Alfons interviews Michael Cook: Michael Cook accused George Bush of being complicit in the 9/11 attacks, he is now being incarcerated for psychology evaluation by the federal government.
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Mike calls from County Jail on Thursday 02/08/2007, day 4 in jail without trial
MikeCook02082007.mp3 Mike doesn't know where he is going, when he will get there, or how long he will have to stay.
This is a brief history of my legal problems. There are potentially
lucrative lawsuits in the information presented here, and much more in information not presented here, for attorneys willing to take them on. I have no criminal record and a very respectable background.
In April of 2005, I shared information on the attacks of 9/11/01 with my
teaching assistant. I was working as a special educator for the Covington, Ky. Independent School District at a state funded residential treatment center for abused and neglected boys. (I had previous experience with that population in "wilderness therapy" programs or "hoods in the woods" and I was working on a Master's Degree in Special Education at Northern Kentucky University - NKU.) I had a Kentucky permit to carry a concealed weapon and was doing so. The reasons for this precaution were very valid and extend beyond my involvement in the 9/11 Truth Movement. I had been giving my aide, and sometimes her daughter, a ride home after school and I knew that to discontinue this would be a considerable inconvenience for her. I was very willing to continue giving her a ride, but I felt apprehensive that she was not aware of the circumstance she was in while riding with me so I tried to inform her somewhat and showed her my pistol to emphasize that I was serious about this, that this was reality. She "freaked out" and took this information to my boss, who took it to the police.
The Covington police came to the classroom the next day before the
students arrived and took me to the psychiatric ward at St. Elizabeth Hospital. I was compliant and was not arrested or read the Miranda and I was not charged with any crime. A Kimber pistol that was locked in my car, with a cable lock on it, was confiscated and never returned. I had the ammunition locked in my office. This is a standard, officially recommended and safe procedure, to keep the firearm and the ammunition separate and locked. At the hospital, Dr. Petit saw me for 30 seconds or less and diagnosed me as Paranoid Schizophrenic. About all I got to say was, "9/11 was an inside job." This is a true statement and I encourage you to examine the work of Dr. Steven Jones of BYU and Dr. David Ray Griffin for confirmation of that fact.
The Petition that went to Campbell County District Court to have me
involuntarily committed was filed by Ms. Linda Lambers. She was a mental retardation professional and was qualified to assert that I was mentally retarded, not mentally ill, but that is what she asserted in the legal document. The petition went through the office of Judge Gregory Popovich. I think that it is telling that Dr. Petit was not willing to put his name on the petition, which is how it should have been done.
I spent about 3 weeks in the psych ward. I did whatever was asked of me,
including taking medication, because I figured that it would help me be released sooner. I spoke freely with mental health professionals whenever I was asked to. I was released on the grounds that I was not a danger to myself or others.
I was fired from my teaching job and spent the summer working as a
carpenter. I am a journeyman in the union. I applied for other teaching positions and was accepted at a "day treatment" program for the Campbell County, Ky. School District. Such programs are for adjudicated youth. During the first day of employment in August of 2005, the agency responsible for the certification of teachers, the Kentucky Educational Professional Standards Board (EPSB) suspended my teaching certificate due to the hospitalization and the Campbell County School District could no longer employ me. I returned to carpentry.
The EPSB began the legal proceeding to revoke my teaching certificate early
in 2006. This is an administrative hearing conducted by the Ky. Attorney General's office. During a telephone conference with the hearing officer, Mr. Thomas Hellmann, and the attorney for the EPSB, Ms. Cynthia Grohmann, I was given verbal permission to present evidence and call witnesses to substantiate my claim that the attacks of 9/11/01 were an "inside job." It seemed logical to me that if I could substantiate my claim, prove that my assertion was valid, then that would argue against my having a mental disability and this met no resistance. I contacted Dr. Jim Fetzer, one of the founders of Scholars for 9/11 Truth, and he contacted other
professionals in the 9/11 truth movement. In short order, I had Dr. Fetzer, BYU physicist Dr. Steven Jones, commercial pilot and aeronautical engineer Nila Sagadevan, former Deputy Attorney General of Pennsylvania Philip Berg, Esq. Colonel George Nelson, USAF (ret.), and Chemist Kevin Ryan ready to testify.
