REPORT: Aaron Walker Arrested After Maryland Hearing on Kimberlin Case UPDATE: Walker Now Released

Posted on | May 29, 2012 | 280 Comments

UPDATE 6:25 p.m. ET: Sources say that blogger Aaron Walker has been released from custody in Rockville, Maryland. He was charged with “incitement,” but released on his own recognizance. Readers are encouraged to donate to the National Bloggers Club to help support Aaron’s defense against Brett Kimberlin.

*** PREVIOUSLY (11:59 a.m.) ***

FROM AN UNDISCLOSED LOCATION
Aaron Walker, whose complaint against convicted terrorist Brett Kimberlin became a conservative cause célèbre this past week, was reportedly taken into custody today after a court hearing in Rockville, Maryland.

One person who attended the hearing in Montgomery County District Court said that Kimberlin asserted that Walker’s continued blogging represented a violation of a “peace order” Kimberlin had obtained against the Virginia attorney, who says Kimberlin tried to “frame” him for assault earlier this year.

During the course of the hearing — which reportedly lasted about an hour — Judge C.J. Vaughey appeared to become increasingly hostile toward Walker, who was taken into custody when the hearing concluded.

On Thursday, May 17, Walker published a 28,000-word account of his experience being targeted by Kimberlin, which soon caught the attention of leading figures in online New Media, including University of Tennessee law professor Glenn Reynolds, who writes the popular Instapundit blog, and bestselling author Michelle Malkin, who warned her readers, “Please remember: Kimberlin is a radical, violent, lying, dangerous felon.”

UPDATE: According to a source, Kimberlin claimed during the hearing that he has received death threats as a result of Walker’s violation of the peace order. In 1981, Kimberlin was sentenced to 50 years in federal prison for his crimes, including the 1978 terrorist bombing that brutally maimed Vietnam veteran Carl DeLong.

UPDATE II: A copy of the “final peace order” (time-stamped 10:52 a.m.) states that Kimberlin is “in fear of imminent serious bodily harm” as a result of a “countless number” of death threats, and that “there is clear and convincing evidence that [Walker] is likely to commit a prohibited act in the future against [Kimberlin].”

UPDATE III: To understand what is going on here, please see my column today at The American Spectator:

During his time in federal prison, [Kimberlin] became a prodigious jailhouse lawyer, filing more than 100 actions on his own behalf, and his litigious habits have continued until this day. When Patrick Frey, the blogger known as Patterico, wrote about Kimberlin’s criminal past in 2010, he was immediately threatened with a libel suit. By then, Kimberlin had already sued Seth Allen, who eventually got legal assistance from Aaron Walker, a Virginia attorney who had blogged under the pseudonym “Aaron Worthing.” This evidently made Walker a target of Kimberlin’s harassment tactics, with the result that Walker says both he and his wife lost their jobs. . . .
Kimberlin’s critics say his litigation against Allen and Walker, and threats of action against others, are a type of “lawfare,” which is defined as “the illegitimate use of domestic or international law with the intention of damaging an opponent, winning a public relations victory, financially crippling an opponent, or tying up the opponent’s time so that they cannot pursue other ventures such as running for public office.” And this is part of what many see as a wide-ranging strategy of intimidation waged against conservatives . . .

Read the whole thing. I’m still trying to confirm facts about Walker’s hearing and reported arrest.

UPDATE IV: Just spoke to a source who confirms that witnesses saw Walker led out of the courtroom in handcuffs. Ali Akbar, president of the National Bloggers Club, Tweets:

Will know more on Aaron’s situation at 3:30/4:30pm.

The National Bloggers Club has created KimberlinFiles.org to help call attention to the case and to enable “supporters to make financial donations to a relief fund as a show of support.”

– Robert Stacy McCain, Whereabouts Unknown

THE KIMBERLIN FILES:

UPDATE V: Welcome Ace of Spades HQ readers!

