Kopbuster Sues

Barry Cooper sueing gangster cops for $30 million.lol

C/P
Barry and Candi Cooper speak out about their arrest

More: Barry Cooper to sue Williamson County for $30 million

For the first time since their arrest by the Williamson County Sheriff’s Department, Barry Cooper and his wife Candi are speaking out about their attempt to catch an officer in Liberty Hill, Texas stealing money and the police retaliation that ended in officers raiding their home and carting away all their computers, files, digital media and Barry, who stayed in Williamson County jail for two days — for an alleged misdemeanor.

He’s back in the second episode of “BackTalk,” being promoted via Cooper’s Web site. It’s just Barry’s way to interact with fans, but he has some worthwhile comments and revealing insights into what happened and why.

I do want to make it clear to readers — almost 30,000 of whom clicked on my three prior reports for True/Slant on Cooper’s exploits (thank you, seriously) — that I’m not angling to cast myself as Barry’s mouthpiece and I pretty much turn a skeptical eye toward everything.

Rule number one for journalists: dig into your source.

I’ve been sporadically writing about Barry Cooper for almost 18 months and the narrative keeps getting stranger. Thing is, much as I’ve dug into Cooper’s case and background, or just checked out little details about events he’d relayed to me to judge the accuracy of his recall, he’s thus far proved every bit as legitimate as one would hope.

I add that cautionary note because Cooper fund-raises a bit in the video that follows and it’s not the intent of your humble narrator to use my space or your time for advertising of any kind. That said, the most pertinent part of the video, in my opinion, fall between 1:12 and 21:10. Everything else is pot-flavored butter.

For every bit as flamboyant and seemingly ADHD-fueled as his stunts are, Cooper is coming from somewhere real, tapping into a pain that’s rife across America, which imprisons a greater percentage of its population than any other industrialized nation — an incredible number of those prisoners being charged with drug offenses.

Perhaps his arrest, atrocious as it may be, is karmic in a way. Some would say, observing the series of events on its face, that he brought it on himself. Maybe, but I don’t think he did anything illegal, and the chief of police in Liberty Hill called his actions “a service.”

Arresting hundreds of fellow Americans and throwing them into the cold, violent, freedom-less reality of prison for victimless crimes is a thing that can stain a the soul of a repentant man like Barry. Perhaps it has. But did he deserve it? I can only pontificate; we mortals don’t see that much detail in the fabric of it all. Who’s to say?

But still: armed men wearing similar clothing did raid Cooper’s home and take all his shit. That’s reason enough for me to bring you this. Just watch.

Great barry, go gettem dude.!!!!!! hOOt !!:thumbsup:

Looks like it just got uglier. They took one of his kids.
‘KopBusters’ Couple Lose Son Over Misdemeanor Pot Charge - Stephen C. Webster - Brave New Hooks - True/Slant
‘KopBusters’ Couple Lose Son Over Misdemeanor Pot Charge

Barry and Candi Cooper, a married duo well-known in the world of drug reform activism, have temporarily lost custody of Candi’s youngest child due to misdemeanor charges stemming from a recent “KopBusters” sting operation against a police officer in Williamson County, Texas.

Pot smoking moms and dads of America, pay attention: This could happen to you too. Although the Coopers’ case is a bit more unusual than most and not all Child Protective Services entanglements over marijuana will result in children being taken or custody being modified, it can and does happen.

Zachary Johnston, 7, has cerebral palsy and exhibits the intelligence of a four-year-old, according to Barry. He had been sent away for a brief visit with his father, David, when the embattled activists were paid a visit by Child Protective Services on Friday, March 18, they said.

Zachary Johnston, age 7 (courtesy photo, Candi Cooper).

“That’s when they told us,” Candi sobbed. “That’s when we knew.”

Because of Barry’s recent misdemeanor arrest over allegations of a false police report, Williamson County officers gained entry to the couple’s home and discovered a couple of marijuana cigarette butts during their search, for which both husband and wife were charged in Travis County. Police also took the Coopers’ electronics and digital media and managed to keep the former officer behind bars for over 48 hours.

Barry repeatedly insisted that Williamson County police reached out to ”instigate” the whole affair, tipping off Mr. Johnston’s lawyer to a potential opportunity for his client. I have not been able to confirm this particular statement and it is entirely possible — even likely — that Mr. Johnston or his attorney heard about the arrests from other sources.

I’ve known about this since the day it happened, but in the interest of fairness and considering my lack of access to Mr. Johnston, I waited until court documents became available before breaking this news. Finally released, their text is enough to make just about any liberal-minded parent cringe.

