April 1-5, 2010: Right-Wing Group Member Jailed after Attempting to ‘Arrest’ Judicial Official for Not Investigating Obama’s Citizenship

American Grand Jury logo. [Source: Post & Email (.com)]Walter Fitzpatrick, a Tennessee resident and leading member of a right-wing group called “American Grand Jury” (AGJ), walks into a county courthouse in Madisonville, Tennessee, and informs the foreman of a grand jury, Gary Pettway, that he is under “citizen’s arrest.” Fitzpatrick tells Pettway: “I’m charging you with official misconduct. I’m placing you under arrest. You must now come with me.” AGJ has attempted and failed to convene a grand jury to investigate President Obama for voter fraud, a charge stemming from AGJ’s belief that Obama is not a natural-born US citizen (see October 8-10, 2008). Fitzpatrick says that Pettway has violated state laws governing the length of time a grand jury foreman can serve, and this precipitated his efforts to “arrest” him. The foreman refuses to accompany Fitzpatrick; instead, local law enforcement officials arrest Fitzpatrick for disorderly conduct, inciting to riot, disrupting a meeting, and resisting arrest. Fitzpatrick is jailed for several days. Fellow AGJ member Carl Swensson posts about Fitzpatrick’s incarceration on his Web site, telling site visitors that Fitzpatrick has “put his life on the line for us in very much the same fashion that our founding fathers did.” Swensson then asks: “What do you intend to do for him, and for this country? If we don’t come to his assistance, if we don’t get to the courthouse, if we don’t call him, if we don’t walk and march on that courthouse and that sheriff’s department, we don’t deserve the freedoms we have.… Get down there, get him out of jail, and make sure that justice is served.” [Carl Swensson, 4/5/2010; TPM Muckraker, 5/6/2010; Crooks and Liars, 5/6/2010] A militia member will later be arrested as part of an abortive attempt to “take over” the Madisonville courthouse and free Fitzpatrick (see April 20, 2010 and After).