07/31/13 – George Donnelly – The Scott Horton Show

Hey all, Scott Horton here for TheBumperSticker.com.
I created it but quickly sold to Rick so I could do this instead.
In the decades since, he's made one hell of a great company.
TheBumperSticker.com makes digitally printed, photo quality, full color bumper stickers for your band or your business, as well as magnets, adhesive vinyl decals and labels for products and industrial use, and your political cause or campaign too.
TheBumperSticker.com also offers full custom graphic design for bringing your idea to reality.
Let TheBumperSticker.com help you get the word out.
That's TheBumperSticker.com at TheBumperSticker.com.
And tell them you heard it here.
All right, you guys, welcome back to The Thing here.
I'm Scott Horton.
This is my show, Scott Horton's show.
First guest up today is George Donnelly.
He's a libertarian activist and, sorry, I don't know your exact title, maybe the founder, creator of Shield Mutual.
What's that?
Welcome back to the show.
How are you doing?
Hey, Scott.
How are you?
I'm doing really good.
Thanks for joining us today.
My pleasure.
Yeah, so Shield Mutual is the aggressive first defense agency.
Basically what we do is we protect people from state and private aggression using public relations and a Gandhian truth force.
And what do you mean by that?
So basically when, you know, somebody gets arrested or cited or fined or raided or whatever, we go to work, we create an informational website, we keep people informed about what's going on, we issue press releases, and we present a narrative that counters the state narrative.
So, for example, in the case of Adam Kokesh, on Monday the judge denied him bail saying that he was a very dangerous man.
And so that's repeated by the media.
But of course, Shield Mutual, we come out and we are working on a project to show that Adam is a very peaceful man.
And so we counter the state narrative that goes along with the state aggression.
We also do things like we raise funds, you know, we keep your supporters informed.
We do call floods, we do mail floods, so we do all different kinds of things to bring attention to you when you most need it, when you're most vulnerable, and to get you out of that cage and to get the state to drop their charges, just like they did when we defended Adam from his May felony, federal felony arrest in Philadelphia.
All right, well, so that all sounds good.
And I guess, you know, as long as we're still talking about him, well, talk about that, about Philadelphia, and, well, what role you guys played in the dropping of those charges?
Sure.
Well, in Philadelphia, May 18th, Adam was arrested, he was speaking to a permitted marijuana legalization rally, and they trumped up some ridiculous federal felony assault charges.
He was facing up to eight years in prison.
And so basically, we launched a huge call flood.
We issued press releases, and we raised more than $6,000.
And I think, you know, I can't really be sure what exactly led the prosecutor to drop the charges after six days completely and just, you know, go with harmless little citations.
But I think that it was a combination of Adam's strength on the inside, his resolution and determination, and also the strength that the community, his supporters, and Shield Mutual, all of us had on the outside, because not only were we calling them, inundating them with phone calls, not only were there people outside the prison and the courthouse at all times making a lot of noise, but we also raised thousands of dollars for his legal defense.
So you have to really think that the prosecutor is in there saying, okay, this guy might just be more trouble than he's worth.
You know, I'm going to fold on this one so that I can focus on somebody else, some other victim who isn't as well defended.
Yeah.
Well, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think what happened there was they were trying to figure out a way, an excuse, to have him locked up before the, at that time, planned march on, armed march on Washington for the 4th of July.
But the problem was they were just, you know, like Rand Paul, premature, and they kind of blew it.
They would have had to hold him too long.
It was still three or three and a half weeks away, four weeks away, or something like that.
So they kind of were like, well, shoot, I guess that wasn't going to work.
No?
Yeah.
It was still about six weeks away.
Yeah.
I don't know what goes through their minds, you know, but I do know that- But, I mean, in that footage, he clearly wasn't doing anything at, you know, he wasn't smoking pot at that rally or anything like that.
He was just speaking to the rally.
