Minnesota journalist files suit in federal court to halt destruction of body-cam video capturing police shooting

by Timothy Charles Holmseth on August 14, 2016, 8:56 A.M. CST

On August 10, 2016, Timothy Charles Holmseth submitted a Petition to the United States District Court – District of North Dakota, for an Injunction against every agency known to have collected records and video in the police shooting of David James Elliott.

 

United States District Court

District of North Dakota

 

Timothy Charles Holmseth                          Plaintiff, v. City of Grand Forks/Grand Forks Police Department, University of North Dakota/University of North Dakota Police Department, State of North Dakota/North Dakota Highway Patrol, County of Grand Forks/Grand Forks County Sheriff’s Office, Grand Forks County PSAP, Altru Health Systems                            Defendants,

MOTION FOR EMERGENCY INJUNCTIVE RELIEF

 

INTRODUCTION

PETITIONER is not an attorney.

Due to that fact, PETITIONER previously and improperly petitioned the U.S. Court in the District of Minnesota on this matter – Case Number 16-CV-2496 (JRT/LIB. That Petition was subsequently dismissed Without Prejudice due to jurisdiction related matters.

The Judge in the Minnesota filing stated that by “all appearances” the action could have been filed in the U.S. Court – District North Dakota under 28 U.S. Code 1391.

PETITIONER was provided court forms by the U.S. Court in Minnesota to apply for permission to proceed Pro Se based upon income. That application was dismissed as MOOT.

PETITIONER requests the Court provide proper application forms for requesting permission from the Court to proceed PRO SE until such time PETITIONER can achieve legal counsel.

PETITIONER request necessary forms to apply for Court permission to have documents served by the U.S. Marshalls.

PARTIES

PETITIONER, Timothy Charles Holmseth, is a citizen of the State of Minnesota and resides at 320 17^th Street N.W, Unit 17, East Grand Forks, Minnesota.

RESPONDENTS all reside in the State of North Dakota.

1. City of Grand Forks/Grand Forks Police Department, 122 South 5^th Street, Grand Forks, North Dakota
2. University of North Dakota/University of North Dakota Police Department, 300 Twamley Hall, 264 Centennial Drive, Grand Forks, North Dakota
3. Altru Health Systems, 1000 South Columbia Road, Grand Forks, North Dakota
4. Grand Forks County Sheriff’s Office, 122 South 5^th Street, Grand Forks
5. Grand Forks Public Service Access Point, 122 South 5^th Street, Grand Forks, North Dakota
6. Grand Forks States Attorney, 124 South 4^th Street, Grand Forks, North Dakota
7. North Dakota Highway Patrol, 1100 North 47^th Street, STE 200, Grand Forks, North Dakota.

JURISDICTION

PETITIONER believes all wrongful acts, crimes, and torts set forth herein have taken place in the State of North Dakota.

PETITIONER is a resident of East Grand Forks, Minnesota.

PETITIONER believes the United States District Court, District of North Dakota has jurisdiction over the aforementioned Parties and the subject matter stated herein.

PETITIONER believes the North Dakota Federal Court has Venue per 28 U.S. Code 1391.

PETITIONER’S BACKGROUND

PETITIONER is a journalist, author, publisher, songwriter, and media specialist.

PETITIONER has been interviewed by the Minneapolis FBI regarding the kidnapping of HaLeigh Ann-Marie Cummings based upon the FBI’s request for information from PETITIONER’S recorded journalistic interviews with suspects in that case.

PETITIONER was deemed “credible” by Special Agent A.J. Eilerman, Minneapolis FBI.

PETITIONER has received security clearance through the United States Department of Agriculture to enter the secure spaces of a federal facility.

PETITIONER has received first place award from the North Dakota Newspaper Association for reporting and writing.

PETITIONER has participated in a large scale documentary production regarding FBI information pertaining to mass-shooting attacks on Planned Parenthood facilities; and the murder of JonBenet Ramsey.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

PETITIONER believes the facts and circumstances that surround this civil action potentially affect the very safety and well being of the national public and national security.

PETITIONER has been notified by the Grand Forks Police Department that said agency intends to destroy police body-cam and dash-cam public records regarding the pursuit and shooting of David James Elliott (hereby referred to as the Elliott Event) that occurred on February 27-28, 2015 in the State of North Dakota.

PETITIONER seeks for the Federal Court to halt any and all destruction of files pertaining to the Elliott Event.

PETITIONER has standing requests for public records from multiple agencies.

PETITIONER is being improperly denied public records by DEFENDANT CITY OF GRAND FORKS/GRAND FORKS POLICE DEPARTMENT (hereby referred to as GFPD).

PETITIONER is seeking the fulfillment of his Public Records requests from all agencies.

All the aforementioned Parties were involved in the Elliott Event and accumulated records regarding the pursuit and shooting.

PETITIONER has been regularly requesting public records from involved agencies regarding the Elliott Event. PETITIONER has paid many applicable fees for said public records.

PETITIONER has been regularly reporting on the Elliott Event at www.writeintoaction.com and https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009187154735 and https://haleighcummingsdotme.wordpress.com/ and https://eastgrandforks.wordpress.com/ and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=To6NCQ9npr8

PETITIONER has received police-cam evidence from the GFPD that has clearly been altered using a video editor to prevent PETITIONER, and the public, from knowing the true facts and circumstances surrounding the pursuit and police shooting of David James Elliott.

PETITIONER has published a short video that serves as Prima Facie evidence that criminal alterations of police-cams have occurred. PETITIONER is enclosing a CD with this Petition that features the video showing how the body-cams have been altered.

