Lane von Herzen: UPDATE: Threats of a "Sting": Rethinking the Presumption of Trust Accorded to Law Enforcement

My Third Novel's Conclusion, My Heartbreak

My heart begins to break when I think about completing this particular book -- because this narrative has sustained me like no other story I've known. It's both more personal and more universal than my other works. But beyond memory and archetype, it's a cri-de-coeur about needing to become the person one is destined to be. And in the writing, I have met my own life's work, my own fated journey -- having the sense all the while that the pages are suffused with a resonance, an energy, an electrified field that defies explanation. Writers hope and pray to be overtaken by a work in this way -- to be conscripted into passionate service of a profound story. To experience it even once in a lifetime seems a great privilege. I still have several months before this novel is complete, and this constitutes my reprieve. Because I'm not ready for the beauty to end.

Sunday, September 4, 2022

UPDATE: Threats of a "Sting": Rethinking the Presumption of Trust Accorded to Law Enforcement

UPDATE:

I needed to extend to my son and husband yet another communication regarding this Quora advice on avoiding a "sting" operation.

The writer, at one point quite late in his article, states "only buy drugs from people you know." Then he goes on to talk about purchasing marijuana in states in which that process is legal.

Those who know me understand that I have never used recreational drugs, nor will I in the future.

But because my stalker has claimed that he and his FBI cohort have made false claims about my husband and me in this regard, I wrote a post entitled "Why I Don't Use Recreational Drugs," dated September 4, 2022.

Our sons are as opposed to recreational drug use as my husband and I are.

But that doesn't mean the FBI will refrain from lying about us, given my status as an FBI whistleblower of corrupted reporting within the Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting Initiative and the FBI's affiliated "target of interest" program.

Therefore, I reprint my clarification to my loved ones, all of whom already know this about me, herewith:

I hereby certify that the foregoing is true and correct.

Lane MacWilliams

************************************************************************************

One of the many threats I've received of late relates to false arrest of my younger son. I happened to find the following Quora post in my inbox this morning, so I sent it to him, with an addendum.

My family members and I are straight arrows compared to the author of this piece.

We don't use drugs, and we don't engage in any other unlawful activities. Period.

No one has EVER asked me about unlawful substances or unlawful activities, for example. But for my son, who is in his mid-twenties, this type of "sting" could be engineered, on the basis of the age of his friends and acquaintances alone.

It's saddening to me to view any members of the police as prevaricators and potential predators. I didn't grow up that way. I spent most of my life with the comforting presumption, even if false, that the police would protect me if I needed them.

So, there is actually a substantive amount of grief in encountering a corrupt sheriff's deputy like San Mateo County Sheriff's Deputy Rick Chaput, who is alleged to have falsified Case Report #19-11840.

I likely was never as safe as I thought.

But this whole experience has given me a great deal of empathy for those Americans of color who feel utterly unsafe in the presence of law enforcement personnel. I understand their plight in a new way, given that I will not ever feel safe in the company of law enforcement officers again.

I can no longer extend that presumption of trust, regrettably.

The corrupt men who have engaged in falsified law enforcement reporting at the local and federal level have made me fear for my family, as they have made me fear for my democracy.

But character is not defined by what happens to us. Character is defined by how we respond to what happens to us.

I am endeavoring to respond in a way that defends our Constitution, our communities, our civil liberties, and our human rights, and I am attempting to do so with rather limitless courage.

Fortunately, I have the great gift of a heroic leader in President Joseph R. Biden. He and his administration remind me that America is made up of Americans. Our generosity, integrity and fortitude in standing up for one another are an integral and necessary part of the character of this nation.

So good people cannot give in to despair when they encounter villains sporting badges.

It's simply necessary to be stronger, smarter, more determined, more virtuous, more communicative, and more faithful to the promise of all the beneficence our nation stands for.

If I can help other Americans who have been falsely maligned and harassed through the corruption of the Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting Initiative and the FBI's affiliated "target of interest" program, this journey will all have been worthwhile. More than worthwhile.