Kochs Target Iron Co Races, as Corrupt Judge and DA Target Mining Protestor

Beautiful Penokee Range in
Iron County (Wisconsin).
"The Penokee-Gogebic Range
consists of two steep, parallel ridges
that dominate the local
landscape rising 1,200
feet above nearby Lake Superior.
The topography of the area
and the variety of soil conditions
 result in a wide range of habitat
that supports a diverse
group of species and
natural communities."
(Nature Conservancy)

Update II: Iron County District Attorney Martin Lipske—inclined to shoot his mouth off in service to favored litigants such as the GTac mining company—should read Wisconsin Supreme Court Rule [SCR 20:3.6  Trial publicity]:  "(a) A lawyer who is participating or has participated in the investigation or litigation of a matter shall not make an extrajudicial statement that the lawyer knows or reasonably should know will be disseminated by means of public communication and will have a substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing an adjudicative proceeding in the matter."

Now, I'm no attorney, but Lipske's statement made to Steven Verburg of the Wisconsin State Journal (July 17, 2013) sure seems to me like a "extrajudicial statement that the lawyer knows or reasonably should know will be disseminated by means of public communication and will have a substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing an adjudicative proceeding in the matter."

State Journal headline reads: "Details of harassment incident at mine show a troubling threat, prosecutor says."

Here is Lipske's quote: '"The details on the [alleged criminal] incident (of Katie Kloth and a small group) help explain why the Gogebic Taconite mining company hired heavily armed security guards from Arizona who wore camouflage and masks, Lipske said."

On a different matter, hey Lipske, you ever ask for a favor in exchange for performing specific duties of your office?  Just checking it, friend.

Update: District Attorney Martin Lipke, working in service to GTac, reportedly wants mine protestor Katie Kloth to pay $10,000s to GTac because GTac brought in Bulletproof Security—heavily armed with assault weapons, unlicensed and operating illegally under Wisconsin law—to provide "security" against a handful of unarmed, young protesters and Native Americans growing rice and sharing traditional meals with journalists and visitors to the area, often at the Lac Courte Oreilles Harvest and Educational Camp.

There was never any question that Bulletproof operated illegally, yet Lipske refused to press criminal charges against Bulletproof, instead Lipske actually supplied free public relations for the criminal actor, Bulletproof: "The details on the [alleged criminal] incident (of Katie Kloth and a small group) help explain why the Gogebic Taconite mining company hired heavily armed security guards from Arizona who wore camouflage and masks, Lipske said." (Steven Verburg. Wisconsin State Journal)

Bulletproof also made "false statement(s) in connection with (its) application for a license or permit," a violation of  Wisconsin Statute 440.26(6)(a)(3), as Steve Horn reported in December 2013. Bulletproof's president, Tom Parrella had claimed "to have reached out to local officials in two counties and to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) before he sent his employees to northern Wisconsin. But officials with those counties and the DNR deny this."

Lipske again refused to prosecute.

One would think this inequitable treatment, this selective prosecution, would perhaps supply grounds for dismissal of charges, or a substitution of judges.
---
"Iron County is a place of incredible natural beauty. With 300 pristine lakes encompassing 34,000 acres of pure water the only thing that could make it better is Lake Superior coastline. Good thing Iron County has that too. Come and enjoy an amazing waterfall or take a long walk on the beautiful sandy beaches of Saxon Harbor."

So notes the official website of Iron County in northern Wisconsin, population of some 5,200 residents, most of whom know each other personally or by reputation.

Rightwing money pouring into Iron County wants to see pristine lakes, watersheds and rivers fouled by toxins from a proposed massive, open-pit mine—brought and paid for by billionaire mining mogul, Christopher Cline, and one cog in his extraction operations: GTac or Gogebic Taconite.

The Wisconsin State Journal is reporting the Koch Brothers-funded Americans for Prosperity (AFP) is dropping over a 1,000 political pamphlets defaming residents in Iron County as "anti-mining radical(s)" in an effort to elect pro-mining members of the Board of Supervisors in the April 1 election. (Verberg)

"A well-funded Wisconsin conservative group is blasting seven county board candidates in sparsely populated Iron County, calling them 'radical anti-mining' environmentalists," reports Verberg.

No election is too small for the Koch brothers, and they are wreaking havoc on a planetary scale.

North of Wisconsin in Canada, a subsidiary of Koch Industries is the largest lease holder in Canada’s oil sands, reports EcoWatch.

One pro-mining resident, Saxon Assistant Fire Chief Karl Krall, "said he wonders where they (AFP)are getting their information. Krall said he is a strong proponent of the mine, and he is puzzled and angry about being described as a job-killing radical on the material sent to his friends, neighbors and potential voters in the district where he is a candidate," reports Verberg. 'Everybody in the town except me got the flyer saying I’m an anti-mine radicalist. It’s a joke,' said Krall."

Katie Kloth - A woman whose spirit
is as beautiful as the Penokees. The
rightwing hates her and is out to
destroy Ms. Kloth's life because of
her opposition to the Gtac mine.

Katie Kloth

What is not so funny about Iron County, is mining protestor Katie Kloth, a 20-something, anti-mining protestor about to get the book thrown at her, already overcharged by Iron County's notoriously corrupt District Attorney Martin Lipske.

The 26-year-old Kloth raised her voice at an anti-mining protest and is accused of stealing a cell phone and smashing it.

For this, Kloth is being subjected to an abuse of office by Lipske, who has a history of outrageous conduct of this nature.

Kloth faces three misdemeanors and one felony charge

Kloth's arraignment hearing is Monday, April 24.

Judge Patrick Madden and Iron County District Attorney Martin Lipske

I spoke to some Iron County folks (not Don Miller) the last few days, and as much as they detest Lipske, they believe few outside Iron County have any idea how corrupt this isolated county is, and specifically point to Judge Patrick J. Madden, presiding over Kloth's arraignment.

"I hope Katie Kloth's lawyers know whose courtroom they are walking into when they go before Madden. You think Lipske is corrupt; Madden is worse. I can prove plenty of stories of criminal conduct, but a lot of people could get hurt, but I'll still pull the trigger when the time is right," says a long-time resident, speaking to me, and asking to remain anonymous because of feared retaliation and the sensitivity of the topic. "At least the spotlight is on these __holes for a while."

Tiny and beautiful Iron County is a focus of billionaires, Christopher Cline and the Koch brothers.

The District Attorney and Circuit Court judge are corrupt, and fronting for GTac and the billionaires.

Now, 27-year-old Katie Kloth, a socially conscious woman with no criminal record, is going to get the book thrown at her as Lipske and Madden do the mining company's dirty work.

