Billy Binion
@billybinion
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Associate editor @reason . Yes, this is my real name.
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This is Sylvia Gonzalez. At age 72, she won an upset victory for city council after campaigning to oust the city manager. The mayor didn't like that.
So he had her arrested & jailed.
The Supreme Court is about to hear her case, which has largely gone unnoticed. A thread.
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This story will fly under the radar. It shouldn't.
Houston tried to prosecute a woman for helping the homeless. And the state couldn't even impanel a jury, because the bulk of potential jurors saw the case for the insanity that it is.
This is why jury trials are essential:
Food Not Bombs trial rescheduled after too many jurors objected to $500 fine for feeding homeless
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A year ago, I wrote about a 93-year-old woman who fell behind on her property taxes. So the government seized her home, sold it—and *kept the profit.*
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear her case. But there are many stories like hers, and they'll shock you. A thread.
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This is journalist Priscilla Villarreal. A few years back, police in TX arrested her—because her work is often critical of them.
Last week, a federal court said those cops didn't necessarily violate her rights. Everyone got qualified immunity.
That should concern you. A thread.
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This was Tony Timpa. At 32, he died after cops kneeled on him for 14 min & taunted that he just needed some "tutti-frutti" waffles.
You may not have heard his name. But his mom's 7-year, ongoing fight for justice epitomizes how hard it is to hold police accountable. A thread.
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Thread: The Supreme Court is hearing a big case tomorrow. It should unite everyone: left, right & center. And the national press has almost totally ignored it.
It centers on an elderly woman who fell behind on her taxes. So the county took her home, sold it, and kept the profit.
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Translation: We stole what may have been someone’s life savings—potentially ruining his life—for no tangible public safety benefit. And then we acted like that was heroic.
It’s legalized larceny, & it’s routine.
CBP officers discovered $33K in unreported currency possessed by an Egypt-bound traveler at Washington Dulles International Airport during a baggage examination on November 8. The traveler verbally reported that he had $20K.
More:
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The owner of the Oakland Athletics—who is worth $3.1 billion—yanked his baseball team from Oakland because the public didn't want to pay $855 million for his new ballpark.
Now voters in Las Vegas, where he wants to move, also look poised to say no.
You love to see it.
Poll: A majority of Las Vegas voters don't want to pay for the Athletics' new stadium.
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This is Amy Hadley & her kids, Kayla & Noah. In June 2022, police tossed dozens of tear gas bombs into their home, smashed windows, punched holes in the wall & more.
A cop's error led them to Amy's home. She hadn't committed a crime.
The gov't won't pay her back. A thread.
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This story is rage-inducing. Dallas cops violently arrested an innocent man after mistaking him for a guy with a similar name.
The kicker: After noticing their error, they can be heard making up bogus charges. He was jailed for days & lost his job.
And the worst part?
New: A security guard is suing Dallas cops who mistook him for a suspect with a similar name when he was getting food for his kids in 2021. Officers pushed and knelt on him as he screamed for help.
After realizing their mistake, police still arrested him.
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This is a perfect example of why jury trials are so important.
Here, a trial forced the government to argue, in public, that people should be punished for...feeding the homeless. And a jury saw that for what that was: bullshit. How embarrassing.
In first trial for feeding homeless outside Houston library, jury finds Food Not Bombs not guilty
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This is Carlos Pena. Last year, a SWAT team threw more than 30 grenades into his printing shop, destroying almost everything. Carlos was not suspected of a crime.
Then, the city left him with the bill. He can no longer make a steady living.
He's not the first victim. A thread.
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Addendum: This woman wasn’t even *suspected* of a crime. Cops raided her apartment because they accused her then-boyfriend of a drug crime. They found no drugs in her home, but they kept her savings anyway. Opposing this legalized theft should defy partisanship.
She ran a food cart and was saving up to buy a food truck when police confiscated roughly $8,000 in cash using civil asset forfeiture.
Soon, Cristal Starling will get her day in court:
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Y’all have got to be kidding me. Both men were unanimously pardoned after serving 27 years in prison for crimes they didn’t commit.
@JohnFetterman
hiring them is good. But here it’s spun as scandalous, as if we should actively punish folks who were…wrongly convicted. I just.
