Posted on 09/18/2003 7:47:47 AM PDT by Pest
Sheriff agrees to meet with Barkley on Thursday
BY FRED GRAYNEWS-REVIEW STAFF WRITER
CHARLEVOIX - Lyle Barkley spent the night bulldozing berms around his 2.6 acres in Bay Township as his legal options to forestall action by Bay Township officials and the county sheriff in a zoning dispute appear to be running run out.
But Charlevoix County Sheriff George T. Lasater said this morning that he had agreed to meet early Thursday with Barkley on his property along with Clint Dare, commander of Michigan Militia; Norman Olson, adviser to the militia; and representatives of the press.
"Dare made the invitation and I accepted," Lasater said.
Charlevoix District Judge Richard May on Tuesday denied Barkley's request that he rescind his April 15 decision upholding a township zoning ruling against him, and his Aug. 28 finding that Barkley, his wife Shirley, and daughter, Kim, in contempt of court for failing to remove three manufactured homes from their property.
May also ruled that the Barkleys could not appeal his ruling without posting a bond of $7,800.
A spokesman for the Barkleys said the family did not have the resources to post the bond.
"Both Mr. Barkley and his wife, who are co-defendants, are indigent and disabled," said Olson in a press release. "The appeals will be filed with the courts, the attorneys for Bay Township, the county building and zoning departments, as well as a copy to Sheriff Lasater, first thing this morning."
Olson said that a motion was being drafted for the 33rd Circuit Court to declare the Barkleys indigent, request that Circuit Judge Richard Pajtas waive the bond requirement and grant an emergency hearing.
"Judge May has shown nothing but contempt for the lives and well-being of the Barkley family and their children, as well as contempt for the Constitution itself. He is ultimately responsible for what takes place very shortly," said Olson, a resident of Alanson and a pastor.
Barkley could not be reached for comment this morning but county prosecutor Mary Beth Kur said today that he appeared resigned to his fate when she spoke with him Tuesday night and offered to help him find a way out of the impasse.
"I had offered to talk to him," Kur said. "He called me, but said he was not interested in me mediating. In essence he said that if he has to die, that's what's got to happen. He said, 'It's beyond talk.'"
"I told him that if he feels like talking, feel free to talk to me.
"I would hope he would take advantage of the offers to discuss this with either the sheriff or myself so that we can have a civilized and peaceful resolution of this situation."
Lasater said he had received 20 to 25 messages from around the country on his answering machine this morning in response to Barkley's overnight appearance on a radio talk show.
"They all indicated their support of the Barkley family and feel the system has taken advantage of them," Lasater said.
"I will do everything we can to make sure that nobody gets hurt," Lasater said. "But at the same time, as sheriff I will have to do my duty to enforce the court's orders."
Gene Chapman of the Denver-based Mutual Defense Pact, one of the militia groups which have expressed support for the Barkleys, posted an account on his Web site of a conversation he had with Lasater on Tuesday, in which Chapman offered to act as a mediator.
"We are going to try to see if we can fix up the trailers and satisfy the city leadership. I need to be able to fly to Michigan to speak face-to-face on a moment's notice," he wrote.
"I explained that the pact seeks a nonviolent solution but that we have pledged our lives and fortunes to one another. We stand or fall as one unit, even me in the nonviolent role with my job as a mediation voice between the two feuding groups. He understands and appreciates our concerns and our position."
Lasater said Chapman's account of their conversation was essentially correct.
Fred Gray can be contacted at 439-9374, or fgray@petoskeynews.com.
The Michigan Militia.... Hmmm....
Michigan Militia and Landowner Vow Armed Defense of Property
But Charlevoix County Sheriff George T. Lasater said this morning that he had agreed to meet early Thursday with Barkley on his property along with Clint Dare, commander of Michigan Militia; Norman Olson, adviser to the militia; and representatives of the press.
"Dare made the invitation and I accepted," Lasater said.
Yeah, them gummint jackboot thugs jest come in burnin' and stompin'...
Wait. Um. "agreed to meet"... Why, this can't be! a jackboothugLEOunconstituitionaloppressorfascist accepting an invitation to meet and discuss issues?
I bet that some people are having short circuits and meltdowns at this news...
Memo to Sheriff Lasater: Post snipers first.
It honestly doesn't require a great deal of trying...
then suggest the Sheriff go in with the intent of killing the man.
Hmm. Meeting with a group of people who have publicly proclaimed their motive and ability to engage in violence against government officials only provides them with the opportunity, thus completing the three elements of a crime. It's a sensible and reasonable precaution to post snipers who, if they honestly and reasonably believed that the life of another was in danger, then could use lethal force to end that threat.
You're a neat guy.
Thanks! ;-) (Probably not how you intended that...)
No danger? The man is blatantly violating the law - he lied on the permit application for the construction. There's only danger if the laws of our society go unenforced. Leave him alone? Why, so that everyone will get the idea that the police are too frightened to enforce the law against anyone who talks big?
On the other thread, it's been noted that the courts have waived the fees for the guy to file an appeal. How DARE they make it easy for this dispute to be handled in the proper manner! That takes all the fun out of being in the Michigan militia, wanking about heroic Alamo-like last stands against the evil Sheriff of Charlevoix County.
That's not the central issue, but it does have a side role which I'll explain in a minute.
The central issue is whether or not someone can brazenly lie on a construction permit application and, when called on it by the government, threaten violence and have the government meekly slink off saying "okay, okay." Such an outcome would sound the death knell of civilization and the rise of anarchy - when we can all pick and choose what laws we feel like observing, then there is no society anymore.
Now, about the "white trash slobs" part - by loudly proclaiming their willingness to use privately owned firearms to resist arrest, these yutzes have indelibly associated the Right to Keep and Bear Arms with violent lawbreakers, in the minds of the majority of the U.S. population. That just makes it more difficult for us activists to get the population to elect politicians who are friendly to the RtKBA...
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