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From left to right, Danny, Matt Kazee and Terry Melton in NYC at ground zero on 9/11/07, the day before Danny was arrested
Dan Riley, a supporter of Ed and Elain Brown, was arrested and charged with assisting Ed and Elaine in their stand against the Federal Income Tax fraud. This blog will be used to keep everyone up to date on the status of Dan's legal defense against these charges.
Trial - day 9 events:
USS Peterson
He was trained on all the weapons on the destroyer including missile systems, 5 inch guns, small arms etc. He was married after boot camp and has 4 children ages 11, 9, 7 and 5. He left the Navy after the 9/11 incident and held several jobs including working as a correction officer at a half way house for just under a year. He had a falling out with management and left. He said the problem they had with him was that he "cared more about individual rights than his fellow officers." He then became a bouncer and at a dance club worked a short time in a liquor store and as a security guard at a hospital. He ended up taking a position as a weapons mechanic with an independent contractor working for the Department of Defense in Iraq, he was able to get that position because of the secret clearance he had obtained while in the Navy. He spent 6 months in Iraq. He became disillusioned with the poor quality control that resulted in sub standard weaponry being sent back to troops in the field. He had experienced the realities of the war in Iraq. He described how after he voiced his concern with quality control he received death threats. He was told you should shut up because mortars were falling all around and one may fall on you. He quit the job because "he didn't want a mortar to fall on him." He left Iraq in July 2006. He than conducted research on the "truth movement" and "depleted uranium". He described depleted uranium armor piercing ammunition as basically a "dirty bomb". He was asked why he bought a 50 caliber weapon. He described it as an investment because the prices were going up and the wait to obtain one in Texas was long. He also described how he felt the government was trying to outlaw them and that he believed in exercising his 2nd amendment rights. He had a concealed carry license from Texas. He described how he was working on a project with Mr. Al-Oboudi to go back to Iraq and that he gave all his weapons to his brother because he "didn't expect to make it back". He described how he first saw Tannerite at the Stone Eagle gun shop and that he was interested in 50 caliber shooting competitions because the prize money was good.
Reno said there was no talk of intimidating the US Marshals at the first jamboree, he never left any ammunition at the Brown's. He had no knowledge of any of the weapons purchased after May. Never saw any pipe bomb parts. He described an incident where Ed showed him a zip gun and asked if he make them, he said he wouldn't because he felt they would be like a mine and could kill indiscriminately, were illegal, and it was a "bad idea". Never saw any wire for zip guns, never saw Tannerite packages in the trees. He mentioned that pipe bombs were brought up jokingly in conversations with some of the guest of the Brown's. He did see cans of gun powder in the basement but that they had not been modified or had nails taped to them. He mention that Ed bragged about getting the gun powder by the government. he described the events on 6/7/2007 which was the day of the aborted arrest attempt by the Marshals. He described that he was woke up by Ed telling him that Zoey the dog came back without Danny and he thought he heard shots in the woods (Government video showed that shots were indeed fired at Danny). He then described how he and Ed went searching around the property for Danny thinking that he could be dead. He then described how Danny showed up later that same day and how Danny was beat up, scared, upset and crying. Reno said how Ed didn't trust him and Ed would ask him "why are you here?" Reno said, "it was because of the cause that we are slaves to the government." He said shortly after that he felt there was no longer any value to being at the Brown's and that it was a "waste of time". He described the falling out he had with Ed shortly after Ed met his father Jose. He said that Reno's father was a "soulless, godless communist" and that he was his seed and had to leave. Reno responded that sometimes "Ed was a Jerk". He left with Lisa Mullenex and spent some time traveling from hotel to hotel in Vermont and Pennsylvania and he urged Lisa not to go back to the Brown's. He described how several other supporters had contacted him and tried to get him to return but to no avail. He didn't respond to the "Red Alert" email that Danny had sent out because by the time he read the email it was already old. He ended up back in Texas where he ended up associating with Cindy Sheehan and the Iraq peace movement. He was asked by Cindy Sheehan to be part of her security for a trip back to Iraq with Mr. Al-Oboudi.
End of day 9.
Mr. Nunes then described how he surveilled Danny going to Home Depot and then to Walmart. He noted that Danny came out of Walmart with a large envelope. They then went into the Walmart to the photo department and downloaded the photos that remained in the memory on the digital photo kiosk. They revealed that Danny had blown up a portrait of Ed and Elaine Brown (big whoop!).
End of day 7.
Here is the manufacturer’s example of the type of explosion that a 1 lb plastic jar of Tannerite would make:
http://www.tannerite.com/nu.mpg
Here is another video from youtube showing what small amounts of Tannerite can do:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFhXi1oKPqk
These are hardly the big bad “lethal bombs” that the government would like to make the jury believe they were. Everyone likes to type the word “Tannerite” into Google and immediately view the videos where they are blowing up 10, 20, 30 lbs of Tannerite at a time. That is not what we saw today, we saw single 1/2 lb plastic jars of Tannerite in zip lock bags nailed to trees along the tree line and the corner of the carriage house all at about 8 ft up with the fluorescent orange sticker on the jars clearly visible. All the Tannerite was within line of site from the front porch of the Brown’s house. This would be more like an M80 or a 1/4 stick that you would see on the 4th of July.
End of day 4.
Federal District Court, Defendant, Discovery Demands 2
Federal District Court, Defendant, Discovery Demands 3
ENDORSED ORDER denying 208 MOTION to Demand Discovery Exculpatory Evidence Being Withheld as to Daniel Riley (1). Text of Order: Denied. Government shall provide Brady and Giglio per prior Order of the Court. So Ordered by Judge George Z. Singal. (jar) (Entered: 01/25/2008)
Federal District Court, Defendant, Motion to Dismiss, Prosecution Misconduct, Lied to Grand Jury
ENDORSED ORDER denying 218 Motion to Dismiss as to Daniel Riley (1). Text of Order: Motion Denied. The original indictment has been superseded. So Ordered by Judge George Z. Singal. (jar) (Entered: 01/30/2008)
Federal District Court, Defendant, Motion to Dismiss, Prosecutorial Misconduct
ENDORSED ORDER as to Daniel Riley 200 MOTION to Dismiss for Prosecutorial Misconduct. Text of Order: Government shall respond on or before February 1, 2008. So Ordered by Judge George Z. Singal. (jar) (Entered: 01/25/2008)
Federal District Court, Defendant, Motion in Limine to Compel Proof of Jurisdiction
ENDORSED ORDER denying 142 MOTION in Limine re: Jurisdiction Over the Defendants, Compel Answers to Question of Jurisdiction as to Daniel Riley (1). Text of Order: Denied as frivolous. So Ordered by Judge George Z. Singal. (jar) (Entered: 01/15/2008)
Federal District Court, Defendant, Constitutional Challenge, Deprivation of Guranteed Rights
ENDORSED ORDER as to Daniel Riley denying 197 Constitutional Challenge Deprivation of Guaranteed Rights. Text of Order: Denied So Ordered by Judge George Z. Singal. (jar) (Entered: 01/25/2008)
Federal District Court, Defendant, Motion for an Aquital Based on no Jurisdiction
ENDORSED ORDER denying 207 Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Jurisdiction as to Daniel Riley (1). Text of Order: Denied So Ordered by Judge George Z. Singal. (jar) (Entered: 01/25/2008)