Last year, Lipske tried to charge a 76-year-old farmer, "Barrel Bob" Gollubske, a gentle farmer from Kimball in Iron County, with "bomb scares" and terrorizing the community after Gollubske called the FBI and said he is afraid of what the Gtac is planning on doing, and then complaining to the DNR.

Gollubkse had long said destructive blasting by a local asphalt company would be nothing compared to GTac's plan to blast open their proposed 26-mile-ling open-pit mine.

All criminal charges against Gollubske were dismissed in December 2013 because the charges were fabricated, ludicrous and intended to intimidate anti-mining sentiment; Gollubske's lawyer, Jeff Scott Olson of Madison, had successfully moved for a judge substitution in August last year.

Gollubkse said by phone in December, "I feel happy, I fell relieved, but my wife you know, she had a heart attack over this, a quadruple bypass, and thanks to Marshfield (Clinic). Being called a terrorist, how it felt. I still can't believe I was accused of being a terrorist."

 Lipske is a sociopath with no conscience about lying and literally destroying lives.

Madden is worse, having reportedly recruited Lipske to become Iron County District Attorney after Lipske's law license was suspended from 1990-1994 for misconduct, under the category of "Suspended for Discipline" for "dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misconduct" in 1990.

Perfect qualifications for DA in Iron County.

Madden, aka "Madman" and Lipske run their horror show in isolated Iron County. Other Wisconsin jurists cannot comment on corruption of their colleagues other than filing notice with the State Bar of Wisconsin Bar, actually an obligation.

Light and media attention are now being shone on their actions, and this site will be monitoring events closely.

Mine Protestor Gets Light Jail Sentence, Corrupt Iron County DA Sought Long Prison Term

Katie Krow Kloth targeted by Mining
Co. and Corrupt Wisconsin DA

Updated - Nine-month Jail Term and Small Restitution for Mine Protester and Environmental Activist - DA Martin Lipske's 15-year prison sentence rejected by judge; GTAC's $80,000-plus restitution request rejected by judge [It was originally reported that the sentence is six months, but as the two counts' sentences are running consecutively and not concurrently, the jail term is nine months].

Update: A source in Iron County Wisconsin says Iron County DA Lipske, after being rebuffed today by Judge Fox, is now working on new charges against Ms. Kloth.

Lipske will not be satisfied until he has inflicted as much pain as possible on Ms. Kloth and will contrive virtually any charge in his ongoing abuse of process and malicious prosecution of Ms. Kloth.

The new charge is now Bail Jumping, a Class H Felony, though Ms. Kloth has never missed an appearance.

Reached today by phone, Lipske said there is a forbidden area in the forest of Iron County on which Ms. Kloth set foot.

The case is State of Wisconsin vs. Katie M. Kloth, Iron County Case Number 2015CF000001. Lipske said he is touch with Kloth's attorney, John C. Bachman of Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

Lipske claims that entering the forbidden zone in the Penokee Hills last Sunday constitutes "Bail Jumping."

 "On Sunday, at least 45 people snowshoed into the 'forbidden zone,' an off-limits mining zone in the Penokees established by Gogebic Taconite (GTAC) through the Wisconsin DNR, to peacefully protest the proposed mining in the region," reports Amber Mullen, Ashland Daily Press.

Objectively, Iron County District Attorney Martin Lipske is a despicable human being who should be investigated for misconduct again, and have his license suspended again by the Wisconsin Office of Lawyer Regulation.

Lipske said he had no choice but to pursue another felony charge though the political protest case is effectively closed. 

Lipske does have a choice, it's called prosecutorial discretion, but this human garbage is on a vendetta.
 ---
Katie Krow Kloth was sentenced to serve nine months in Iron County jail before a packed courtroom in Hurley, Wisconsin, and was described by the presiding judge as committing an offense on the low end of the spectrum at a political protest in 2013.

Two sentences of six and three months are ordered to be served consecutively by Ms. Kloth who is eligible for work release and has two weeks to report to jail. "Kloth will have five years of probation with the felony charge and two years with the misdemeanor," notes the Ashland Daily Press.

The presiding judge, Price County Judge Douglas T. Fox, said a prison sentence was not "appropriate," and withheld requested prison sentences, rejecting Iron County DA Martin Lipske's appeals.

Lipske is notoriously corrupt and known for fronting for Gogebic Taconite (GTAC).

GTAC's $80,000 request for restitution was rejected in full.

A different company employee, Stacy Saari, was ordered to receive a small restitution from Kloth.

Ms. Kloth, a 27-year-old woman who had no criminal record prior, is an environmental and Native American activist who faced four criminal charges for actions at a 2013 political protest at the proposed GTAC mine site in northern Wisconsin, (see Kaufman, New York Times).

Ms. Kloth had pleaded No Contest to two charges last September.

Kloth's attorney, John C. Bachman of Eau Claire, Wisconsin said he had never seen so many letters of support in a criminal case today as at this hearing.

The Department of Corrections filed a presentencing report with the Court on November 13, 2014, ordered by Price County Judge Douglas T. Fox on September 23, 2014.

"Katie is an intelligent and skilled botanist who has much to teach about the natural world," said environmental activist Rob Ganson of Citizens Concerned about the Proposed Penokee Mine in a letter to  Judge Fox.

Ms. Kloth made a motion for a new judge in March 2014, as is her right (unique among the 50 states) to move for substitution in Wisconsin for no stated cause, though the case stays in the jurisdiction of Iron County.

Good move.

The District Attorney, Iron County's Martin Lipske, is a corrupt jurist, suspended for discipline in 1990, and like Iron County Judge Patrick Madden is not a jurist with whom you want to be dealing when you are protesting the proposed giant open pit GTAC mine in Iron County.

Lipske, incredibly (but not for Lipske), had charged Kloth on four criminal counts two of which could have resulted in a 15-year prison sentence for an incident during which the alleged victims were seen laughing on tape.

Judge Fox handed down the sentence—some 11 months after Kloth's motion for a substitution of judge—this morning after DA Lipske threw the book at Kloth in typical Lipske-abuse-of-discretion fashion.

The charges stem from a criminal complaint of June 21, 2013.

Kloth had reached a plea deal in September, facing DA Martin Lipske throwing the book at her.

Krow was described as "looking well" yesterday by a long-time resident of Ashland County who spoke with Krow at the produce aisle at Chequamegon Food Coop on Tuesday, January 20th in the city of Ashland.

The same source said, Krow told him, "she has a good feeling about tomorrow's trial and claims to be ready for whatever happens."

Today at the sentencing hearing, Krow was described as "emotional but composed, and remorseful," by an attendee of the hearing.

