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| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
I mentioned on the hotel/casino post that Cary and I began this drive to the coast to meet Francis Schrader in Roseburg. Unfortunately we never did meet up with him, and I think that is our loss.
Francis actually lives in the Myrtle Point, where he owns and runs a gravel pit with his wife. No employees, only them. Everybody in the town loves him, and believes that he is a great guy. Over time, he was given many tickets (over 60) by the Department of Labor's MSHA (Mine Safety Health Administration). MSHA has been very heavy handed with those who own above ground mines, lumping them in with the underground coal mines. It sounds horrible that somebody could get over 60 tickets, but the inspectors give them out for unflushed toilets and potato chip wrappers in the wastebasket. The more tickets you get, the more they snowball into a higher level of fines (like a weird sort of video game). The inspectors get "audited" if they don't write enough tickets, so they go for it, fair or not. The fine money goes into the general fund. I wish that some of it would be used to clean up the oil spill, but it will probably go into bailing out a financial institution instead.
Francis is a constitutionalist and has declared himself and his property as a sovereign nation. I don't know much about that kind of stuff, but in the end, Francis decided to ignore his the tickets based on two things: that the government does not have to tell him how to be safe, and, because he is a sovereign nation, he does not have to play by the government's rules since they do not apply to him. Ultimately, Francis will end up going to jail instead of paying the fines. I don't even know how anybody could afford to pay the fines for that many tickets anyway. Once you get 10 in a certain period of time, they can jump up to $250,000.
That said, in early May, the U.S. Marshals arrested Francis at gunpoint on the street in the quaint little town of Myrtle Point. They called him up on his cell phone, lied and said that they had just run into his dump truck and wanted to pay him cash for the damages, and to please hurry up and get there because they were on their way out of town. Here is the rest of the story according to the Myrle Point Herald:
"MP Man Arrested at Gunpoint" by Mary Schamehorn, Editor of The Myrle Point Herald:
"Two men have Francis Schrader at gunpoint."
That was the 9-1-1 call that came in shortly before 10 a.m. last Tuesday.
When an officer from the Myrtle Point Police Department arrived on the scene at 433 Railroad Avenue, it turned out that the "armed subjects" were agents from the U.S. Marshal's office who were arresting the 65-year old man on outstanding warrants.
The arrest involved Schrader's failure to appear after being cited for safety violations at his All Coast Concrete rock pit east of Myrtle Point.
Schrader was taken to federal court in Eugene where he was jailed and later released.
The first person the Herald spoke with, at the court house in Eugene, said originally it was a civil case, but it became a criminal matter when Schrader failed to appear at the show cause hearing.
At his May 4 appearance in federal court, Schrader declined the appointment of counsel, telling the court that he would represent himself.
Reading from the court docket, a spokesman for the U.S. District Clerk's office said "the parties were ordered to confer regarding resolution of proceedings. Following conferral, government agrees to provide defendant with copies of the citations and court-ordered conditions which would allow him to continue to mining (for rock)."
A civil case was filed in January for safety violations under the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act. He was given until Tuesday (May 11) to decide whether or not he wants to continue mining and will advise the government by that date of his decision. During the week between May 4 and 11, he agreed not to mine. He was later released on his own recognizance and returned to Myrtle Point.
At press time, the Herald had not learn of his decision.
Mike Shimizu, Seattle, regional director of public affairs for the U.S. Labor Department, told the Herald he could not give the paper much information as the case is still "an open investigation."
"It does involve conditions under the Mine Safety and Health Act that he has refused to respond to. Inspectors have been out to his rock pit, and he refused to abate some of the conditions that we cited," Shimizu said.
He would not confirm if this were a routine inspection or if it came as a result of a complaint.
Schrader told the Hearld that he had "hundreds of pages of tickets. I laughed at them. I got thrown in jail for a few hours. It's the principal of the thing," he said.
"Are your prepared to die today for your liberties? Several people in Myrtle Point witnessed ...a Gestapo act of terrorism and the kidnapping of an American citizen for a for-profit corporation," Schrader said. See Schrader's letter to the editor below.
