Or is the CALGUNS Ben the victim of a common name?

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/north_bay&id=7276282

Someone by that name got arrested for false imprisonment and impersonationg a police officer according to the link.

I think he drives a Ferrari
. At least that is what is in the picture of him on this web hosting company website. And I think he is older than 29.

I found a thread on calguns that say's their Ben has resigned from CGN & CGF.


CGF has done great work. This is unfortunate.

Yes it is, he has stepped down temporarily until this matter is resolved.

Did he step down because someone with the same name got arrested and the media is misrepresenting its as CGF's Ben?  Or did our guy get arrested?

According to the Calguns thread he was arrested.



 

Oh damn. Link to calguns thread?

Yes, it is the same Ban Cannon.
Yes, the allegation are false.

Ben is doing exactly what we advise everyone to do when they have a case pending, not talking about it with anyone but his legal counsel.

He doesn't drive a Ferrari, and is 29.

Oh so they debunked it?





 

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=269770

Yes guilty people should keep their mouths shut and let the lawyers do the lawyering...

People who are innocent need to yell at the top of their lungs and cause everyone in the world to look at what is being done to them....

food for thought, just my opinion.

Just read all the Calguns threads, looks like ben has a good friend base and support.  He will need both to beat this.

The DA has...
1) A profile pointing to him, (description of the car, partial plate.something like that....ect)
2) Eye witness identifying him, (picture line up, actual line up, knew him from social life...one of those..)
3) Hard parts that could have been used or parts that need to be used in this crime. (Emergency light, siren...)

Defense has
1) A lot of people could fit the profile.
2) Eye witnesses can be wrong.
3) Those items are not illegal or hard to find.
4) Some items used in the crime were not recovered.

Put this in front of a jury and it will come down to friends and support, character of the accused.  Jurors do not buy, "preponderance of evidence" any more.  They reach for a guilty farther now.  A good DA will always give the analogy, "When you are stopped at a Red light, you KNOW the light you can not see is green based on circumstantial evidence.  You can put 1 and 1 together to come up with 2.  That's what I need for you to do here. The evidence shows.....blah blah blah."

The victim is making it up or they got the wrong guy?

I think Kestry is either part of his legal team or a close friend...hell it could even be Ben...lol
So he is making a statement from his point of view.

In my case I would be screaming at the top of my lungs while everyone is reading and listening.  When this is all over no one except a few will bother to research and read what happened.  The stink will remain for years.

Sounded like a statement of fact. He didnt say "he will be aquitted" or "he will be found not guilty.

He said "The allegations are false" which to me sounds like The alleged victim and the police have are lying.

Kestryll,
Can you clarify your statement? Do you have evidence of factual innocense a lying complaintant or both?

Links busted.

THis is my opinion as well but the lawyers tend to disagree.


If I was truely innocent i would be screaming from the roof tops about how and why the woman and or the cops were wrong.  If I were guilty but thought my lawyer could beat the rap i would do whatever my lawyer said.

Thread was deleted



 

Actually lawyers do scream at the tops of their lungs, and several coach their clients to do the same.  It depends on the lawyers game plan and what or how they intend to beat the charges.  If on a technical level, its best to STFU, and who cares what the community thinks afterward.  You only need to STFU until your lawyer has the facts in the case, and is in control of your fate...  I imagine in a couple days more will come out from the defense team, while the DA's office will keep a tight lip until public records indicate what they all have.  The media is just like tracer fire...it works both ways....this is a good and bad thing but useful non the less.

This. I would also like clarification of the statement

 

Creepy allegations and some creepy comments in the Calguns thread too.  Especially the handcuffs being laughed off as some kind of sex toy.  I wonder which it is, a scorned "stalker," retaliation by Sonoma County Sheriff, or a frame up by Brady/LCAV?

An emergency light and siren in his car?

Guilty.

Youtube "Don't talk to the police".

Over 40 mins of a law professor and a police veteran educating the audience of why you shouldn't talk to the police.

I am a friend not a part of the legal team, I am not a lawyer I have an honorable job...
(kidding, several friends and family members are lawyers.)

I know very little that isn't already public knowledge but I do know the car in question and the last time I saw it there was nothing illegal on it.
There are a few pieces of info that are not public yet that are very compelling and convince me that this is not what it appears.

Going by what is stated on the Calguns thread, the woman has in the past tried to contact Mr Cannon in the past about one of his businesses. So it appears she knew who he was.

CW

Yes, Ben has resigned from CGF til this drama is over.  

Y'all believe news reports like there's some kinda truth there.  

Look what happens when someone's popped for an (invalid) gun charge and look what the press does...  