DEFENDANT GFPD via Police Chief Mark Nelson, set forth a “Special Order” on June 26, 2016 to change the retention dates on police-cam evidence in the GFPD’s custody after PETITIONER discovered cam evidence and had been altered to hide criminal and nefarious acts.

PETITONER asserts the “Special Order” was made in bad faith and was done in the act of a Criminal Conspiracy.

RESPONDENT UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA – UNIVERITY OF NORTH DAKOTA POLICE DEPARTMENT (hereby referred to as UNDPD) has provided PETITIONER public records that appear to be altered and/or tampered with.

PETITIONER has been threatened by anonymous persons using voice changing software over the telephone and Web and warned to remove all of his websites or suffer serious consequences. PETITIONER’S children and grandchild have also been threatened.

PETITIONER has obtained evidence that shows RESPONDENT(S) are involved in the commission of state and federal crimes including Conspiracy and Attempted Murder.

RESPONDENT GFPD is planning to destroy evidence for the express purpose that it shows RESPONDENT(s) attempted to murder an unarmed man, David James Elliott; and for the purpose of destroying evidence to avoid prosecution.

PETITIONER argues the following supports an Injunction:

Irreparable Harm: If RESPONDENT destroys the files in question, they will never again be retrievable through RESPONDENT’S Keeper of Records.

Clear Legal Right: PETITIONER has a clear legal right to the files, which are public record.

Consideration of Public Interest: There exists a clear public safety issue connected to this case and the files.

Legal Challenge: The stated basis for RESPONDENT’S decision to destroy the files is subject to legal challenge.

CONCLUSION

PETITIONER respectfully requests the United States District Court issue an Injunction forbidding the destruction of GFPD IR#201501332 and/or any police-cam evidence until further order of the Court.

The Order further forbids the destruction of any related files held by the University of North Dakota Police Department, Grand Forks County Sheriff’s Office, Grand Forks County States Attorney’s office, North Dakota Highway Patrol, Altru Health Systems, and Grand Forks County PSAP.

Very Respectfully Submitted,

Timothy Charles Holmseth

Pro Se

 

 

VISIT WWW.WRITEINTOACTION.COM

 

GFPD records clerk could not provide ‘Time’ of the 911 call she was transcribing

Official narrative regarding police shooting of unarmed man in serious question

by Timothy Charles Holmseth on April 5, 2016, 7:20 A.M. CST

The Grand Forks Police Department (GFPD) records clerk that transcribed the 911 call that preceded the police shooting of David James Elliott, did not know the ‘time’ of the call she was transcribing for an investigative journalist.

It’s kind of important.

The 911 call set into motion a high speed chase, police shooting of an unarmed man, and the subsequent seizure of thousands of pills in the suspect’s vehicle (for which no criminal charges were ever brought).

“The Time was not stated within the PSAP recording of the call therefore I have no way of knowing the exact time of the call,” said Penny Johnson, Records Administration Bureau, GFPD.

Lt. Derik Zimmel, GFPD, said the document provided to Write Into Action “fulfilled” the records request. It’s not known why the GFPD would not consider the actual time of a 911 call to be part of any 911 records request.

Lt. Zimmel, as well as Becky Ault, director of Grand Forks County PSAP, both responded to subsequent requests for clarification – both stated the time of the call was 10:41 P.M., February 27, 2015.

Becky Ault, Grand Forks County PSAP Director

However, the box allotted for “Time” remains empty in the actual transcription record.

Specific times are the key to understanding what occurred – and what did not occur.

Write Into Action’s request was for public records regarding an incident described in the official police shooting investigation conducted by the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) that said, “The cleaning woman inside the bank called in the complaint around 11:30 p.m., to 11:40 p.m.”

Lt. Zimmel said, “No such record exists.”

However – there appears to be a significant event that occurred at 11:30 P.M. on the night in question.

The BCI interview of ND State Trooper Brittany Schmidt said, “Trooper Schmidt stated the original call in regard to this case came in around 11 p.m.”

The BCI report continued, “Trooper Schmidt stated at 11:30 p.m., the vehicle from the earlier pursuit was located in Grand Forks. There was no pursuit at this time.”

The vehicle was located?

No pursuit?

Why?

Another anomalous statement regarding time is found in the BCI interview of GFPD officer Chris Brown who said he witnessed the pursuit at around 10:30 P.M.; which is before the 911 call was even made.

“In regard to the first (1st) pursuit, Grand Forks Police Department Officer Chris Brown said that he was at the Altru Hospital Emergency Room with a female that refused to leave, and a pursuit began at about 10:30 p.m./10:35 p.m. Grand Forks Police Department Officer Chris Brown saw the first (1st) pursuit proceed northbound on South Columbia Road past the Altru Hospital, but he was not involved. Grand Forks Police Department Officer Chris Brown continued with his call at the Altru Hospital Emergency Room until around 11:00 p.m.” the BCI report said.

How did Officer Brown observe a chase that began at 10:30/10:35 P.M. that was going north on Columbia Road past Altru when the pursuit did not begin until shortly before 11 P.M.?

The 11 P.M. start time for the pursuit is verified in a short video clip published by WDAZ TV.

“It started around 11 p.m. Friday February 27th when Grand Forks police tried to pull over a suspicious vehicle. Instead the driver of the vehicle, David Elliot, took off at speeds of more than 60 miles per hour thru a residential neighborhood,” WDAZ reported.

So what pursuit did Brown observe at 10:30/10:35 P.M.?

Write Into Action has identified a myriad of anomalies that call the official narrative in question.

Write Into Action continues to request public records and will report to the public.

VISIT WWW.WRITEINTOACTION.COM