That was the 9-1-1 call that came in shortly before 10 a.m. last Tuesday.
When an officer from the Myrtle Point Police Department arrived on the scene at 433 Railroad Avenue, it turned out that the "armed subjects" were agents from the U.S. Marshal's office who were arresting the 65-year old man on outstanding warrants.
The arrest involved Schrader's failure to appear after being cited for safety violations at his All Coast Concrete rock pit east of Myrtle Point.
Schrader was taken to federal court in Eugene where he was jailed and later released.
The first person the Herald spoke with, at the court house in Eugene, said originally it was a civil case, but it became a criminal matter when Schrader failed to appear at the show cause hearing.
At his May 4 appearance in federal court, Schrader declined the appointment of counsel, telling the court that he would represent himself.
Reading from the court docket, a spokesman for the U.S. District Clerk's office said "the parties were ordered to confer regarding resolution of proceedings. Following conferral, government agrees to provide defendant with copies of the citations and court-ordered conditions which would allow him to continue to mining (for rock)."
A civil case was filed in January for safety violations under the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act. He was given until Tuesday (May 11) to decide whether or not he wants to continue mining and will advise the government by that date of his decision. During the week between May 4 and 11, he agreed not to mine. He was later released on his own recognizance and returned to Myrtle Point.
At press time, the Herald had not learn of his decision.
Mike Shimizu, Seattle, regional director of public affairs for the U.S. Labor Department, told the Herald he could not give the paper much information as the case is still "an open investigation."
"It does involve conditions under the Mine Safety and Health Act that he has refused to respond to. Inspectors have been out to his rock pit, and he refused to abate some of the conditions that we cited," Shimizu said.
He would not confirm if this were a routine inspection or if it came as a result of a complaint.
Schrader told the Hearld that he had "hundreds of pages of tickets. I laughed at them. I got thrown in jail for a few hours. It's the principal of the thing," he said.
"Are your prepared to die today for your liberties? Several people in Myrtle Point witnessed ...a Gestapo act of terrorism and the kidnapping of an American citizen for a for-profit corporation," Schrader said. See Schrader's letter to the editor below.
"Schrader Describes Arrest for Rock Pit Violations"
This was a letter to the editor in the Myrtle Point Herald, in the small town of Myrtle Point, Oregon earlier this month, and is written by 65-year-old Francis Schrader, the owner of All Coast Concrete.
To the editor:
"Are you prepared to die for your liberties? Several people, in Myrtle Point, witnessed, on May 4 at about 10 a.m. a Gestapo act of terrorism and the kidnapping of an American Citizen by a for-profit corporation. The Myrtle Point citizen on the street or near the mini-mart near Railroad Avenue were at risk of being shot or killed during this assault.
An American citizen was called three times by phone and lied to on each call. This citizen was told that there had been an accident and damage done to the citizen's parked truck by a man called Jim Roberts. The person on the phone said he got the cell phone number off the door on the damaged truck. He said he had to soon leave town, but wanted to settle the damages first, in cash, and he asked for the citizen to come to the dump truck.
When the citizen arrived at the dump truck at around 10 a.m., he found no damage and nobody around. He suddenly saw two plainclothes me running toward him from about 150 feet away, yelling, one of which was pointing a revolver in his direction. He was told to get on his hands out of his pockets, turn around, and hands behind his back. The 65-year-old citizen was taken to the pavement by two men in their 30's, from behind, and handcuffed. They refused to give any identification as to who they were. They then began picking up all the papers and personal items that had flown from the citizen's pocket during the attack.
A neighbor, thinking this was a mugging, robbery, and/or kidnapping, called 9-1-1. The Myrtle Point police officer that arrived on the scene ask them two times while his gun was pointed at them what was going on and who they were. At first they ignored him. At this point, the citizen was in the line of fire. Finally, arrogantly, they replied that they were U.S. Marshals, at which time the Myrtle Point officer forced them to show identification.
The guns were lowered and the citizen was hauled to the U.S. District Court in Eugene.