I submitted this witness list and another pre-hearing telephone conference
was quickly scheduled by Ms. Grohmann. I was then told that evidence pertaining to 9/11 was not relevant to my case. According to Mr. Hellmann, "Cook misconstrues the allegations against him and the nature of the proof that will establish that the charges have no merit. Cook seems to assume that if the hearing officer finds that there was a government conspiracy regarding 9/11, he could not find that Cook has a mental incapacity. One finding has no relationship to the other, however, since one could believe there was no government involvement in 9/11 and still have a mental incapacity, just as a person could believe that there was government involvement in 9/11 and have no mental incapacity. Thus, proof of the government's involvement in or a conspiracy regarding 9/11 has no direct relationship to the charges against Cook." In other words, the validity of what you are saying has no bearing on your rationality. The irony runs deep here, for I am being accused of being irrational and an irrational argument is being used to prevent me from submitting evidence that would rationally support my mental health. While it is true that I could be crazy and correct about 9/11 at the same time, since I was called crazy for what I was saying about 9/11, proving the validity of my claims would seem to be a step in the direction of establishing my rationality, coherence, correct thinking, sanity, etc.
So, for this case, I thanked the good people who were willing to testify
and told them that, unfortunately, I could not present 9/11 evidence and focused instead on establishing that I had been doing an excellent job of teaching.
Another case was begun when St. Elizabeth Hospital began a civil suit in an
effort to get me to pay for my involuntary hospitalization. They only asked for $760 when the total bill was $8,500. The only reason I can think of for why they would ask for such a small amount is to keep the case in District Court. To ask for the full amount would put the matter before the Circuit Court. My written response to the suit included the true statements "I did not request or require the services rendered to me. I was not a danger to myself or anyone else. I was not charged with any crime." At that time, I still did not know for certain who had filed the petition to have me hospitalized. I maintained that I should not be required to pay for services I did not request or require.
The case came before, surprise surprise, Judge Popovich in April 06. At
that time, the petition and other legal papers that put me in the psych ward could not be found, so it was rescheduled. I promptly found the documents and eagerly went to the following court date. I had been to the law library at NKU and researched the statutes pursuant to my case and felt that I had a pretty reasonable shot at winning this in a trial. I had not obtained legal counsel because I could not afford it, and I wanted to see if I would get a trial. No surprise, Judge Popovich entered a summary judgment, with no motion filed for it by the plaintiff, to the best of my knowledge, or time for me to answer to such a motion, and I was denied a trial and ordered to pay. I sought a lawyer and got some minimal help at a maximum price. I filed a motion identifying the shady legal maneuvers and asking for leave to file a counter claim. It was subsequently denied and I appealed to the circuit court and that was denied, with no mention made of the shady legal maneuvers, naturally.
The current FEDERAL CASE against me began on 5/18/06. President George W.
Bush was coming to town to raise funds and speak at NKU. I hand delivered a package of 9/11 Truth materials to the President of NKU a week beforehand with a polite letter requesting an opportunity to speak with the NKU president and the Board of Regents about this vital matter. I was in favor of showing a 9/11 Truth movie to the audience before President Bush arrived or, preferably, while he was there, but I realized his strict schedule might make that unfeasible. I was calling and emailing the NKU president's office steadily in the days leading up to President Bush's visit, thinking that he might require a little encouragement. I made a mistake, a poor choice of words, in an email on 5/18. What I should have said was something like, "Eventually, President Bush will be charged with Treason, be found guilty by a jury of his peers, and be shot by a firing squad." What I did say was, "Eventually, he will be shot for treason." So, the Secret Service came to see me. We chatted politely and I was cooperative. They were surprised that I was surprised to see them. It really was an honest mistake and I explained fully. To be on the safe side, they confiscated my firearms, 1 .22 pistol and 2 .22 rifles, 3 shot guns, one 9mm pistol- no assault weapons or anything - and gave them to my local police. The agents were polite and reasonable and would not take any 9/11 Truth materials but one of them did write down the titles of Dr. David Ray Griffin's books.
W showed up on 5/19 and I participated in the protest at NKU without any
problems, though I did have 2 police cars follow me out as I drove away. I waited until 5/24 to go to my local police who promptly gave me my firearms back and very reluctantly accepted some 9/11 Truth materials. All I had to do was sign release forms for the firearms. (My concealed carry permit had of course been revoked after I was taken to the psych ward. I plan to try to get it back but have been too busy with other legal matters to pursue it. I did take the initial steps in that direction and have been informed that I have 9 years ((8.5 now)) to make an attempt. I am grateful for that generous time span in particular and Kentucky's intelligent firearm legislation in general. I had replaced the vacancy of my pistol in my fanny pack with DVDs and flyers containing 9/11 Truth, which are actually MUCH more dangerous, so I still felt safe.)