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There's a case in Texas that could make it a crime to do basic journalism. And no one is talking about it.
It concerns a reporter who was jailed after critically covering the cops, and a federal court that still isn't sure if that was illegal. A thread.
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ONCE AND FOR ALL: Burning a flag you own is protected expression. That includes American flags & rainbow flags.
You cannot, however, break into an elementary school, steal their property, and burn it. That is a crime. This should not be a hard distinction to understand.
You can burn an American flag, but not a rainbow flag? Ridiculous
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This is Marvin Guy. He's been in jail almost 10 years waiting for trial.
He's facing life in prison—for killing someone who was breaking into his house before sunrise. The kicker: That person was a cop conducting a no-knock raid.
His trial ended today. A thread.
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This is Joseph Ruiz. In 2021, the FBI seized his life savings—$57,000—from his safe deposit box in LA. He could no longer afford his medical treatments & he struggled to buy food.
The kicker: He wasn't suspected of a crime.
There are many other victims in this saga. A thread.
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THREAD: Today, the Supreme Court unanimously vindicated 94-year-old Geraldine Tyler. A few years ago, the government took her home, sold it over a small tax debt—and *kept the profit.*
The ruling is amazing news. Here's what that means for her—and for the many victims like her.
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This is single mom Stephanie Wilson. A few years ago, police seized *both* of her cars. She hadn't committed a crime and was never arrested.
The government spent years trying to keep her property anyway.
She is far from the only victim. Their stories will shock you. A thread.
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I say this as someone who is not a conservative & disagrees with Kavanaugh on a whole lot: Harassing someone outside their family’s private residence is grotesque. It’s not healthy. And it says something that crossing this line is seen by many as virtuous.
The energy is markedly more negative outside Kavanaugh’s house. The anger has become much more palpable than outside any other justices’ house.
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Today Marvin Guy was sentenced to life in prison for killing an intruder. That intruder happened to be a cop executing a no-knock raid.
Guy says he didn't know it was police.
He's not the first who has struggled to reconcile no-knocks with the right to self-defense. A thread.
This is Marvin Guy. He's been in jail almost 10 years waiting for trial.
He's facing life in prison—for killing someone who was breaking into his house before sunrise. The kicker: That person was a cop conducting a no-knock raid.
His trial ended today. A thread.
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This story is nauseating. A man molested a 5-year-old girl. That victim won't see a dime of the settlement a judge ordered—because cops seized her abuser's cash via civil forfeiture & refuse to give the money back.
It somehow gets worse. A thread.
The outrageous case has led to calls from Congress to pass legislation curbing civil asset forfeiture.
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...The worst part is that he will face an extraordinary uphill battle just to get the privilege to state his case before a jury, thanks to the made-up immunity doctrines our government gives its employees.
The most powerful people should not be held to the lowest standard.
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Today, a Colorado man had a hearing to determine if he'll face 12 years in prison for having child porn. But no one—including the gov't—thinks he had child porn.
He's a school principal who was investigating a sexting incident. And cops want him branded a sex offender.
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This is so nauseating. A scammer called this man & said he had his family member hostage, and then he sent this poor woman—who was just trying to make some money driving for Uber—to his house.
She's now dead. People who think these jokes are funny are a special kind of evil.
An 81-year-old Ohio man shot and killed an Uber driver he believed was working with a scammer, according to officials who said the victim was sent to the home by the same scammer.
Loletha Hall didn't threaten him, didn't have a weapon or assault him
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A few months ago, we were told it was virtuous to mock folks who died of COVID, esp if they were vaccine-hesitant.
With Monkeypox, we’re told it’s too far to ask gay men to temporarily desist from promiscuous sex. It says a lot about how we filter everything through identity.
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This is LaShawn Craig. He faces years in prison after he shot a masked man who had broken into his home.
What's rich: New York prosecutors agree it was self-defense.
They're trying to lock him up anyway. He's not the first. A thread.
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Tawanda Hall fell $900 behind on a payment plan for her taxes. With added fees, she owed $22,642.
