Parkland kids inspire a veteran to march
Originally published in Nation of Change
The march for our lives brought over 800,000 people out to the streets of our nations capitol… hundreds of thousands more across the country as well. Like the Women’s March in January of 2017 or the March for Science later a couple months later – the March for our lives brought a new contingent of people out to the streets.
I’ve known Bill Fulton for a little over a year now personally. But the first time I met him I was in Alaska working for an Alaskan political blog called TheMudflats.net. That was the site that broke nearly every single Sarah Palin related news story you heard on the nightly news during the ’08 campaign – except the writers of the site, Jeanne Devon and Shannyn Moore never got any credit for them. When I was up there, it was 2010 and Tea Party darling Joe Miller was running for US Senate. Fulton was working security for the Miller campaign and due to an incident with a reporter which all the media got wrong (including us) we be came familiar with the then private security professional. Years later we would find out that our understanding of the incident was wrong and that Fulton had been working undercover to stop a militia from killing government employees. Well, at least that’s the long and short of it. You can read the full story in the book he co-wrote with Jeanne Devon, called The Blood of Patriots.
So when Bill Fulton told me that he was going to be attending the March for Our Lives in Washington DC, I was more than a bit surprised. While he has a strong disdain for the NRA, something I interviewed him about previously, he’s not the protesting type. Nor was he someone who ever would have considered himself a progressive, in fact he often spoke of being something along the lines of a libertarian. But the last rash of shootings and the gun lobby’s reaction to them seems to have moved him. The fear tactics that that the National Rifle Association uses really gets to him especially their claims that every piece of gun reform legislation is just a slippery slope to confiscation. “Well, it’s ideological messaging, which the NRA is beautiful at. They have a set ideology of fear and you have to have the ability to resist your government, and a lot of things that are based in nothing but someone’s worst nightmares. They keep the debate based on fear and we’re saying, let’s get facts, not fear.”
The fact that the people that the NRA speaks to are the same that he still investigates is top on the list of why he’s here today. He still works counter-terrorism, following right-wing militia groups like the one that he helped take down in Alaska. These groups have a love for the types of weapons used in Las Vegas and Parkland – you see them on the flags they wave with “Come and Take it” emblazoned across it. Fulton told me, “…in these we find this huge attachment to these types of weapons, and the fact that they’re available to people that literally want to murder innocent people is ridiculous. We have whole groups of these people all over the country, not just Alaska.”
Before he moved to Alaska he was Army Infantry for over a decade, so he knows guns. In fact he owns firearms very similar to the ones used in Parkland. It’s why it’s important that he and the group he came with made a showing at the marches across the country. [It’s] “because we do know the language. We know the guns. When you want to shut down the debate about gun violence because somebody doesn’t know the difference between a clip or a magazine, we’re standing up and saying, “Okay, we know the difference.”
Fulton joined the group of veterans, Common Defense, at the Navy Memorial along Pennsylvania Ave. The plan was originally to march with banners that read #VetsVsHate but as the march turned out to be too massive to move, they stayed in place catching the attention from many journalists and lots of kids who posed for photos with the diverse group.
Pam Campos, the executive director of the group described the relatively newly formed org as a “grassroots national organization that was born out of the Vets vs Hate Movement in 2016.” Common Defense is a PAC that not only fights for veterans issues, it endorses veterans for political office. But most importantly they use the national respect that people have for veterans to speak out on issues, like gun reform. Campos told me they represent, “Veterans who are tired of being used as political props who want our own political voice and who do not stand for the politics of bigotry and hate.”
I didn’t specifically ask, but it was pretty easy to assume that these men and women weren’t Trump voters. They also weren’t the stereotypical anti-war vets in wrinkled and tattered battle dress uniforms – they were clean cut and wearing matching black t-shirts with the hashtag #VetsForGunRefrom.
One of the big arguments on the right against the idea of respecting a student led movement is their age. Campos scoffed at the idea, telling me, “These children are bigger leaders than our politicians…. So, I grew up in Boston. I have seen violence, gun violence, in my communities. As someone who grew up working class, and I enlisted when I was 18. I enlisted out of high school. A lot of these children could enlist in the military themselves. And so, how is it that we can say that children can handle weapons of war, and enlist in the military, and yet also not listen to them now, when they’re demanding better and safer schools?”
The group rallied around the signs numbered a couple dozen, but dispersed throughout the crowd there were another 200 or so. But this is only the start, even Bill Fulton the previous activism cynic told me it wouldn’t be his last protest. Next up on Bill and Pam’s slate is a bill that’s co-sponsored by Republican congressman Don Young and Democratic Vincente Gonzalez. The bill, HR 3429 “Repatriate Our Patriots Act,” will bring back home ‘alien’ veterans who served honorably but because of a minor offense were deported. If they can bring Don Young, Alaska’s lone congressman, a man that believes that if German Jews in the 30’s had guns they could have prevented the Holocaust on board for a bill like this… I’m not sure what they can’t do.
