The police assault on Bollyn is a sign of the encroaching police state and an illegal action that needs to be addressed and challenged. This is a case that should be of concern to all Americans. If this assault had nothing to do with Bollyn’s writing, as the police claim, then all Americans are in danger of such an attack.
Christopher Bollyn, independent journalist and 9/11 researcher, has fired his attorney, Jack Smeeton of Wilmette, Illinois, as of February 13, 2007.
Bollyn asked Smeeton to withdraw from his case on January 31st before his court appearance in Cook County Circuit Court in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Bollyn is facing two misdemeanor charges stemming from a police assault and TASERing he received after placing a 911 call to report a suspicious vehicle prowling (casing) around his home for two consecutive days last August.
Smeeton is a former supervisor of the state's attorney's office in Cook County and served as an attorney for the state police, according to a local lawyer. Since he was retained to defend Bollyn against these trumped up and baseless misdemeanor charges, Smeeton had done nothing to obtain evidence or discovery for his client.
Smeeton also refused to accept the affidavit of Bollyn's wife, Helje, who is the only witness to the assault and TASERing of Bollyn, which was carried out by three unidentified and heavily-armed men wearing body armor on August 15, 2006. This assault occurred in the front yard of the Bollyn residence in front of his wife and 8-year-old daughter.
The police charged Bollyn with resisting arrest and aggravated assault on a peace officer. Bollyn was unexpectedly tackled and TASERed from behind when he went to get his older brother from his home. The police say that they suspected Bollyn was going to fetch a weapon and were forced to subdue him with the TASER. Bollyn has no weapons and no search was done of the house to find any weapon.
See: http://www.iamthewitness.com/Bollyn_in-Court-31Jan2007.html
See: http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/forum.cgi?read=91985
Smeeton was visibly shaken by Bollyn's request for him to withdraw from the case. He clearly wants to control the outcome of the case to Bollyn's detriment. Smeeton was very much opposed to Bollyn's request for a jury trial and has continuously tried to scare and intimidate the Bollyns.
Smeeton insisted that Bollyn accept a plea bargain in which Bollyn would accept some guilt for resisting arrest. Bollyn refuses to accept such a plea bargain and believes he is innocent of both charges.
Bollyn's position is simple: He called 911 because of the suspicious vehicle with armed men prowling his neighborhood streets.
The police response was to send the same unmarked vehicle with the three armed men dressed in civilian clothes, to Bollyn's house.
These three men, wearing body armor, parked in front of Bollyn's driveway and approached his house. They marched up his driveway and were met by his wife Helje, who had been gardening in the back yard.
The three men did not say that they were responding to Bollyn’s 911 call, refused to identify themselves or explain their business on Bollyn’s property.
Bollyn came from the house a minute or two later and asked the men who they were and what they wanted. They adamantly refused to identify themselves and assumed a hostile confrontational attitude. Their approach to the Bollyn 911 call was clearly done in a military style. Bollyn was treated like “the enemy” – not a peaceful resident calling 911 for an explanation. When Bollyn said he needed to get his brother and turned to his house he was suddenly without warning tackled and TASERed. There were no orders given prior to the attack.
There was no arrest, warrant, or probable cause for Bollyn’s arrest prior to the police assault and there was no resistance by Bollyn during the assault. One of the men (later identified as the former Cook County jail guard, Officer Tim Stoy) knelt on Bollyn's temple with his full body weight (ca. 200 lbs.) for at least five minutes. This technique is used to block the main nerve center on the side of the head. This is meant to paralyze the person. Bollyn was completely restrained in this position with handcuffs and two kneeling men pinning him down when he was TASERed in the lower back.
As a result of this assault, Bollyn suffered a fractured right elbow and ill effects from the 50,000 volt TASER shock.
Such TASERing has been shown to be extremely harmful to one's health and can cause permanent damage or death.
See: "Death by TASER"
http://www.iamthewitness.com/Bollyn-tasers.html
and "TASERs Cause Severe Injuries to Police"
http://iamthewitness.com/Bollyn-TASER-2.html
On January 31st, Smeeton was overheard telling the special prosecutor in the hallway of the court that Bollyn is "paranoid." Smeeton utterly disregards Bollyn's 9/11 research as the product of a "paranoid nut."
He has repeatedly insulted Bollyn's wife and disregards her testimony as worthless. Bollyn’s wife was prevented from photographing the assault by Officer Felgenhauer, who threatened to arrest her if she dared to photograph the incident.
On Jan. 31st, Bollyn’s case was marked “final” for a bench trial. Smeeton had not informed Bollyn that this was the case. After Bollyn asked Smeeton to withdraw, Smeeton promised the judge that he needed more time to obtain the evidence that had not yet been turned over. Bollyn had filed 2 FOIA requests shortly after the incident before he had retained Smeeton. For this reason, Bollyn gave Smeeton two weeks to file the required subpoenas.
The first FOIA request filed by Bollyn was for the police transmissions and communications regarding the action at the Bollyn household. The second was with the 911 dispatch office for the tape of the 911 call made by Bollyn.
Smeeton, however, only filed a subpoena for the 911 tape, with great reluctance. He refuses to file a subpoena for the police transmissions. Seeing that Smeeton was not working to defend Bollyn and appears to be protecting the police, Bollyn had no other option but to tell him that he was discharged and no longer represented him on February 13th.
Bollyn's next appearance in the Cook County Circuit Court is at 9:30 a.m. on February 20th in Room 107. At that session, the 911 tape should be turned over and Smeeton should file his motion to withdraw. Bollyn will seek an extension of the March 8th court date in order to find new legal counsel.
Bollyn is seeking a competent lawyer and a person of integrity to defend him against these baseless charges. Because American Free Press, Bollyn's former employer, collected funds for his legal defense but did not forward them Bollyn, Bollyn is in desperate need of funds for his legal defense.
The police assault on Bollyn is a sign of the encroaching police state and an illegal action that needs to be addressed and challenged. This is a case that should be of concern to all Americans. If this assault had nothing to do with Bollyn’s writing, as the police claim, then all Americans are in danger of such an attack. If calling 911 results is such an illegal police action by a quasi-military squad then it is clearly dangerous for anyone to call 911.
Anyone who would like to support Bollyn's legal defense against such illegal police actions can write or donate to Bollyn by email (bollyn_books@yahoo.com) or by post at:
Christopher Bollyn
3 Golf Center, No. 365
Hoffman Estates, IL 60195
Donations can be made online at:
http://www.iamthewitness.com/Bollyn/BollynBooksOrders.html
All donations, advice, and support are welcome and appreciated.
Photo: Christopher Bollyn addressing the village board of Hoffman Estates, Illinois.
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