The people of Myrtle Point were in great danger if shots had been exchanged. The Myrtle Point police officer did a very professional job of protecting the citizen. Thank you. There was no reason to approach the citizen in the manner they did, as he did not even have a traffic ticket on his record!
Could this happen to you? This citizen hopes not. When one stands up for what is right and true, the allege government does not like it. Fear is the weapon they use. This citizen is not buying their bullying tactics.
This is all over whether I have the right to work in my rock pit without their jurisdiction, as if this citizen does not know how to take care of himself. The Mine Safety and Health Administration, better known to rock pit owners and workers as MSHA, is behind it all.
This citizen has the creator as his Lord and Savior. He will not submit to such tyranny with the Kind of the universe by his side. I covet the prayers of all who stand for truth, love and liberty."
Francis Richard Schrader, Sovereign American,
Myrtle Point, republic of Oregon
To the editor:
"Are you prepared to die for your liberties? Several people, in Myrtle Point, witnessed, on May 4 at about 10 a.m. a Gestapo act of terrorism and the kidnapping of an American Citizen by a for-profit corporation. The Myrtle Point citizen on the street or near the mini-mart near Railroad Avenue were at risk of being shot or killed during this assault.
An American citizen was called three times by phone and lied to on each call. This citizen was told that there had been an accident and damage done to the citizen's parked truck by a man called Jim Roberts. The person on the phone said he got the cell phone number off the door on the damaged truck. He said he had to soon leave town, but wanted to settle the damages first, in cash, and he asked for the citizen to come to the dump truck.
When the citizen arrived at the dump truck at around 10 a.m., he found no damage and nobody around. He suddenly saw two plainclothes me running toward him from about 150 feet away, yelling, one of which was pointing a revolver in his direction. He was told to get on his hands out of his pockets, turn around, and hands behind his back. The 65-year-old citizen was taken to the pavement by two men in their 30's, from behind, and handcuffed. They refused to give any identification as to who they were. They then began picking up all the papers and personal items that had flown from the citizen's pocket during the attack.
A neighbor, thinking this was a mugging, robbery, and/or kidnapping, called 9-1-1. The Myrtle Point police officer that arrived on the scene ask them two times while his gun was pointed at them what was going on and who they were. At first they ignored him. At this point, the citizen was in the line of fire. Finally, arrogantly, they replied that they were U.S. Marshals, at which time the Myrtle Point officer forced them to show identification.
The guns were lowered and the citizen was hauled to the U.S. District Court in Eugene.
The people of Myrtle Point were in great danger if shots had been exchanged. The Myrtle Point police officer did a very professional job of protecting the citizen. Thank you. There was no reason to approach the citizen in the manner they did, as he did not even have a traffic ticket on his record!
Could this happen to you? This citizen hopes not. When one stands up for what is right and true, the allege government does not like it. Fear is the weapon they use. This citizen is not buying their bullying tactics.
This is all over whether I have the right to work in my rock pit without their jurisdiction, as if this citizen does not know how to take care of himself. The Mine Safety and Health Administration, better known to rock pit owners and workers as MSHA, is behind it all.
This citizen has the creator as his Lord and Savior. He will not submit to such tyranny with the Kind of the universe by his side. I covet the prayers of all who stand for truth, love and liberty."
Francis Richard Schrader, Sovereign American,
Myrtle Point, republic of Oregon
Everybody feels as if this could have been handled much differently. Francis is apparently a nice man and very reasonable, and would have just came in to meet with the marshals at the police department, if they had only asked. They didn't even tell the police that they were in town.
MSHA itself is out of control. Cary and I belong to an organization called Oregon Independent Aggregate Association. To learn more about OIAA, here is the link: http://oregonindependentaggregateassociation.blogspot.com/
To learn more about MSHA, take a look at one of my other blogs:
http://www.lrmincmsha.blogspot.com
Here are some more pictures of the darling town of Myrtle Point, Oregon:
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| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
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| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
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| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
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| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
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| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
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| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
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| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
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| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
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1 comment:
I really liked the article, and the very cool blog
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