Mercy for
Schaeffer
is needed.
Schaeffer
Cox is from Fairbanks, Alaska.
He
gave many good speeches to large crowds
about American history, preserving
liberty, supporting the 2nd
amendment and following the
constitution. Schaeffer wanted to alert citizens to the dangers of
continuing to pile onto the national debt. This could lead to
insolvency and eventual collapse of the country. He started several
groups such as “the 2nd Amendment
Task Force”, “the Liberty Bell Network” and the “Peacemakers Militia”. His
first major public speech was on Feb 9, 2009 at Denny’s restaurant in
Fairbanks.
Unfortunately,
he was arrested on March 10, 2011
by federal and state law enforcement
officials, and has been in prison ever since (almost 9 years). Yet he has never
harmed a soul, nor robbed anyone. He had nothing to do with drugs. He seems to
me, to be a very decent and peaceful man, with a lovely wife and 2 young
children. He should be reunited with his family.
He
is serving a 26-year sentence in federal prison
(in Illinois, I believe).
A
hearing is scheduled for Nov. 4, 2019
in Tacoma Washington to see if his
26-year sentence should be adjusted.
I
hope some people in Fairbanks will write some letters in support of letting
Schaeffer out of prison so that he may be reunited with his family.
UPDATE
It is now past November 4,
2019. The resentencing hearing in Tacoma Washington is now over, so it
is no longer necessary to send letters of support for Schaeffer to the
judge at the address given immediately below (for the Nov. 4 hearing).
The good news
is that Judge Bryan (during the Nov. 4, 2019) resentencing hearing
reduced Schaeffer's sentence down by over a decade from about 26 years
to about 16 years. I think it was as far as the judge could go within
the parameters.
The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner (Nov.12,
2019) reported that Schaeffer Cox was: "...very grateful for how the
(resentencing) hearing was conducted and how the judge was very fair in
how he handled the hearing."
The next move for Schaeffer and his
federal public defender - Michael Filipovic, is to go back to court to
try to reverse the "conspiracy to murder federal officials" conviction.
In 2017, a federal appeals court reversed the count of
"solicitation to murder". They reversed it because the federal
'hit team' that the security team was supposed to guard against (at the
television station KJNP) did not exist. This reversal of that
"solicitation" conviction allowed for the sentence to be reduced by
approx. 10 years (at the Nov. 4, 2019 hearing). But the reversal of the
"solicitation" count calls into question the basis for the "conspiracy"
conviction. |
Letters of support can be sent to his public defender at:
Michael
Filipovic
Federal
Public Defender
1601
5th Avenue, Suite 700
Seattle,
Washington, 98101 |
The fax number to his Public Defender (above), is (206) 553-0120.
The judge that is scheduled to hear the case is the Honorable Robert J. Bryan.
So the letter could start out "Dear Judge Bryan..."
But
the letters are supposed to be sent through the office of Schaeffer's
public defender, which is listed above.. Ideally the letter should
be sent to the public defender prior to a week before Nov. 4, though, I
understand "supplemental " material might get to the judge at a date
closer to Nov. 4. But, I imagine, the earlier the better.
A few prayers wouldn't hurt either.
(But like the update
said above, the Nov. 4 hearing is over. It is now 2020. No letters need
to be sent to Judge Bryan. I am grateful for the reduction of sentence
for Schaeffer. I'm also grateful for all those who prayed for leniency.)
(The flash from the camera bounces off the mirror that is laying flat on the table.)
I attended just about every public meeting that
Schaeffer Cox had in Fairbanks
starting on Feb. 9, 2009 at the Fairbanks Denny’s restaurant. The last public
meeting that I attended was on Jan. 15, 2011 which was also at Denny’s.
I had never been to any of his militia meetings, nor have I ever been to his
house. But I have talked with him and his wife at Fairbanks Republican
luncheons and at the Interior Alaska Conservative Coalition. I agree with many
of Schaeffer’s views, but not on some “sovereign citizen” ideas that he had.
What if you disagree with Schaeffer's politics?
But
even if one does not agree with everything that another person says or
believes in, I think it is good to support mercy for that person, if
that person has been locked away for almost 9 years. Schaeffer may have
been outspoken at times, but he is a peaceful man, who has not harmed
anyone or stolen anything.