Now a Memeorandum thread, with links by The Jawa Report, Jim Hoft at Gateway Pundit, Wake up America, Bob Owens, Capitalist Preservation, Legal Insurrection, FilmLadd Blogs, That Mr. G Guy’s Blog and Truth Before Dishonor — thanks!

Michelle Malkin has been absolutely on fire over this.

UPDATE VI: Linked at Twitchy, Popehat, Nice Deb, Sooper Mexican, Darth Chipmunk, Daily Pundit, Andrew J. Patrick, Daley Gator, PJ Tatler and The Camp of the Saints — thanks! — and welcome, Instapundit readers!

UPDATE VII: A witness blogs about the hearing:

It went bad for Walker pretty quickly. . . .
Judge Vaughey had read up on the matter, knew Kimberlin’s history of felony convictions, but clearly was technically ignorant of even basic facts about what Twitter is, in one instance point saying “He Googled you 500,000 times” through the Tubes or whatever. The Judge had identified himself, earlier, as being “of the Royal Typewriter Generation,” and at another point, when confronted with the voluminous material from both sides, asked “don’t people have jobs, who reads this stuff?”
That said, Judge Vaughey did know a lot about the kind of respect a Judge is owed. He also, again, knew all about Kimberlin, saying “even a prostitute is entitled to protection.”
And Walker pissed him off. So did Kimberlin, but Walker identified himself as a Yale-trained lawyer, albeit one who was representing himself. Kimberlin made any number of allegations — essentially, everything that was said about his side -– issuing death threats, harming business interests, summoning SWAT teams to the home–was said by Kimberlin to have been done by Walker’s side.
The pair went back and forth, back and forth, with Walker getting increasingly flustered, and the Judge finally asking, “what did they tell you in Yale Law School about interrupting a judge?”

My own source who was on the scene said of Judge Vaughey: “He couldn’t find the Internet to save his life.”

Comments

280 Responses to “REPORT: Aaron Walker Arrested After Maryland Hearing on Kimberlin Case UPDATE: Walker Now Released”

ThomasD
May 29th, 2012 @ 7:02 pm

Walker is now subject to a court order, and therefore presumed a threat, due to his “terrible job representing himself.”

That very much is the point.

Or are you honestly trying to argue that, had Walker prevailed, Kimberlin would have taken a second run at him so fast?

Now you are the one missing the point.
MMM
May 29th, 2012 @ 7:04 pm

Yes. Kimberlin knows exactly what he’s doing, and W/W was foolish to go in on this alone. If he had not spent this entire weekend preparing for today’s hearing, and asking his friends that practice this type of law what to expect today, he’s doubly foolish. Kimberlin may not be a Yale graduate, but (at least in this case) he’s a hell of a better lawyer than W/W is, and that should be a lesson learned for all of those that deal with Kimberlin.
ThomasD
May 29th, 2012 @ 7:06 pm

People need to pay attention.

Kimberlin may be a psychopath but he also is an experienced psychopath, and obviously chose his target well.

Walker had better re-assess his approach to this threat pronto.
Adjoran
May 29th, 2012 @ 7:09 pm

If he had had an attorney who was calm and respectful, he wouldn’t have been arrested for violating the TRO, even if he lost the case.
Adjoran
May 29th, 2012 @ 7:10 pm

This was AW’s chance to quash the order. He was arrested for violating the temporary order – he didn’t show at all for that hearing, which meant it was more or less automatically granted.
Adjoran
May 29th, 2012 @ 7:13 pm

Nope.

Kimberlin offered his assertion of death threats. Walker failed to refute them, so they were accepted. Again, he needed counsel.
Manicmonkeymojo
May 29th, 2012 @ 7:14 pm

A lawyer could have also marched back into court after the arrest, asked to approach the judge again, and report that W/W had been arrested on another Kimberlin filed peace order that Kimberlin didn’t bother to tell the judge about during today’s morning hearing.

