Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 17:36, 30 May 2012

This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses, and initial news reports may be unreliable. The latest updates to this article may not reflect the most current information. Feel free to improve this article or discuss changes on the talk page, but please note that updates without valid and reliable references will be removed. (May 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Brett Kimberlin (born 1954) is an American political activist best known as the perpetrator of the Speedway bombings in 1978. Since his release from prison, Kimberlin has co-founded the non-profit Justice Through Music Project and the activist organization Velvet Revolution. He has also been a frequent litigant in various legal disputes.

Convictions

In 1973 Kimberlin was convicted of felony perjury. During a later trial, Kimberlin testified that he had just turned 18 when he was called before a grand jury investigating drug use at his high school, and he was convicted for falsely testifying that he had not sold LSD. In June 1980 Kimberlin was convicted in federal court of conspiracy to possess marijuana with intent to distribute and given a four-year sentence. In a separate trial in November 1980, he was convicted of possession and illegal use of Department of Defense insignia, illegal use of the Seal of the President of the United States, and impersonation of a federal officer; he was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison.

In the first six days of September 1978, a series of bombings struck Speedway, Indiana. Initially there were no injuries; however, the last bombing led to the amputation of Vietnam veteran Carl DeLong's right leg, as well as leaving DeLong and his wife with a series of other injuries that required significant hospitalization and rehabilitation. DeLong committed suicide in February 1983. Investigators traced the Tovex 200 used in the bombings to Kimberlin. Kimberlin received a sentence of 50 years for his convictions in this case.

Kimberlin's sentences were aggregated to a total of 51 years, 6 months and 19 days. Kimberlin was released on parole in February 1994 after serving 13 years, but his parole was revoked in 1997 for failure to pay the civil judgments against him, and he was returned to prison for four more years before his release in 2001.

Dan Quayle marijuana charges

In November 1988, while Kimberlin was in federal prison, National Public Radio reporter Nina Totenberg reported that Kimberlin claimed to have sold marijuana to Republican Vice Presidential candidate Dan Quayle, while Quayle was in law school in Indianapolis. Kimberlin was put in administrative detention on three separate occasions when he had planned to hold press conferences regarding his claims, leaving him unable to speak to reporters until the week after the election. Kimberlin's charges received renewed attention prior to the 1992 election, when Quayle was running for re-election. During this time, Kimberlin proclaimed his innocence with regard to the Speedway bombings and blamed his late younger brother, Scott, for the presence of the evidence that linked him to them.

After Kimberlin’s parole the next year, he signed a contract with New Yorker staff writer Mark Singer, who had written a positive profile of Kimberlin in 1992, to publish a book about his claims regarding both his conviction and his relationship with Quayle. However, Singer "decided that had been lied to repeatedly by Kimberlin". Singer concluded that Kimberlin “was not telling the the truth about Quayle.” In print, Singer said he believed Kimberlin had known someone who had claimed to sell marijuana to Quayle and had then appropriated the story as his own.

Political activism and nonprofit work

While in prison, Kimberlin became involved in the cause of an emigre from the former Soviet Union who was convicted of heroin possession and trapped in INS detention limbo since he couldn’t be released in the U.S. and also couldn't be returned to Russia because of his drug conviction.

Following Kimberlin’s release from prison, Kimberlin attracted attention with an offer to pay $100,000 (later $500,000) to anyone with evidence that the 2004 United States presidential election had been “stolen” by George W. Bush. Kimberlin achieved some national prominence as an opponent of direct-recording electronic voting machines, including theories related to rigging elections by using them.

According to Time Magazine, he leveraged this public attention to organize both the “Velvet Revolution” activist site and the “Justice Through Music Project” nonprofit organization. He has given interviews discussing “music activism” on behalf of the Justice Through Music Project to groups such as Public Radio Exchange. The Justice Through Music Project has also posted music videos opposing torture by the United States and referenda opposing same-sex marriage.

Litigation

Kimberlin, the son of a lawyer, has been involved in extensive litigation over the years. He filed a "peace order" (known as a restraining order in other states) and then had Aaron Worthing arrested when he showed up in court to answer his civil suit, as described by a witness at his hearing.

