Welcome to Call to Decision 

Subject: Important Story in Progress in WV
Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2008 03:38:19 +0000

Eric Eyre – Charleston Daily Mail

February 13, 2008

Dear Eric, 

There is a story that should interest you. 

In November of 07, Jeff Becker, a Constitution Party member was petitioning for signatures for Butch Paugh as 3rt party candidate for Governor of West Virginia. He was at an Arts and Crafts fair in Westover petitioning outside where the function was being held on a Sunday in a school. He was doing quite well and was even approached by a walkie talkie carrying school official who thanked Jeff for doing his civic duty. The assistant principal or whatever he was asked Jeff if he could bring him out a table. Jeff declined and continued his petitioning.

Somebody’s nose got out of joint and complained to the principal. Since Jeff was quite in the right, he politely told the principal that he would work the sidewalk. This kind of harassment has been displayed repeatedly in the past all over WV. Jeff was then arrested by a cop and taken in cuffs to the Westover PD where he posted bond. While awaiting his initial hearing and staying at his parents in Preston Co., he got a call from the neighbors of his Martinsburg residence that guns drawn armed officers surrounded his apartment trying to arrest him. The officers had already gone through the neighborhood warning people to keep their children inside as there was an armed and dangerous felon on the loose. Jeff is a substitute school teacher and if he had been home could possibly have been killed. The Westover Cop had put out an arrest warrant for Jeff in the NCIC system because unbeknownst to Jeff, the original 3 misdemeanors had been dropped and a felony of having a dangerous weapon (pocket knife) on school grounds had been substituted.

This is the gist of the situation. On Monday, February 11^th he had a preliminary hearing in Morgantown Magistrate Court and here is a synopsis of what happened in a little email blurb that I sent to a former Pentagon official that is interested:

It was a real travesty of justice. Jeff is being charged with a felony. He is being charged with having a dangerous weapon on school property during a school function. They originally charged him with 3 bogus misdemeanors because someone complained to the school principal. He had received 80 petition signatures and was doing great with no problems until someone politically motivated wanted him gotten rid of.

The arresting cop admitted that they decided to drop three misdemeanors and charge him with a felony (having a pocket knife in his pocket that Sunday) because Jeff had asked for a jury trial. This was a month and a day later that they charged him with the felony. They don't even have he knife as they gave it back. No evidence, but it didn't matter.

The magistrate even said when he decided that the case would go to a grand jury that in all his 20 years, he had never seen a case like this and that if the grand jury brings back an indictment, "proving beyond a shadow of a doubt would be another story." I believe he was afraid to go against the cops. During the trial the two cops involved were allowed to work together on their testimony and they even butted their fists when going to and from the jury box. They changed their testimony and lied, but that made no difference.

Doing a civic duty and having your rights repeatedly violated is just another day in AmeriKa.

When asked what day of the week this happened on, the officers said they couldn't remember. As a matter of fact, they couldn't remember a lot of things including the fact that Jeff showed the officer his signed official credentials to petition from the Monongahela County Clerk. The cop could only remember that Jeff presented some documentation, but he couldn't remember what.

I did get an audio recording of the whole thing and by a miracle, I slipped a person with a press pass a video recorder and most of the hearing is on videotape. At some point, parts will go up on YouTube. Jeff will be filing election law violation action with the Secretary of State and he and Butch will undoubtedly file a civil suit. This country is going to hell, but not without resistance. Just like in Orwell's “1984” novel, worms are supposed to believe that resistance is futile. Fact is, we aren't worms and as Butch said to the Dominion Post, they poked the wrong hornet’s nest this time.

Phil Hudok