1.  At this time charges have not been filed, no arraignment.  And if they 'had something' there'd be way more  than  $10K
    bail.   I'm betting ultimate no-file on this.   ($10K up there is for DUIs, shoplifting, etc.)  Ben's car has been  released to
    him already.

2.  Ben's lawyer has a variety of multi-sourced technical, plus deposable credible, evidence showing him at another place
    (on a date!) during a wide time window surrounding the time the alleged offense was supposed to have occurred.

3.   Ben's had an, um, 'interesting' longer-term traffic history as far as "hotfootism" goes.   BMW 750iLs go pretty fast, and
     he's not  very popular with some cops up there.  

4.   No red lights of any type, in particular of the LE style alleged in article, was found in
     formal LE  inventory.  Ben has specialty lighting on his BMW 750il  but those are low to the ground and orange.  Other
    descriptives in the alleged incident diverge from anything about Ben.

     Everything found in his car was perfectly legal - and BTW  that "police scanner" is instead an FCC-licensed UHF FM business-band
     commercial walkie-talkie (GMRS or MURS) used on construction sites!!

4.  Ben appears not to have ever met the woman involved.  A chick who may be making these allegations has tried to contact Ben
    multiple  times before this, in relation to GunPal business/operations.  

5.  Indeed Ben does not need to pull gals over to get a date, and the general impression I have is that Ben fishes in a big pond and has a
    lotta catch in his creel.  His Facebook profile indicates an outgoing personality and a lifestyle far diverged  from a $9/hr security guard
    'stranger  ranger'  in a decked out used Crown Vic.   Ben wanting to pose as a cop is about like me wanting to pose as a DOJ agent:
    or state employee –– we're proud of  being private sector and not as "part of the problem".

6.  Ben's a playful guy with a lotta ladyfriends.  Hell, I wouldn't wanna lay odds against Ben's DNA being found  inside those handcuffs :)
    I believe I may even have had a dozen FlexCuffs in my old truck toolbox 'just in case', holdovers from preparations for Rodney Riots
   in the early 1990s.  

7.  It is ALWAYS good procedure to STFU in any situation like this.  Innocent people have talked themselves into charges.  (I know what
    happened when an exGF was hit, on bicycle, by a car.  She started talking to the cop and the cop ended up saying she was partially
    at fault for bad lighting, when the light was damanged.  Never trust a cop or LE.  

    For all those folks who say "innocent should scream loud", you're mentally screwed up.  IT IS ALWAYS CORRECT, AND YOUR RIGHT,
    TO REMAIN SILENT.  It is WRONG to infer anything from behavior of a person who understands the legal system.

    Ben's doing this also helps in reserving rights for other matters that might occur, like protecting GunPal from interference, harassment
    (whether by LE or individual-with-a-grudge, etc.   There's a bigger picture than just this arrest/defense.
   

8.  Ben's using his own local attorney for this.  Of course no CGF funds are being used.  Ben feels this is simple enough his
    local guy's fine and no regional powerhouse attorney is needed (as might be appropriate on an overasserted overpoliticized
    gun charge)





Bill Wiese
San Jose CA

Bill,
I don't think many have indicated they believe oanything other than someone named Ben Cannon was arrested for impersonating a police officer and that Ben Cannon may be the Ben Cannon of Calguns and/or GUNPAL.

Clearly no one but the victim & the suspect know the truth.

 

Hopefully it's something as simple as confusing a "strobe light" with some cheap ass ghetto mods.  

News reports usually report the court-set amount, of which you get out if pay traditional 10% to your bondsman.

I'm unsure, but I do believe actual set *bail* amount was $10K, and an ordinary person would pay $1K *bond* to
a bondsman, which goes to waste.  

Otherwise this turns into a $100K bail which is excessive for the case, some folks get out on $100K bail for manslaughter
if they have ties to community and no violent history.

I'm betting Ben put the whole $10K bail on his black Amex Card so he doesn't lose the $1K thru the bondsman. And then he
gets a ton of free air miles :)   and possibly better position for prospective upcoming legal action.


Bill Wiese
San Jose CA

The gunpal "chick" is the one making the allegations or maybe the one?  Siren and strobe light and handcuffs in the car...legal but why?  how often is he on a construction site?  If he has an alibi all of this stuff is sounding like "protest too much" to me.

Hey sonny, you might wanna speak up only if you know what you're talkin' about...

Many of us have several radios in our  cars (ham gear but some are commercial rigs on ham bands).  Your average idiot cop won't know
a walkie talkie, scanner, remote control or dental pick.  

Also, your "why" question is often asked about gun people.  IT'S A FREE COUNTRY, YOU CAN OWN A HERD OF PURPLE
MASTURBATING GERBILS IF YOU WANT, as long as they don't fling sh*t in traffic.  You do not have to justify legal conduct.

