Severed human fingers found at Minnesota campground are in fact connected to police shooting case
by Timothy Charles Holmseth on November 5, 2016, 11:03 A.M. CST
Is there a psychopath working as a police officer in Grand Forks, North Dakota?
There is news to report in the case of the two severed human fingers found on a picnic table at Red River Valley Campground in East Grand Forks, Minnesota.
Police records show a Grand Forks police officer could be the person that obtained the two fingers for public placement at the campground.
BACKGROUND
On May 26, 2016 a family staying at the campground in East Grand Forks contacted the police after finding two human fingers sitting on a picnic table.
The identity of the fingers’ human origin became a mystery that would need to be solved by the Minnesota BCA crime lab using DNA.
In June, 2016, Write Into Action initiated an independent journalistic investigation into the case involving the two fingers at the campground. The investigation would run parallel to Write Into Action’s existing investigation into a police shooting of an unarmed man in Grand Forks where the victim had two fingers blown off.
On August 25, 2016 the East Grand Forks Police Department issued a news release stating the fingers found in the campground matched a 23 year-old male that suffered great bodily injury in a fireworks accident that occurred in Grand Forks, North Dakota on April 30, 2016.
The remaining mystery surrounding the fingers was the question of how the human body parts made their way to the picnic table across the Red River at a campground.
Write Into Action is now reporting the two fingers found at the campground are in fact connected to the police shooting case.
The connection is Grand Forks Police officerJerad Braaten.
On February 28, 2015, UND police officer Jerad Braaten emptied his clip into David James Elliott in the parking lot of Altru Hospital.
Elliott was holding his cell phone to his ear at the time of the shooting because he was talking to an officer over 911. Elliott knew he was going to be shot and arranged via 911 to personally meet GFPD officer Matthew Bullinger in front of the Altru Emergency Room. Before Bullinger could reach the scene, Braaten approached Elliott with his gun drawn, forcing Elliott to attempt to flee on four flat tires. Two of Elliott’s fingers were blown off because Braaten unloaded into Elliott’s head.
Write Into Action obtained Braaten’s body-cam from the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation. Although it captured no useful video because Braaten deliberately situated it wrong on his shirt, the audio captured Braaten and a female UND police intern cynically plotting against Elliott.
Braaten was reprimanded in writing by UND Police Chief Eric Plummer for actions he took regarding his police cams (his dash cam disappeared and his body-cam was found hidden underneath his squad car).
Within a year, Braaten was inexplicably hired onto the Grand Forks Police Department by Chief Mark Nelson.
In June, 2016, during Write Into Action’s investigation into the police shooting, Nelson issued a ‘Special Order’ that changed the GFPD’s retention dates for police-cam evidence of the shooting so it could all be destroyed.
Write Into Action is now reporting Jerad Braaten was at the scene of the April 30, 2016 fireworks accident.
Police records show Braaten filed a police report at the scene.
Braaten had access to the fingers that disappeared until they surfaced on May 26, 2016 in a campground.
by Timothy Charles Holmseth on August 17, 2016, 5:25 P.M. CST
The United States Border Patrol is named as a defendant in a civil lawsuit filed in United States District Court in North Dakota today.
On August 17, 2016, Timothy Charles Holmseth filed aComplaintto the United States District Court – District of North Dakota, against multiple agencies in North Dakota. Holmseth filed the Complaint after receiving paperwork from the North Dakota Court that provided instructions and forms regarding a previous correspondence to the Court pertaining to a lawsuit.
Holmseth, an investigative journalist from East Grand Forks, Minnesota, alleges a multi-agency and multi-jurisdiction conspiracy exists to cover up the true facts and circumstances surrounding the pursuit and shooting of David James Elliott in 2015.
Elliott was unarmed when he was shot by a University of North Dakota police officer on February 28, 2015.
The lawsuit alleges defendants are violating public records laws; have defrauded Holmseth’s publication Write Into Action; and are actively violating Holmseth’s Constitutional rights under the First Amendment.
According to Holmseth’s Complaint, defendants, including Grand Forks Police Chief Mark Nelson, have conspired to destroy police-cam evidence of the Elliott Event, which includes deliberately hiding the fact that the United States Border Patrol was involved.