From what I remember of court transcripts, Cox had a legal trial and was found guilty by a jury of his peers. That’s the way it works in America. He did a bad thing or three and is paying the price.
Thanks, Zach. Norm Olsen, are you familiar with the phrase TL; DR? Posts like yours are why it was created.
WHAT REALLY HAPPENED TO SCHAEFFER COX?
By Norm Olson
(pardon the formatting errors..I had to get this out right
away) When I read this article I was taken back to the day
that justice died. https://themudflats.net/archives/48733
Bill Fulton is a clever fellow. I’ve come to respect his tradecrafts without having to respect him. History recalls the traitors who would entrap others for their own purpose and self-acclaim. Bill Fulton did his job well, which e will be glad
to emphasize, but in doing so, he sold his soul to the devil.
Didn’t Mt. Carmel teach the FBI and AFT something?
Schaeffer Cox was never a threat… his words however
were, and are, and shall be.
In a stupid backhanded manner, Fulton participated in the
frame up operation to entrap Schaeffer Cox. The frame up
was ecessary, and three-part plan cooked up, first tear him
from his family, next put him among thieves, and finally,
spring the trap.
Get the picture in your mind now, here’s Schaeffer Cox, a
gentle man who ran for State Rep, the guy next door who
runs a landscaping outfit; and a man with the gift of
speaking confidently and passionately. Some have called
him Tom Paine. Listen to him. He speaks as eloquently as
any of the Founding Fathers and sees the principles of
representative government and the rule of law as almost
sacred. This gentle fellow, who sports an English cap and
tweed coat, the son of Baptist preacher…this fellow had to
be stopped. And just in time the federal government created
a place to keep him silent, but first they had to capture the
man bring him.
The “Bad Guy Gang” was created. Some sincerely wanted
to help Schaeffer and others smelled the feds and left.
Some we in with confusing information and all were victims
of plans ill made and security procedure such as OPSEC
and COMSEC forgotten as passions flared and people
started taking sides. And at the center was Schaeffer who
was now feeling the realization that as Scriptures said of His
disciples, “many turned away and followed him no longer.”
But the inner mix of bad guys, those who did all the talking
when Schaeffer was near, the thieves, traitors, and others
sat and talked.
In the mix of badguys were a federal agent named Bill
Fulton (actually I believe something else), and Gerald Olson
(paid informant and stooge).
Bill Fulton fronted as the owner of a military surplus store.
Gerald “JR” Olson was 5-time charged law breaker for
fraud, “bunko,” grand theft, and a host of other crimes
related to his septic system business and the unexplained
disappearance of a dump truck. Keep Gerald JR Olson in
mind, you’ll hear his name later.
Others in that small group were those who were part of the
militia group that Schaeffer represented, but their loyalty
seemed to be more in tune with the “cause” rather than with
Schaeffer. The loyalty as not misplaced, for these were
good men, and wanted to help Schaeffer, in the confusion
the mention of the feds getting involved some left. What
started out to be about protecting and conveying Schaeffer
soon became a rehash of federal power and the misuse of
it. Soon self interest weaned out a few more and the few
that remained were reduced still further by saluting the
cause more than it’s leader. In short, the only ones
remaining WERE the moles and informants and snitches and
pieces of turd such as Bill Fulton.
But had they spoken with me, I could have told him that he
is the mind behind the militia and the cause for justice, but
not the force. I told him later, but perhaps too late. But at
that time it was okay with Schaeffer. Then things started to
dissolve. Schaeffer had troubles at home. He wanted to
devote more time to his family and to provide for them,
which meant he would have to reduce his activities with the
militia. He became more the spokesperson and
representative than its “commander.”
Just as those men who stirred the hearts of the American
Revolutionaries did not go into its battle, so Schaeffer was
not given to “hump a pack in the boonies.” When Schaeffer
and I talked that last time at a campfire meeting at Bob
Bird’s house in Nikiski, we talked about what would be
necessary of us in the future. For privacy and away from the
ears of others who might overhear but never understand,
we sat alone in my car and tried to seek to understand what
God had for us, so that we would not fall into a trap. We
agreed that like old time prophets, we would walk the way
of those who proclaimed the truth to those who would, once
convinced and convicted by the truth, stand and secure
liberty and protect freedom BY THE TRUTH. We figured we
were like the Black Robed Regiments of old. We prayed
there together.