The local treasury took her home and sold it for **over $300,000.**
And then they kept the remainder. The government stole over $286,000. Jaw-dropping. /4
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This is state-sanctioned robbery. It targets the most vulnerable. The elderly. The poor. People who are sick.
Which is why Geraldine Tyler must win at the Supreme Court. The government should not be able to steal from its own citizens. /end
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The FBI seized nearly $1 million from Carl & Amy Nelson—and never charged them with a crime.
To survive, they sold their house & car, liquidated retirement, and moved their family of 6 into Amy's sister's basement.
This story is a nightmare. My latest:
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What actually happened: During a suicide call, a Detroit cop shot their partner while aiming *at a dog,* who did not even belong to the person police were there to see.
Detroit cops do this a lot. You would not know from this article.
Detroit police officer hurt in accidental shooting by partner
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Geraldine is far from the only victim. The stories are nauseating.
At 76 years old, Bennie Coleman lost his DC home over a $134 bill. The gov't sold the $197,000 house & kept the profit.
For months, Bennie slept on the porch—with dementia—thinking he'd locked himself out.
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So whatever your politics, Sylvia's case is important.
It asks the Supreme Court a big question: In what scenarios should government officials be immune for jailing their critics?
That's not a left or right issue. That's an everyone issue. /9
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This restaurant down the street from me in Huntington Beach is asking that diners show proof they have **not** been vaccinated. Partisan politics has broken so many brains. Get me off this ride.
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But Geraldine is no ordinary 94-year-old. She's spent the last several years fighting to end this government theft.
Because that's what this is: legalized larceny. And there have been many victims. /3
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It should absolutely shock your conscience—whether you're progressive, libertarian, conservative, or otherwise—that a man was jailed for 7 years pre-trial only to be acquitted of all 26 charges. His co-defendant has been jailed *10 years* pre-trial. An incredible injustice.
BREAKING: Jury finds Condell Benyard NOT GULITY. He has been in pretrial detention for seven years waiting for this verdict. The bulk of the DA’s case relied on 1 witness who wrote the DA from prison claiming he saw Benyard at the deadly 2013 shooting. He later admitted he lied.
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Her name is Geraldine Tyler. After falling $2,300 behind on her property taxes, the county added $13,000 in penalties, interests & fees.
When she couldn't pay, they seized her condo—valued at $93,000—sold it for $40,000, and kept the leftover $25,000.
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Let me put this in perspective. In Michigan, defendants found guilty of stealing over $20,000 face a decade in prison.
When the government stole *10 times* that—leaving a mom and her kids completely bankrupt—it was all in a day's work.
Make it make sense.
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Here’s to the time that a sitting member of Congress—a self-avowed libertarian who has criticized things like cancel culture—openly tried to get me fired for saying something he disliked. That’s rich!
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The victim's name is Silvester Hayes. Dallas cops didn't bother to verify that his information matched the actual suspect's. That is the bare minimum, and they didn't do it.
And yet it is still far from certain that he will have any recourse for that violation of his rights.
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In a few weeks, it will have been exactly 7 years since Tony Timpa died. All his mom has seen since: stonewalling, smokescreens, and endless appeals.
We should all be able to agree: It should not be this hard to get justice when the government violates the Constitution. /end
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Sylvia isn't the first.
I've written a lot about Priscilla Villarreal, a Texas journalist who was arrested because police didn't like her coverage of them. If *that* isn't a 1A violation, then what is?
They all got qualified immunity anyway. /7
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The First Amendment is one of the best things about the US. But it's not as secure as many think.
So the Supreme Court must make one thing clear: When corrupt government officials punish people for criticizing them, their victims must have recourse. /end
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Last fall, I covered the case of an Oklahoma woman who received 4 years in prison for having a miscarriage as a teen. Prosecutors blamed it on her behavior, despite that she miscarried at 17 weeks, within the state’s legal abortion timeframe.
Okay, I think it's possible that a few red states might try to outlaw IVF and IUDs, though I think that will prove more politically costly than they currently imagine. But no law is going to be read by any judge, prosecutor, or cop to outlaw miscarriages.
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In 2015, a 15-year-old named Lakeith Smith was charged with murder. He's now serving 30 years. The catch: Prosecutors know he didn't kill anyone.
