Open Letter to the LA County Sheriff Commission: Justice for Gary Gileno

On Thursday, April 26th, I attended the latest LA County Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission meeting at the LA Metropolitan Water District Building.

We the People Rising and LA County for Trump practically swept the event. Only one hour into the event did the left-wing pro-illegal activists show up. Their numbers were anemic and pathetic.

In fact, they were quite rude themselves, while we remained professional and to the point. Surprisingly enough, the commissioners have begun talking to us and respecting our points of view on key issues. Perhaps they are just as vocally opposed to the Sanctuary State lawlessness as we are. Not all of them live in elite communities blocked away from the real word that everyday Californians such as ourselves contend with.

At any rate, we are making incredible progress with the commission, and members of the commission now want to assist Gary Gileno, who was unjustly arrested for bringing a camera into a meeting, then informed that he would be arrested for simply recording in the court house where the meeting was held.

Here is the letter which I have submitted to the commission and its county counsel:

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Dear Chairman Bonner, Rabbi Miller and LA County Oversight Commission Counsel Zurabyan:

My name is Arthur Schaper, a member of We the People Rising and LA County for Trump.

I am a stakeholder of the Fourth Supervisory District, and my representative is Supervisor Janice Hahn.

We have been attending the LA County Civil Oversight Commission meetings for the past year.

On August 24th, 2017, my friend Gary Gileno, a member of our team, intended to attend and record that scheduled LA County Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission meeting in the Pasadena Federal Courthouse.Without information or provocation, he was arrested for bringing in a camera, then convicted for not following the order of a federal officer.

The fact is that the federal officer was completely out of line arresting Mr. Gileno. He had every right to record, especially because he had entered into the same building in the past with a camera and had recorded the building and the proceedings which had taken place in the court room before.

I appreciate that Rabbi Miller acknowledges that gross misunderstanding which resulted because of a state-sponsored meeting in a federal courthouse, and I respect that the LA County Sheriffs Civilian Oversight Commission will never hold future meetings in facilities which do not comply with the Ralph M. Brown Act.

The facts of the case can be better presented by Gary's attorney, Bill Becker of the Freedom X Law Center. Mr. Gileno can provide you the case number for United States of America vs. Gary Gileno, too, in order for County Counsel and the Commission to take the most appropriate action.

Here is the report of the trial and conviction from the Los Angeles Times:

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-brown-act-federal-trial-20180406-story.html

How an anti-illegal immigration YouTuber turned a $280 …

www.latimes.com

An anti-illegal immigration activist who was given a $280 ticket for filming inside a federal building last year is fighting his case in federal court, arguing that he was attending a hearing for an L.A. sheriff's oversight commission that is bound by state open meetings laws that permit filming.

Although Mr Gileno was found guilty of a misdemeanor, his attorney has already filed an appeal.

Here are the immediate requests which I am bringing to the Civilian Oversight Commission's attention:

I am urging the LA County Counsel to file an amicus curae brief on behalf of Mr. Gileno, that he should not have been charged with any crime, due to the fact that the Commission meeting should have never been held in a federal building.
I would further invite the Commission to challenge the federal statutes which have forbidden video recording of public meetings and business within federal buildings. Freedom of Speech, public access, and public transparency are essential securities against misrule at both the state and federal levels rights. The federal judge's ruling was unfounded and arbitrary, not taking into account the factors regarding previous public meetings in the federal facility.

The Commission will have the opportunity, I believe, to urge a proper, high level of public transparency in all public meetings, state or federal, by filing an amicus brief on behalf of Mr. Gileno, too.