Infowars.com
Training course portrays devout Christians as a potential threat. Illustration: Norman Rockwell.
Bob Livingston of Personal Liberty Digest has posted an email written by Colorado Undersheriff Ron Trowbridge.
In the email sent to a blogger, Trowbridge describes how Christians and so-called sovereign citizens are actively demonized by the government and troopers are trained to consider them dangerous, even terrorists.
The letter was also posted on the Red Statements website on April 5.
Trooper Joe Kluczynski, a CSP analyst with the Colorado Information Analysis Center, used training materials provided by the Department of Homeland Security.
Infowars.com has documented how the DHS works hand-in-hand with the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League, two organizations that specialize in churning out propaganda designed to demonize and marginalize patriot and constitutional groups.
DHS boss Janet Napolitano showered kudos on the ADL during a conference held in early 2009. “In recent years, the Department has placed our employees in your advanced training school to educate us on the tactics used by extremists and terrorists,” Napolitano told conferees.
In March, the Southern Poverty Law Center sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano urging the federal government to establish a task force to investigate the supposed domestic terror threat posed by the likes of Alex Jones, We Are Change, Oath Keepers, the Constitution Party, the Tyranny Response Team and thousands of other Americans who dare question the government.
On April 8, Michael Snyder wrote about a U.S. Army Reserve training presentation that labeled evangelic Christians as “religious extremists” and Christian organizations as “hate groups.”
“Topping the list is Evangelical Christianity,” Fox News wrote about the presentation. “Other organizations listed included Catholicism, Al Qaeda, Hamas, the Ku Klux Klan, Sunni Muslims, and Nation of Islam.”
According to Undersheriff Ron Trowbridge’s email, the DHS-funded Colorado Information Analysis Center training session not only told troopers Christians pose a threat to law enforcement, but also asked if they would confiscate firearms if ordered to do so.
Trowbridge’s email follows. It was sent on Friday, April 5:
On April 1, 2013 I attended training in La Junta, Colorado hosted by the Colorado State Patrol (CSP). The training was from 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm and covered two topics, Sovereign Citizens, and Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs. I was pretty familiar with motorcycle gangs but since we often deal with the so-called sovereign citizen groups I was interested to see what they had to say. The group consisted of police officers, deputies, and CSP troopers. There were about 20 people in attendance.
Trooper Joe Kluczynski taught a 2-hour section on sovereign citizens. Kluczynski spent most of his two hours focusing on how, in his view and apparently the view of Homeland Security, people turn to the sovereign citizen movement. Kluczynski started off by saying there are probably some sovereign citizens in this room and gave a generalized list of those groups that have sovereign citizen views. Among those groups, Kluczynski had listed, were those who believe America was founded on godly principles, Christians who take the Bible literally, and “fundamentalists”. Kluczynski did not explain what he meant by “fundamentalists” but from the context it was clear he was referring again to those who took the Bible literally or “too seriously.”
While Kluczynski emphasized that sovereign citizens have a right to their beliefs, he was clearly teaching that the groups he had listed should be watched by law enforcement and should be treated with caution because of their potential to assault law enforcement. Kluczynski explained why he believed these groups were dangerous saying they were angry over the election of a black president. When someone in the group suggested the failing economy was probably much more to blame, Kluczynski intimated that those who are not going along with the changes in America will need to be controlled by law enforcement. Kluczynski even later questioned some of the troopers present if they were willing and prepared to confiscate “illegal” weapons if ordered to.
Kluczynski’s assignment with the CSP was an Analyst for the Colorado Information Analysis Center, (CIAC). CIAC is funded by Homeland Security funds and run by the CSP. Kluczynski said he gets his information from the Department of Homeland Security. Kluczynski said he was leaving the CSP at the end of that week (March 29, 2013) to begin his new career with Homeland Security. I thought he was perfect for the job.
Ron Trowbridge
Undersheriff
Prowers County Sheriff’s Office
The Colorado State Police subsequently issued a statement downplaying Trowbridge’s description. Sergeant Mike Baker, a public information officer with the CSP, told The Blaze that Trowbridge’s accusation about the content of the training presentation was not substantiated by others in attendance.
“A law enforcement training class offered by the Colorado State Patrol on April 1, 2013, in southeastern Colorado has come under scrutiny from one of its attendees, a local county undersheriff,” the release states. “The specific assertion was that the Colorado State Patrol would target members of certain religious or political ideologies.”
The CPS statement claims officials had spoken with “several officers who attended this same training” and they did not interpret Kluczynski’s presentation in the same light as Trowbridge.
“We regret that he misrepresented the training material in a way that clearly is not the position of the Colorado State Patrol,” the release states.