Kloth is also the victim of a PR campaign against her by Wisconsin GOP-front journals, the Wisconsin Reporter and Media Trackers, among GOP groups.

"[T]he Gogebic Taconite company contributed $700,000 to the Wisconsin Club for Growth during the recall races in 2011 and 2012. According to the John Doe prosecutors, that contribution was coordinated by agents of Gov. Scott Walker. Around the same time, Walker and the Republicans were promoting a bill that was partially written by Gogebic Taconite. That bill eventually passed, giving the company what it wanted for its controversial mine in Iron County." (Rothschild, The Capital Times)

Said Krow in July 2014: "Those who fight against the destruction of the water, land, plants, and human and non-human animals of the Penokee Hills and Bad River Watershed are not ‘terrorists.’ The only terrorists are those who plot to blow up the hills with ammonium nitrate and use the power of the state’s policing apparatus to repress and send fear and division through the communities that oppose them. Gogebic Taconite (GTAC) and Chris Cline have millions of dollars and the support of the state to destroy the Penokees [Hills]," (Bergquist, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel).

A support group of Krow's notes:

On June 11th, 2013, Kroft was cited by the Iron County Sherriff for theft due to her alleged involvement in a rowdy protest earlier that day that disrupted bore-hole drilling on the Penokee Range. She was neither arrested nor detained that day.

Ten days later, Iron County District Attorney Martin Lipske increased the charges to robbery with use of force (a class E felony), two counts of criminal damage to property and one charge of theft of movable property.

It is apparent that the prosecutor gave into outside political pressure and that the charges were trumped up. The state legislature and powerful mining corporations seek to make an example out of anyone who dares to step out of line

A letter to Judge Fox by Rob Ganson of Citizens Concerned about the Proposed Penokee Mine (Facebook) is reproduced below:

Judge Fox,

Katie Kloth, in my opinion, is guilty of a crime, one like Bill Williams committed in the courthouse in Ashland, when he too, snatched a cell phone against resistance of the owner.

Small crimes like these, like the one perpetrated on 80-year-old Bruce Noble (no charges) occur on the streets of Hurley on a regular basis with no charges forthcoming. Please ask yourself why this particular case was so blatantly over-charged in Iron County.

It is clear on the video that a very minor assault was committed, while the victim’s co-workers, (a burly drilling crew) stood by laughing at the ill considered and rude antics. It is also clear that GTac responded by breaking the law; sending unlicensed mercenaries with military weapons, mercenaries in camo gear and masks, to confront hikers, including my wife. THIS was another sort of assault altogether! This assault was one including the brandishing of military rifles by masked men who seemed like some sort of terrorist cell and NOBODY was charged! The disposition of this case should be the same as it would be absent the political environment responsible for the elevated charges.

Katie is an intelligent and skilled botanist who has much to teach about the natural world, (if little about manners) and not some troublemaker with a record of crime or violence of any kind. I ask that you act in the spirit of justice and impose the slap on the wrist wake up call it would end in were it not for the politics that have so greatly exaggerated it.

Rob Ganson,
Washburn, Wisconsin
---

Bulletproof Securities, Inc, Photo by Rob Ganson

Read as well the refusal of DA Martin Lipske to prosecute the rightwing Bulletproof Securities, Inc. which tried to provoke natives of northern Wisconsin by unlawfully carrying semi-automatic weapons captured in a shot by Rob Ganson that was picked up nationwide.

July 17, 2013

Martin Lipske District Attorney
300 Taconite Street
Hurley, WI 54534

Re: Bulletproof Securities, Inc.

Dear Mr. Lipske:

This is a follow-up to my letter of July 11, calling your attention to several violations committed by Bulletproof Securities, Inc. while their armed personnel were unlawfully present in Wisconsin at the GTAC mine site. Apparently Bulletproof’s application for a Wisconsin license is still under consideration.

In my previous letter I did not specifically point to Wisconsin Statutes Section 134.58, which suggests that some officials and employees of both Bulletproof Securities and GTAC may have committed felonies. Section 134.58 states:

“Any person who, individually, in concert with another or as agent or officer of any firm, joint-stock company or corporation, uses, employs, aids or assists in employing any body of armed persons to act as militia, police or peace officers for the protection of persons or property or for the suppression of strikes, not being authorized by the laws of this state to so act, is guilty of a Class I felony.”

It is difficult to argue that this provision was not violated by the hiring of unlicensed personnel carrying AR-15’s, engaged to conduct surveillance and to protect the employees and property of GTAC.

Given this and the numerous previously listed violations, it is incumbent on your office and state regulatory authorities to insure that Bulletproof Securities, Inc. is not allowed to operate in Wisconsin. In the event Bulletproof officials were to be convicted of these charges, they would lose the right to operate in Arizona as well as Wisconsin. GTAC is presently utilizing Wisconsin personnel, and the tension has de-escalated. It would be counterproductive to reintroduce this firm into Wisconsin, as GTAC has promised. While Governor Walker and others have insisted that you prosecute law-breaking protesters to the fullest extent possible, I am looking for some semblance of an attempt to enforce the laws against out-of-state corporations responsible for criminal activity within our state.

Your defense of GTAC’s right to hire Bulletproof’s guards at Katie Kloth’s hearing was troublesome.

It was unrelated to her guilt or innocence, and only served to conflate the issues. No one has ever suggested GTAC has no right to hire private security -- they have every right to hire licensed personnel. Don’t confuse that with utilizing unlicensed, armed security forces in violation of Wisconsin’s criminal laws. Your vigorous stance in support of the hiring appears inappropriate for one charged with the duty to decide whether that hiring led to multiple violations of the law.

Unlike Governor Walker, I am not requesting that you use every weapon at your disposal. I am merely seeking assurances that Bulletproof Securities, Inc. will not be granted a license to operate in Wisconsin. Wisconsin is better served by the continued use of local companies that have demonstrated knowledge of and compliance with the law.

Sincerely,

Anthony J. Stella, Jr.
Copy: Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services

Heavily Armed Bulletproof Operated Illegally in Ashland County

Updated - The StellaReport has the story.

Bulletproof's "Tom Parrella had his young, battle-ready employees of the mindset that their lives and the lives of their families were under immediate threat, as if he were commanding a covert operation in Pakistan. He went so far as to instruct them -- in clear violation of Wisconsin's laws -- to remove their name tags and cover their faces," writes Stella.

That's right.

And it took a private citizen to find out what Stella is bringing to light.

Stella's determination that Iron County's District Attorney, Martin Lipske, won't do anything of substance RE Bulletproof's armed-camp response to conservationists bringing attention to the Gogebic Taconite Mine's environmental damage to Iron and Ashland counties, Lake Superior and the surrounding waters and habitats.