I was promptly contacted again by the Secret Service. The agent said that
he wanted to help me get my guns back. I told him that I already had them back. He then told me that he didn't think I was supposed to have them because I had been to the psych ward. I did not ask the obvious questions of why he was about to help me get them back if I wasn't supposed to have them, or how the Secret Service is not aware of a mundane matter such as this if it wants to be informed, but merely said, and continued to say for some time whenever contact was made, that if I was shown a legal document saying that I could not have firearms that I would immediately surrender them, or preferably give them to my brother. Some of the firearms belonged to him and my nephews and I was merely looking after them. No such documentation was ever produced. On 6/20/06, the Secret Service served a search warrant issued by virtue of a sealed affidavit filed by the agent I had been dealing with and confiscated my firearms again. This time they held on to them. I promptly issued a "yelp!" to my community of 9/11 Truth Activists via the web. This situation was responded to in a very humorous fashion by Dr. Kevin Barrett that can be found here: http://mujca.com/secretservice.htm
So, I continued to work and play and wonder what might happen. I was
presented a summons on 8/16/06 by an excellent U.S. Marshal and was arraigned on 8/17/06 and received a court appointed lawyer. The case is: The United States of America v. Michael Cook; United States District Court, Eastern District of Kentucky; Criminal Case No. 06-66-WOB. (I am not superstitious, but I think it is worth noting the case number, 666.) I stand accused of a felony weapons violation which carries a maximum of 10 years and $250,000. Again, I have no criminal record at all and a reasonably fine, upstanding background. I was less than enthusiastic about this lawyer's performance and fired him, following the advice of a 9/11 Truth aware lawyer I was connected with thanks to Dr. Jim Fetzer, just prior to a pretrial hearing on 10/6/06. This lawyer very promptly contacted me and I allowed him to remain in my service. (I will spare you the details. What he had to say sounded reasonable and was substantiated by subsequent examination on my part. I also understand, and have considerable empathy for, anyone who has difficulty coming to grips with the reality of 9/11, which remains relevant to this case regardless of any irrational arguments to the contrary that may be made.)
At the pretrial hearing on 10/6/06, my lawyer filed a motion for me to be
evaluated for mental competency to stand trial. It is my understanding that any reasonable lawyer would want to take this step, and could actually be considered negligent if they did not, give the circumstances. The order was filed on 10/11/06 and I was notified by the U.S. Marshals on 10/26/06 that I am to surrender myself to the Federal Medical Center, 3301 Leestown Rd. Lexington, Ky. 40511-8702 (859-255-6812) today, 11/1/06. I do, of course, intend to comply.
If all goes well, I hope to have a trial soon. I hope to present evidence
of official complicity in the attacks of 9/11/01 at this trial.
I spent 45 days at FMC and was evaluated for about 12 hours during that
time. The evaluation report was due on 1/15/07 and it said that I am not competent to stand trial. Ricky Ray Rector, who wanted to save his dessert for after the execution, was competent to stand trial, but I am not.
On 1/19/07 I learned that the prosecutor has filed a motion for me to be restored to competency. A hearing date has not yet been set.
On 1/30 I learned that there will be no hearing. The judge has issued the order granting the prosecution's request and I will self surrender, again, to the Federal Medical Center by 2:00 on Monday 2/5/07. The law
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/ts_search.pl?title=18&sec=4241 Allows for 4 months, with periodic hearings. I just learned yesterday that extensions can be filed for and would most likely be granted but I don't yet know how long those extensions could extend my stay. After 4 months, if I have still not been "restored to competency", the sensible thing to do would be to dismiss the case. The absurd thing to do, in this absurd world we inhabit, would be to go to the next law
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/ts_search.pl?title=18&sec=4246 and try to have me committed for life. Yes, you heard right, life in "prison" (call it a hospital if you want, you're still locked up) without a trial. IF I get to that point, and I certainly hope that I don't, I will just have to hope and pray that the cavalry comes. They should not be able to do this since I'm not violent. If I'm not a danger to myself or others, they should not be able to this. But, at this point, nothing can surprise me. Also, there's no telling what might happen in prison. I could be forced to defend myself and be called violent or some inmate could just be persuaded to lie.
Best case scenario, I am found competent in short order and get a fair trial where I can present relevant evidence, i.e. the WHY and HOW I was placed in the psych ward in the first place at the very least, evidence that 9/11 was an inside job at the very best.
Second best scenario, they keep me and F with me as long and as much as they can and the case is dismissed.
Third scenario, I'll need a rescue. What did Alanis Morriset say? "The fire trucks are coming up around the bend."
Inshalla, Good Lord willing and the creek don't rise, I won't get to that point.
As of Thrusday Feburary 08, 2007 Michael has not arrived at the FMC, and does not know when he will arrive, or if he will be going to the FMC mailing address listed below. Upadates will be added when they are known. Mailing address at the Federal Medical Center- (FMC- Free Mike Cook!)
Michel Cook
11288-032
FMC
P.O. Box 14500
Lexington, Ky. 40512-4500
The case can be followed on this site http://pacer.psc.uscourts.gov/ You have to register and there's an eight cent charge per page. The case is the USA v.s. Michael Cook 06-66 Eastern District of Kentucky, Northern Division at Covington.