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Resistance See other Resistance Articles Title: Prosecutor Justifies Charges Against Man for "Criminal Defamation of Jews" in Montana "The holocaust has been proven to be a lie beyond a reasonable doubt..." "It's important to note that jews hate free speech & are known bullsh-ters" "I'm a wage slave to ink and paper dollars we print to bailout jewish mega banks as kikes go on bout #WhitePrivilege & I'm not suppose to kill?" - David Joseph Lenio - facing 10 years in prison for alleged Twitter posts 'defaming' Jews The case of David Joseph Lenio has received some attention but the prosecutor's arguments deserve a closer look - particularly since Lenio faces up to ten years in prison on the 'criminal defemation of jews' charge alone. As we reported last month, Lenio has been released from prison and the awaits trial. Lenio is charged with two counts: Count I: Intimidation in violation of Section 45-5-203(1), MCA, and Count II: Criminal Defamation in violation of Sec. 45-8-212(2), MCA. Each charge if convicted, can land Lenio up to ten years in prison. Stacy Boman, Deputy Flathead County Attorney, drafted a 26 page STATE'S RESPONSE TO DEFENDANT'S OMNIBUS MOTION TO DISMISS on February 18, 2015. In the 'State's response to the defendants motion to dismiss,' the Montana prosecutor argues that the statute is constitutional, and that the Montana legislature previously ammended their "criminal defamation" statute because it had been found to be "unconstitutionally overbroad." It's no longer overbroad, prosecutors say, because it now 'provides truth as a complete defense to criminal defamation.' The prosecutor writes: "The Court found the defamation statue was unconstitutionally overbroad, and in conflict with the United States Supreme Court holdings in New York Time and Garrison, because it did not provide for truth as a complete defense. Subsequently, the Montana Legislature amended § 45-8-212, MCA to eliminate the offending language and provided truth as a complete defense to criminal defamation." The circumstances in this case differ from those in Garrison. The vast majority of Lenio's statements regarding Jewish people do not relate to a public official. Instead, his comments address Jewish people as a collective class of people. Lenio argues his statements about Jewish people "cannot reasonably be understood to be factual assertions." To the contrary, Lenio states in his Twitter postings, "Now that the holocaust has been proven to be a lie beyond a reasonable doubt, it is now time to hunt the Nazi hunters." It is clear from Lenio's communications he is asserting the statements as if they were fact. Further, § 45-8-212(3)(c), MCA provides that no violation of the criminal defamation statute occurs if the communication is a "fair comment made in good faith" with respect to people in matters of public concern. The statute appropriately allows for discourse on matters of public concern." [Note: How or why does the prosecutor contend that Lenio's comments were not "fair comments made in good faith" or that his topics are not "matters of public concern"? I conclude, based on my extensive research of Lenio's postings, videos and writings, that Lenio fully believes what he says and that he is indeed very concerned.] The prosecutor continues, "In the instant case, Lenio communicated numerous defamatory comments to kill Jewish people and asserts Jewish people have degraded the national economy. Lenio does not demonstrate how defamatory statements directed at a religious group of people unconstitutionally captures more protected speech than defamatory threats against an individual. As provided in the Affidavit, Lenio states the holocaust was a lie and it is "time to hunt the Nazi hunters." Affidavit, 4 (Feb. 28, 2015). This is merely one example of Lenio' s statements intended to attack Jewish people based on religion." The prosecutor also explains why the threats charges should not be dismissed, but LibertyFight.com will not address those allegations. We are only focusing on the 'criminal defamation of jews' charge. If you want to read about the case in full and Lenio's alleged twitter postings about "I want to shoot up a school" "or just shoot a bunch of #kikes" etc., see these two articles here: Meet David Joseph Lenio, 9/11 Truther/Holocaust Denier being Prosecuted in Montana for 'Criminal Defamation' of Jews 8/8/15 [This article conatins all of Lenio's alleged twitter posts including those at the top of this page.] Montana Man Charged With "Criminal Defamation" of Jews Released From Prison,Barred From Social Media Pending Trial 9/12/15 Also interesting is this section of the 'criminal defamation' statute: "A person may not be convicted on the basis of an oral communication of defamatory matter except upon the testimony of at least two other persons that they heard and understood the oral statement as defamatory or upon a plea of guilty or nolo contendere." The person Lenio was tweeting to was Jon Hutson. Here is the tweet that started it all. Hutson had tweeted #Freespeech will not be silenced, even as gunfire erupts at a cafe and a synagogue in Copenhagen nyti.ms/1JekeiA #terrorism, and Lenio responded to Hutson with a cartoon of a sneering American guy pissing on the Israeli star. Following is the relevent section reagrding the 'criminal defamation of jews' charge. It's from Pages 14-19 of the STATE'S RESPONSE TO DEFENDANT'S OMNIBUS MOTION TO DISMISS. Some of the legal case references have been removed here for ease of reading. NOTE: The Flathead County Missouri County Attorney's office can be contacted here. Phone: (406) 758-5630 Fax: Fax (406) 758-5642 COUNTY ATTORNEY: Ed Corrigan. His Email: County.Attorney@flathead.mt.gov MAILING ADDRESS: 920 S. Main St. Suite 201 Kalispell, MT 59901 Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top Page Up Full Thread Page Down Bottom/Latest
#1. To: Horse (#0)
Flathead County bump Dear God. The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable. ~ H. L. Mencken
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