And you failed to read - a chick TRYING to contact Ben ABOUT GunPal MAY be the one making the allegations.  What's important is that
the allegations do not match a variety of things/times, and that there is possibility of 'complexity' about the chick.

You fail to understand that when LE talks about a case  they often make wild claims.  If the case turns out to be good, those comments
help buttress it.   Calgunners have been put in jail on "stolen military property" and "machine gun" charges for a CA legal M1919 marked "US Gov't".
So we know BS when we see it.


Bill Wiese
San Jose CA

protesting too much again!  sure you don't have to explain "why" you have legal items in your car but in a case where the allegations are impersonating an officer and you've got handcuffs, sirens, strobe lights and radios (just like cops do) then isn't that a little curious?  And isn't "I don't have to explain why" kind of a weak rebuttal? You don't have to "know what you're talkiin' about" to realize these are obvious questions.

Are the allegations correct? That's why they're called allegations.  That's also why there was only $10K bail :)

"Protesting too much "  is not that, it's just refutation of cop idiocy.  

You obviously only read the news article.   And many hundreds of thousands of folks have radios. Siren? Alarm.

REMEMBER, WE KNOW WHAT'S ON THE CAR.  WE'VE SEEN IT.

I think my truck had 2000 rounds of ammo in it too last weekend.  There's probably a crowbar as well. And I have a change of clothes and toilet paper.
There's 3 radios in it.  Some cover the police bands. Clearly, I'm prepared to change my identity and hide in the hills.

BTW, it's usually only low-end life forms that would want to pose as a cop, because that's 'looking up' for them....   people such as Ben, myself and many others would regard attempted association with being a cop as a slur, denigration, being called a welfare queen, etc.  


Bill Wiese
San Jose

Bail was only $10K because, well, that's what bail is for false imprisonment in Sonoma County.  When you throw out bogus arguments like this, explain some things (handcuffs) but not others, use technojargon like "variety of multi-sourced technical, plus deposable crediible evidence,"  and suggest multiple theories like stalker chick with "complexity" and pissed off traffic cops, it makes it sound weirder and more suspicious than it probably is.  Why not just say he's a great guy, which by all accounts he is, and he was somewhere else with someone else at the same time and leave it at that?

I would have never had guessed that you thought that way about police officers, Bill.

I am sorry, but the more I know about CA police, the more I come to dislike them.  There are surely some good ones as yourself and some other
Calgunner cops , but it's funny that all the encounters I'm  exposed to, informed of, etc. certainly show their bad side.  Way too many "arrest first,
let the desk sergeant or DA sort it out."   That's way more than the 'occasional' bad-pickle-in-the-barrel.

We have a large group of  not very competent folks putting peoples' freedom at risk - at costs so great they (along with fire and other civic employees)
are breaking CA city & county cofffers due to extreme pensions (90+% of pay, inflation indexed, starting in early 50s, plus medical -  that means a TON
of money must be around  ($1+ Million or more - don't have my HP12C) .to fund the employee's pension payouts - there easily can be 30 years of it.
If that money is not 'there' by retirement date, it's an underfunded pension.  That 3% contribution (even w/matching) doesn't contribute that .much
to the pension.

Also you might be aware we had a E. Palo Alto cop threaten the lives of legal open carriers.  

Yes, I'm proud to be part of the private sector.  I would hope nobody would ever think I was a gov't employee.,



Bill Wiese
San Jose CA

I/we understand your frustrations with regard to the plight of CA gun owners. But, you go too far in insulting those who work in government service. The lady behind the DMV counter and the cop who mocks your gun rights does not represent those who work in a .gov capacity as a whole. Please don't allow your beloved black rifles to cloud your thinking and the respect due to those who often work for less pay than their civilian counterparts such as those who work in theater ballistic missile defense, intelligence agencies, or those who specialize in protecting America from infectious diseases. Yes, those sure are welfare cases.

So Bill what is your solution? Should we abolish established LE agencies and give Calgunners black rifles and badges? If this is the mentality of Calgunners, I want nothing of it.

Shame on you.

i would not go as far as to include ALL government employees but i do understand where you are coming from and i would agree that many government agencies and employees are out of control. i am sorry for the good guys that get a bad rap but i to have seen too many cases of peoples rights being ignored and out right violated. i have known more than a few cops (family, friends and family friends) over the years and most were absolute assholes when it came to how they treat others both on the job and off. i understand it can be a hard and thankless job but that does not give them the right to treat people the way they do and they give a bad name to the good guys doing the same job. many feel entitled to things they would deny to others and forget that they are a private citizen just like the rest of us. it did not help any when the state decided to allow police officers to buy assault weapons, register and keep them (even if no longer on the job) as private weapons after the AWB. this makes two classes of citizen, those of us who must follow the law and those who have favor and don't. this is one of many things that is helping to cause issues between law enforcement and the people.

there are a lot of very good people working in law enforcement and other government agencies and i do my best to treat everyone of them with respect but it is getting harder and harder to do that these days. again i feel for the good guys that get a bad reputation because of the actions of their coworkers but there is not much i can do to fix that.

