds from other contractors, he was recieving contracts from the DoD under quota systems for veterans and simply didnt pay the people actually performing work when the time came.

If you are being harrassed by a Government agency, find the agency that can balance out their authority. For Homeland Security you should contact the DOJ and inform them of the situation.

You cannot fight Government alone, you dont have the resources available. But there are agencies in Government that can, will, and take the fight for you.

The important item is you must carry the water. Calling the DOJ with documentation or a well written letter with references available for them to verify your statement is required. You must provide the ammunition that the agency can use. The more the better.

Government can get out of control, but there are many people in government that will fight for you if you handle the situation correctly.





[edit on 1-11-2008 by Hallberg Rassy]

Since they had so much information on you I doubt it had to do with this site. Many people have voiced their oppinions and made public videos about the same time frame and where they went or stayed after the hurricanes.

I am sorry for you and I believe your story. It is sad when people take advantage of the help and then ordinary people have to take the backlash. It happens. You can create your own reality. Fear will create something other than your peace of mind, just dont go there, this will blow over if you stick to your guns.

They have to check out so many of the people who applied for monies, it would be unscrupulous not to do so. Your name or social security was probably in the stack to be checked out. Simple as that.

Go about your life and feel greatful to have walked away from a tragedy which claimed so many lives. You may be smart to not go back for more of the same. Hope this all works out for you.

reply to post by Hallberg Rassy

A second situation occured when a Retired Military officer embezzled over 146,000 on a defense contract. He was a decorated combat and intelligence officer and hid behind the flag when i filed charges. The DOJ didnt care too much for his actions and tossed him behind bars, he is currently serving time for the crime. He had also embezzled funds from other contractors, he was recieving contracts from the DoD under quota systems for veterans and simply didnt pay the people actually performing work when the time came.

Oh... so now we have some idea as to where that 3 Trillion Pentagon bucks disappeared. A little here... a lot there... eventually it all adds up.

Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel. Samuel Johnson April 7, 1775

reply to post by antar


YOu are right in a couple of ways...
One, if I use reason, I am pretty sure they did not use my time on the AP Show/Thread to do this...however, the timing something which people who are of a conspiracy mind (which I tend not to be) could misunderstand.
Second, while I did get money from FEMA, I stopped it. I continue, even now, to get information from them asking me if I need further assistance.
I had to call them several times and send them two letters to get them to stop.
I don't know how many people did that.
Of course, they had no record of any of this happening.
At some point during the early going, all of the FEMA duties became one with Homeland Security and since it was a fairly new arm of the government at the time...much of mine and other people's information was lost.
Third, I figure if I can be proactive in stating my case...there will be a solid record of it here on ATS of when I did such things and how I truly feel since my "feelings" and "intentions" are being brought up so much by HS.

Originally posted by Hallberg Rassy
The only way to fight Government is with Government.
You cannot fight Government alone, you dont have the resources available. But there are agencies in Government that can, will, and take the fight for you.
The important item is you must carry the water. Calling the DOJ with documentation or a well written letter with references available for them to verify your statement is required. You must provide the ammunition that the agency can use. The more the better.
Government can get out of control, but there are many people in government that will fight for you if you handle the situation correctly.
[edit on 1-11-2008 by Hallberg Rassy]

I know what you are saying and for certain people it is a laudable aim. For me, I don't know. I have brought this up with my lawyer.
he has spoken with the federal prosecutors and told them we may bring a lawsuit of "wrongful prosecution" or something of that order. he also reminded him that each prosecutor is held responsible for the cases he tries...so, that an absurd amount of innocent people are not brought up on charges.
The problems lies here...
For now, the Fed's can say they are making a "good faith" effort to investigate a possible crime. What is "good faith?" Well, that is hard if not impossible to judge while the investigation is on-going. As far as I am concerned, my lawyer says this is a relatively short lifespan so far, as federal investigations go.
It may not be until after the fact I can do anything about it...and if the governmen is seen as doing a "good faith" investigation, then the money I spent and the time they took are just too bad.
I will be out the money, my employer now thinks I am terrorist because Homeland Security has spoken with them, and it is just tough beans for me.
People talk about tort reform, but this is just as needed.