I still think it is going take an idiot from Bulletproof shooting someone before Scott Walker and his administration stop collaborating with Bulletproof (Marley and Phillis. Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel; August 9, 2013) and starts doing its job.

Iron County's Lipske, fresh off his two-year-plus suspension (1990-1993) of his license to practice law in Wisconsin (and Minnesota) for professional misconduct decided what better way to get back into the swing of law than to run for District Attorney of Iron County Wisconsin in 1994.

Lipske moved to Iron County from Superior, Wisconsin (Douglas County) at the urging of Iron County Judge Patrick J. Madden, aka Madman.

Martin Lipske runs for DA in Iron County - From August 1994

Corrupt Iron County DA Has Conservationists Looking to Neighbor

Update: Heavily Armed Bulletproof did operate illegally in Ashland County. The StellaReport has the story.

As light shines on the isolated Iron County in northern Wisconsin, its corruption and the lurid nature of its public officials are getting a wider audience.

The light comes after the proposed Gogebic Taconite iron mine in Iron and Ashland counties was approved with special mining-company-written legislation, rushed through the Wisconsin legislature with sole Republican Party support in early 2013.

The Iron County District Attorney, Martin Lipske used to support Wisconsin Democratic Party Governor, James Doyle, but after Scott Walker and the GOP drummed up support for the mining bill, Lipske changed his party affiliation from the Democratic Party and ran as an independent in 2012, narrowly winning reelection.

Lipske is known in Iron County for fronting for the GOP-mining interests, and protecting it, refusing, for example, to prosecute the heavily armed rightwing militia, Bulletproof Securities, for operating without a license in criminal violation of Wisconsin law.

Now, citizens in Iron County are looking for evidence Bulletproof operated in neighboring Ashland County, in the face of Lipske's refusal to prosecute Bulletproof for repeated violations of the law.

Lipske is infamous locally as well for launching a prosecution against an innocent man whom Lipske incredibly taunts in a recent letter sent to the man, Donald R. Miller, in prison, chastising Miller for the work of his parents and supporters for maintaining a website—Anatomy of a Wrongful Prosecution.

Miller refused to plead no-contest after Lipske in a DA-proposed plea agreement in 1997.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School's Innocence Project was working on freeing Miller from 2011-12, obtaining an agreement from Lipske stipulating Miller's immediate release in late 2012.

Lipske reneged on the agreement after Lipske's political mentor and predecessor as DA, Iron County Judge Patrick J. Madden, rejected the agreement in late 2012 with no objection from Lipske.

Now, the Innocence Project continues its work.

A parole hearing is scheduled for later this year.

The Innocence Project is scheduled to meet with Lipske's office this week.

The latest:

Read this letter below and tell me the Wisconsin Iron County District Attorney's office is not corrupt.

Iron County DA Martin Lipske taunts innocent man,
sending him a letter while in prison

DA Lipske Backs off Rubber-stamping Militia; Wrongful Prosecutions Remain

Iron County DA Martin Lipske on display

Well, kudos to Iron County (Wisconsin) DA Martin Lipske for making a statement that "hopefully we don't have to have high-intensity security people like Bulletproof here, acting in a high-intensive manner like being armed," as reported by Wisconsin Public Radio.

Yeah, who could have saw Bulletproof coming? See Scott Walker's aide had advance knowledge of Bulletproof's plans for the Iron County mine.

Hopefully?

How would have Lipske treated conservationists marching around the north woods with semi-automatic weapons? Walker likely would have called in the National Guard.

How about, hopefully, dropping Lipske's ludicrous multiple-felony prosecutions against Katie Kloth for protesting against the mining company and Bulletproof's bad actions that have no place in Wisconsin?

Hopefully?

How about, hopefully, getting Donald Miller out of prison before everyone and his U.S. Attorney find out about the rat's nest of corruption, wrongful prosecutions and malice Lipske has going up there in Iron County?

Lipske knows what I mean. Lipske's words are not exactly a piece of forged steel.

Word from a source in Iron County this morning is Miller applied for a Pardon from the governor's Executive Clemency office, whose webpage currently reads, "The pardon process has been suspended indefinitely.  Applications currently on file will be saved for future use.  However, no new applications will be accepted."

After encouraging words about Executive Clemency, came nothing as Lipske went from a Jim Doyle-endorsing Democrat to an Independent running for reelection for DA in 2012, fully in support of mining interests and Walker's mining bill.

Iron County DA Martin Lipske on display. Letter shows capricious behavior

Mining Protester Motion to Dismiss Denied, Faces Trumped-up Charge by Iron County's Corrupt DA

Katie Krow Kloth targeted by Mining Co. and
Corrupt Wisconsin DA, Martin Lipske

Gogebic Taconite mining company (GTAC) opponent, Katie Krow Kloth, appeared at an initial hearing today on Iron County District Attorney Martin Lipske's charge of felony bailjumping.

Kloth's motion to dismiss was denied.

An evidentiary hearing [Preliminary hearing] is scheduled for Feb. 17, 2015 at 2:p.m.] to determine whether probable cause exists for the criminal process on this charge to continue.

The case is State of Wisconsin vs. Katie M Kloth (Iron County Case Number 2015CF000001).

Kloth appeared in orange jail attire and hand cuffs, an observer said.

The case is manufactured by GTAC and Idea Drilling company working with Iron County officials to throw Kloth behind bars for as many years as it can get a judge to agree.

Not content to front for Gogebic Taconite mining company (GTAC), Iron County District Attorney Martin Lipske is pursuing felony bail jumping charges against Kloth, a mining protester whom Lipske threw the book at for a rowdy political demonstration.

Felony bail jumping charges are the go-to charge for Lipske who is volatile and has a shady history as district attorney; and before that position was suspended for discipline in 1990 for deceit.

After Lipske filed four criminal charges against Kloth for a June 2013 demonstration, Kloth appeared before Price County Judge Douglas T. Fox on January 21, 2015 and received a nine-month jail sentence with seven years probation.

Lipske had asked for a $80,000-plus restitution from Kloth for claimed damages against GTAC, a ludicrous request that was denied was Judge Fox.

Lipske wants the seven-year probation revoked.

Lipske refused to prosecute GTAC's "security" company, Bulletproof Security though Bulletproof acted in contravention of Wisconsin law, after Bulletproof Security's president, Tom Parrella, consulted with Scott Walker's administration in 2013.

Lipske had asked for a $80,000-plus restitution from Kloth for claimed damages against GTAC, a ludicrous request that was denied was Judge Fox.

