Jan. 6 Defendant Who Fought to Get Suppressed Evidence Released Passes Away
In Loving Memory of John Steven Anderson.
John Steven Anderson, a January 6 defendant has passed away. John was fighting to get video released that he claimed was exculpatory and would prove the government narrative that he tried to attack police was in fact a lie. The government only provided still images in its “Statement of Facts” smearing him as a cop beater. According to Anderson, he was sprayed in the face with a chemical irritant and was running towards the cops for help. The government didn’t want to produce the actual 30-50 second video clip, insisting on using cherry picked images to try to railroad the defendant.
I had previously written about Anderson’s case in July of 2021 when the government was trying to get away with releasing on 22 second long clips that make it impossible to parse context from.
“In some cases the government has only produced “still images” that according to one man portray what happened in a totally false manner. Michelle Malkin reports on the case of John S. Anderson.”
I used a long quotation from Michelle Malkin’s reporting on the case. She wrote:
Hide and seek should be a game for children, not for ruthless feds. But here we are. An American citizen, innocent until proven guilty, is fighting for his freedom against a government juggernaut hell-bent on framing him as a violent Jan. 6 insurrectionist. One crucial key to clearing his name, his lawyer argues, lies in 30 seconds of a Capitol surveillance video that prosecutors don’t want the public to see.
John Steven Anderson, 61, stands accused of ‘civil disorder,’ ‘assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers,’ ‘disruptive conduct’ and other federal felonies related to his presence in a Capitol building tunnel where police officers pepper-sprayed pro-Trump marchers near the lower west terrace door. Anderson’s lawyer, Marina Medvin, has battled Swamp attorneys who have designated video of Anderson struggling to breathe and seeking help from cops ‘highly sensitive’ and subject to a restrictive protective order.
As Medvin first decried in oral argument in April, ‘This is not the Soviet Union, and the government does not get to control the narrative of what happens in the courtroom. The weedlike growth of the government’s power over public information is outrageous and un-American and cannot be permitted to continue unchecked.’
In a written motion filed last month seeking to free the 30-second video clip, Medvin asserted: ‘While John Anderson is charged with assaulting and impeding police officers, and theft of government property, amongst other accusations, the government’s evidence fails to corroborate the charges. The government’s evidence, instead, shows a man approaching police to seek medical attention after being chemically sprayed by a member of the crowd and after being subjected to additional chemical spray released into the crowd by law enforcement. The video sought for release, and being blocked by the government, establishes Mr. Anderson’s defense.’
Bizarrely, the Deep State opportunists milking Jan. 6 for all its political worth argue that it would be a danger to national security to allow Anderson, the media and the public to have access to the 30-second exculpatory clip at issue. In response to Medvin’s motion, the government cites the so-called mosaic theory to justify protecting video footage from the Capitol police force’s closed-circuit video system. Every individual piece of video evidence must be protected from disclosure, the prosecutors’ argument goes, to prevent nefarious operatives from piecing together in aggregate the exact locations of the entire vast network of cameras.
The problem, of course, is that the FBI, prosecutors, anti-Trump Democrat impeachment leaders and their water-carriers in the liberal corporate media have all selectively leaked, published and hyped several other key videos when it suits their narrative purposes. ‘The government has made Capitol CCTV video public when it bolsters or conveniences their case,’ Medvin pointed out. ‘The government has already utilized CCTV video in their prosecution of Julian Khater and George Tanios, two January 6 Capitol incident defendants, and has made the CCTV footage available to the public.’
Moreover, the feds have utilized still images from CCTV footage multiple times in other public court filings. They released critical footage to Democrat House impeachment managers in a concerted attempt to punish former President Donald Trump. The FBI website blasted Jan. 6 video clips online from all over the Capitol complex in its drag net efforts to drum up public hysteria and hunt more suspects. And every major liberal press operation, from NBC to Buzzfeed to The Washington Post to CNN, has disseminated hundreds of videos that could be pieced together to construct a detailed ‘mosaic’ of the U.S. Capitol security system. (A press coalition of those anti-Trump forces has even intervened in the Anderson case agreeing that the ‘highly sensitive’ designation of the 30-second clip should be removed and that the government has offered no credible justification for suppressing it.)
