Opinion: Why I’m Not ‘Grateful’ for Michael Strickland Sentence

May 4, 2017

No. I’m not. Here’s why.
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This post has been updated to add photos and clean up the presentation that, sadly, had to be done quickly at the airport. 

If you’ve looked at my Facebook posts or seen the news you know by now that Michael Strickland has been given no prison time for pulling a gun in self-defense on a bunch of fascistic, in-bred cult ‘protesters’ who assaulted him once and then came back to do it again at a rally and march on July 7, 2016. He faced as long as 50-years-in prison for the overcharged counts in this case.

Strickland will serve a 40-day jail term (which will be reduced with time served), hours of community service, thousands of dollars in fines, be put on three years probation, and have his second amendment rights forever stripped (unless and until this conviction is vacated), and his first amendment rights to record these drug-addled mental patients and engage in journalism halted for years.

Strickland learned of his (temporary) fate Wednesday morning  in a downtown Portland courtroom presided over by Judge Thomas Ryan.

And inside the courtroom was the Star Wars bar scene.

Sitting amongst the faux anarchists and ironically self titled “anti fascists” (antifa) in the courtroom Wednesday reaffirmed several cliches about these people.

At least three of these nuts had been arrested recently on riot charges, violence and vandalism. One had been in federal prison at least three different times. Three cops, one wearing a TAC vest and eye protection, had these guys on eye lock.

This guy, second row, far right is Luis Marquez. He was just arrested in relation to the latest Portland riots. He had been sitting right in front of …

… this guy: Multiple state and federal felon Ben Kerensa:

You might have read about  him on this website.

This guy (below) was one row in front of me sitting next to Kerensa. He waited long enough  to find out if Strickland was going to prison. Then he grabbed his bike helmet and left … probably to make his meeting with his probation officer:

I’ve been watching people like these for years. I outed them in the early 2000’s for their A.N.S.W.E.R. group which included animal and eco terrorists. Their Friday-at-4 drum circles were a constant source of entertainment. Their money laundering scams were based at a church. Their tree screaming …

I outed their phony “occupation” of the park in downtown Portland and showed their union paymasters running the operation. My colleagues and I outed how PSU and PCC  aid and abet their violence (thank you,  Daylight Disinfectant and Laughing at Liberals!).

These cult members work in packs. They wander from “crisis” to “crisis” to express their “outrage” at … well, whatever they’re told to. Or dream up. This is the depth of their vision:

“Hey, hey, ho, ho (fill in the blank) has got to go.”

They’re fakes. Their outrage is fake. There’s no there there. Their outrage has no terminus. What fun is there in that? They’re frauds.

And here was the latest generation of professional protesters in court. Most looked like they’d just meandered in on a stopover between getting their ’test results’ at the clinic and hopping a bus to get their free methadone fix.

They set up Michael Strickland by assaulting him, and now they waited, like a pack of hyenas, to bay in the victory as another guy who thought differently than they, was finally  ‘getting his’ at the hands of a politically manipulated judiciary. Some anarchists.

The extra security wasn’t there because of Strickland or his supporters. These multiple felons and recent arrestees — a millennial rogues gallery — sat in the courtroom hoping Strickland would be forever silenced.

And here was Strickland. Getting worse than they ever had. All for defending himself against this pack of un-thinking, vapid thugs. And it happened in a court that preferred riot to gun rights.

People said they were grateful for the lighter sentence for Strickland. I’m not.

I’m not ‘grateful’ that Michael Strickland won’t be going to prison for defending himself at a Black Lives Matter/Don’tShootPDX rally and march last July. He never should have been brought up on charges in the first place.

I’m not ‘grateful’ that a person gave a ‘victim’ impact statement and urged no prison time for Strickland. He was the one who helped instigate the whole, sorry affair and then bragged about it on video.

I’m not ‘grateful’ that Strickland ‘only’ has to do 40 days in jail (29 with time served). Innocent men should not be put behind bars.

I’m not ‘grateful’ that Strickland can never possess a gun until this conviction is vacated because these trumped up charges have made him a felon.

I’m not ‘grateful’ that Strickland is restricted from being able to make a living, though required to pay fines, because the judge basically said that he’d asked for it by filming these loons

I’m not ‘grateful’ that the world will get to see the video taken by Strickland of the first assault that took place against him which caused him to draw his gun when they came back to do it again. That tape was purposely put on lock down by the Kate Molina and Todd Jackson of the DA’s office because it exonerated Strickland. It should have been out in the public domain from the beginning.

I’m not ‘grateful’ for the 240 hours of community service he must serve as a mea culpa for ‘victimizing’ one of the people coming to assault him again.

I’m not ‘grateful’ that people who believe in the rule of law must now scrape together what’s left of their savings and help defend Strickland against a system that has turned the rule of law on its ear in this case.

I’m not ‘grateful’ that Strickland has to go through the Oregon ‘justice’ system again in a retrial and appeal.

I would be grateful for help from the long list of constitutional legal groups I’ve begged to take on this case.

I would be grateful for more national attention on this outrageous case.

I would be grateful for financial help for Strickland’s defense and for his living expenses since the judge says that even recording weddings is a bridge too far for the videographer.

DONATE HERE.

I would be grateful for an unbiased legal system.
But until there’s reason for gratitude, I’ll be over here writing about this case.