In the document, an affidavit in support of ex parte relief filed with a court in Upshur County, Texas, Mr. Johnston contends that because of Barry and Candi’s standing as nationally-known marijuana activists and their high (no pun intended) level of comfort with the drug, they pose a danger to Zachary. He cites articles on the duo’s exploits published by Cannabis Culture and Maxim, noting in particular that when Barry and Candi met, she was his “pot dealer.”

He also says: “The Coopers attend cannabis festivals and take Zachary with them and other children that live in their household.” Of course, they adamantly deny this.

Additionally, Mr. Johnston makes what appears to be a factual error on page three in claiming that “one of” the duo was arrested in Williamson County for marijuana possession. Those charges were filed Travis County, against both of them. Their offense rose to the level of a Class B misdemeanor and no evidence of trafficking was discovered.

The officers originally gained access to the family’s home by telling a judge that Barry’s voice could be heard in the background audio of a telephone report about a suspicious package — the same package Cooper was using as bait to test an officer to see if he would steal money or tamper with evidence. Barry claims Williamson County police repeatedly asked about a tent in his garage and suspects they anticipated discovering a large quantity of marijuana.

“This recent [arrest] crosses the line from advocacy to illicit drug abuse,” Mr. Johnston concludes. “I have tried to tolerate the Coopers and their lifestyle as long as I can. My son, Zachary, does not deserve to be raised in a household that uses illicit drugs, abuses drugs, and where they derive the majority of their income on the advocacy of how to engage in illegal conduct.”

And he’s got every right to make that claim, which will absolutely be taken seriously considering standing law. However …

“I smoked pot with that motherfucker eight months ago!” Cooper jeered over the phone. “I have a witness, his ex-girlfriend. And she’s gonna testify. We do that shit away from our kids, and everything we’ve ever used for our shows is a prop.”

The Coopers both go into greater detail about the whole matter in a video blog published late Wednesday.

Both Barry and Candi separately corroborated each others’ account of their visit with a CPS agent, whose report allegedly saved them both from a felony arrest for child endangerment.

“If that report had come back to the district attorney saying something’s going on, we would have both been arrested that day,” Cooper claimed. “But nothing was going on, so that’s what the report says.”

Barry called the agent an “angel from God.”

That document will be published here when it is made available. Meanwhile, the couple has a chance to reclaim Candi’s son during a court hearing on Tuesday, after which they hope to conduct the further custody battle in Travis County. As these things usually go, there is always a chance the Coopers will not succeed.

Further injuring their spirits: Zachary’s eighth birthday is on Sunday, March 28, but he will not be with his mother, who has retained custody of the boy since his birth. She and Mr. Johnston divorced in 2007, but had been separated since 2003.

“I’ve been crying every day since this happened,” Candi said, audibly holding back tears. “It’s hard for me to even talk about it. I’ve been there for him all his life, with his disability and all his difficulties. I’m going to get my son back.”

Mr. Johnston’s four-page affidavit in support of ex parte relief follows. The images were modified to erase handwriting added after being printed.

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He has really rankled some of the powers that be in Texas. They may try and toss him in the slammer over a minuscule amount of cannabis. :thumbsup:

I'm reading this and im like wtf? Perfect example of how the powers that be control texass. They stay united and protect they're own. He's trying to bust a sting on a police officer and now they might possibly make a example out of them but most importantly they're child. Police aren't shit but sheep with a badge that are trained to coerce with verbal trickery and scare most with they're authoritative nature; as if your guilty(feeling guilty). Just that we are all sheep aswell and sheep need to stick together, specially the ones that smoke....
It may be time to make a very serious and legitimate cannabis user union(CUU) and gain some political sway, we are a lot and make a huge percentage of the nation. I'm beyond sure the vote we guarantee can benefit our movemen and country if done rightt. We notice our earth is dirty and nobody wants to clean it, we dont change unless a tragedy or catastrophy hits home. I look at it like this when a unit of people stand together and focus on what damage it can cause strategically it can make a differance. Do you guys think this is feasable? Only the ones who stand up are at risk because their is very few of them, let's make something happen and put branches in every state. Sorry about the rant but I think we need to stand up for those who take stand up for us. Thanks for hearing me out and dont mean to get people mad. Just making it obvious that we can create change.

Don't buck the system, thats what we seem to keep being told. They hold all the power, we have none.

Heck, in child custody cases between divorced parents even a DUI alcohol arrest can result in the loss of yer kid(s) to the ex.