I
advocated for mercy (no impeachment) for President Bill Clinton (1998)
even though I did not vote for Clinton and did not like his policies - more on Page 3 
Above, Schaeffer is holding his little son Seth. A little later Shaeffer and Marti had another child.
Argument in car
Schaeffer had a tussle with his wife, Marti,
in the car, while driving on a trip toward Anchorage
in Feb. 2010. Marti mentioned it later to her mother. Then, the mother (who did not
like Schaeffer) reported it to the police. Marti did not want any trouble from
the authorities about this, and in my opinion, her wishes should have been
respected. It was certainly proper for the police to check into the matter and
file a report. But the actions of the authorities should have ended there if they
determined that Marti was OK and that she did not need or want any assistance.
It was wrong for the grinding wheels of the
justice system to continue pursuing this matter and cause the Cox family
aggravation, in my opinion. It would be different if there had been repeated
domestic disturbance reports from the Cox family.
I theorize that this was a tipping point for Schaeffer, causing him to greatly
resent the court system and consider it illegitimate. I think it caused him to
eventually go overboard with his rhetoric. While I think that his rhetoric was
occasionally out of the bounds of proper decorum, I don’t see where it was ever
criminal.
The trial of Schaeffer Cox
and some of his militia members was held in Anchorage, Alaska, in June
of 2012. The Schaeffer's Peacemakers Militia was based in Fairbanks,
yet the authorities decided to have the trial in Anchorage. Sometimes a
trial will be moved to a different city from where the alleged offences
were committed, so as to give the defendant a better chance with an
impartial jury, that does not have any biased or angry feelings against
the defendant.
But in the Schaeffer case, it seems possible that
the reasons for moving the trial to a far away city, was just the
opposite of the normal reason for occasionally doing so.
Many people
in Fairbanks knew Schaeffer, and had attended his speeches, and knew he
was a good guy, and understood what he had been speaking about.
Conviction
In
his trial in Anchorage, he received a conviction for "conspiracy to
murder federal employees" and "solicitation to murder federal
employees". (The "solicitation to murder federal employees" was later
(Aug. 2017) thrown out by a 3 judge panel.)
But the "conspiracy" charge still stands.
By
the way, for the record, I consider murder of a federal official
(or of any government or law enforcement official) to be absolutely
abhorrent and deserving of the harshest punishment. I also consider any
"plan" or conspiracy to murder, to be very bad. I also consider loose
talk about hypothetically killing someone, even if there is no real
intent, to be very improper. But we are all human, and many people will
vent off and say harsh things on occasion, even though they have
absolutely no intension of carrying out their verbal utterances.
When does brash talk become a detailed, secret, multi-step "conspiracy" plan?
I’m no expert
on the law, but it seems to me that a genuine "conspiracy to murder" should have certain
elements:
• An agreement between 2 or more people;
• A specific plan of action, with true intent;
• A specific target;
• A time frame, with date, time and place (or alternates) where the perpetrators will carry out
their attack;
• The method;
• And a plan on how they will make their getaway, and cover their tracks (alibi, etc.)
I just don’t see those elements in the Schaeffer case.
Schaeffer's TV interview at the KJNP studios in North Pole (near Fairbanks).
The “conspiracy to commit murder” conviction had
to do with Schaeffer having an armed bodyguard at the KJNP television station
(outside, while he was inside) in November of 2010 to protect himself from a mythical assassination squad from
Colorado. I
don’t see how there can be an actual conspiracy conviction when there is no
actual existing human target that can be named.
Also, I've seen previous Alaska Governors having a bodyguard, and I imagine that he (the plainclothes bodyguard)
is probably armed and probably has instructions to shoot to kill if an assassin
attempts to assassinate the governor. That seems like a reasonable defense
measure to me.
I’m sure that no legitimate group from the federal government would come in a
clandestine fashion to assassinate Schaeffer. If, hypothetically, there was
such a group, then they would be operating outside of the law, and without the
approval of the agency from whence they supposedly came. But there was no such
group. Schaeffer was just a bit paranoid, in my humble opinion.
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Alaska, 99707