Suspect for FBI Raid on 91-Year-Old Indiana Artifact Collector Identified

Gun Watch ^ | 6 April, 2014 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

Who accused 91-Year-Old Donald Miller of what has been unclear.  Speculation involving his numerous technological achievements have run rampant as people simply did not believe that the government would send 50-100 FBI agents to check out the collection of artifacts that this former member of the Manhattan project had gathered over the last 80 years.

But the unbelievable has become a bit more plausible  as more information has dribbled out.   Mr. Miller has not been charged with any crime, and maintains his innocence.   He claims that all his materials have been collected legally.

Others have speculated that envious collectors associated with the Obama administration are involved, that a museum coveted his collection, or that he is a Republican, and therefore subject to "special" treatment.   

The truth may lie somewhere in between.  In this article from wthr.com, it is revealed that a leftist Native American group, AIM, has an interest in the case:

An organization representing Native Americans believe human remains are buried among thousands and thousands of artifacts collected by Donald Miller in the U.S. and around the world.

The FBI investigation and massive effort to recover thousands of invaluable artifacts is being watched by the American Indian Movement. Until recently, its local chairman lived only a half-hour away from the Rush County site.

"We are glad something like this has happened," said Albert Runningwolf, American Indian Movement.

 Is the raid "payback" for support among leftist Native Americans?

With  the lack of transparency that has come to be expected from this administration, we may never know for sure. 

The idea that you have to "prove" that you legally own something that is in your possession upends the tatters of the fourth amendment and the presumption of innocence.    It moves us away from the core value of American jurisprudence, that whatever is not forbidden is allowed, and toward the core tyranny of authoritarian regimes where "whatever is not permitted is forbidden".

©2014 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
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[SunkenCiv]

• FBI seizes artifacts from Indiana collector, age 91, who says they’re legal
• FBI investigating Rush County home for artifact collection
• FBI seizes trove of cultural artifacts at 91-year-old Indiana man's home
• FBI Raids 91-Year-Old Man's Artifact Collection
• Thousands Of Artifacts Seized At 91-Year-Old Indiana Man's Home

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks marktwain, an update, boy there have been a lot of topics about this.

[Paladin2]

That's a tough Row.

He's in the arena. I believe he's unlikely to prevail, especially without expensive legal help - though if he has some politicians up his sleeve he may escape with light wounds.

[Paladin2]

So were all my grandparents and on one side of the fam a couple of generations b4 that.

[null and void]

'Let the jury consider their verdict,' the King said, for about the twentieth time that day.

'No, no!' said the Queen. 'Sentence first—verdict afterwards.'

Nut-job Conspiracy Theory Ping!

To get onto The Nut-job Conspiracy Theory Ping List you must threaten to report me to the Mods if I don't add you to the list...

[ElkGroveDan]

It figures. Fighting, drinking and collecting other people’s hard earned money is all they know how to do.

[Monkey Face]

The Gov’mint will never leave us alone because WE have the “heritage” of the nation...we were stewards of the land LONG before the white man came with his rules, treaties, and insidious land-grabbing schemes. The latter of which, the government is STILL trying to enforce. But don’t get me started.

[cva66snipe]

In the TV town of Mayberry Deputy Barney Fife left town for career in which of the following professions?

A. A shoe salesman in Atlanta
B. A Furniture Salesman in Mt Pilot
C. An FBI Agent
D. A Postal Service Investigator

[House Atreides]

I’m a Native American. I was born here too.

***************************************************************

Me too. I’m a Native American born of ancestors who came to the western hemisphere centuries ago. Plus, I was born here also.

[FBD]

Look at him. What a criminal.

http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/d9de1e94aea062a4eed806fd1b98bcd6b8a70995/c=94-0-1562-1105&r=x513&c=680x510/local/-/media/Indianapolis/Indianapolis/2014/04/03//1396556651001-184744.JPG

[FBD]

Native Americans are the only group of people who can call the FBI and say that some ancient artifact collection is “theirs”. They will dispatch a 100 FBI agents from their “Art Crime Unit”, and take it away. Let some Norwegian like me, lay claim to my Viking ancestors weaponry in someones private collection, and everyone would rightfully laugh. But no, American Indians are taken seriously when someone has some Indian arrowheads or pottery.

[House Atreides]

“I see you have stuff. Give it to me.” — The Government

******************************************************************

Well, I hope the government does a better job of accounting for the large number of possessions that they’re taking from this citizen’s property than Hillary and her folks accounted for the many billions of dollars that they somehow have lost track of.

This is yet another example of how the FBI has become just another corrupted federal agency doing all they can to promote the progressive agenda. They’re more concerned with such progressive tasks and insuring they continue to get their DAILY overtime allotment than they are solving real crimes.

[Nifster]

Off with is head...

Leave it to the leftie idiots in AIM (who love Ward Churchill the non Native white guy who is a lying liar) to do something this egregious

[cva66snipe]

Most collectors do not disturb burial grounds. Most finds are arrowheads, scrapers, or other tools. A good percentage of arrowhead finds are ones that were lost. If you see a lot of chippings you might find some tools especially if you located a camp. Burial grounds are away from camps and usually have distinct characteristics.

OK that said who has disturbed the most burial grounds? Government in the form of state universities, Federal Utilities flooding massive acres of land where burial grounds are located? Or the typical just for the sake of hunting arrowheads etc. collector? The Federal Government damaged or flooded more burial grounds in three decades than even the most unethical collector doing a dig. The latest such flooding is called Tellico Lake.

The best points I have seen that people found {I do not collect} have been from private farms where the farmer plows up a river bottom or field along a stream. Again these are not burial grounds. These were camps.

[FBD]

I agree with not ever disturbing burial grounds if at all possible. That’s like grave robbery. But digging up ancient weaponry, etc is pretty cool. It’s not doing anyone any good in the ground. But oh no, these Native Americans want it all.

[marktwain]

Yes. My family had a polished stone axe head that was found plowing up bottom land in Wisconsin. I often envisioned how difficult it would be to attempt to cut down a tree with that tool, and how many hundreds of hours it must have taken to shape it.

It was not chipped. It was ground and polished. One end had a little flat ground on it for pounding with. The other was “sharpened” if you can call it that, to and edge that would damage a tree when it was struck... There were indentations for lashings.

[stockpirate]

First they came for the unborn and we did nothing, then they came for the children in our schools and we did nothing.

Again we will do nothing.

Good men have decided to do nothing so evil prevails.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

On the other hand, “Native Americana” sounds kinda cool!

[Paladin2]

Just wait until I build my own ski based Adirondack Chairs. Then I'll have my own Americana.

[cva66snipe]

My deceased cousin {who got me started reading FR} had taught himself how to make arrowheads. As a prank my dad and I hauled about a 400 pound quartz rock to his house and off loaded it on his front porch. In a few weeks we noticed he'd been busting it up. He made some real nice points before he passed.

Where he was making them was very close to a creek and chippings are all over the yard. In a few years with the chippings laying in the ground how would the Gooburmunt know the difference? I know the difference between a recent handcraft and an original looking at them for tell tale giveaways but I bet you not once agent in that raid would know LOL.