Judge’s do not like been toyed with, and they don’t especially like being provided only partial information.
Adjoran
May 29th, 2012 @ 7:14 pm

Wrong again. The judge will accept evidence as presented if the other party fails to refute it. That’s why you bring a lawyer instead of getting into a pissing match with the judge and the adversary.
Adjoran
May 29th, 2012 @ 7:17 pm

You are hearing just what you wish to hear, as usual.
Aaron Walker Arrested in Montgomery County Maryland Following Brett Kimberlin Hearing | TheBlaze.com
May 29th, 2012 @ 7:20 pm

[…] Stacey McCain provides additional details in a post for the American Spector and on his blog: Aaron Walker, whose complaint against […]
Shawny1
May 29th, 2012 @ 7:22 pm

Yes, send money to the defense fund and get Aaron’s ass out of jail. But then let’s talk raising the bar for this terrorist asshole before someone else becomes a victim.

Here are some of the fearless “big guns” famous for fighting for our constitutional rights with the resources, mainstream media access and investigative teams who can follow the money. Any of these organizations could chew him up and spit him out. They know both the state and federal laws which apply here. Judicial Watch alone could file for information from the State Department on how a convicted felon has been involved as some kind of good will ambassador for three freaking years already. Beck’s involvement and reporting is also great because his investigative team has been second to none on the Soros, Tides Foundation connections and he has the visibility.

Alliance Defense fund
http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/

Judicial Watch
http://www.judicialwatch.org/

Freedom Watch – Larry Klayman (co-founder of both Judicial Watch and Freedom Watch)
http://www.freedomwatchusa.org/klayman

Judge Andrew Napolitano
http://www.judgenap.com/

I’m contacting these folks. If you’ve got better ideas let’s hear them.
Manicmonkeymojo
May 29th, 2012 @ 7:25 pm

Please provide some clarification on this point for the readers. Are you confirming that there are (at the minimum) two peace order petitions before the court: the original, and a second filed (apparently) just a few days ago?

The process for obtaining a peace order appears to be: 1) Petitioner files; 2) Petitioner attends a probable cause hearing to swear to facts under oath (usually the same day); 3) someone serves the temporary order on the respondent; and, 4) a full evidentiary hearing.

A temporary order is not in force and effect until it is served on the respondent. If this was filed just a few days ago, how was W/W served over the weekend? This leads me to believe that today’s hearing must have been about the original peace order, and not the (apparently) newer peace order petition.

Was today’s hearing for the original peace order, or was it for a newer one that was filed just a few days ago?
Pathfinder's wife
May 29th, 2012 @ 7:27 pm

This is why honest, law abiding folk always get rolled by crooks in court.
An honest person will get upset and offended — because they are honest and law abiding. In the process, they can be made flustered and to talk too much, say things out of turn that come out really wrongfooted.
When that happens, they actually wind up looking guilty as H to observers.

An experienced criminal on the other hand, knows the first rule of lawfare: keep a cool head in front of the law and don’t volunteer nothin’. They hire attorneys, they sit back and let the honest person hang themselves up — and then they get off.
Shawny1
May 29th, 2012 @ 7:34 pm

Isn’t it time to raise the bar on this terrorist asshat BEFORE someone else becomes a victim?

Here are some of the fearless “big guns” famous for fighting for our constitutional rights with the resources, mainstream media access and investigative teams who can follow the money. Any of these organizations could expose him, chew him up and spit him out. They know both the state and federal laws which apply here. Judicial Watch alone could file for information from the State Department on how a convicted felon has been involved as some kind of good will ambassador for three freaking years already. Beck’s involvement and reporting is also great because his investigative team has been second to none on the Soros, Tides Foundation connections and he has the visibility.