A cop shot his friend during a burglary—& Smith was convicted of homicide. His case epitomizes some of our system's flaws. A thread.
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It's hard to describe what losing your home & life savings does to a person. Let me try.
When the government stole Tawanda's $286,000, her husband was sick with pneumonia. He rushed back to work—where he fell, sustained a brain injury, & died. Some things you can't get back. /5
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Let's review: Kevin Fair's home is worth $60,000. He is poised to lose it—which will make him homeless—over a $588 tax bill that he didn't know he still owed, because the government sold it to a 3rd party without his knowledge.
And this is all perfectly legal. /8
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Police officers are human, and they're going to make mistakes. But they have immense power. And when they wield it in reckless ways—declining to follow their own rules & training—then those victims deserve recourse.
They work for us. That shouldn't be controversial. /end
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This preys on the most vulnerable. And the gov't has gotten away with it, bc people don't know it's happening.
Well, people need to know. Because if it can happen to them, it can happen to you. SCOTUS should call it what it is: theft, plain & simple. /end
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Saw “The Woman King” tonight, which was a great movie, except for the fact that it heroizes an African tribe that brutally sold people into slavery bc it happened to be an all-female army doing it. Not sure how that’s missing from so many of the glowing reviews.
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Then there's Tawanda Hall, who fell $900 behind on a property-tax payment plan for her Michigan home. After penalties, she owed $22,642.
The gov't seized her $300,000 house, sold it, and kept the profit.
The surplus totaled $286,000. This is not a joke.
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Last year, cops charged a man with having child porn. The kicker: The government knew that wasn't true.
Prosecutors offered a "deal": Plead guilty to obstruction, or risk 12 years in prison & sex offender status.
The case recently concluded. It says something about our system.
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This is James King. In 2014, two law enforcement officers beat him to a pulp after they mistook him for the wrong person.
Almost 10 years later, King still can't sue. His case epitomizes how hard it is for victims of government abuse to seek justice. A thread.
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Geraldine Tyler is now 94. A few years ago, she accrued a $2,300 tax debt.
The government added $13,000 in fees, took her home, sold it for $40,000, and kept all the proceeds.
A federal court said that was A-OK. I wrote about it here. /2
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After Hayes was pinned to the ground, the cops realized what they'd done. They needed a plan. "I hope he has a felony, man," one says.
They found a gun in Hayes' car—which was registered & came back clear. They charged him with unlawful possession of a firearm anyway.
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Then there's William Fambrough, an elderly man who campaigned for the "wrong" mayoral candidate.
So law enforcement destroyed his van—which he used to campaign—& hit him w petty prosecutions, in part for making "complaints about the police."
I can't. /8
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A woman rejected a plea deal after illegally registering to vote. So she got 6 years in prison.
The DA's office openly admits that Pamela Moses would be a free woman today—if she hadn't insisted on her constitutional right to trial. My latest:
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After spending time in jail, Hayes lost his job as a security guard. It took him a while to find a new one. He lost his car & moved in with relatives.
At one point, he'd wanted to be a cop. Not anymore, because he says they "can’t hold themselves accountable." Can't blame him.
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Sylvia sued. The court denied qualified immunity.
And then the appeals court reversed, ruling there wasn't enough evidence she was arrested for her speech.
Which is absurd when you consider she was jailed for ~concealing~ a petition she LITERALLY DRAFTED. 🙄/6
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The Supreme Court will decide if that's constitutional. It sounds like an easy case. But it has not been.
Multiple federal courts ruled against Geraldine, and said the government did nothing wrong by stealing her equity after it satisfied her debt.
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I continue to be very confused by the fact that many activists—whose goal is ostensibly to draw attention to their cause—think that documenting their public displays is a major violation of privacy.
Asking genuinely: Can someone explain this?
Once again, I’ve been told by Columbia pro-Palestine campers not to film them:
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Whatever your politics, the below story is vile.
A man was chased out of his job bc Libs of TikTok & the below state official found out he did drag on his own time.
He then became too risky to employ because of the resulting *bomb threats.* And this guy is celebrating that.
Drag queens do not belong in Oklahoma schools. Zero tolerance.