But the Schaeffer that IS and the Schaeffer I know was not
tobe shown to the world. The real Schaeffer had to be
erased and replaced with a man who was bent on
engeance. He had to be re-introduced as a man filled with
anger, with a grudge, with “blood in his eye.” A run-in with a
local overzealous Anchorage Police Person soon got out of
hand, domestic issues filled his heart, his job was suffering
as things began to fall apart. The past woes he proclaimed
against the government had to appear to seek fulfillment in
his new “reformed” personality. That’s what the FBI wanted,
and within a short time, the trap was set.
Indeed, the federals could not stop Schaeffer if Schaeffer’s
only “crime” was to “incite to social disorder” or some such
made up law.
And any attempt to stop his speech would run afoul of the
1st Amendment. So the feds couldn’t go after Schaeffer in
that way. Neither could they touch him if he stayed in his
social circle within the safety of his own pack. But the pack
started to fall apart. His leadership came into question and
followers shied away. Trouble at home, trouble with
the courts, trouble with the militia. He was feeling pretty low.
The best way to start to move Schaeffer from his
propaganda “mode” to an “action mode” would be to get
him angry at authority. The plan involved creating turmoil in
his family. Involved were social services, the local police
department, the Alaska State Troopers, and eventually the
Federal Justice Department. Skipping to end of the story,
we find a very angry Schaeffer (over domestic issues)
sitting in someone else’s house, listening to talk that he
couldn’t control, how could he… at this point he was
emotionally empty–weak and spirit and body.
When the table talk turned to reprisals and revenge,
Schaeffer looked inward to his fundamental beliefs. He had
never wavered from them. He was where David was when
threats from Saul drove him to seek protection among his
enemies, the Philistines. Satan was ready and placed
among those who provided help the serpents who were
ready to strike when this man of God was at his weakest
moment. And they did!
Schaeffer should have stood and renounced Fulton’s
charges and gone to bed. In Fact the meeting in Anchorage
included a shouting match between Schaeffer and Fulton.
The tape that Fulton made have vanished.
From what I heard, there was much bad blood between
Schaeffer and Fulton.
Schaeffer didn’t shout down the whole notion of reprisals or
retribution. That was not his way. What was happening was
that Schaeffer was overcome by the events in his personal
life, and now being in someone else’s house without his
family, and literally “on the run,” he let the talk overtake him.
The clinical term is “emotional breakdown” they used to call
it nervous breakdown but there’s nothing nervous about it.
It’s a pouring forth of your total being to God and seeking
help from on high. And relying on the Creator Who is Truth,
Who on the wall of an unjustly imprisoned man, was cared:
God Will Give Me Justice
Where Did 2-4-1 Come From?
Did Schaeffer Cox ever use the term 2-4-1. It was brought
into evidence that he was the origin of the phrase 2-4-1 and
came up as a primary piece of evidence offered to a jury to
convince them a conspiracy to harm federal officers was a
charge that would stick against Schaeffer Cox.
Schaeffer was accused of using this term. It’s doubtful that
Schaeffer ever used it, but I know who probably did.
In truth and in fact, it was I who, many years ago, thought
up the phrase for the first time during the Montana Freeman
affair. (all of this is documented) I used it, as a warning,
along with printed flyers, that talked about the redemption of
man’s soul after murderous deeds such as Waco. I warned
the FBI.
I floated the rumor that there would be reprisal this time to
honor Sammy Weaver and his mom and those who were
burned alive by the FBI at Waco. I told the press and the
agent who posed as press that reprisal was a threat.
Secretly, if I made this threat convincing enough, it would
create another factor for the FBI to calculate as either a
possible way out or the way into “unintended
consequences.” I hoped that the 50 or so
federal personnel in Jordan would be troubled and would
urge
for an early and peaceful resolution. I am convinced that the
FBI agents that I spoke to understood the unintended
consequences could be severe this time.
The threat would be to FBI personnel who were lodging and
taverning in the local town. History could have taken an
unexpected turn at this point, but I would like to believe that
I was a valuable target rather than a target of value. There
is a big difference, you know.
Well, don’t blame me for “crying wolf” or claiming that tanks
would never be sent or that a remake of Waco was
impossible… I don’t believe it. I believe this central federal
government is capable of anything.
I was so frightened that the FBI would call in tanks that I
made dire warnings of calamity that would befall FBI
personnel. Whether the threats were ever taken seriously,
or whether the FBI would create another Waco was
unknown to me, but I acted like a sincere madman, but
again, I believe the federals were told to leave me
alone. It would be a media circus the feds didn’t need
against the backdrop of old film footage of Mt Carmel
burning.
The threat claimed that FBI would pay if these people
were treated to the same punishment meted out by the FBI
and ATF at Mt. Carmel.
