Tornado Alley (PROG)

[fuagf]

Good one. Caldwell leaving the military just one year before pension time

"Much of the logistical planning seems to have been done by Caldwell, a 65-year-old retired Navy Reserve member who served from 1976 to 1995 as an intelligence officer, according to the service. He retired as a lieutenant commander, but records do not give any indication as to why he left just one year shy of the typical 20-year mark that would have granted him a pension.

Little else is known about Caldwell's service since older service records are transferred to the Military Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri, and are not readily accessible by the service branches or the public. His lawyer, in arguing for his release from pretrial detention, told the court that Caldwell went on to work as a "section chief" for the FBI from 2009 to 2010 and also formed a consulting firm that performed "often classified" work for several government agencies, although these claims could not be verified."

"MORE, Military News: Inside the Oath Keepers' Plan for an Armed Takeover of the US Capitol"

Your link - https://www.military.com/daily-news/2022/01/20/inside-oath-keepers-plan-armed-takeover-of-us-capitol.html?ESRC=eb_220121.nl

then ending at the FBI, is one interesting bit.

One little one on the charge: Sedition

By FindLaw Staff | Reviewed by Maddy Teka, Esq. | Last updated January 08, 2021

Suppose that over the course of a few months, a small band of armed militants has coordinated strategies to distribute firearms and take over the nation's capital by force through a website on the clandestine "deep web." All indications show that the group is dead serious in its intentions, but they're thwarted by an FBI investigation that leads to arrests. While sharing information and discussing ideas -- even distasteful ones -- is generally protected as free speech, the FBI believes this crosses the line. The alleged ringleaders of the plot are charged with "seditious conspiracy" (simply referred to as "sedition"), a federal crime related to treason and other anti-government offenses.

Sedition is a serious felony punishable by fines and up to 20 years in prison and it refers to the act of inciting revolt or violence against a lawful authority with the goal of destroying or overthrowing it. The following provides an overview of this particular crime against the government, with historical references.

Seditious Conspiracy and Federal Law: The Basics

The federal law against seditious conspiracy can be found in Title 18 of the U.S. Code (which includes treason, rebellion, and similar offenses), specifically 18 U.S.C. § 2384 .. https://codes.lp.findlaw.com/uscode/18/I/115/2384 . According to the statutory definition of sedition, it is a crime for two or more people within the jurisdiction of the United States:

* To conspire to overthrow or destroy by force the government of the United States or to level war against them;

* To oppose by force the authority of the United States government; to prevent, hinder, or delay by force the execution of any law of the United States; or

* To take, seize, or possess by force any property of the United States contrary to the authority thereof.

Free Speech, Sedition, and Treason

In order to get a conviction for seditious conspiracy, the government must prove that the defendant in fact conspired to use force. Simply advocating for the use of force is not the same thing and in most cases is protected as free speech under the First Amendment. For example, two or more people who give public speeches suggesting the need for a total revolution "by any means necessary" have not necessarily conspired .. https://www.findlaw.com/criminal/criminal-charges/conspiracy.html .. to overthrow the government. Rather, they're just sharing their opinions, however unsavory. But actively planning such an action (distributing guns, working out the logistics of an attack, actively opposing lawful authority, etc.) could be considered a seditious conspiracy.

Ultimately, the goal is to prevent threats against the United States while protecting individuals' First Amendment rights, which isn't always such a clear distinction.

Sedition differs from treason (defined in Article III of the U.S. Constitution .. https://constitution.findlaw.com/article3.html ) in a fundamental way. While seditious conspiracy is generally defined as conduct or language inciting rebellion against the authority of a state, treason .. https://dictionary.findlaw.com/definition/treason.html .. is the more serious offense of actively levying war against the United States or giving aid to its enemies. Another way of looking at it is that seditious conspiracy often occurs before an act of treason.

Seditious Conspiracy: Historical Examples

Many of the more high-profile seditious conspiracy cases won by the U.S. government involve Puerto Rican nationalists plotting to overthrow the U.S. and assert their independence. The first was Pedro Albizu Campos .. http://www.jibaros.com/albizu.htm , who (along with nine accomplices) was convicted of sedition in 1937 and jailed for 10 years for attempting to overthrow the government. He and others had been active members of the Nationalist Party, which (according to the U.S. prosecutors) was aimed at independence through force. Other, similar cases involving Puerto Rican nationalists followed.

More recently, in 2010, nine members of a militia group called "the Hutaree" spanning Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana were charged with seditious conspiracy .. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/nine-members-militia-group-charged-seditious-conspiracy-and-related-charges .. on suspicion of planning an armed conflict against federal, state, and local law enforcement. They were acquitted by a judge in 2012 .. https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/28/us/hutaree-militia-members-acquitted-of-sedition.html , however, due to insufficient evidence.

Charged with a Federal Crime? Get in Touch With a Defense Attorney Today

https://www.findlaw.com/criminal/criminal-charges/sedition.html