Alliance Defense fund
http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/

Judicial Watch
http://www.judicialwatch.org/

Freedom Watch – Larry Klayman (co-founder of both Judicial Watch and Freedom Watch)
http://www.freedomwatchusa.org/klayman

Judge Andrew Napolitano
http://www.judgenap.com/

I’m forwarding information to these folks. Better ideas, let’s hear them.
Rob Crawford
May 29th, 2012 @ 7:35 pm

Psychopath on the left’s payroll, in my opinion. He was used to plant stories to damage Quayle, now they’re using him towards shutting down the conservative/anti-left internet.
Evi L. Bloggerlady
May 29th, 2012 @ 7:36 pm

I know he is temporarily out: But Free Aaron Walker!

And ironically, this may get the main stream media into the act: Because there is nothing those big mouth [b]asses love more than a Jelly Worm of a conservative dangling on a hook.
JosephS
May 29th, 2012 @ 7:36 pm

So, to summarize quickly:

1. Lawyers who represent themselves have a fool for a client
2. State court judges are not exactly up-to-date with the Communications Decency Act immunity for website owners
3. Judges will grant a restraining order for ANYTHING.
4. Judges will also leave restraining orders horrifically vague as a CYA measure in case something happens
5. Banning someone from blogging about a matter of public concern is clearly an unconstitutional prior restraint
6. The only possible exception might be if the judge interpreted the posts as inciting extreme and threatening comments.
7. All of this should get overturned once a half-competent appellate judge gets a look – not that that doesn’t mean Kimberlin can’t do a lot of damage in the meantime
8. I think it’s probably time to calm down slightly. Yes, it’s an outrage, but the people commenting “war!” and the like are stooping to his level.
9. One idea: if Kimberlin is still on parole for his previous crimes (I think in many places, that could be for a long time after release), I’m sure the parole board will be interested in hearing what he’s been up to.
Conservative Blogger Arrested Following Hearing With Convicted Speedway Bomber Kimberlin | We Win - They Lose
May 29th, 2012 @ 7:38 pm

[…] Stacey McCain provides additional details in a post for the American Spector and on his blog: Aaron Walker, whose complaint against […]
Adobe_Walls
May 29th, 2012 @ 7:42 pm

The issue here was did Walker’s actions justify the continuance of the order and was there a likelihood of him committing other violations of the order and or acts of violence. There are conflicting reports but it seems that walker was not arrested for contempt but for either violating the order or for assault during a previous hearing. It seems that the judge ruled in BK’s favor across the board.
Evi L. Bloggerlady
May 29th, 2012 @ 7:43 pm

I was tempted to do a picture of Judge Smails, but I do not see it as helpful right now. Things are bad enough without jokes.
section9
May 29th, 2012 @ 7:52 pm

Jesus. Would someone call Landmark Legal Foundation and send Levin in? Walker is an attorney who obviously was foolish enough to rep himself.

I can’t believe that a competent conservative attorney can’t be found to torch this guy. BTW, Kimberlin obviously has legal help; so should our guy.
BREAKING: Blogger Aaron Walker Arrested after Maryland Hearing on Kimberlin Case … UPDATE: Walker Released–Pleads for Assistance | therightplanet.com
May 29th, 2012 @ 7:59 pm

[…] REPORT: Aaron Walker Arrested After Maryland Hearing on Kimberlin Case […]
richard mcenroe
May 29th, 2012 @ 8:08 pm

O God. Far Rockaway. You have no idea how much that explains. Far Rockaway exists to make Sheephsead Bay look upscale.
Breaking: Domestic Terrorist Kimberlin Has Conservative Blogger Arrested …Update: Aaron Worthing Released – Seeks Assistance | Lake Minnetonka Liberty
May 29th, 2012 @ 8:16 pm

[…] The Other McCain reported: FROM AN UNDISCLOSED LOCATION Aaron Walker, whose complaint against convicted terrorist Brett Kimberlin became a conservative cause célèbre this past week, was reportedly taken into custody today after a court hearing in Rockville, Maryland. […]
Bob Belvedere
May 29th, 2012 @ 8:21 pm

The National Bloggers Club is worthwhile, Pagan, because it will be helping people like Stacy and Mike Stack and Seth Allen, in addition to Mr. Walker.

