Oath Keepers Member Writes Senator Expressing Concerns About FBI Targeting Preppers for Surveillance and Senator’s Staff Reports His Letter to the FBI.
Sept. 26. Oath Keepers
Below is a letter sent in to Oath Keepers by Mark Matthews, who is a lawyer, veteran, and Oath Keepers member from Richmond, Virginia:
Stewart,
I read your article on the Oath Keepers website about the Colorado FBI surplus store flyer, and I was so incensed that I sent a copy of the flyer to Senator Jim Webb of Virginia asking him to look into the FBI’s behavior. Little did I know that my request for my Senator’s oversight over the FBI would result in me being reported to the FBI.
What really concerned me about the flyer was that many of the items listed on the flyer as suspicious are actually items that FEMA encourages folks to buy as preparedness supplies. FEMA’s website Ready.gov encourages citizens to purchase waterproof matches (http://www.ready.gov/america/getakit/index.html) and nonperishable food that requires no refrigeration, preparation, or cooking such as MREs (http://www.ready.gov/america/getakit/food.html).
FEMA’s own website encourages Americans to be prepared for natural or man-made disasters. But now, normal citizens can be caught in a catch-22 where they are deemed suspicious by the FBI for purchasing items that FEMA says they should purchase.
Senator Webb’s office got my letter. First off, the staffers who got ahold of it misread it, because the response from Senator Webb’s office seemed to think the flyer was distributed by the surplus stores, not by the FBI. But even worse, the response stated ‘I am sending your letter to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for their consideration and response and have asked that they keep me informed of their progress in this matter.’ I was amazed when I read that, because the last line of my letter asked my Senator to look into the FBI’s actions before the country reached a point where merely writing my Senator was enough to make me suspicious. I was not expecting my letter to be sent on by my Senator to the very law enforcement agency I am criticizing.
This was probably just a response drafted by one of Senator Webb’s staffers, and I don’t believe Senator Webb personally directed this. But, it’s bad enough that the FBI is asking surplus stores to start demanding identification from customers and snitch on folks who pay in cash; and now, I have serious doubts whether I can trust Congress to provide oversight to the Executive branch’s law enforcement agencies.
Mark Matthews
Here is Mark Matthew’s original letter to Senator Webb’s Office:
Matthews Letter to Sen Webb
Here is Senator Webb’s reply:
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September 27th, 2011 at 1:45 pm
The police are trying to kill you, you say? Here: I’ll dial 911 and connect you…
September 27th, 2011 at 2:39 pm
Ah yes, the best help money can buy, down there at Warner’s (tax financed) office.
Welcome to “Democracy” Mr Matthews!
That highly paid staffer glanced at your letter, selected one or two key words from the whole thing, pigeon-holed and disposed of it in perhaps half-a-second.
And people wonder why our government is half-assed!
September 27th, 2011 at 2:39 pm
Ooops. Make that Webb. Brain fog…
September 27th, 2011 at 2:43 pm
Stewart,
Should we swamp Senator Webb’s office with e-mails linking this post? Please advise your readers regarding an appropriate response; I’m sure many agree with my sentiment that this is not something to ignore. (I have been following your website for a while now, and I will probably become an associate member soon.)
September 28th, 2011 at 4:08 am
we military members are preppers are we considered terrorist, looks like the adminstration preps too, just saying
September 28th, 2011 at 1:55 pm
North Gun Blog Black List – that was hilarious!
September 30th, 2011 at 3:45 pm
Oathkeepers are considered a threat to the federal government primarily because they take the Constitution seriously and actively proclaim that they will defend it against tyranny.
They already have us bent over, now they want us to spread our cheeks too and look the other way while they have their way with us! I hereby proclaim to change the name from Washington DC to Washinton DB (douche bags).
September 30th, 2011 at 4:26 pm
You oughta write a new letter, an open letter, requesting that your senator appologize for compromising the privacy of your letter. Get a copy of your letters published on sites like infowars and lewrockwell and rense, then if you never get an appropriate response other people might be able to help you get your senator our of office.
September 30th, 2011 at 6:27 pm
The Revolution is starting. We out number them, so why are we afraid? These Ass holes in DC should be removed from their office. When a government becomes despotic, it is the duty of it’s citizens to throw off such government and form a new one.
September 30th, 2011 at 7:26 pm
Most police are on the take and are revenue agents, not protectors. My apologies to the few cops that are honest. No more obedience to an evil government either. We aren’t slaves.