I mean, that's basically- And the cops were clearly there on a mission just to get him, you know?
They'd all seen his picture, and he was the guy that they were there for, no question about it.
It definitely seems like it.
All right.
Well, so now he's in jail again because there's footage of him racking a shotgun with Washington D.C. in the background, and now I admit I haven't really, you know, studied or looked into it too deeply, and I've basically seen coverage of it on Facebook and that kind of thing about, you know, questions, I guess, whether or not that's a green screen behind him or whether he was even in Washington, D.C. at the time that he racked that shotgun.
But then, of course, the other reports are that while he was raiding, he's charged- Is he even charged with the shotgun thing, or he's been charged with possessing mushrooms for crying out loud?
What is this, 10th grade?
Yeah.
On 9th July, paramilitary U.S. Park Police raided his home in Herndon, Virginia.
They had the laser sights, the APCs, even the black helicopters, and they were in there for hours.
They just ransacked his house.
And the witnesses say that they brought in large brown evidence bags that appeared to be full.
So there is an allegation that the mushrooms and whatever else they claim to have found were planted.
But in any case, they have filed charges at the Virginia state level with respect to the mushrooms and the simultaneous possession of firearms, which is apparently some kind of victimless crime there in Virginia.
So at the same time, the feds were planning to do a single felony firearm possession charge for the July 4th video in Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C., where he racked the shotgun.
And so as soon as he bailed out of the charges in Virginia, they picked him up.
And right now, and on Monday, he had a bond hearing in Washington, D.C. on that single felony charge of possessing the shotgun in Washington, D.C.
And Judge Frederick Sullivan denied him bail, saying that he was, quote-unquote, a very dangerous man.
Okay, so let me make sure I understand you right now.
The warrant under, I'm not exactly sure which jurisdiction, was for the gun charge.
They just came to arrest him, but then they claim they found mushrooms while they were there.
So they charged him with, in Virginia state court, on the mushroom charge.
Then they turned him over to the D.C. cops or the feds to indict him on the gun charge.
That's exactly right.
Yeah, the gun charge is a D.C. thing.
It's being heard in D.C. superior court.
All right, so then it was some kind of multi-jurisdictional task force that went and arrested him, and he lives in Virginia, correct?
Yeah, U.S. Park Police teamed up with Herndon, Virginia Police, to do that raid.
And then, you know, I think it's worth going back over the Waco-style, you know, full-scale assault here, flashbang grenades, and SWAT team helicopters, as you say.
All the reports were not just armored personnel carriers, but they sealed off the whole neighborhood.
Do these people believe what they tell each other at their briefings before they go out?
Or is that just for show?
This is a silly side issue.
Is that just for the local news, so they can look tough?
Are they really that terrified of Adam Kokesh?
That's a good question.
I mean, come on, man.
Because they didn't call in the local media to be there.
It's supposed to be impressive, but it makes me think that they are a bunch of tiny little sissies.
Well, you know, if they need to go in there with all that kind of overwhelming firepower and all the paramilitary gear, and putting the laser sights on peaceful people, I mean, that's just insane.
It's totally out of control.
All right.
So what's the deal?
What are you guys doing for Adam?
You sent me this thing all about how, you know, all kinds of interesting ways you guys have been brainstorming how people can get involved in helping Adam Kokesh.
Obviously, he's going to have a hell of a lot better chance defending himself on these charges if he can prepare on the outside of the cage.
That's right.
And, you know, when they put you in a cage, you know, I don't know if it's their intention, but the outcome is that it's really hard to defend yourself and get yourself out of the cage.
You need help from outside to do it.
When I was arrested in 2010 on federal felony charges, you know, I was lucky.
I had tons of friends, and they helped me get out.
They were ridiculous charges, and I beat them.
Now Adam needs our help.
What we're focusing on right now is this ridiculous thing that Judge Frederick Sullivan in D.C. said on Monday that Adam is a, quote-unquote, very dangerous man.
