Their Blackmail is called "Legislation"; Our Activism is called "Blackmail"

Will Grigg
Apr. 12, 2013

Oklahoma political activist Al Gerhart has been charged with two felonies for sending what was described as “threatening” e-mails to a member of the state legislature. Gerhart warned Republican State Senator Cliff Branan that he would “make you the laughingstock of the Senate” if he didn’t seek to pass an education bill. Gerhart, who founded the Sooner Tea Party group, promised that “We will dig into your past, your family, your associates and once we start on you there will be no end to it. This is a promise.”

Brenan contacted the Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation, which arrested Gerhart on charges of blackmail and violating the Computer Crimes Act. If convicted, he could spend up to five years in prison. A judge released Gerhart on $15,000 bail and imposed a restraining order requiring him to stay at least 1,000 feet from the politician or his family.

Every "law" enacted constitutes a threat to the person and property of those who live within the territory over which the legislature claims jurisdiction. We are told that we have to submit or lose what freedoms we enjoy -- or even our lives. But only promises of political retaliation against those who presume to rule others can be prosecuted as a form of "blackmail."