Principal with drag queen side gig resigns under pressure from Oklahoma schools official
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...After the meeting, Sylvia put the petition in her binder. The mayor asked if she had it. She gave it to him.
That's how they arrested her.
Uh, the law criminalizes hiding records—which Sylvia wasn't. She literally organized the petition they accused her of "hiding." /4
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In 2019, Sylvia began her tenure on city council with what she'd promised constituents: a citizen-backed petition calling for the city manager's removal.
So the mayor, Edward Trevino, responded by setting in motion a monthslong *criminal* investigation. But that's not all. /2
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And here I thought we'd learned after the HIV/AIDS crisis that it's never acceptable to mock people for dying from a virus, even if we disagree with some of their choices. It's not an effective strategy, & it's heartless.
History will not look kindly on these people.
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Then the detective circumvented normal process to ensure Sylvia was jailed.
Instead of going to the DA, he went to a judge—usually reserved for *violent felonies.*
And instead of a summons, he got an arrest warrant—so Sylvia was handcuffed & put in a cell. For her speech. /5
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The Dallas police knew exactly what happened that night. But they used their immense power to kneecap Vicki Timpa's fight for justice before it could even start.
That should incense everyone: progressives, libertarians, conservatives. Everyone. /3
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At least 12 states allow the gov't to steal your home equity. They do it in shocking ways.
Just ask Kevin Fair, who fell $588 behind on his taxes after his wife was diagnosed with severe MS.
But Kevin didn't realize the debt was growing, because he never received notice. /6
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Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg met with bodega workers today & reportedly said he doesn't know "why people are jumping to conclusions" about him prosecuting Jose Alba.
Maybe it's bc you sent him to Rikers, sought $500,000 bond to keep him there, and charged him with murder. I just.
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Since Sylvia hadn't done anything wrong, the mayor needed help. So he hired...a special detective.
The state then charged her with violating an obscure law that makes it a crime to conceal a government record.
But Sylvia hadn't done that. So how'd they arrest her? Well... /3
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Thread: Today, the Supreme Court covertly destroyed a precedent handed down exactly 51 years ago.
Federal cops who try to kill you, who jail you on false charges, who violate the law in grotesque ways are now shielded from accountability. I'd like to explain how we got here.
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But Bradley Bass doesn't want to plead guilty, because he didn't do anything wrong.
His story is a case study in how the state can use broad criminal laws to target people. Those moments aren't about safety. They're about winning—& it could happen to you.
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Carlos is also suing. He says he doesn't fault the police for trying to subdue a fugitive.
But he wants the court to say what should be obvious: The government cannot destroy an innocent person's life—and then leave them hanging out to dry. /end
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Here's the kicker! That same law makes an exception for cops who come to possess explicit photos for their investigations.
So if police do it, it's OK. When a school principal does the same thing, he faces more than a decade in prison & a place on the sex offender registry.
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A SWAT team chucked explosives into this innocent woman's home. They drove through her fence, smashed every window, and ripped off the front door.
Then, the city gave her the bill and tried to stop her from suing.
My latest:
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A SWAT team blew up this innocent family's home while in pursuit of a shoplifting suspect. A federal court ruled that the city doesn't owe them a thing.
Buried in this morning's SCOTUS announcements is that they will not hear the case.
My latest
@reason
:
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A Colorado trucker rejected a plea deal after causing a traffic accident when his brakes failed. So he got 110 years in prison.
I spoke with the DA, who openly admitted that she punished him for exercising his constitutional right to trial. My latest:
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After Tony died, his mom, Vicki, asked the police what happened. They told her several fake stories. None of it added up.
So she sued. The cops refused to give her the video or any specific info.
And then they tried to get her lawsuit dismissed for not being specific enough. /2
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I don't care what actually happened here, and neither should you. It is way past time we stopped litigating petty disputes between individuals in the national press. This isn't a story.
NYC hospital ‘Karen’ paid for Citi Bike at center of viral fight with black man: lawyer
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That's because the government let a private investor buy Kevin's $588 debt. Without telling him.
Three years later, that investor told Kevin he had 90 days to pay—now $6,000 with interest—or the government would hand over the deed to Kevin's house. /7
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This is a common government tactic.
