J. Christian Adams, the right-wing storyteller whose works include the many-times debunked New Black Panther scandal, is back with a gripping tale about Eric Holder's “peculiar tendency to set loose militant black panthers.” Writing on Andrew Breitbart's Big Government, Adams proclaims: “Leftist Activists Convince Eric Holder's DOJ to Set Violent Marxist Free.” The violent Marxist in question is Marilyn Buck, who was incarcerated in 1985 for her roles in the Black Liberation Army's 1981 armed robbery of a Brinks armored car and the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Senate.
Take it away, J. Christian:
Yet Holder's DOJ unlocked Buck's jail cell and set her free last summer. Justice concluded that Buck “expressed a dramatic change from her previous political philosophy.” Releasing Buck reflects an alien attitude that has caused the Obama years to be characterized by an ideological disconnect with most Americans.
The letters which persuaded the Justice Department were stuffed with crackpot arguments and have yet to be reported over the last year. They are full of lawlessness and arguments from extreme fringes of political thought. What's worse, the letters are on the letterhead of government and private institutions, institutions most Americans incorrectly think are worthy of respect.
Got it? Crazy people wrote crazy letters to free their terrorist friend, and Holder loves crazy terrorists so much that he unlocked her cell and let her scamper off into the summer breeze.
Now, let's explore what really happened and look at three key facts that Adams omitted from his piece: 1) the groundwork for Buck's early release was laid during the Bush administration; 2) Buck was ultimately released because she had late-stage terminal uterine cancer; and 3) she passed away less than a month after her parole.
Adams' article is essentially a retread of a Daily Caller article published last month on Buck, which was based on Justice Department documents obtained by Cliff Kincaid's Accuracy In Media through a FOIA request. Among those documents is a July 2010 memo from case services administrator Deirdre Jackson which recounted the history of Buck's dealings with the U.S. Parole Commission:
Ms. Buck first appeared before the USPC on 9/8/2003. The subject accepted responsibility for past [sic] expressed a dramatic change from her previous political philosophy. On 10/2/2003, the USPC ordered a 15 year reconsideration hearing to take place in September 2018. On appeal the decision was modified to Presumptive Parole 2/8/2011 after the service of 360 months. Following her most recent hearing (6/5/2008), the USPC advanced her PP date to 8/8/2010 based on superior program achievement. She was scheduled for a statutory interim hearing in June 2010 but the hearing did not take place.
To recap: under the auspices of the Bush Justice Department, “violent Marxist” Marilyn Buck was granted consideration for presumptive parole in 2011, and had that date moved up to August 2010. Seems like Adams should have mentioned that.
He also should have mentioned this, from the same memo:
On 7/7/2010 this case was referred to me after several phone calls were received from community supporters urging the USPC to release the subject immediately due to her declining health. The institution has provided verification that the subject is suffering from “Sarcoma” and that she has a life expectancy of less than 3 months. The Case Manager also verified that her release plan with Ms. Jill Elijah (originally approved in September 2009) was still viable. Ms. Elijah has expressed a willingness to travel from New York to Texas to accompany Ms. Buck and a doctor during her travel. The institution is very supportive of the USPC advancing the subject's release date and has suggested a new release date of 7/15/2010 to allow for all necessary travel and logistical arrangements to be made.
So, based on Buck's declining health and the recommendation of the prison, the Parole Commission moved up Buck's release date -- originally set, remember, during the Bush administration -- by three weeks. Buck was released on July 15, and passed away on August 3.
Adams', however, left all that out so he could create the impression that Buck's release was conceived entirely under Holder's watch, that it was born out of ideological sympathy, and that a one-time domestic terrorist is walking free. None of that is true. But that's what enthusiastic liars like J. Christian Adams do. They make stuff up.