That is ridiculous.
None of the charges against Adam have a victim.
These are all victimless crimes.
And so at myfriendadam.org, we are running a campaign starting tomorrow, tomorrow morning, and we're asking everybody to record a video talking about, very briefly, why Adam is a peaceful man.
You know, just starting off saying, Adam Kokesh, my friend Adam Kokesh is a very peaceful man, and just talking about, you know, what parts of his activism you like or whether it's his Iraq veterans against the war stuff or whatever that you like and why you think he's a peaceful man.
And we're collating all this media that people are creating at myfriendadam.org, and we're going to, we're giving away prizes for the best media.
We already have prizes from Free Talk Live, Rebel, Inc., Shield Mutual, a whole bunch of different people are donating their prizes in support of Adam.
And we're going to use all this media to get follow-on attention both in the Liberty community and in the mainstream media so that when Adam has his next hearing on August 13th, that, you know, we want to convince that judge, we want to make him eat his words and make him understand that Adam is a peaceful person, and he needs to be let out on bail immediately.
Well, I think that's a great idea, and, you know, yeah, definitely you've got to get the local news somehow to include that as part of the narrative.
You know, on the other side, apparently, geez, dozens and dozens, maybe hundreds of people have all gotten together to explain why, from their own individual point of view, an anecdote of their own about how they know that Adam Kokesh is peaceful and not a dangerous person kind of thing, you know, I don't know.
That's not the kind of thing that usually happens in a criminal case, right?
Maybe it's unique enough and interesting enough, and after all, I mean, here's a guy with a shotgun saying, I'm trying to be like Gandhi and Henry David Thoreau, so it's already interesting, you know, and, you know, obviously, the right to bear arms has nothing to do with the right to commit aggressive acts against other people in any way and never did have anything to do with that, and I know that's not what the judge is trying to say that he thinks, so, you know, I don't know, man, I think that there's room to fight here.
I think that you're onto something, and I think that's a really good idea, so, and also, I know, as you well know, that Adam Kokesh has a hell of a lot of fans out in the libertarian movement, so, and he travels around, does a lot of speaking and a lot of activism, so there's got to be 10,000 anecdotes about something he explained about the non-aggression principle to somebody one time or whatever, make a little YouTube out of it, make a video, and check out myfriendadam.org, and then, so tell us a little bit about the prizes, give them a little bit extra incentive to chip into this thing, George.
So among the prizes are books from author Taron Lupo, $1,000 in free advertising from Free Talk Live, the talk radio, libertarian talk radio show by Ian Freeman and Mark Edge out of New Hampshire, we've got shirts and CDs from Rebel Inc., we've got silver from Shield Mutual, and we've got a bunch of other stuff in the pipeline.
We've got a free Adam Kokesh t-shirt, we've got a book by Lark and Rose, and it's just going on and on, and we've just barely started collecting the prizes.
In the end, we may be awarding, like, 50 prizes, so it's not just, you know, a first, second, third place kind of a thing.
A lot of people are going to get prizes from Liberty Businesses here, and we hope more Liberty Businesses are going to jump onto this opportunity to get some publicity in exchange for making donations of their merchandise, products, service, gear, or whatever.
Well, yeah, and it's just doing the right thing anyway, so why not?
Yeah, and it only takes a minute to record a video.
You can go onto YouTube and, you know, with your webcam or use your cell phone, and it'll record it right off of there and immediately post it.
I mean, it's like a 90-second thing, and just tag it with the hashtag, MyFriendAdam, and then post it to Twitter, and you're entered to potentially win one of the prizes.
Right on, man.
Well, good work, George.
It sounds like a good thing.
I'd like to think if the state ever came and kidnapped me that somebody would try to help me out, you know?
So I don't know.
I can't think of any prize to offer anybody or anything other than a hearty thanks and a handshake or something, but I like Adam Kokesh, and I sure would like to see him, you know, free from state custody and for the rest of his long life, too.
