We had gotten so used to getting bad news, we had stopped anticipating receiving any good news at all. But the probation recommendation was the one bright light throughout this entire situation. After collecting and compiling all of Travis’s information, the probation office had made a recommendation of three years probation supervision with 150 hours of community service. We breathed a sigh of relief and grew hopeful our family would be able to remain together after sentencing. Could we– should we–begin moving forward with life and beginning plan our wedding after putting our life on pause for the year?
This had been an extremely trying situation for us as a couple. It had tested us, pushed us, pulled us, stretched us, bent us, but miraculously it had not broken us. We were learning to face adversity together which had not been a strength for us prior to this situation. Throughout the summer we had explored whether we should continue on our paths still united or go our separate ways. We always ended up coming back to the same conclusion: our path was together. Marriage plans, still at this point in the journey, felt like forcing a square through a round hole as the saying goes. So we again put it on the backburner.
After receiving the recommendation from the probation office, Travis’s attorney filed a motion for a downward variance to probation. The prosecution swiftly responded asking for the full sentence of 24 months incarceration. Despite the fact Travis qualified for diversion, despite the fact probation had been recommended, despite the fact the prosecution had never provided a search warrant, despite the fact the “threats” might not have even fit the legal definition of a first amendment violation, despite the fact Travis had no criminal history, despite the fact Travis had no previous history of violence. The full sentence was being pursued in this case. Deterrence was the prosecution’s main focus. Going first in the justice system is a place you never want to find yourself.
The prosecution’s stance was quite the opposite as what had been taken by the DOJ in Ms. Rahman’s case. Another perplexing factor in the Presentence Report was the fact no victim impact statement had been submitted. Victim impact statements are not mandatory, but if you felt you were threatened to the extent of pressing charges, wouldn’t you want the court to know precisely the impact this had on your life? Was it possible this case hadn’t been reported to authorities by the victim at all? If only we knew then what we know now.
Travis implored his attorney for more assistance and help in getting a sentence of probation which his attorney had assured Travis he’d be able to convince the judge of at the sentencing hearing. But then during one of Travis’s follow up appointments with the therapist, the therapist had revealed his attorney told her Travis’s case was 50-50. It could go either way. Travis felt deflated and duped. How could his attorney lie to him about something so important? And it increased the pressure to advocate for himself. The next–and last—option was to submit to the court Travis’s mitigating factors. Mitigating factors are reasons why a reduced sentence should be offered in the case.
While most of the documents of Travis’s case were filed openly for anyone to access, his attorney filed the mitigating factors to the court as sealed. Travis didn’t have a say in how this document was filed, and he didn’t know at the time if there were advantages or disadvantages of filing his statement sealed. In hindsight, it has prevented anyone from seeing his side of the case and has prevented the public from being able to critically consider all the factors of the case on their own. Instead, the public is left to only be exposed to what the media reports.
His main points of mitigation included:
- Travis’s biological father had not been involved in his life since his teens.
- His best friend and lifetime mentor committed suicide on April 22, 2021.
- He had a genuine phobia of being forced by government mandates to take the COVID vaccine.
- His Grandpa died January 20, 2021, two days after receiving the COVID vaccine.
- His Grandma, other than early onset dementia, was of good health until receiving the COVID vaccine on January 20, 2021, and then her health deteriorated due to blood clots.
- The division within his family of origin over whether or not to vaccinate and the motivations behind each stance created tension and contention between these family members.
- The government used manipulation to increase monitoring and pressure of taking the COVID vaccine, with consequences of refusing the vaccine potential loss of employment for both of us during the summer of 2021.
- In July 2021 the White House became more aggressive with promoting a message of shame that the unvaccinated would die and kill others through negligence of not vaccinating which continued through January 2022.
- This administration’s use of fear, shaming, manipulation, lies, and gaslighting caused great fear and anxiety in Travis.
- Highly qualified medical professions (Drs Zelenko, Malone, McCullogh) who promoted messages of effective alternative treatments of COVID (treatments that did not include vaccination as well as advising of potential dangers of the vaccine) were censored on most media and social media platforms.
- Travis experienced censorship on his personal Instagram account (not the d_h_mazer account) when sharing alternative COVID treatments.
- Francis Haugen, who worked for Facebook, gave testimony to Congress in October 2021 disclosing Facebook’s (now known as Meta) practices:
- Facebook knowingly causes harm to its users and does nothing about it.
- Facebook creates social and emotional manipulation which in Travis’s case exasperated his fear and anxiety.
- “Facebook’s own research describes one problem as “an addict’s narrative” where users are unhappy but feel like they cannot stop using it.”
- “Today, Facebook shapes our perception of the world by choosing the information we see. A company with such frightening influence over so many people—over their deepest thoughts, feelings and behaviors—needs real oversight.”
Travis did the majority of the research and work on preparing this statement. Of course, with this being the first case of its kind, there was very little precedent law for his attorney to be able to reference. Additionally with his attorney having such little knowledge about social media platforms, all of the information regarding the psyop (psychological operation–or the mental and emotional effects of social media) had been researched and provided by Travis. Essentially Travis, having no law background, knowledge, or experience in the legal system had researched and built the vast majority of his defense himself. A rookie up against the United States. David versus Goliath.
And with submitting his statement to the court, he had exhausted all efforts and options he had available to him to get a downward variance, or what some might call a lighter sentence, from the court. He had asked his attorney about having character letters submitted to the court, but this idea did not gain any traction. So we waited, waited for sentencing, and waited for the next moment of being blindsided with more adversity and devastation.
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Peace & Love,
Janessa