Lipske wants the seven-year probation revoked.

In 1990, Lipske's license in practice was suspended for two years for professional misconduct.

Wisconsin Atty Asks DA, State Agency about Criminality of Bulletproof Security's Private Army

Before raping our land, poisoning our water, and further corrupting our political system, all agents and contractors involved with Christopher Cline's mining enterprises ought to at least follow Wisconsin law, as attorney Anthony J. Stella, Jr. is asking Wisconsin public officials.

That goes triple for those patrolling the Wisconsin north woods with militarized, semi-automatic weapons.

We know Gogebic Taconite LLC and Christopher Cline do not like Wisconsin citizens, but killing citizens is premeditated murder.

Killing, that's what these weapons do.

Firearms training instructs:  You don't take weapons out, unless you plan to shoot them. And you never point a weapon or use it threateningly towards another person unless you are ready to kill him or her.

Circumstances created by these out-of-state, corporate right-wing militias (and Wisconsin Republicans) need to be stopped.

Wisconsin law enforcement ought to consider these private, corporate terrorists are violating the safety and peace of Wisconsin citizens, as well as breaking the law; and take appropriate action towards Bulletproof's militia now.

If one of these corporate idiots kill someone, it's also on the hands of the Republican Party, and Wisconsin law enforcement which to this point has done nothing to rid Wisconsin of this out-of-state corporate terrorism.

[Thank you Blue Cheddar.]

To be used by Bulletproof's militia to massacre whom exactly?

Mining Company May Dump Its Wisconsin District Attorney

Mining Company: We're for you, Wisconsin

Gogebic Taconite Mine (GTac) wrote its own Wisconsin legislation; keeps scientific data secret from the people; forbids environmental experts from approaching the proposed mine site, and is now wants to keep the Wisconsin people away from 1,000s of acres of forests, as demanded in new legislation proposed and supported solely by the Republican Party.

This follows GTac's worst blunder yet in hiring a bunch of heavily armed, wanna-be Rambos from Arizona, Bulletproof Security, parading around on GTac's proposed $1.5 billion open-pit iron-ore mine site in the Penokee Hills of northern Wisconsin.

But perhaps the most foolish of GTac's blunders is keeping its Iron County (Wisconsin) District Attorney, Martin Lipske, as its legal frontman.

Lipske went from a Gov. James Doyle-endorsing Democrat to an Independent (he won reelection in 2012 after a controversial recount) after word went out in Iron County in 2011 that GTac was coming in with Republican support.

Lipske presents to the Wisconsin public the legal equivalent of the face of the corporate terrorist—corrupt, a shady reputation with a history of professional misconduct, and perversely disdainful of innocent Wisconsin people.

Check out Martin 'Marty' Lipske on search sites, and you won't find out much beyond the fact his license to practice law was suspended for professional misconduct, and he put an innocent man in prison after losing DNA evidence in 1997; and protecting favored defendants in Iron County, including favored prostitutes. Hey, welcome to Hurley, Wisconsin in Iron County.

Lipske had his license to practice law suspended six times in Wisconsin, once for professional misconduct in a suspension that lasted almost four years shortly before Iron County Judge Patrick J. 'Madman' Madden recruited Lipske to move from Douglas County (Wisconsin) to run for District Attorney in Iron County where Madden has served as judge with an equally corrupt reputation since 1986.

Rob Ganson’s photo of Bulletproof Security using silencers
on their semi-automatics was taken July 6, 2013 in Iron County

Madden recused himself from Lipske's latest attempted miscarriage of justice after Lipske targeted anti-mining Iron County resident, 76-year-old Robert Gollubske, for Gollubske's bumbled attempt to contact the FBI after Gollubske's home and farm were rocked by explosions by a local blacktop company that Gollubske fears is a precursor of what the huge open-pit mine will wreak upon the Penokee Hills range.

Lipske has also launched a heavy-handed prosecution against 26-year-old Katie Kloth whom Lipske wants to prosecute with a violent felony and three misdemeanors for protesting the Gogebic Taconite mine in June 2013.

However, Lipske now refuses to prosecute Bulletproof Security for operating without a license in Wisconsin, among other continued violations of Wisconsin law.

The gig is up on Lipske; everyone knows the guy is bent. GTac has its own district attorney.

The only question is how long before Cline Resource and Development Company (of which Gogebic Taconite (GTac) is one subsidiary) comes to the conclusion that Lipske is too much a liability.

In the July 2013 - August 2013 issue of Mining Magazine, Lee Buchsbaum puts it thusly in a piece in which Buchsbaum paints a picture of a lot of money at stake for keeping a frontman like Lipske in place with all his dirt. 

GTac would do better with the image of a semi-automatic rifle with a silencer pointed out in the north woods of Wisconsin. Writes Buchsbaum:

Though not as sexy as gold or platinum, many have argued that iron ore, the primary ingredient in steel, remains the world's most important commodity. ...

The majority of US iron-ore production is concentrated in Minnesota and Michigan, though historically it has also been produced in volume in Wisconsin and, during World Wars One and Two, it was extracted in large quantities from the southwestern states of Utah and Nevada. However, the heart of the industry remains in Minnesota. ...

 In total, 13 iron-ore mines (11 open pits, one reclamation operation, and one dredging operation), nine concentration plants and nine pelletising plants were operational during 2012, as reported by the USGS. However, eight mines operated by three companies - Cliffs Natural Resources, Essar Steel, and US Steel - accounted for virtually all of the production.

New direct-reduction-injection (DRI) processes, cheap natural gas and the enlarged Panama Canal are now driving investors to open new mines and return to old diggings and tailings piles, while reaching out to new international customers.

One of the biggest recent moves in the US iron-ore segment is the entry of what might prove to be a major new producer. Gogebic Taconite (Gtac), a subsidiary of the expanding US coal producer Cline Resource and Development Co (also owner of Foresight Energy) has literally redefined the concept of high-productivity, low-cost longwall mining.

Legislation vital to the re-establishment of iron-ore mining in Wisconsin passed with support from Gtac and, on June 18, Gtac filed for permits regarding its iron-ore mine and processing plant - the first new iron-ore mine in the state for decades. ...

GOGEBIC: NEW SHOOTER

Following an arduous and contentious two-year effort to change the mining laws in Wisconsin, on June 18, officials from Gtac, filed with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources a sample plan and pre-application notice outlining the firm's intent to file an application for an iron-ore mining permit, the first one requested in nearly a century.

Though the bulk sample plan is preliminary to the firm's first pilot efforts to actually recover and determine the quantity and quality of the ore in the deposit, the pre-application is also the first step in a process company officials hope will one day lead to the development of an operating taconite mine.

