Friday, February 26, 2016

Patriot or domestic terrorist? The interview with Cliven Bundy's former bodyguard

In a place where prisoners often watch what they say, inmate #46153-086 is unfiltered and unabashed in his beliefs. "I speak my mind. I don't beat around the bush," Schuyler Barbeau said. Since his arrest in December, Barbeau has been behind bars at the SeaTac Federal Detention Center. "I knew this was coming one day. I speak out against government tyranny and injustice and eventually, when you speak out loud enough for long enough, the government's gonna notice you and I got myself noticed," said Barbeau. Barbeau is charged with owning an assault rifle with a barrel that is too short, In a phone conversation from behind bars, Barbeau shared his defense and his determination to uphold the Constitution. "The Second Amendment says the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. What's the definition of arms? Arms is any weapon, swords, knives, guns, missiles. Anything is arms. It's an all-inclusive term and the gun that I had, the rifle I had, falls under that definition of ‘arms.’ So I have the right to keep and bear it." Barbeau's public comments about bearing arms are part of the government's case against him. An FBI confidential informant claims he threatened to "lynch" public servants, "remove a judge" and "shoot" law enforcement officers. "Saying stuff about shooting guys, shooting law enforcement whatever, yeah, I did say that stuff,” Barbeau said. “But anytime I said anything like that, it was purely in, in self-defense. I would never hurt anybody and any of my friends and family, anybody that knows me could testify to that, that I'm not out to try to hurt people. But I will defend myself.” To better understand Barbeau's physical and philosophical transformation requires going back in time to a humble beginning on the flag-lined streets of Stanwood, Washington. "He was kind of quiet," said his mother Stacy Barbeau, who describes him as a boy who struggled in school, but drew a clear distinction between right and wrong. "He was very strong-willed and he had a very strong sense of what he felt was right." The Barbeau family worshipped at the local Assemblies of God church and Schuyler attended youth group at Calvary Chapel in Cameno Island. "We were all raised to be Christian and to believe in God and to believe in Jesus Christ and that was his foundation," said brother Justin Barbeau. "His second Bible became the Constitution." After leaving Stanwood High School, Barbeau joined the Marines, then the National Guard as a demolitions expert...more

Here is the KIRO news report:

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