‘Surely,’ Medvin pleads, ‘Mr. Anderson should not be prejudiced by the continued veil of secrecy over the video sought for release in his case simply because in this case the government does not feel the release is advantageous to their legal position. The government’s contradictory position in John Anderson’s case to their utilization of CCTV video in the cases of Julian Khater and George Tanios gives the government control over the defense and creates a disparity between the parties standing before this court, rendering the defense an inferior party to the prosecution; all the while, the two parties are to stand before the court as equals … In Mr. Anderson’s case, the government is attempting to conceal video favorable to the defense to protect their unjust prosecution and to continue to unilaterally control the public narrative. Why should this be permitted?’ – Michelle Malkin, Unz Review
Back in July I concluded that article1:
Here is a prime example of how the federal government can and will take clips and photos out of context, according to this attorney in order to try to punish someone whose politics they don’t like. She claims her client was not “assaulting police” but was actually running to them for help after being attacked and sprayed with mace.
We need to continue to press the government to release the full 14 thousand hours of video in its possession, so we can see the full sequence of events and context purportedly shown in each of the videos. There is no way any of these individuals can have a fair defense nor is there anyway the public can be assured the government isn’t engaging in misconduct unless and until there is FULL transparency. - Radix Verum, Patriots Soapbox
Unfortunately, John Steven Anderson didn’t live to see his day in court and his exoneration.
Marina Medvin, the attorney who was representing John released a statement about his passing:
Medvin is absolutely correct. I think that the egregious conduct by the government in this case contributed to John’s passing.
John was absolutely wrongly accused by a political, tyrannical government trying to use what happened on January 6 as a weapon to punish and torture Americans whose politics they don’t like.
I don’t know how John died, but I do know that the government bears responsibility for trying to turn a God fearing good man into a felon.
John Steven Anderson Obituary
Here is John Steven Anderson’s obituary. Please accept Echovita’s sincere condolences.
We are sad to announce that on September 21, 2021 we had to say goodbye to John Steven Anderson (Jacksonville, Florida), born in Alexandria, Louisiana. Family and friends can light a candle as a loving gesture for their loved one. Leave a sympathy message to the family in the guestbook on this memorial page of John Steven Anderson to show support.
He was predeceased by : his parents, John V Anderson and Helen Bangert. He is survived by : his step-grandchildren, Jaxon, Nixon and Tora; his siblings, Patty and Mike; and his sister-in-law Leigh Ann.
A celebration of life will be held on Monday, October 4th 2021 at 11:00 AM at the First Conservative Baptist Church (12021 Old St Augustine Rd, Jacksonville, FL 32258). A burial will be held on Monday, October 4th 2021 from 2:00 PM to 2:30 PM at the Jacksonville National Cemetery (4083 Lannie Rd, Jacksonville, FL 32218).
In lieu of flowers please consider an offering to First Conservative Baptist Church. - St. John’s Family Funeral Home
If you would like to leave a comment in memory of this courageous patriot, you can do so at the website hosting his obituary2. You could also leave some words of encouragement for his loved ones.
John was a veteran of our Military. He fought FOR this country, he didn’t try to attack it. May he rest in peace, knowing that his battle is over but ours continues to exonerate all of the wrongfully accused and tortured January 6 defendants. We continue this battle in his loving memory.
Government lies, omissions, and misrepresentations
Government’s false Statement of Facts3 against John.
The government’s absurd charging documents4 against John filed on just January 8th, without having taken any time to perform proper due diligence into the case.
The government’s criminal complaint5 against John, a US Military veteran.
https://patriotssoapbox.com/opinion/fbi-releases-11-new-january-6-videos-but-something-is-off/
https://www.echovita.com/us/obituaries/fl/jacksonville/john-steven-anderson-13390617
https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/case-multi-defendant/file/1378341/download
https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/case-multi-defendant/file/1378351/download
https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/case-multi-defendant/file/1378346/download
Keeping him, his family and all January 6 prisoners and their families in my prayers. 💔🙏
🙏🙏🙏prayers for his family!