Posted on 09/17/2003 8:54:30 AM PDT by 11th Earl of Mar
Landowner, militia vow armed defense of property
Wednesday, September 17, 2003By Ted Roelofs
The Grand Rapids Press
HORTON BAY -- On the surface, Lyle Barkley hardly seems the type to provoke an armed standoff.
At 55, the silver-haired, grandfatherly Charlevoix County excavator says he never has been in real trouble with the law. He does not advocate violence.
But as he leans by a sign on his property that says "Honk For Your Constitutional Rights," it becomes clear Barkley is ready for a fight.
"I don't want no bloodshed unless they shoot the first shot," Barkley said. "All I'm doing is standing up for my rights."
As if to underscore the point, Barkley stands just a few feet from a 6-foot-deep trench he dug on the perimeter of his land in the hill country about 10 miles southeast of Charlevoix.
Barkley says armed men from across the country are ready to occupy that trench to defend him, as he approaches a Thursday court deadline to remove three mobile homes he installed on his land.
In April, District Judge Richard May found that Barkley violated the zoning laws of Bay Township when he brought in the homes without permits. May reaffirmed that ruling Tuesday afternoon, denying a petition by Barkley to rescind his order.
The case has drawn widespread interest from local media outlets, not to mention radio talk shows from Arizona to Texas to Washington.
It also has attracted the scrutiny of patriot and anti-government groups, including a Colorado-based organization that threatens to send 600 armed members to protect Barkley.
Denver resident Rick Stanley, founder of the Second American Revolution Militia Mutual Defense Pact, vowed Barkley will not stand alone.
"They have subverted the intentions of what our forefathers say our government should be," he said. "We have a fascist tyranny.
"I call it the police state of America, and we are going to stop it one way or another," Stanley said.
On his Web site, Stanley warned about the consequences of the standoff with Newaygo County resident Scott Woodring, killed by state police in July after authorities tried to serve him with an arrest warrant that accused him of trying to solicit sex from 15-year-old girls.
Stanley said he got involved in the dispute when he was contacted by Barkley, a member of his group.
A statement faxed to The Press quotes Norman Olson, the self-described senior adviser to the Michigan Militia, saying the dispute "stinks of crooked politics, corruption and favors."
"I admire his spirit," Olson said of Barkley.
Charlevoix County Sheriff George Lasater said he is prepared to enforce the law. But he also said he hopes to avoid confrontation.
"We will do everything in our power and jurisdiction to make sure nobody is hurt on their side," Lasater said, adding, "the sheriff's department will do what it has to do to make sure the court orders are followed. We won't be intimidated by them."
Lasater would not say what action he might take if Barkley refuses to back down.
Township officials say they are doing nothing more than enforcing the law.
"This is a simple, blatant disregard for the law," township attorney James Murray said of Barkley's actions. "You can't just disregard ordinances."
According to the township, Barkley applied for a permit to build additions on to two mobile homes on his 4-acre property. Barkley instead moved two additional mobile units onto his property, attaching one to the mobile home in which he lives with his wife, Shirley, 50, and one to the mobile home where his daughter, Kim, 22, lives with her boyfriend and three children.
Judge May found that both homes violated building codes.
The court also found Barkley allowed people to move into another modular unit on the property without a permit.
To Barkley's way of thinking, he is just doing what every property owner has every right to do.
He has tangled with the township before. About 13 years ago, he was cited because of numerous barking dogs on his property. Barkley said he was acquitted.
About five years ago, he had a dispute over stumps he wanted to bury on his property. Barkley said that was resolved amicably.
He has had no criminal brushes with the law, felony or misdemeanor, according to state police records.
Barkley believes he is backed up in his latest dispute by his discovery that his property is "patent land," stemming from an 1871 act by President Ulysses S. Grant.
He said he has several weapons on his property, including a high-powered rifle and shotguns. He has plenty of ammunition.
"I myself am not going to be armed," Barkley said, adding he will leave that to others.
Barkley said he has had plenty of local support, including lots of honking horns in response to the sign in front of his driveway.
But standing on a deck on a bluff that overlooks Barkley's property, neighbor Carol Hellstrom said she backs the township.
"I have no sympathy for him whatsoever," Hellstrom said. "There's reasons for the laws. That's what this whole country is founded on."
Hellstrom's deck faces west, where she has a postcard view of Lake Charlevoix. But she's weary of looking down on Barkley's property, which is cluttered with old tractors, backhoes, numerous vehicles, a sizable wood pile, piles of discarded siding, old tires and rusted engines.
To her way of thinking, Barkley brought this on himself.
If things proceed toward showdown Thursday, Hellstrom said she is making plans of her own.
"We're having a kegger. You might as well enjoy the show."
Sean Hannity bitches and moans quite a bit. I'm very sorry, but when one lets emotion override logic (as Hannity frequently does, even for patriotic issues) then you start down the dark path of liberalism.
Maybe you should get better reading comprehension skills as in my original post I stated that I couldn't remember what the court decision was. Thanks for the update regarding the decision.
Please be so kind as to enlighten me to whom was attempting to subvert the Constitution?
Yes...the Republicans who continue to tack to the LEFT under the banner of 'compassionate conservatism'.
I'm very sorry, but your interpretation of the law being right or wrong is a matter of YOUR opinion unless you are a sitting judge making a decision in a legal case or you rally a referendum and get the law repealed.
Or...next time I get pulled over for doing 85mph in a 55mph zone, do you think the judge will buy the "the Law is WRONG" line?
Zoning laws in some instances can be abused. But they are not evil.
It is zoning laws that keep a chicken farm from being inserted into a residential neighborhood. It is a zoning law that keeps the property next door from becoming a commercial trash dump. It is a zoning law that requires a buffer zone between a chemical producing plant and the nearby elementary school.
If this man wants to live with no zoning, he only has to move over a couple of counties, and there is a place where people live in one trailer and have two more out back for parts..... And another one for a storage shed..... And another one to house their 13 dogs..... And another one for when their Southern Kentucky inlaws come to visit.
Now there's a shocker.
"I myself am not going to be armed," Barkley said, adding he will leave that to others.
Coward. If Barkley is determined to sound like a wingnut, he at least should have the decency to ACT like one too.
They may be trailer trash, but they should be entitled, like the rest of us, to a government responsive to its citizens and not a government that abuses it's powers to rid itself of whatever people it deems as unacceptable for whatever reason.
All People are equal under the law according to wealth.
Why post such blatantly incorrect headline? The Michigan Militia is NOT involved. See following excerpt from article:
It also has attracted the scrutiny of patriot and anti-government groups, including a Colorado-based organization that threatens to send 600 armed members to protect Barkley.
Denver resident Rick Stanley, founder of the Second American Revolution Militia Mutual Defense Pact, vowed Barkley will not stand alone.
You and your government hating buddys.
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