“The criminal conspiracy involves, but is not limited to, GFPD officer (former UNDPD officer) Jerad Braaten, UNDPD Chief of Police Eric Plummer, GFPD Chief of Police Mark Nelson, Grand Forks County Sheriff Bob Rost, GFPD Lt. Derik Zimmel, UNDPD Sgt. Danny Weigel, Grand Forks States Attorney David Jones,”the Complaint said.
Holmseth alleges Defendant Grand Forks Police Department (GFPD) altered police body-cam evidence before turning it over, in effort to hide what truly happened the night a University of North Dakota police officer shot David Elliott multiple times in the head in the Altru hospital parking lot.
Holmseth had been actively requesting and paying for public records regarding the shooting until he was notified by Lt. Derik Zimmel on July 11, 2016, Nelson issued a “Special Order’ on June 26, 2016, changing the retention dates for police cam evidence held in GFPD custody.
Holmseth alleges the Special Order by Nelson was made in bad faith to advance a criminal conspiracy to destroy evidence of an attempted murder.
On July 11, 2016 Lt. Derik Zimmel advised Holmseth he had until July 18, 2016 to make any further requests for records and then the records would be “subject to destruction”.
On July 17, 2016, Holmseth submitted a public records request to the City of Grand Forks that said,“Pursuant to all applicable state and federal laws, I am requesting ALL officer body-camera videos; ALL police dash-cam videos; ALL reports, notes, ledgers, transcripts, and other records pertaining to the pursuit and shooting of David James Elliott.”
On July 28, 2016 Holmseth received a letter from Grand Forks City Attorney Howard Swanson advising that no more records would be turned over because they were now deemed legal Discovery.
Holmseth alleges the Elliott shooting was actually a pre-mediated murder and possibly an ordered ‘hit’ that involved drug trafficking through the State of North Dakota.
North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) records show the BCI seized “thousands” of pills from Elliott’s vehicle following the bizarre two hour slow speed chase through multiple counties that was all captured on a 107 minute 911 call placed by Elliott – but never heard by the public. Elliott was talking to a GFPD officer during the 911 call.
Holmseth is the only publisher to request any portion of the 107 minute 911 call, which cost over a hundred dollars in fees for just a few minutes of the call.
David James Elliott contacted Holmseth and said law enforcement hid and/or destroyed body-cam evidence that showed police officer Jerad Braaten attempted to shoot him while he was sitting atop the Columbia Road Bridge in Grand Forks.
“What they don’t tell you is that the officer that shot me tried to shoot me at the top of the university bridge were I stopped and was hanging half way out the window with my hands straight out but his gun misfired – so he pulled his gun back on top to dislodge the bullet and they found that bullet there on top of the bridge with nobody taking claim to it until they pulled his finger prints off of the damn thing,” Elliott said.
The first attempted shooting of Elliott by Bratten changes exposes the entire false narrative that was subsequently given to the public because it shows Braaten was stalking Elliott to shoot him.
“When [Jerad Braaten] shot me everyone was yelling ‘cease fire’ and nobody even knew who was firing until it was all done – and the cop that supposedly got drug by my vehicle wasn’t ever in danger – let alone near the driver’s window – and the cop that shot me on video said ‘I thought you were in danger’ and he yells ‘I wasn’t in danger at any given time and was upset,” Elliott said.
Elliott told Holmseth police used “Excessive Force” and the Grand Forks States Attorney’s office told his lawyer, Darla Schuman, they were charging him with felonies so he wouldn’t sue.
The excessive force appears to involve more than the unwarranted shooting.
“There is so much to this whole thing that people will never know or even understand. Heck after the first two to the third shot fired, my pickup was stopped and he just kept on shooting me. He fired 14 times total until his gun was empty and 8 hit me – and a total of ten hit my truck – and two hit the Kidney Dialysis Center way off to the right and two hit the E/R hall way way off to the left,” Elliott said.
“I got shot 8 times – not 6 or 7 – and then after I got shot and was laying on the steering wheel knocked out with blood all over the place and my left hand missing two fingers -two other officers from GFPD ran up to the drivers window and freaken tazed my lifeless body not once but twice – and they’re yelling put your hands up quit resisting as they open the drivers door and my body falls out of the truck like a sack of potatoes,” Elliott said.