Ali Akbar’s in charge and he’s one smart cookie and an honorable man.
Wombat_socho
May 29th, 2012 @ 8:22 pm

136.235.244.56
Happy hunting!
Wombat_socho
May 29th, 2012 @ 8:24 pm

I beg your pardon, sir.
Ladd Ehlinger Jr.
May 29th, 2012 @ 8:28 pm

Tsk, tsk, using gubberment bandwidth to trolls teh internetz…
LN_Smithee
May 29th, 2012 @ 8:30 pm

Just as I suspected, the judge is an old f[ogey] who probably thinks LMFAO is what’s at the bottom of a box of Lucky Strikes. “Prostitutes deserve protection, too”? Hey, Methuselah, Kimberlin ain’t a hooker, he’s a bomber!
ContrarianView
May 29th, 2012 @ 8:40 pm

Some have asked why the judge is so egregiously disregarding the facts and the law here. I think there is a simple answer: Kimberlin may be acting as an agent of the Democratic party, with their full knowledge and support, and word has been passed down from the party to the Democrat establishment in MD to use this guy as a terror tactic against the conservative blogosphere for the campaign season.

It’s exactly what Putin would do.
They Told Me If I Voted For John McCain, Bloggers Would Be Arrested For Free Speech AND THEY WERE RIGHT! » American Glob
May 29th, 2012 @ 8:41 pm

[…] the very least, read this… Aaron Walker, whose complaint against convicted terrorist Brett Kimberlin became a conservative […]
Evi L. Bloggerlady
May 29th, 2012 @ 8:42 pm

Retrospective film clip review of the day…
Saul
May 29th, 2012 @ 8:42 pm

Stacy did an hour-long interview with Andrea Shea in which he clarified the situation considerably more then he has here. He said:

1) Kimberlin called the private school where Stacy’s wife works. The school Googled Kimberlin and then invoked what Stacy called a “security alert” and called Stacy and his wife in for a talk. The school didn’t tell Stacy what Kimberlin said, but Stacy said there were no threats against his family. Stacy said all he knows about what Kimberlin said to the school is what’s on BreitbartUnmasked, which says Kimberlin told the school Stacy was harassing him and the could be liable for Stacy’s actions. Apparently, Kimberlin implied he might sue the school. Given his history, that seems like a credible threat.

2) Stacy said he left the state so Kimberlin couldn’t serve him with any supoenas. If Kimberlin’s process servers can’t find him, he can’t be shut up like Walker has been.
World’s Youngest Blogger, Neighborhood Watch Edition : The Other McCain
May 29th, 2012 @ 8:46 pm

[…] = [];}by SmittyWise Judge Vaughey says to keep a close watch out for bloggers whose names rhyme with Scarin’ Stalker. That’s just what the World’s Youngest blogger sets out to do, in his matchless […]
#BrettKimberlin Aaron Worthing Out On Own Recognizance, Pleads For Financial Help « Truth Before Dishonor
May 29th, 2012 @ 8:49 pm

[…] by John Hitchcock on 2012/05/29 Maryland Judge CJ Vaughey may not live in a country governed by the US Constitution but every one of Truth Before Dishonor’s authors […]
Shawny1
May 29th, 2012 @ 8:58 pm

Certainly there are lawyers out there who have and would be willing to step up, some even pro bono, but pride and ego may have gotten in the way of asking for one. Not a mistake which is likely to be repeated by anyone following this story. You’re gonna need some heavy hitter lawyers, protection, documentation and witnesses.
Saul
May 29th, 2012 @ 8:59 pm

I think the main reason he didn’t go was because he feared Kimberlin would have served him with a lawsuit or a restraining order.
Saul
May 29th, 2012 @ 9:09 pm

Walker obviously has poor impulse control. The first-person account from someone who attended the hearing said he continually interrupted the judge, despite repeated and pointed warnings. That was very stupid, but the judge cut him a lot of slack by not holding him in contempt.