Blog About Brett Kimberlin Day

In October 2010 an article published at a website owned by Andrew Breitbart highlighted Kimberlin's past and questioned donations to his non-profit. Since then, Kimberlin has used litigation in an attempt to prevent bloggers from writing about him. On May 25, 2012, following several incidents that appeared to target writers who had written critically about Kimberlin and his allies, bloggers coordinated a "blogburst" about Kimberlin, entitled "Blog About Brett Kimberlin Day."

1. ^ Singer, Mark (1996). Citizen K: The Deeply Weird American Journey of Brett Kimberlin. Alfred A Knopf. ISBN 978-0679429999.
2. "United States v. Kimberlin, 805 F.2d 210 (7th Cir. 1986)". Retrieved May 28, 2012.
3. "United States v. Kimberlin, 692 F. 2d 760 (7th Cir. 1982)". Retrieved May 28, 2012.
4. "United States v. Kimberlin, 673 F.2d 1335 (7th Cir. 1981)". Retrieved May 28, 1982. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
5. "United States v. Kimberlin, 675 F.2d 866 (7th Cir. 1982)(Posner, J.)". Retrieved May 28, 2012.
6. "StarFiles: The Speedway Bombings, Part 1". IndyStar. October 6, 2010. Retrieved May 28, 2012.
7. ^ "StarFiles: The Speedway Bombings, Part 2". IndyStar. October 6, 2010. Retrieved May 27, 2012.
8. Gelarden, R Joseph (October 18, 1981). "Kimberlin Case a Maze of Murder, Deceit" (PDF). Indianapolis Star. pp. 1, 18. Retrieved May 27, 2012.
9. ^ "Kimberlin v. U.S. Parole Commission, 7 F.3d 527 (6th Cir. 1993)". Retrieved May 28, 2012.
10. ^ "Kimberlin v. DeWalt, 12 F.Supp.2d 487 (D. Md. 1998)".
11. ^ "Kimberlin v. Quinlan, 199 F.3d 496 (D.C. Cir. 1999)". Retrieved May 28, 2012.
12. ^ "Mark Singer, A Reporter at Large, "THE PRISONER AND THE POLITICIAN," The New Yorker, October 5, 1992, p. 108". Retrieved May 28, 2012.
13. Douglas Frantz (October 3, 1992). "Senator Says Inmate Was Isolated to Quiet Quayle Drug Allegations". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 28, 2012.
14. ^ Ray Suarez interview with Mark Singer on “Talk of the Nation”, beginning at 26:35 (December 3, 1996). "Lying". National Public Radio. Retrieved May 28, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
15. ^ "Mark Singer, A Reporter at Large, "UNFINISHED BUSINESS," The New Yorker, October 7, 1996, pp. 54-71". Retrieved May 28, 2012.
16. James Warren (March 13, 1994). "'Speedway Bomber' Sitting Pretty". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved May 28, 2012..
17. ^ Massimo Calabresi (January 5, 2007). "The Wizard of Odd". Time. Retrieved May 28, 2012.
18. "Justice Through Music on Public Radio Exchange". YouTube. Nov. 14, 2011. Retrieved May 28, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
19. Press Release (Nov. 3, 2009). "Justice Through Music Releases Music Video Opposing Torture". Retrieved May 28, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
20. Press Release (Feb. 22, 2010). "Justice Through Music Releases New Music Video To Galvanize Support Against California's Prop 8 Referendum Opposing Marriage Equality". Retrieved May 28, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
21. David Hogberg (May 29, 2012). "IBD At Kimberlin Hearing: Walker Handcuffed, 1st Amendment Muzzled".
22. Weigel (May 5, 2102), Slate (online magazine) http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2012/05/25/opening_act_blog_about_brett_kimberlin_day.html/ {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help); Text "title Blog About Brett Kmberlin Day" ignored (help).
23. Robert Stacy McCain (May 18, 2012), "Who warned us about Brett Kimberlin", The other McCain (blog).
24. Patterico (May 25, 2012). "Convicted Bomber Brett Kimberlin, Neal Rauhauser, Ron Brynaert, and Their Campaign of Political Terrorism".
25. Michelle Malkin (May 28, 2012). "A post-Brett Kimberlin blogburst to-do list".
26. David Weigel (May 25, 2012). "Opening act: Blog about Brett Kimberlin Day". Slate.com.

• Current events from May 2012