“That’s the video nobody has seen – and I have it,” Elliott said.
The following are named as defendants:
City of Grand Forks/Grand Forks Police Department, 122 South 5th Street, Grand Forks, North Dakota
University of North Dakota/University of North Dakota Police Department, 300 Twamley Hall, 264 Centennial Drive, Grand Forks North Dakota
Altru Health Systems, 1000 South Columbia Road, Grand Forks, North Dakota
Grand Forks County Sheriff’s Office, 122 South 5th Street, Grand Forks
Grand Forks Public Service Access Point, 122 South 5th Street, Grand Forks, North Dakota
Grand Forks States Attorney, 124 South 4th Street, Grand Forks, North Dakota
North Dakota Highway Patrol, 1100 North 47th Street, STE 200, Grand Forks, North Dakota.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 112 West Stutsman Street, Pembina, North Dakota,
by Timothy Charles Holmseth on August 2, 2016, 12:24 P.M. CST
Producers of a North Dakota television station have been caught tricking the American public about a police shooting by showing time-stamps of dash-cam video; but hiding the times on the body-cams.
The reason for the deception is because the Grand Forks Police Department, University of North Dakota Police Department, North Dakota Highway Patrol, and Grand Forks County Sheriff’s Office is covering up what appears to be an attempted murder connected to drug running and the Fraternal Order of Police.
On February 8, 2015, WDAZ, Forum Communications, aired a news story about a police shooting of an unarmed man that happened on February 28, 2015 in the parking lot of a Grand Forks hospital. The WDAZ story featured police body and dash-cam video that was captured during the bizarre two hour long slow speed pursuit of David James Elliott.
The times of events surrounding the pursuit and shooting of Elliott are easy to establish, because Elliott initiated a 911 call very shortly after a police officer tried to pull him over; and he remained on the phone with 911 for 107 minutes until the moment he was shot.
Elliott’s immediate flight from police, as well as other actions, create a strong appearance he personally knew some of the police officers chasing him and was afraid to pull over because he knew he was going to be killed.
Write Into Action has discovered WDAZ-TV used very specific techniques to obfuscate the time stamps on body-cam worn by an officer at the scene of the shooting as the shots were being fired.
WDAZ covered it up because the body-cam times did not correspond to other dash-cam time-stamps that were being used in the same news story.
The news station deliberately perpetuated a fraud upon trusting viewers.
SYNOPSIS OF THE WDAZ-TV POLICE SHOOTING COVER-UP
On February 28, 2015, UND police officer Jerad Braaten emptied his clip into David James Elliott, Grand Forks, in the parking lot of Altru Hospital at 12:47 A.M.
Police refused to talk to the media for three days following the shooting; would not give the public any details and withheld the name of the victim; it was clear something was not right.
Write Into Action made public records requests to obtain police body and dash-cam videos captured before and after the shooting.
Police body-cam shows David Elliott being shot at 12:36 A.M. (note: time stamp is in Greenwich Mean Time) as shown in the snap-shot below taken at the time shots are heard being fired (note: the blue glob you see on the right side of the image is David Elliott’s tail light).
However, dash-cam (shown below) shows David Elliott sitting atop the Columbia Road Bridge in his truck at 12:36 A.M. where he actually remained for several more minutes.
Obviously, David Elliott was not in his truck on the bridge and being shot in a distant parking lot at the same time.
Below is another dash-cam snap-shot taken at 12:39 A.M. where David Elliott can be seen talking to officers out the window of his pick-up truck atop the Columbia Road Bridge.
However, according to the body-cam worn by Sgt. Mark Ellingson, GFPD, the shooting is already over (see below) (see You Tube below for actual sound and video).
UND police chief Eric Plummer stated in a televised joint press release that Elliott was shot at around 12:45 A.M.
That time (12:45 A.M.) is essentially the correct time. Police cam obtained by Write into Action captures the sound of gunshots at 12:47 A.M. when an officer is heard saying “shots fired – shots fired”.
Write Into Action began investigating the shooting in 2015 and began requesting police-cam footage from the Grand Forks Police Department after the case was concluded.