So I hope people will get inspired, do something to try to help out, try to chip in.
That's George Donnelly from Shield Mutual, and the website is MyFriendAdam.org, and you said once they're done, once they post a video, all they've got to do is put a hashtag and put it on Twitter with the hashtag MyFriendAdam, correct?
That's right, Scott.
That's great.
All right, and then it's ShieldMutual.com, is that correct?
Yes, that's the address of my business, yep.
Okay, wonderful.
Thanks a lot, George.
I really appreciate it.
Thank you, Scott.
Always a pleasure.
Have a great day.
You, too.
All right, everybody.
That's George Donnelly from Shield Mutual at ShieldMutual.com, and hey, doing their part for libertarian activism.
That's an important component of libertarian activism, I think, trying to help keep each other out of jail.
Oh, man, I'm late.
I sure hope I can make my flight.
Me?
I am standing here.
Come here.
Okay.
Hands up.
Turn around.
Whoa, easy.
Into the scanner.
Ooh, what's this in your pants?
Hey, slow down.
It's just my ...
Hold it right there.
Your wallet has tripped the metal detector.
What's this?
The Bill of Rights?
That's right.
It's just a harmless stainless steel business card size copy of the Bill of Rights from SecurityEdition.com, therefore exposing the TSA as a bunch of liberty-destroying goons who've never protected anyone from anything.
Sir, now give me back my wallet and get out of my way.
Got a plane to catch.
Have a nice day.
Play a leading role in the security theater with the Bill of Rights Security Edition from SecurityEdition.com.
It's the size of a business card, so it fits right in your wallet, and it's guaranteed to trip the metal detectors wherever the police state goes.
That's SecurityEdition.com.
And don't forget their great Fourth Amendment socks.
Hey, guys.
I got his laptop.
Hey, y'all.
Scott Horton here for Rocky Mountain Miners at RockyMountainMiners.com.
Ever wanted to destroy the Federal Reserve System?
Now's your chance.
New free market currencies are making our fake government money a thing of the past and good riddance.
If you want to mine new bitcoins and litecoins into circulation, you need a computer set up to crack the codes to the new coins.
Get the Prospector from RockyMountainMiners.com.
It's ready to do the work right out of the box.
Crack the equations, spend the money.
Use promo code SCOTTHORTONSHOW and save $100.
Get all the info and get the Prospector at RockyMountainMiners.com.
Hey, y'all.
Scott Horton here for WallStreetWindow.com.
Mike Swanson is a successful former hedge fund manager whose site is unique on the web.
Subscribers are allowed a window into Mike's very real main account and receive announcements and explanations for all his market moves.
The Federal Reserve has been inflating the money supply to finance the bank bailouts and terror war overseas.
So Mike's betting on commodities, mining stocks, European markets, and other hedges against a depreciating dollar.
Play along on paper or with real money and then be your own judge of Mike's investment strategies.
See what happens at WallStreetWindow.com.
Hey, y'all.
Scott here inviting you to check out Modern Times Magazine at ModernTimesMagazine.com.
It's a great little independent publication out of Phoenix, Arizona, featuring unique views on economics, politics, foreign policy, sports, and music, with great art scene coverage and fiction writing as well.
That's Modern Times Magazine at ModernTimesMagazine.com.
Hey, everybody.
Scott Horton here.
Do you think maybe your group should hire me to give a speech?
Well, maybe you should.
I've got a few good ones to choose from, including How to End the War on Terror, The Case Against War with Iran, Central Banking and War, Uncle Sam and the Arab Spring, The Ongoing War on Civil Liberties, and of course, Why Everything in the World is Woodrow Wilson's Fault.
But I'm happy to talk about just about anything else you've ever heard me cover on the show as well.
So check out YouTube.com/Scott Horton Show for some examples and email Scott at ScottHorton.org for more details.
See you there.