From the March 2001 Idaho Observer:

Open Letter to Magistate Judge Cynthia Imbrogno

Re: The arrest of Mark Alan (Rabenold)

Federal Judge Imbrogno, this is going to be an open letter to you and to the people of Washington State.

It has come to my attention that Mark Alan (Rabenold) of Okanogan County is now being declared a danger to the community. I just have to ask, declared by whom?

I don't claim to know all of Mark's ideas and can not say they are right or wrong, but I need to let you know what I do know of the man. Last year while having lunch in a local drive-in, Mark came in and sat down next to us. We got into a conversation and I asked him about a rumor I had heard about his past employment as a police officer and was it true, and if true, why did he quit the force. Mark told us about being on the local city police force, and the requirement of going to the Washington State Patrol Academy to be a commissioned officer, of which he attended.

Mark told us about a class he was attending at the academy where the instructor was (as a standard matter of procedure) instructing the class on how to harass and detain any citizen any time, anywhere, for no reason what ever. In class, Mark said he challenged the instructor about creating a legal issue with a private citizen where none was and that he thought this action by a police officer was totally wrong.

The instructor's response was to bark at him in front of the class with "Do you wanna be a cop, or do you wanna be a lawyer?" Realizing what was going on in law enforcement training, at this point, Mark told us that he responded with "I sure as hell don't want to be your kind of cop" he then stood up, left the class and went home. The very next day, he quit the city police force.

Now I think we had better chew on that for about five minutes or so. Every policeman who is a commissioned officer has been required to be trained by the state to know how to harass people they don't like, or maybe to just to shore up their arrest record they know what to do to achieve a given arrest goal. The main goal in law enforcement seems to be promoting the image of the agency, their own promotions, pad that old retirement. Make the points whenever possible, often regardless of whom gets hurt. Many in law enforcement just call this a "Tool" that is sometimes needed to bring in the bad guys. I'm sorry Judge Imbrogno; I just don't buy it!

The people of Okanogan County have no fear of Mark Alan, what they do fear, and with damn good reason, is law enforcement that no longer respects our civil liberties under our state and federal constitutions. They fear that they could be charged with a phony crime and they will be simply wiped out financially as they can not afford a lawyer. As they simply can not trust a court appointed lawyer because these lawyers have only one function, plea bargain or lose for the victim, not to mention the back room star chamber wheelin-an-a-dealing.

The court rules are so twisted and confusing that no man on this planet can stay on top of them. I have to ask what chance does the everyday citizen have in your court or any other court for that matter. You very well know the answer to this question. NONE!

Authorities lie, and or exaggerate all the time. I am 52 years old. Over the years I have seen some authorities make up things to hassle people that they simply just did not like, and it happens all the time, and we all know it.

To show you just how just how much fear people have of this government we have today. Many people of the Okanogan told me "don't you dare write to the judge and newspaper, they will put your name on a list and then you will end up in jail". Well heck Judge, you tell me, am I going on a list? I choose not to live in fear, so here is the letter I was told by many not to send.

We all know what kind of men the U.S. marshall's have on their team -- look what they did to Sammy Weaver, their own Marshal Deagan. They blew off a little boy's arm at the elbow, then shot this little boy in the back, shot one of their own in the back, blamed someone else for their screw ups -- then lied about it in court. Then they cover each other's butts at all costs. Now that's teamwork at the lowest level. Those people along with Vicky Weaver, died at the hands of adrenaline junkies with badges looking for revenge, for what boiled down to nothing more than a failure to buy $200 permit/tax fee from the B.A.T.F.

By the way Judge Imbrogno, could you tell the people of Okanogan County why the U.S. Marshall's Service, about 20 years ago dropped from their oath of office the part about supporting the U.S. Constitution? -- Not that this little detail could be important or anything.

As to the assault with a deadly weapon charge, heck, if two men I don't know came up to my car and demanded I open my door, to get away fast, I too would punch the gas all the way to the floor. If some nut tries to commit suicide by jumping in front of a moving car, well, if he's that stupid, maybe his gene pool (natural selection don't you know) should come to an end. We can not charge a man with assault by using his car when all he was trying to do was to get away from a possible robbery or worse. Mark was only acting in self-defense in trying to get away from possible harm. Anyone, anytime could approach Mark on the street and talk to him, this whole thing smells (the stench is overbearing) of a setup to create a crime with which to jail Mark on a trumped up charge, after all, the authorities are all government-trained experts at doing just that.

Mark Alan is no threat to the community, whoever says otherwise, is lying, or being fooled by a liar. Mark is a family man with six children and a home. He is not going to run away to avoid a valid prosecution, Mark Alan (Rabenold) is a man of his word, unlike, I regret to say, many who are currently employed in law enforcement. At this point I should add, there are many decent people in law enforcement who do a damn fine job and I sure don't want to take away from that, but we all had better look very close to what is going on in our country before it has gone too far to recover.

Terry O'Donnell
Oroville, Washington