| In SDNY Alt-Right Defendant
Jailed In Iowa Is Sentenced To 8 Months Far
Right Sites Cited
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Exclusive, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- The
Source
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
Oct 13 – A defendant described
as Alt-Right faced
imprisonment on December 20,
2019 in a large courtroom with
only Inner City Press in the
gallery.
But the defendant
Garrett Kelsey on Iowa,
charged in July with death
threats to an employee of
Jewish organization in
Manhattan, was then allowed to
return free to Iowa albeit
without access to a computer
at the Lowe's he works at
there.
The U.S. paid for his same-day
flight back to Cedar
Rapids.
It's not that the U.S. didn't
try. Before U.S. District
Court for the Southern
District of New York Judge
Sidney H. Stein, the Assistant
US Attorney quoted from a
message the defendant sent at
Thanksgiving, "Happy Indian
Slaughter Day" - but it was
stopped by an
objection.
Federal
Defender Andrew Dalack, just
doing his job, said that his
client is not on trial for
despicable views. Of course
not.
Dalack
worried that his client might
lose his job at Lowe's.
On
September 8, with Kelsey
calling in from a hotel in
Iowa with housekeeping
knocking on the door, Judge
Stein held a violation of
supervised release proceeding.
Inner City Press again covered
it.
Kelsey, who had be required to
move hotels due to the derecho
storms, had also bought a
laptop and left a problematic
Yelp! comment. Judge Stein
said he was more focused on
the purchase of the laptop and
misleading Pre Trial Services.
He ordered him remanded.
Federal Defenders asked
for an extra day, for Kelsey
to see his kids and speak to
his employer, presumably still
Lowe's. Judge Stein
compassionately granted it, to
September 9 at 4 pm, with
sentencing set for October 13.
On October
13, Inner City Press again
covered the case. Judge Stein
cited Kelsey's "Facebook
messages to Antifa" and visits
to far right website.
Racist Yelp posts were also
enumerated. And, in the
indictment, actual threats to
a Jewish organization.
Additionall it seems clear
that Kelsey violated the
agreed conditions of his
release. But is visiting a
website a basis for being
sentenced? Or being rude to
political opponents? These
issues appeared all mixed
together.
Ultimately
Judge Stein, expressing
sympathy but a need to turn
things around, sentenced
Kelsey to eight months, to be
served in Iowa, followed by
three years of supervised
release under conditions.
Consistent with the First
Amendment? Kelsey's Federal
Defender did not object.
The case
is US v. Kelsey, 19-cr-886
(Stein).
***
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