Rove Arrest II

DES MOINES, IA - The four Iowans arrested while attempting to effectuate a citizen's arrest of Karl Rove were found guilty of trespassing Friday, November 21, 2008, in Iowa District Court in Polk County. Retired Methodist minister and Peace and Justice Advocate, Rev. Chet Guinn, 80, as well as three Des Moines Catholic Workers, Edward Bloomer, 61, Kirk Brown, 25, and Mona Shaw, 57, were arrested at the Wakonda Country Club in Des Moines, Iowa, where Rove was scheduled to speak at a Republican Party Fundraiser last July 25, 2008.

On that date the four had presented Des Moines Police with a written arrest complaint citing Iowa Code provisions for making Citizen's Arrests as well as citing Federal Statute violations they claimed Rove had violated. The four maintained during their trial that they were acting within the guidelines of Iowa Code that obligate private citizens to make such an arrest if they believe a felony has been committed and turn Rove over to police officials to bring Rove before a judge for formal indictment.

Instructions to the jury allowed that a citizen's arrest was potentially justification for the defendants to refuse to leave the property and that if it was reasonable for the defendants to believe the subject of their arrest had committed a felony that then they should find the defendants not guilty. The jury returned a guilty verdict for each defendant nonetheless.

"It's astonishing that there are six people who still don't find it reasonable to believe that Karl Rove has committed a felony," defendant Mona Shaw said after the verdict.

Sally Frank, attorney for the defendants, said in court that she will file a motion to set aside the verdict and that the verdict will be appealed if the motion is denied.

Judge Colin Witt sentenced three of the defendants to the minimum $65.00 fine plus court costs. One defendant, Kirk Brown, stated he could not in conscience pay the fine and was sentenced to one day in jail instead.

Rove remains unindicted for any misconduct during his affiliation with the Bush administration and has refused to cooperate with a Congressional subpoena in the Valerie Plame leak investigation.

To date there have been more than 4200 US Military deaths in Iraq, 900 in Afghanistan, about 70,000 casualties (wounded as well as those removed for other injuries and illnesses), and more than 400,000 Iraqi and Afghani citizens killed and many more wounded.

Background

Four Iowans were arrested Friday, July 25, 2008, while attempting to make a Citizens' Arrest of Karl Rove in Des Moines, Iowa. Citing Iowa Code provisions for making Citizen's Arrests as well as citing Federal Statute violations they claimed Rove had violated, the four were stopped at the gate of the Wakonda Country Club in Des Moines where Rove was scheduled to speak at a Republican Fundraiser.

The four arrested are retired Methodist minister and Peace and Justice Advocate, Rev. Chet Guinn, 80, as well as three Des Moines Catholic Workers, Edward Bloomer, 61, Kirk Brown, 25, and Mona Shaw, 57. All four were cited for trespassing and released.

The four maintained that they were acting within the guidelines of Iowa Code that obligate private citizens to make such an arrest if they believe a felony has been committed and turn Rove over to police officials to bring Rove before a judge for formal indictment. By law, a federal judge should consider the charges and determine if an indictment should be made. A copy of their Arrest Statement is below.

Brown and Shaw made a similar attempt last March when Rove spoke at the University of Iowa, Iowa City. Brown and Shaw were arrested and released without charges following that attempt. Deaths in the Middle East since the March attempt number in the thousands including, 151 more US troops have been killed in Iraq, and 284 killed in Afghanistan as well as far more citizens of those two nations.

Rove remains unindicted and recently refused to cooperate with a Congressional subpoena in the Valerie Plame leak investigation. Despite mounting evidence of Rove's wrongdoing concerning leading the U.S. to war as well as other actions, Congress and the U.S. judicial system remain reluctant to bring charges against either Rove or the Bush administration. Recent evidence includes Articles of Impeachment presented by Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich. Vincent Bugliosi's new book "The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder" carefully lays out a case against Bush and his administration for war crimes and felony murder. Bugliosi was prosecutor for the Charles Manson Family murders and author of the book "Helter Skelter," which dealt with that crime.

To date there have been 4,125 US Military deaths in Iraq, 896 in Afghanistan, 66,775 casualties (wounded as well as those removed for other injuries and illnesses), and more than 200,000 Iraqi and Afghani citizens killed and many, many more wounded.

Protesters stand at the gate to the Wakonda Country Club in Des Moines.

Videos

Video of arrest attempt produced by Rodger Routh.