Gtac has estimated that the US$1.5 billion operation will eventually be capable of producing 8Mt/y of iron ore in phase one of the project, fully 15% of the current total US production.

Extracting from a two-billion-tonne body of crude taconite ore, the deposit Gtac will mine is approximately 35.4km long and dips at about 65 degrees to the north, while outcropping along the top of a hill. ...

Gtac's overall vision is similar to what the Cline Group has accomplished in a relatively short time in the Illinois coal fields. ...

"The company sat on this reserve for 60 years. During its restructuring in 2001 and 2002, US Steel purged its nonproductive and fallow resources," says Gtac mine president Bill Williams. "We now have a clear permitting process, and we're targeting the 2016 to 2017 timeframe to be in production."

Bulletproof Ratchets up Rhetoric

Sarah LittleRedfeather Kalmanson reports that Bulletproof Security has updated its webpage entitled Eco-Terrorism & Economic Sabotage Security.

Here's what Bulletproof writes:

Environmental Terrorists attempt to gain sympathy and justification for their ruthless actions by strategic use of media sources such as radio, television, newspapers and most of all the internet.  They release a widespread misinformation campaign to relentlessly smear and criminalize the actions of legal corporations to justify their acts of terror and sabotage.  Some of these radical Eco Terrorists have made it to the FBI’s Most Wanted List.

AR-15s Good 'Wound Ballistics' Make this Semi-automatic Fully Wonderful for Many

AR-15-style rifles were used by Bulletproof
Securities, Inc., to patrol Wisconsin's north
woods to seek anti-mining activists in 2013.
Photo by Rob Ganson.

AR-15 semi-auto rifle is civilian version of U.S. military’s M-16

Good "wound ballistics from AR-15," notes The Atlantic last year

Madison, Wisconsin—In 2013, an armed right wing militia, Bulletproof Securities, Inc. patrolled the Wisconsin north woods with AR-15-style, semi-automatic rifles frightening northern communities concerned about massacre control and devastation to the environment by a now-defunct massive, open-pit mining project.

The open display of this corporate intent to massacre was the subject of wide criticism, but not from Wisconsin Republicans.

The AR-15 is everything you need for home defense or killing terrorists and black men (what's the difference?), or a mining protestor. And, of course, young adults, students.

Now, the newest massacre from Florida using the AR-15-style rifle finds some Americans wondering if massacre is good public policy.

I have no faith in Republicans in Congress or the lunatic in the White House coming to the conclusion that massacre control is needed. Too many lunatics for whom Republicans work.

From USA Today:

Everything armed guards need for pesky Wisconsin protestors.
Pictured above is AR-15-style rifle by an employee of Bulletproof
operating without a license in northern Wisconsin in 2013.
Photo by Rob Ganson.

Dean Hazen, owner of The Gun Experts in Mahomet, Ill., and a master firearms instructor, said the reason mass shooters are turning to the AR-15 is due to a 'copy-cat' mentality more than any feature of the rifle.

'It’s really just a perception thing,' Hazen said. 'There are rifles that are more powerful and more dangerous than that, but they're not being used.'

Hazen said the AR-15 has "gotten a bad rap."

Actually, the rap on AR-15s is well-deserved, and the fact that more dangerous weapons exist does not disconfirm the recent history of American massacres from AR-15s.

From the Miami Herald, quoting a 14-year-old: "... Until we heard screaming and people, not falling, but crashing when they were barricading the door. We knew it wasn’t a joke anymore."

We could have 18 massacres a month, and Republicans would still not do anything for fear of alienating the NRA.

You want massacre control?

Vote out every Republican across America as a first step.

Below, in a video from 2017, the Atlantic's James Fallows discusses another mass shooting—who can remember which one out of the many that have occurred.

Wisconsin Is Passive as Out-of-Control District Attorney Runs Wild

"The right to do what the law does not prohibit, without fear of harassment or punishment, is one of the hallmarks of a free society."—Judge Alex Kozinski, Chief Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [foreword to Licensed to Lie: Exposing Corruption in the Department of Justice (Sidney Powell, Brown Books Publishing Group, 2014)]
 ---
Updated - A January 18 snow trek through the snow-covered forest in a northern Wisconsin county is felony bailjumping (Wisconsin Statute 946.49), according to Iron County (Wisconsin) District Attorney Martin Lipske, the precise sort of prosecutor with a history of misconduct Judge Richard Posner—judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit—had in mind when Posner wrote his crucial opinion hitting absolute immunity for prosecutors in Fields v. Wharrie and Kelley, (2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 133) (No. 13-1195).

District Attorney Lipske routinely files felony bailjumping (and other ludicrous) criminal charges, and these charges are not the result of meticulous investigations and objective gathering of facts and evidence by law enforcement.

Two days after January 18, District Attorney Lipske decided, without an investigation, that he had no choice but to file a felony bailjumping charge the day before an environmental protester was to be sentenced for Lipske's latest abuse of process, one could even say a malicious prosecution.

Lipske just wanted more control over the life of the anti-mining activist, Katie Krow Kloth, and this despicable model of a jurist had no compunction that the actions of his office inflicted pain on the 27-year-old Ms. Kloth, and on her family and friends, hence this site's recent characterization of Lipske as a psychopath.

The District Attorney's office of Iron County in Hurley is run by a little man, Martin Lipske, animated by spite, vindictiveness, and caprice, and whose criminal charges typically are not proceeded by investigations of any kind, just a vague contemplation of how Lipske can use contrived charges to achieve his ends as he revels in his world of Iron County.

The gravity of this situation is easily overlooked by Wisconsin media as Iron County is an isolated and sparsely populated county in far-northern Wisconsin, and Wisconsin has myriad issues of the moment demanding attention of the media, the political system and the citizenry.

Martin Lipske is part of the problem.

Martin Lipske's prosecutions slip through the cracks, giving Lipske carte blanche to run his office on personal whims with appalling results, and the regulatory Wisconsin Office of Lawyer Investigation is a case study in administrative law "capture theory," a state of affairs more insidious when the purpose of regulation and the rule of law is the Sovereign embodied by the District Attorney—"the power and might of the government," as noted by an out-of-state jurist.

I have spoken with victims of Lipske's over the last several years, and the shattering trauma of these victims is common in Iron County for both the legally exonerated and the morally exonerated.

DA Martin Lipske Fronting for the Proposed Gogebic Taconite (GTAC) Mine

District Attorney Martin Lipske threw the book at GTAC mining protester, Katie Krow Kloth, for actions at a June 2013 mining protest that would have brought a civil citation of disorderly conduct in most any other Wisconsin county.

But not Lipske.