I was not arrested or detained during the week I spent near
Jordan. It was there, among a score of zealots, some
rather extreme, that I convinced them of the effectiveness
OF THE THREAT
to possibly forestall the arrival of armor to be used against
these people as happened at Waco.When talk got around to
dealing with the FBI, I said that when the possible
assassinations of FBI personnel began, it be 2-4-1,
(I was amused by something someone said about “not
wasting a
double tap”).
But seriously, I wanted to tell the press, and the next day I
did while meeting with the press at a coffee shop in Jordan,
I mentioned 2-4-1 to a group of media folks who had a
makeshift setup in a curtained-off room in the resturant.
There may be a reference to the things I said while in
Montana my https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-
news/twenty-years-ago-today-the-montana
-freeman-started-its-81-day-standoff-180958568/
How does this connect with Schaeffer Cox, you ask. Well,
among the people gathered in that ranch house near Jordan
was a young man about 15 or 16-years old. He was a fair-
haired teen who was alert, full of questions and very
interested in the militia. It really thrilled him that the guy who
got the militia up and running in America was sitting across
from him sipping good coffee while relaxing on a vintage old
fashioned chair. This young man impressed me with his
enthusiasm and he listened intently to everything I said to
the group, and to him. We talked about our common last
name and asked the requisite questions about who came
from where and when.
JR’s kin went up beyond the river while my kin settled in the
armlands of Michigan’s thumb county. We had a good chat
and I asked his name. He answered “Gerald Olson, but they
call me ‘JR’”.
Yes, this is the same Gerald JR Olson who sat at the table
there with others who were talking about crazy stuff. That
place where very few people remained who supported
Schaeffer. They served the cause, and most importantly,
they knew, as do all of us in the militia, that if you became a
martyr we will have more of a reason to fight and avenge
your blood. And it was Gerald JR Olson who used the term
I gave to him many years before. .. It wasn’t said by
Schaeffer at all, but rather by his accuser to frame him.
Remember
The next time I met Gerald JR Olson was at the big hotel in
Anchorage where Bill Fulton (and crew) staged a
“commanders call.” Bill Fulton was there with a film setup
(the tapes were never made public). Commanders talked. It
was a long room with a podium and “white board at one
end. At the back, near the entry door and to the side
sat Fulton and another fellow I didn’t know. I sat on the
other side of the room beyond the center aisle. Behind me
sat Gerald Olson. I spoke with him for a few minutes,
comparing notes about what’s been happening since those
days in Montana and what’s he doing in And and chat about
not much of nothing. All the while, Bill Fulton’s eyes were
steadily upon JR. JR was very nervous and uneasy and not
like an old friend and militia “hero” who he met under
different circumstances back in Montana. He seemed
frightened.
It was later that I learned (on-line) that JR had several court
cases being held up and others that were dismissed. He
was clearly cutting a deal.
I knew nothing of the trouble he was involved in or how he
was approached to be an actor in the frame up of Schaeffer
Cox. I did a search and found that he had been in trouble.
But trouble to me is a mystery of “why” I found out that he
suffered from poor judgment, gullibility, false trust, and a
reach longer than his arm. I shrugged and thought, “well, at
least he’s not guilty of a crime.” The State of Alaska
however, didn’t think so and scared the hell out of him with
threats of 20 years of working on the gut line at the cannery.
JR is NOT a competent witness to anything. He a fellow
with a very vivid imagination who still secretly believes in
superheros.
Fulton on the other hand is a very dishonorable man. He
sold his soul.
Today, Schaeffer sits in a correctional facility built to silence
the truth. They could not stop the voice so they stopped the
man and created a prison for is voice.
It is TL but I Did R.
Mr Olson- Respectfully, this is a loada hooey.
1- Co-opting Mr Roberts’ post about the Common Defense group and Mr Fulton’s participation in CD’s part in the larger March For Our Lives to rail about Mr Cox is rude. Worse than rude- selfish and self aggrandizing… kinda like Mr Cox always comes across… You have said nothing here which convinces me Mr Fulton did other than what came out in court.
2-AND completely ignores what the march was about .This march is way overdue as a beginning of the end of the horsepucky the NRA has been shoveling for too long while our kids get murdered. Participation by folks like CD will hopefully help as this unfolds in coming months and years.
3-Blowing steam that the B of P authors ought to have allowed you to edit the book? And should be ashamed they didn’t?? Crimenently. The way this works is you tell your story, other people tell theirs.
At whatever level I accept you can try to spin Mr Cox’s crimes and conviction however you want, you possess no credentials or real information which change anything nor compel anyone else to submit to your view.
Thank you Mr Fulton-and Common Defense. Thank you.