Last year, I wrote about a man who spent 28 years in prison after cops allegedly framed him for murder.
He sued. He overcame qualified immunity. And then he died while the state pursued years of frivolous appeals. /7
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I say this as a libertarian: When people are confused & ask why I don’t like gun culture, I should just show them this photo. They’re not handbags. They’re machines used to kill people. Necessary in certain situations, yes, but I’m tired of folks acting like this stuff is cutesy.
Merry Christmas! 🎄
ps. Santa, please bring ammo. 🎁
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It's easy to support free speech when you enjoy what's being said. But the First Amendment does not only apply to content you agree with.
So Priscilla Villarreal needs to win. Not just for those who like her, but more importantly for those who don't. /end
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It turns out the Dallas police had intervened when Timpa, who was schizophrenic, was having a mental health episode.
The cops violated their own training when they kneeled on him for 14 minutes, joking about him while he died.
They all got qualified immunity anyway. /5
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In 2016, Putin signed a law criminalizing missionary work & making it illegal to evangelize outside of a church. It’s mostly targeted at Protestants, some of whom have been jailed merely for discussing their faith in public. These people are so shameless.
Lauren Witzke, the Delaware GOP's candidate for Senate in 2020, has nothing but praise for Putin and "his Christian nationalist nation": "I identify more with Putin's Christian values than I do with Joe Biden."
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I’m visiting Ohio from LA and I’m getting whiplash by how cheap everything is in comparison. I just bought 3 eclairs and a tea for $5. Like, what? Why aren’t we all living in Ohio?
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Tomorrow the Supreme Court will hear a consequential case. It'll likely go under the radar. It shouldn't.
The government will argue that—to "protect national security"—it must be impossible to hold federal cops accountable when they violate your rights. And they'll probably win.
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Bradley Bass did his job in accordance with school policy. But cops say in the process he ran afoul of an old Colorado child-porn law, which they are now weaponizing against him to criminalize him for...doing his job.
This is not parody.
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It's not unheard of for SWAT teams to destroy innocent people's property—with extreme displays of force—while pursuing fugitives.
It's also not unheard of for the state to ruin those people's lives by refusing to pay them for the damages.
Which is what happened to Carlos. /2
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The answer to this case should've been obvious. But it took a 94-year-old woman who was willing to traverse the courts for nearly 10 years to make it official: The gov't cannot steal home equity from its own citizens.
Thank you, Geraldine. /end
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So Vicki sued for that bodycam footage. Three years later, a court finally made the police turn over the video of her son dying. That footage can be found below.
Only *then* did she know what happened. And what she saw disturbed her. /4
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In July, the gov't prosecuted a Houston man for the same thing: feeding the homeless.
A jury acquitted him. That's likely not because the defendant didn't break the law. It's because the jury thought the law was asinine.
Jury nullification at its best.
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This is Leo & Alfonsina Lech. In 2015, a SWAT team blew up their home while in pursuit of a suspected shoplifter.
The Lechs had to demolish their house, which was worth $580,000. The city gave them all of $5,000.
A federal court ruled that was OK. /5
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Carlos is now $60,000 in debt. And it has cost him tens of thousands of dollars in revenue from lost clients.
Since the government destroyed his shop & its contents, he now has to work out of his garage—at a much-reduced capacity—just to survive. /4
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Not everyone can afford to fight for years on end, especially when you're up against the state—which has endless taxpayer funding.
But Vicki Timpa won her last appeal. Almost seven years after her son died, the trial was supposed to start this week.
That didn't happen. /8
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That someone was arrested in the US for the crime of doing journalism is egregious. This isn't Russia.
But a court concluding that arrest wasn't necessarily a violation of her rights is just pitiful. It should worry anyone who cares about free speech. /5
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At the Supreme Court yesterday, a lawyer argued it was fair & just when a county took an old lady's home, sold it & kept the profit—over an unpaid tax bill.
I wanted to share a few highlights, bc it shows how far the gov't will go to preserve its right to violate you. A thread.
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Later came good news: Five and a half years after her son's death, an appeals court overturned that grant of qualified immunity. Vicki could finally sue the police.
But the government wasn't done trying to evade responsibility. They appealed—AGAIN. /6
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