Kloth was recently sentenced to serve nine months in the Iron County jail, after being charged with four criminal offenses for these actions at a rally against the proposed mine.

Advocating for GTAC and subsequently for the criminally operating Bulletproof Securities, Inc, (Marley, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) Lipske defended Bulletproof at a 2013 hearing of Kloth's, a window into Lipske's mindset and corruption of the judicial process for the benefit of GTAC.

Subsequently, Lipske violated a Wisconsin Supreme Court Rule [SCR 20:3.6  Trial publicity] in his pursuit of Kloth, (Mal Contends); vis:

Wisconsin Supreme Court Rule [SCR 20:3.6  Trial publicity]: "(a) A lawyer who is participating or has participated in the investigation or litigation of a matter shall not make an extrajudicial statement that the lawyer knows or reasonably should know will be disseminated by means of public communication and will have a substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing an adjudicative proceeding in the matter."

Bailjumping Charge

"Acting Judge Sam Filippo set [a $5,000 signature] bond recommended by Lipske under conditions that Kloth have no contact with the [alledged] victim, nor threatening behavior to GTAC or Idea Drilling employees," notes Ralph Ansami (Lakeland Times).

Now, Lipske on top of the four criminal charges, claims that Ms. Kloth allegedly entering the forbidden zone in the public managed forest land in the Penokee Hills last Sunday constitutes "bailjumping."

The "forbidden zone" reference is to the Republican-passed law, 2013 Wisconsin Act 81, effective January 2014 that the GOP designed for GTAC to test-drill and load and transport bulk samples (Wisconsin Public Radio). [Here is the link to Act 81's legislative history and record of committee proceedings.]

This is a not a criminal statute.

"All the right-winger media was abuzz about supposed so-called 'No Go Zones' that Muslim people have set up in cities in Europe where non-Muslims aren't allowed to go. Turns out, the real No-Go Zones are set up by the Corporate Persons in America where non-Corporates aren't allowed to go," noted Bobby L. Clark, a Wisconsin citizen in Iron County and member of the group, Citizens Concerned about the Proposed Penokee Mine.

The proposed mining zone language is basically a trespassing statute that outlines what constitutes a trespass for "Proposed Ferrous Mining Sites, (2m)," as has been widely noted by clean water advocates.

GTAC gets a 600-foot buffer in which to test-drill and transport bulk samples from its proposed iron ore mine.

Wisconsin "Trespass to law" is still the law used to enforce any alleged trespassing.

Trespassing is a civil infraction—and it is quite a stretch for Lipske to call a civil infraction, bailjumping.

No investigation

It would be silly to contend that Lipske conducted an investigation just after the hours of the alleged infraction and found that Ms. Kloth trespassed, and then conclude a felony bailjumping charge must be leveled.

Wisconsin's trespassing law requires some kind of notice. This means if the owner approaches people and says you are trespassing on land and can go no further, you will advance at your own risk.

If you are not actually told this, signage is also required, and the state trespassing law says you need each 40-acre parcel marked, ridiculous for Lipske to mesh these requirements with the "600-foot rule" that the special forbidden zone legislation created, with absolutely no investigation conducted, as Lipske has admitted.

The Trespass to land law reads in part:

(2)(am) A person has received notice from the owner or occupant within the meaning of sub. (1m) (b), (e) or (f) if he or she has been notified personally, either orally or in writing, or if the land is posted. Land is considered to be posted under this paragraph under either of the following procedures:

943.13(2)(am)1. 1. If a sign at least 11 inches square is placed in at least 2 conspicuous places for every 40 acres to be protected. The sign must provide an appropriate notice and the name of the person giving the notice followed by the word "owner" if the person giving the notice is the holder of legal title to the land and by the word "occupant" if the person giving the notice is not the holder of legal title but is a lawful occupant of the land. Proof that appropriate signs as provided in this subdivision were erected or in existence upon the premises to be protected prior to the event complained of shall be prima facie proof that the premises to be protected were posted as provided in this subdivision.

2. If markings at least one foot long, including in a contrasting color the phrase "private land" and the name of the owner, are made in at least 2 conspicuous places for every 40 acres to be protected.

Lipske would have had to investigate and first determine which 40-acre parcel the 600-foot rule affected, ensure that each 40-acre parcel has the required signage, as required by statute, and that Ms. Kloth then intentionally violated the Proposed Ferrous Mining Sites, (2m) and conditions of her bond.

Each 40-feet forbidden zone is not marked, Iron County residents have confirmed.

This Proposed Ferrous Mining Sites law merely creates a right of the owner to close off the land to the public.

Lipske likely will be informed that the state will not be able to sustain a trespass charge against Kloth, meaning there was no violation of her bail conditions in this respect (i.e., no law violated).

As far as the specific conditions of Kloth's bail forbidding her from entering a mining site on GTAC's premises, there is neither a mining site, as defined in state law, nor a premises owned by GTAC that was ventured into by Kloth or anyone else, and moreover no one was encountered Sunday, January 18, as one would expect in the middle of the forest in the middle of January in far-northern Iron County Wisconsin.

That the conditions of Kloth's signature bond were violated is at best silly conjecture accomplished with no investigation, and to file a felony bailjumping charge is an abuse of process intended to cause Kloth harm.

Lipske had operated in this manner for years, thus demanding, at the least, that every case he has prosecuted be examined by an outside agency.

Hyperbole? I wish.

Innocent Man Behind Bars Mines for Heart of Gold

Don Miller with his son in happier times
(Photo from Miller family)

Nasty, brutal and long, the terror campaign of District Attorney Martin Lipske

Updated - Say, you run into an unscrupulous attorney with anti-social, criminal habits.

Citizens do have a recourse.

In Wisconsin lawyers are regulated (not as heavily as some would like), animated from both a concern for the general public and a related concern for the best practices of the legal profession.

This quality-control mechanism in Wisconsin is the Office of Lawyer Regulation (OLR), an office with theoretical teeth to rid the legal profession of bad actors.

The OLR is an agency of the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Since 2000, this regulatory "system assists the Court in supervising the practice of law and protecting the public from misconduct by lawyers."

Norm and Patricia Miller of Hurley, Wisconsin have a grandson who committed suicide, distraught over the unjust incarceration of his father who was given a 42-year sentence by an Iron County (Wisconsin) judge who was romantically involved with the alleged victim before, during and after their son's criminal trial.

And the unscrupulous attorney with anti-social, criminal habits is the sitting Iron County (Wisconsin) District Attorney, Martin Lipske.

A dead grandson, a wrongfully imprisoned son, Norm and Patricia Miller are looking for justice, freedom for their son, Don, and the clearing of their son's name.