Walker was arrested for second-degree assault against Kimberlin, allegedly committed at a previous hearing. Walker grabbed Kimberlin’s IPad out of Kimberlin’s hands in the courthouse lobby and refused to give it back until court security made him return it. Again, lack of impulse control, which played right into Kimberlin’s plans.

I think Dave Weigel was very astute to question whether Stacy and others had thought through the legal ramifications of their jihad against Kimberlin. As the judge said in today’s hearing, it’s illegal to harass even people like Kimberlin.
gearbox123
May 29th, 2012 @ 9:10 pm

Aaron needs to get a good lawyer and stop representing himself. Things should never have gotten to this point. He’s up against somebody who CLEARLY knows how to push his buttons and get him into trouble – that happened in the original “Ipad incident” and it happened again today. Get a lawyer Aaron!!!!
Is Justice Blind, Or Is It Just Deaf And Dumb? - The POH Diaries
May 29th, 2012 @ 9:12 pm

[…] I haven’t posted about Aaron Worthing’s predicament today, mainly because when I first read the news that he had been arrested for violating a “peace order” Brett Kimberlin had against […]
Saul
May 29th, 2012 @ 9:20 pm

That’s precisely the “mobocratic” thinking that Lincoln denounced in 1838.
http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=157

He said people who acted as a law unto themselves — mob violence was endemic in the mid-1830s — were a bigger threat to the United States than any foreign army.
Saul
May 29th, 2012 @ 9:23 pm

It seems Walker gave the judge ample reason to think an order was necessary.
Saul
May 29th, 2012 @ 9:43 pm

Today proved the wisdom of the old adage: never argue with idiots — they drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience.
Aconservativeteacher Atgmail
May 29th, 2012 @ 10:05 pm

FYI: Judge CORNELIUS J. VAUGHEY was appointed by a Democrat. In Maryland, Governor’s appoint judges, he was appointed in 1992, the Governor was Democrat William Donald Schaefer.
Aaron Walker, Brett Kimberlin, and the Fog of Litigation - I Hate Paypal » I Hate Paypal
May 29th, 2012 @ 10:54 pm

[…] was issued, which led to speculation that he was arrested for what he blogged. [UPDATE: Indeed, The Other McCain reports that "One person who attended the hearing in Montgomery County District Court said that […]
ThePaganTemple
May 29th, 2012 @ 11:01 pm

You know who should know better than to fall into those kinds of traps?

A fucking YALE LAWYER!
ThePaganTemple
May 29th, 2012 @ 11:05 pm

I agree wholeheartedly with you on Ali, who I just recently started following on Twitter and Facebook. My problem with Walker is his stupid actions are a black eye to everybody who put themselves out for him.
ThePaganTemple
May 29th, 2012 @ 11:06 pm

Oh, don’t worry, they’ll “cover” it all right.
Pathfinder's wife
May 29th, 2012 @ 11:55 pm

Well, yeah, but it very much depends upon what sort of law he specializes in — and also: this is what happens when you think you will win because you think you are in the right…you wind up running your mouth trying to prove your righteousness, which ends up making you look guilty (truly, my defense attorney uncle used to say the largest aspect of his job was simply making sure his client kept his/her yap shut and didn’t incriminate themselves further, or give the impression of guilt by saying something wrong; he also said that lawyers make terrible clients because they think they know the law and thus the courtroom inside and out — different ballgame when you’re the representee).
Blaze Confirms: Conservative Blogger Arrested Following Court Hearing With Convicted Speedway Bomber Brett Kimberlin
May 30th, 2012 @ 12:23 am

[…] Stacey McCain provides additional details in a post for the American Spector and on his blog: Aaron Walker, whose complaint against […]