That’s when WDAZ suddenly decided to run a story featuring police-cam video.
On February 8, 2016 WDAZ-TV aired a story about the police shooting where they strategically cover up the time-stamps of the body-cam.
During the introduction to the story, which is entirely critical of David Elliott, body-cam captured at the time of the actual shooting is featured behind the presenters Matt Henson and Stacie Van Dyke.
Van Dyke’s shoulder covers the time-stamp the whole time and it is never seen.
Shortly into the introduction, the video in the background changes from body-cam to dash-cam – the dash-cam shows the time of the shooting is 12:47 A.M. (see below).
It is clear WDAZ is allowing the viewers to see the time-stamps on the dash-cam.
In the video below, WDAZ again hides the time of the time-stamp on the body-cam by covering it with their logo.
PUBLISHED JULY 30, 2016 by WRITE INTO ACTION
Police-cam evidence captured at a police shooting in Grand Forks, North Dakota will not be turned over to Write Into Action by the Grand Forks Police Department (GFPD) without an Order from the federal court.
In a letter dated July 28, 2016, Grand Forks City Attorney Howard Swanson notified Write Into Action (Timothy Charles Holmseth) that existing requests for police-cam public records are now classified as Discovery, and will only be turned over in accordance with Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
Swanson cites Holmseth v. City of Grand Forks et al. (16-cv-02496-JRT-LIB) (District of Minnesota) as the basis for the City’s decision.
Timothy Holmseth first initiated civil litigation in United States District Court on July 13, 2016 to request an Emergency Injunction that would forbid the planned destruction of police-cam video that capture the police shooting of an unarmed man on February 28, 2015 in the parking lot of Altru Hospital.
Swanson contacted Holmseth after a formal complaint filed by Holmseth against the GFPD Keeper of Records on July 25, 2016, was referred to his office.
Holmseth asserts the GFPD violated state and federal laws when they responded to multiple public records requests for police-cam evidence by providing video that has been carefully altered using a video editor. The alterations were performed to change critical times and conceal specific video pertaining to the events that led up to the shooting of David James Elliott.
North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) inventory records show that after the shooting of Elliott, investigators located the body-cam of University of North Dakota police officer Jerad Braaten underneath his UND squad car.
Braaten, the officer that shot Elliott, who was not even scheduled to work on the night in question, further claimed he was not able to produce his car’s dash-cam because, he said, he forgot to put the memory card in the camera.
On June 26, 2016, GFPD Police Chief Mark Nelson issued a “Special Order” that changed the Department’s policy on retention dates for police-cam video evidence.
Holmseth asserts Nelson’s action is part of a criminal conspiracy by a group of public officials to destroy records that will reveal the truth about the Elliott shooting and other crimes in the area – including the mysterious death of Caitlin Jenna Erickson, which occurred the same night.
On June 16, 2016, a person that identified them self as David James Elliott contacted Holmseth and said Braaten attempted to shoot Elliott while atop the Columbia Road Bridge in Grand Forks, several minutes before the actual shooting, but his gun jammed.
The first attempted shooting of Elliott may be what the GFPD is attempting to cover-up in the videos, because it reveals Braaten’s actions were not spontaneous, and he, along with other officers, were stalking Elliott to kill him.
BCI investigation records appear to support the fact something happened atop the Columbia Road Bridge with Braaten’s firearm, because investigators located an un-spent cartridge from his gun that linked to that location.
(Elliott) told Holmseth that Braaten lied to investigators about the cartridge, and only admitted that he had performed a function with his gun on the bridge after he was told the cartridge was found with his “fingerprints” on it.
Holmseth has obtained enough police cam video from the event to demonstrate the video has been altered – and segments of body-cam video that would have shown what occurred on the Columbia Road Bridge have been replaced with other video.
Following the 2015 shooting, UND Police Chief Eric Plummer issued a written reprimand to Braaten for his conduct regarding his police cams.
But life only got better for Braaten who was supplied a lawyer by the Fraternal Order of Police.
Grand Forks States Attorney David Jones said in a letter to Plummer that he viewed all the documents and videos surrounding the pursuit and shooting, and determined Braaten acted reasonably when he shot Elliott.
Braaten was subsequently hired by the GFPD to the exception of other candidates.
