Freemen were right about local government

 

In 1996, the Montana Freemen were a well-known group. I’ve heard Ravalli County Sheriff Printz rode out on horseback to negotiate their surrender, later to win a court case in the US Supreme Court letting local governments off the hook for paying for firearm background checks. While it is wrong to threaten government officials, write bad checks, or place liens on public officials, the Montana Freemen were right about Ravalli County, Montana. It was about the only thing they were right about.

Marcus Daly wanted the county seat for Ravalli County, Montana to be in Grantsdale. Today it is purported to be in Hamilton. It isn’t. James W. Hamilton annexed the City of Hamilton to Missoula County in September of 1890, confirmed today on the official plat map of the City of Hamilton.

In August of 2009, I enjoyed public property at State and 4^th Sts. in Hamilton. The then City Attorney refused to swear an oath for six years to the office, and charged criminal trespass on public property. In the preparation of my defense, I bought a certified map of Hamilton from the Ravalli County Clerk which showed me the truth about Hamilton and Ravalli County.

Any person today can look at the floor mats in the City Hall (223 S. 2^nd Street, Hamilton), embossed with the City Seal and hopefully won’t be charged with a crime. The mat attests to incorporation in 1894 without official paperwork to incorporate a municipality in Montana law [MCA 7-2-4101 to 4015]. Current City of Hamilton Mayor, Jerry Steele, verified in official meeting in 2009 captured on video (available: www.BeneaththeBeauty.com), that the city has no incorporation paperwork. The Montana Legislature formed Ravalli County in March 1893. Look in the foyer of the Ravalli County Administrative Building (215 S. 4^th Street, Hamilton) for the painted County Seal to prove this date. Hopefully, you will not have your employer intimidated for doing so, or be “investigated” for entering public property—that we all pay for.

So the Montana Freemen were right to challenge Ravalli County in 1996 due to mistreatment by government officials, and it continues today with Commissioners overlooking criminal conduct in the County Attorney’s Office, the Sheriff’s Office, and their own lawful existence.

I wrote a letter to Governor Schweitzer which came back in the form of mockery from the Missoula Independent as word of my letter to the State’s chief executive was published. The US Justice Dept. FBI priorities are established to trigger activity; their top criminal priority is public fraud of taxpayer funds. The (unincorporated) City of Hamilton extracts $13.5M from taxpayers without lawful status, and Ravalli County seeks $16.2M which constitutes $30M in 2013 of public fraud.  It happens every year, without the consent of taxpayers in Hamilton and Ravalli County. All of the government officials go along either knowing or not knowing about the public fraud.

Montana law [MCA 7-2-2103] says that a county cannot be established without a legitimate seat. Commissioner Kanenwisher’s quick departure is suspect, as he was made aware of this problem and decided to further his nursing career out of state – immediately. As Hamilton never incorporated, and Ravalli County was established unlawfully by the legislature a year before the City of Hamilton claimed incorporation, it is clear that local government is not on the up and up.

While the Freemen were attempting to disqualify all governments, at least they were right when it came to local government in this area. When the FBI is quick to squelch outliers like the Freemen, what happens when they ignore their top criminal priority of public fraud? We are all Freemen now.

Ravalli commissioners are aware of their unlawful status, but with salaries of $50,000/year plus benefits, it is easy to ignore the truth. The Montana Freemen were onto something, and probably didn’t even know it. They were right about local governments in Montana. As State and Federal governments ignore their oaths to taxpayers, it is time to think like the Montana Freemen until our tax dollars are going to lawful governments. Local government officials are doing nothing more than engaging in high value white collar crime, and allowing lawlessness of their employees using our public funds.

Michael Spreadbury

Hamilton