30 October 2008. Shepherd Johnson sends:

Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2008 20:26:23 -0400
Subject: Witness the federal police state. Coercion, lies and the mockery of justice.

I went down to the Richmond federal building today and made a statement to a Special Investigator with the Department of Homeland Security concerning the assault on me by an employee of the General Services Administration outside of a Federal Courthouse that occurred on October 21, 2008.

I did so at the behest of Special Agent Ed Ryan with the Dept. of Homeland Security. First off, he never informed me that I was going to be doing that. It was only at the end of the statement did I find this out, that this would be a "sworn affidavit".

Second, HE wrote down the statement, and there were several inaccuracies. When I pointed them out, the statements were stricken on that page. Even after I pointed out several, he left in a lot stuff that I told him to strike and I had to tell him to strike it again.

He wanted the statement to look disjointed, it was obvious that he was doing this on purpose which in my opinion is obstruction of justice. When I asked him about this he said, "That's okay," and tried to make me believe that it was no big deal. 

He purposely misinterpreted what I said and wrote it down in his own hand writing. When I told him that I wasn't signing it he all but coerced me into signing it and made me swear to it. I only swore to it because of two reasons, the statement had a caveat which said to the "best of my knowledge" and he also wrote at the bottom that he wrote the statement. When I told him to put this in he refused: "If there are any discrepancies or inaccuracies in this statement they only occur because of Ed Ryan's inability to interpret what I have told him and to right it down in the manner in which I stated." He refused to put that into my "official statement" even though I dictated that part to him and told him to put it in.

When I was done with that, he said that he would answer my questions. I asked him about the case. This is where he accused my of making the entire story up even though there were several witnesses. He said there were several "inconsistencies". He said that the witnesses claimed that the guy was never closer that 10 feet to me. A lie.

He then pointed to a statement in the affidavit. He had asked me if I had made a statement about this case anywhere before. I told him about the original statement to Homeland Security and the statement to the Richmond P.D. He whipped out a printed article from afterdowningstreet.org, the original email I had sent to David Swanson and John Young at cryptome.org and claimed that this was proof that I had lied in my sworn affidavit.

This really wasn't as shocking as Ed thought it might have been. You see, I sent a link to the Office of the Inspector General for the General Service Administration. I also sent the article to somebody in the Department of Homeland Security asking for an investigation.

He really thought he had a "gotcha" moment there but it fell flat.

So, Ed, if you are reading this and I know you are, does this email count as an official statement? Huh, Ed?

On my way out he also claimed that I had lied to the Homeland Security officer concerning my Social Security #.  Why would I lie then, only to come back and give them my proper Social Security #? Pretty weak arguments.

Why would I also supposedly lie about a statement which I myself sent to the Dept. of Homeland Security? It's clear that his only intention was to try and discredit me with his so called revelation that I had lied on the so called affidavit. This was his only intention. He claimed that the federal government could come after me for making false statements.

It was clear that Special Agent Ed Ryan was not concerned with justice, he was only concerned with making this case go away for the Federal government. He did a pretty horrible job of it. 

The Special Agent was Ed Ryan. He is a Special Agent with U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement.  Contact info here:

Ed Ryan
Special Agent
Federal Protective Service
U.S, Department of Homeland Security
701 Market St. Suite 4200
Philadelphia, PA 19106
edryan@dhs.gov

21 October 2008

Shepherd Johnson sends:

Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2008 13:28:58 -0400

First, let me say, the man who assaulted me was NOT a federal police officer. He works for the General Services Administration.

I was down in Richmond, VA, taking pictures of the Virginia State Capitol and then I decided to take pictures of the United States Post Office and Custom House (now a federal courthouse) just below the capitol. A guide says, "The building remains in use by the Federal District Court and the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. The building is one of Richmond's oldest and finest examples of government architecture." This is the building:

http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/richmond/USPostoffice.htm

This GSA guy was on a smoke break in an alley next to the Post Office building and told me to stop taking pictures. I ignored him, he continued to harass me, so I said I wanted his name and the name of his supervisor. He said he'd let me talk to him in person and took me into the building with him.

A federal marshal started asking what was going on when we try going through the metal detectors. At this point the GSA guy told me, "it is illegal to take pictures of federal buildings".  

The marshal started asking me questions and the GSA guy started going off. The marshal asked me to come outside to talk to him and I did.

More marshals arrive, and the original hotheaded GSA guy is out there as well. We are all now on a public sidewalk outside the federal Buildings. I tell my side of the story to the marshals.

At one point I point to the GSA guy and say, "I don't need to talk to that guy," at which point he yells, "Fuck you". I say (to him), "I'm gonna need your name and your supervisor's name," and I snap off several pictures of him to record the event. He again explodes and comes at me. 

More photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/27669106@N08/sets/72157608247985133/

The marshals are trying to hold him back, he swings and hits me in the chest. Not sure if it was with his elbow or fist. Anyway, that's assault.

The entire thing was witnessed by several people. And it was caught on tape by several security cameras.

I wrote a statement to Dept. Homeland Security ICE (Federal Protective Services). Tomorrow I will go down to the State Courthouse and file criminal charges against the guy.

Two Federal Protective Services officers, James A. Russell and Commander R. Cox responded. They said I would have to file requests with their office to get the security tape. One guy said to file an FOIA.

Is this true? I need to get that tape. It shows the assault. Any ideas on how to proceed?

I need to get a lawyer but can't afford one. Do you think I could get a lawyer to do this on a contingency basis? Do you know a lawyer who specializes in this who might like to take on the case?

I have pictures of the building and the GSA guy but not of the assault. Right now I have a copy of my statement to ICE and the names of the ICE officers. I don't know the name of the guy who assaulted me. 

There were tons of witnesses. Federal marshals and the administrator of that GSA building were there, people on the street and people in the office complex across the street. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Here is the contact info for the ICE officer who took my statement:

James A. Russell
Police Officer
Federal Protective Services
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
400 N 8th St.
Richmond, Va 23219
(804) 771-2206
james.russell@dhs.gov

__________

Cryptome Note: It is not illegal to take pictures of federal buildings or any other facility from a public sidewalk. Cryptome has taken hundreds in New York City, Washington DC and elsewhere. Cryptome has asked federal guards on several occasions about taking pictures; all said it was okay, a couple said this is your property not ours. On other occasions rent-a-guards have been hostile, act as though they have something to hide about their unimportance. In 2002 rent-a-guards at a CIA-State Department communications facility in Virginia (Warrenton Training Center Site D) confiscated camera and and video chips, saying they could be recovered by contacting CIA. Follow-up requests to CIA have been ignored.

A responds:

Please have someone try to take a picture of the DARPA building (3701 N. Fairfax Ave, Arlington, VA).  I have seen actual Arlington cops chase people down and delete the images from their camera.  Not just rent-a-cops.  Would love to see a collection of stories on your site.

Cryptome: New York State cops guarding WTC in October 2001 erased a camera chip. The photos were restored with a photo un-erase program. http://www.mit.edu/activities/safe/wtc/wtc-photos.htm Try to not let the chips or camera be taken without a warrant by bluster and bluffing, as happened at the CIA-State site. Keep spare chips for fast swap. Then photo the grabbers. Send photos and stories to cryptome[at]earthlink.net.