The Persecution of Jeremy Hill (Updated, 9/8)

JeremyHill of Bonners Ferry, Idaho, shot and killed a grizzly bear that threatenedhis children. The federal government is seeking to imprison him forviolating the Endangered Species Act. Idaho Governor Butch Otter wrote a nauseatinglysycophantic letter to someone he insisted on addressing as “The Honorable”Ken Salazar, the federal Secretary of Interior, pleading that the Regime be measured and magnanimous in carrying out its persecution of that innocent man.

“I recognize the federal jurisdiction under the EndangeredSpecies Act, but I strongly support the right of individuals to defendthemselves and others in such situations,” sniveled Otter. “One of the flaws ofthe ESA is the premium it places on protecting species at the expense ofeverything else. Although an individual can protect human safety under the law –as Jeremy felt he was doing – it’s a shame that the Endangered Species Actstill does not enable citizens to protect their private property and pets inthe same manner.”

That aspect of the ESA is not a “shame,” but rather thepredictable and intended result of the measure, which codifies aworldview called “biocentrism” in which human beings are simply one speciesamong many, and individual property rights do not exist. What is shameful,however, is Otter’s continued insistence on posturing as a representative ofthe people of Idaho, rather than a kennel-fed lapdog who knows the exact lengthof the leash connecting him to his masters in Washington. Were the Governor a worthier canine specimen, he would recognize this as a time to bare his teeth.

After killing the bear that had invaded his property andendangered his family, Hillcontacted the local office of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. Twoofficers were dispatched to examine the bear’s remains, and they certified whatshould be obvious to people whose minds aren’t cankered with eco-collectivistcant: Hill’s actions were entirely justified and more than a little courageous.

Jack Douglas, the Boundary County Prosecutor, conducted hisown inquiry into the shooting and concluded that Hill was “forced to takelethal action” in order to protect his wife and four of the couple’s sixchildren. Only one of the bears was killed, Douglas noted, and Hill “didn’tfire at the retreating bears because they no longer posed a threat.” 

This ends the matter. If Butch Otter, who loves to swanaround in cowboy attire, had sufficient sand to fill an hourglass, he wouldinform Salazar that no federal official in the State of Idaho will be permittedto have any contact with Jeremy Hill or any member of his family. He would alsoinform Commissar Salazar that any federal official who molests or harasses themin any way will be taken into custody and evicted from the state. Otter wouldthen issue instructions to that effect to the Idaho State Police and, ifnecessary, the Idaho National Guard. 

 After all, isn’t Otter the same intrepid, independent-mindedbadass who loves to speakabout “nullification” and “interposition” – the same bare-knuckled slab ofRocky Mountain individualism who proudly “nullified” theObamacare monstrosity in the Gem State? 

Well, no – not exactly. 

This is the same Village People-gradeersatz buckaroo whose attorney general collaborated with theObama regime to punish a group of orthopedic surgeons who organized toprotest federally imposed price controls on medical treatment.  He’s the same Janus-faced specimen whopostures as the indomitable foe of federal meddling in health care – and then proudlyannounces that he has secured millions of pilfered dollars and is willingto permit Obamacare to operate within Idaho on a “case-by-case basis.” 

Given that substantive record, it’s not surprising thatOtter, in dealing with the Jeremy Hill case, reacted by tugging on his forelock,rather than thrusting out his chin.

“I would sincerely appreciate your looking into this caseand assisting any way you can,” Otter simpered in his letter to Salazar. With theunfailing instinct of a natural collaborator,Otter pointed out that Federal prestige might suffer if the persecution of theHill family continues. The Feds need “to consider the impacts to grizzlyrecovery efforts because of Jeremy’s case,” Otter wrote. “There is great publicoutcry about this issue, and prosecution may further damage community supportfor recovery efforts.” 

Here Otter sought refuge in a familiar collectivistdialectic, treating Hill’s legitimate rights and the illegitimate demands ofthe federal eco-bureaucracy as if they have comparable moral weight – and implicitlyseeking a “compromise” that will minimize the damage done to the victim whileprotecting the usurped power of the aggressor.  This is unsatisfactory: Any attempt to punishHill – even to the extent of stealing the time necessary for a preliminaryhearing – would be a crime. 

If Jeremy Hill had been wearing a government-issued costume,and his “victim” had been an unarmed human being, rather than a federallyprotected grizzly bear, he would be enjoying a paid vacation rather than facingfinancial ruin and the prospect of a year in prison. The talismanic phrase “officersafety” would be ritually invoked, officials would perform the appropriateroles in a pantomime of an inquiry, and the entirely predictable ruling of “justified”would be delivered. 

In the event that the details of this episode were toowell-documented to deny, and sufficiently outrageous to shock the publicconscience, a settlement would be paid with money extracted from tax victims,and the offender would be discharged without criminal charges or personal civilliability. That’s how this matter would play out, once again, if Jeremy Hillhad been a law enforcement officer who committed an act of criminal homicide, ratherthan a father who killed a wild predator that threatened his children.

Boundary County, some will recall, is where a wolfpack ofhired killers called the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team laid siege to the home ofpolitical non-conformist Randy Weaver, murdering Weaver’s teenage sonSamuel and his wife, Vicky.  LonHoriuchi, the FBI sniper who admitted to the killing of Vicky Weaver, wasspared federal prosecution underan exotic doctrine described by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals as “SupremacyClause Immunity” – which in practice operates exactly like the discredited “NurembergDefense.” 

Under this doctrine, according to the Court, theonly significant questions were these: Was Horiuchi acting under orders fromhis superiors, and was the kill-shot justified by "his subjective beliefthat his actions were necessary and proper"? Once those questions wereanswered in the affirmative, Horiuchi was immunized from either civil or criminalprosecution. 

A few months after handing down that ruling – which devisedwhat dissenting Judge Alex Kozinski memorably denounced as a “007 Standard” forlethal force by federal agents -- the Ninth Court partially reversed thatdecision by acknowledging that the State of Idaho could prosecute Horiuchi forcriminal homicide under state laws. Denise Woodbury, an assistant prosecutorfrom Boundary County, was prepared to prosecute the FBI sniper, but then- incomingcounty attorney Brett Benson – reacting to pressure from the state government –demurred. 

There is no doubt that Jeremy Hill acted in a “necessary andproper fashion.” No human being was harmed as a result of his actions. Yet LonHoriuchi remains at large, and no doubt collects a federal pension – and Hillmay well lose his home and his freedom (whatever that word means for a subjectof the detestable Regime that presumes to rule us).

The persecution of Jeremy Hill offers that rarest of things –an opportunity for a government to act in defense of an individual’s rights byinterposing itself between the victim and the assailant. 

Jeremy Hill is not going to prison. If Otter and the sillylittle government he heads aren’t willing to interpose on that man’s behalf,there are plenty of us living in Idaho who will. 


UPDATE: The Feds get their (half-)pound of flesh 


The headline announces: "Feds drop charge against Idaho grizzly shooter." Three paragraphs into the story we learn that this wasn't a recognition of Jeremy Hill's innocence, or an act of supposed clemency, but rather a successful act of extortion: "As part of a deal, Hill agreed his actions violated a regulation of the Endangered Species Act against removing nuisance bears and paid a $1,000 fine."

This is exactly the kind of resolution Butch Otter had sought: The issue is disposed of in a way that will abate the growing public outrage, while preserving the Federal Government's supposed authority to enforce the totalitarian Endangered Species Act. 

 

 Your donations are vital to help keep Pro Libertate on-line. Thanks so much, and God bless!

Dum spiro, pugno!