Virtually everyone who looked into this case - outside of Iron County DA Martin Lipske and Iron County Judge Patrick J. Madden - believes Don Miller should not be prison.

The Wisconsin Innocence Project has taken up the case.

Their hearts broken, Norm and Patricia Miller keep working for their son's freedom, noting in an early 2013 complaint to the OLR about Lipske that Lipske misplaced exculpatory evidence that would have certainly exonerated their son in the infamous case—State of Wisconsin v. Donald R. Miller [Case Number: 97 CF 60], (1997).

Miller has asked his live-in girlfriend to move out of his home after it became clear one Connie Vargovich after Ms. Vargovich sleeping around town made it clear their relationship had ended.

Vargocich disagreed. She proceeded to make a host of accusations and the rest is tragedy.

Early this year, the parents filed an Office of Lawyer Regulation (OLR) grievance against Iron County DA Lipske.

Lipske then sent Don Miller a letter (at bottom of this page) conditioning action of his office stipulating Don Miller's immediate release from prison on the Miller's stopping sending letters to the OLR.

Lipske's letter, dated July 11, 2013, reads in part: "My intentions were to send a copy of the stipulation in which I agreed to your release. However, between the time that I received the form and the due date, I received another letter through the actions of your parents challenging my license to practice law. Therefore, nothing was sent as I intended."

Federal corruption statute - 18 USC § 201

So Wisconsin citizens can file a grievance with the Office of Lawyer Regulation (OLR), but they have to expect retaliation from the attorney, and coercion to not utilize this OLR check on the legal profession, or the sitting district attorney will use the power of this public office for the performance of a specific act (the release stipulation in Don Miller's case) for Lipske's corrupt purposes (perceived public clearing of his law practice history with no more future challenges made to the OLR)?

Screw that, I filed my own OLR grievance against Lipske August 29, 2014, and received an OLR response September 4, 2013. This matter is pending.

Lipske has worse than a checkered history of his practice of law in Wisconsin

Reached by phone today, the Millers say their Feb 21, 2013 response letter from the OLR found no issues in its "investigative jurisdiction."

The OLR letter also noted that more than ten years have passed since Lipske allegedly lost/destroyed DNA evidence.

The Wisconsin Innocence Project has not returned phone calls regarding this case.

Martin Lipske is quite a piece of work.

Lipske has jumped into bed with the Gogebic Taconite (GTac) mine company, tossing out the rule of law and impartiality with the fervor of a zealot.

We noted earlier at this site, this is the same District Attorney who has charged a 20-something mining protester, Katie Kloth, with multiple-felony robbery and other criminal violations for protesting the proposed Gogebic Taconite (GTac) mine, raising her voice and allegedly grabbing a cell phone from a mining company official.

And Lipske wants to criminally prosecute another man, a 76-year-old farmer, for attempting to bring in federal involvement that he believes is needed in Iron County.

This call for federal involvement in this den of corruption up north was recently echoed by six Native American tribes in northern Wisconsin to halt the environmental destruction that this proposed Gogebic Taconite (GTac) mine would wreak upon the whole region.

The farmer is concerned about the same proposed Gogebic Taconite (GTac) mine and other developers.

Citizens in Iron County are looking for evidence the armed militia, Bulletproof, operated in neighboring Ashland County, in the face of Lipske's refusal to prosecute Bulletproof for repeated violations of the law on behalf of the mining company.

I can't believe this county of 5,900 is part of the United States of America.

I can't believe Martin Lipske is allowed to practice law, and actually is a sitting district attorney.

As for Millers. Norm said, reached by phone in early September: "Don spent 16 innocent years in jail; 16 years of your life wiped away. I just want my son back; I want what is right."

Madison TV anchor gets death threat over signing recall petition against Scott Walker

Tony Galli of WKOW TV (Madison) reports on the Madison Police report dated March 29, 2012 indicating a phone caller made a death threat to anchor Rob Starbuck of WISC TV (Madison) for Starbuck's reported signing of the petition to recall Gov. Scott Walker.

This continues a pattern of death threats, harassment and assaults made against the recall volunteers, now extended to people who signed the recall petition. Violent and unhinged.

The report reads that an "anonymous male caller" unleashed a "verbal tirade" to the phone receptionist and states Starbuck "should be wearing a bulletproof vest, better yet he should be wearing it on his head."

The receptionist said she was"disturbed" by the incident, the report reads, and advised her colleagues of the phone call and threat.

Further, the receptionist guessed that the suspect (the caller) is "male, approximately 50 to 60 year-old."

This seriously sounds like my neighbor a recall volunteer and I encountered in December on Richmond Drive in Fitchburg, who lives a few miles from WISC TV.

From Total Recall Weekend and the Few Mad Republicans on the occasional fury that anyone dare recall Scott Walker.

One such Republican—angry and red-faced—who lives on Richmond Drive in Fitchburg, screamed at us this Sunday morning, 'You shouldn't be here doing this. You have no right. What are your names?'

His screaming, literally, continued, as we were leaving and his wife pulled him into the house, in a scene one guesses is played out often.

Our neighbor, for real, has something wrong with him, and matches the age and instability of the guy who called in the death threat. No other evidence connects him to the crime.

Iron County Remains Eye of Storm

Martin Lipske - What will
Wisconsin's most corrupt
District Attorney do next?

Updated - In isolated Iron County with a population of 5,900 in far-northern Wisconsin, elements of 21st century American social trends are playing out.

The rule of law is under siege by corruption and prosecutorial misconduct as Iron County DA Martin Lipske gins ups charges against environmentalists, while protecting the interests of Gogebic Taconite LLC and the rightwing fringe Bulletproof Securities.

As the environment is under attack by a predatory $multibillion mining conglomerate lacking a gram of consideration for Wisconsin citizens, the water or the land, federal action in the courts and from the U.S. Dept. of Interior are on the horizon.

Many more prominent story lines dot this phenomenon including the imbecilic local corporate media parroting the fact-free line of the corporations, the Republican Party and the local officials bought off.

DA Lipske is a story of corruption and misconduct in himself.

Throwing an innocent man in prison. Taunting an innocent man in prison on official stationary. Does Lipske believe he is beyond the reach of professional misconduct? Is he unconstrained by the any regulatory apparatus? Not if I have anything to say about it.

What's Lipske's next move? What act of retaliation will Lipske pursue against political opponents?

Stay tuned, check back here, and in the StellaReport, Anatomy of a Wrongful Conviction, WoodsPerson and the Iron County News for developments from Iron County Wisconsin.

Martin Lipske taunts innocent man he threw in prison in this fax sent in July