This man has the unfortunate obligation to defend himself at great expense. The general public does not know the facts. I do know this:  
1. The Police lie.
2. Police reports are a fabrication of the officer that writes it, and often contradict the facts.
3. Supposid victims lie/make false allegations.
4. Witnesses lie.
5. What the Police call "evidence" many times is not evidence of anything.

I hope he is cleared of the allegations. It's also unfortunate he'll have to answer the "Have you ever been arrested?" and "What for?" questions every time he contacts law enforcement.

We'll have to wait and see what happens. I hope he doesn't take a plea bargain, and take a lesser conviction due to costs, time and simplicity.  If this is false it would be nice if he could flip the table on the person that filed this report and charge them with filing a false police report.

I can understand Bill's frustrations with Californias inflated budget, high taxes and horrible gun laws.

At the same time my wife and I have dedicated our lives to public service. We are both former Marines, herself a 30% disabled veteren. Following our military service I went into LE while she got her college degree. After graduation she also got into LE. She no longer works in LE due to budget cut backs (yes the bad economy effects public employees too) but gives back to our community in other ways such as teaching bible study classes at our church and leading a girlscout troop.

I do not consider myself or my wife to be "part of the problem" or liken our chosen occupation to that of "welfare queens."

As far as Ben Cannon is concerned I can understand his situation as I have been wrongly accused by LE before myself and was harrassed by LE for two years afetr the incident. I say let don't find him guilty before the real story can be flushed out.

As a side note - Bill you really show yourself to be a real ass in regard to public employees based off of your comments. Granted there are some bad seeds as I have experienced them myself and because of what you do with CGF you probably see more of it. But your trash talking of public employees is BS. There are some very good people that work in public service. I would be all for reducing retirement to public employee if you and the rest of the people in this state would pay a competitive wage. Your example of the state retirement only states what police and fire have availble to them. Check out all of the other systems within CalPers and they become not so lucrative for non-emergency employees. So stop your lashing out at public service employees and losing the repesct that I and others have had for you in much of the good work you have been doing!

There may be.  Unfortunately CA gov't needs to be cut in half.  



Many, many public employees do not have the skill sets to get jobs in the private sectors and are thus in general vastly overpaid.
Whole organizations do not need to be there.

DMV is a perfect example - why do we need to register our cars?  If I'm fighting registering guns, I sure as hell shouldn't have to register a truck.
All this does is merely keep drones fed.

Very few state employees could make it in Silicon Valley.  We even see trouble with retired .mil folks of whom I have higher expectations -
you see a lotta retired colonels not 'hack it' in management roles because they can't flow with loose structure or adapt to S.V. high tech
culture.




The old tradeoff in the 50s-early 70s was that state employees didn't get the greatest wages, but got better benefits/surety to help balance that.
However, we see tons of employees now that are otherwise unemployable except in gov't entities - and they get the bennies to boot, even

California will not be 'fixed' unless and until state workers are cut by at least 30%, and new employee pensions are converted to 401K.

That will encourage folks to get legit jobs in the private sector by not having the gov't sector look so tempting.

Otherwise the hardworking private sector popluation ends up with a defined contribution pension yet has to pay gov't drones
an inflation-indexed pension and benefits.

The Ponzi scheme has to stop.  


Bill Wiese
San Jose CA

QFT





 

Any updates on the case?

Has the DA reviewed it and decided to throw it out or file?

How about that 14601 case that was on the docket on the 16th? Was that the same Ben Cannon?

My last info is nothing filed as of Friday.

The 14601 was the same Ben and was dismissed - seems it was "artifact" of some prior incidence(s) where the paperwork
hadn't yet propagated thru the system.


Bill Wiese
San Jose CA

An LAPD officer works 3 days per week. They work 3 / 12 hour days to make 36 hours worked per week. They receive pay and pension credits for a full 40 hour week. They work this reduced hours work week due to the stress and difficulty required to be a police officer in Los Angeles.

I recently asked an LAPD officer how he liked his three day a week work schedule? He said to me, I love it, I do better than three days a week, I work 6 days in a row and then get eight days off.

Not only is he defeating the purpose of his reduced workload, he gloats on how he takes advantage of it by working one week, for two weeks pay. He said "all the other officers do it too."

No wonder the city has no money, aholes like cops want to be paid top dollar but want to work 1/2 a day for it. The city deserves everything it is getting.