Some of the altered body-cam was turned over to WDAZ-TV by the GFPD; the regional North Dakota news station presented an entirely misleading story that made no mention of the fact the time of the shooting in the body-cam videos did not correspond with the dash-cams.
by Timothy Charles Holmseth on July 22, 2016, 10:37 P.M. CST
The Grand Fork Police Department (GFPD) attempted to fool an independent journalist investigating the police shooting of an unarmed man in Grand Forks, North Dakota, by removing critical video images from officer body-cam and replacing it with something else.
Timothy Charles Holmseth, journalist/author/publisher, Write Into Action, has produced a You Tube video showing how the GFPD provided him edited and fraudulent files when responding to public records requests.
Timothy Holmseth has been investigating the police shooting of David James Elliott, and several other cases connected to it, including the mysterious death of Caitlin Jenna Erickson, and the framing of a Somali immigrant, Mohammed Aweis Mohammed.
On June 26, 2016, GFPD police chief Mark Nelson issued a “Special Order” that changed the retention dates of police files, which would create the false appearance that any destruction of the evidence would simply be in keeping with policy.
Timothy Holmseth filed a Motion to the United States District Court – District of Minnesota, requesting an Injunction against multiple agencies including the GFPD, Grand Forks County Sheriff’s Office, North Dakota Highway Patrol, University of North Dakota, and Altru Health Systems, that would forbid the destruction of any files related to the case.
On February 28, 2015, Jerad Braaten, a University of North Dakota police officer, unloaded his clip onto David James Elliott, an unarmed man, in the Emergency Room parking lot of Altru Hospital.
The shooting came at the end of a bizarre, two hour long event that involved police following David Elliott up and down I-29 without their emergency lights activated while he remained on the telephone with 911.
Elliott was shot at least three times in the head; multiple times in the body; and relentlessly tazed after being shot (tazed while unconscious) by officers that can be heard yelling “show me your hands” and “stop resisting”.
He miraculously survived.
The shooting was followed by a sinister immediate media blackout that erupted into a all-out battle between regional news stations and law enforcement. Law enforcement refused to tell the public even the most very basic information about the shooting, such as the victim’s name.
Braaten’s decision to shoot Elliott was deemed justified by Grand Forks County States Attorney David Jones after an investigation was completed by the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal investigation (BCI).
The GFPD subsequently hired Braaten.
But…
The truth about what really happened, and why there is now a multi-agency conspiracy to hide the truth, is utterly frightening.
During an independent investigation, Timothy Holmseth discovered records from the BCI showed investigators found Braaten’s officer body-cam underneath his UND squad car (hidden). The dash-cam from Braaten’s car was supposedly never seen because he told investigators he did not put the drive into the camera on the night in question.
Braaten was not even scheduled to work on the night in question, but did, and was not wearing his ‘regular uniform’.
Records never viewed by the public until obtained and published by Write Into Action, reveal Braaten was disciplined in writing by UND police chief Eric Plummer regarding his actions regarding his officer cams. That fact was known to the GFPD some months later when they hired him.
The sinister facts surrounding the case, and the tampering with video footage by the GFPD, shows the police are attempting to hide the fact that Braaten actually attempted to shoot David Elliott approximately 10 minutes prior to the actual shooting at a separate location – but his gun jammed.
That makes the entire event a premeditated attempted murder.
According to a person identifying himself as David James Elliott, Braaten attempted to shoot him while he was parked atop the Columbia Road Bridge in Grand Forks with his hands out the window.
The video from the Columbia Road Bridge is the cam footage that appears to be edited out/replaced, or completely redacted by the GFPD.
BCI records show that an un-spent cartridge from Braaten’s firearm was found atop the Columbia Road Bridge.
Elliott told Write Into Action that Braaten lied to investigators about the cartridge until his “fingerprints” were found on it; he then admitted he had discharged a cartridge while ‘press checking’ his weapon.
David Elliott’s initial flight from the police was very odd, and indicates he knew his life was in danger, and he was trying to get to safety.
Elliott, a man with no criminal record, immediately fled at high speeds when a GFPD officer activated his red lights behind his vehicle. Elliott then called 911 and stayed on the telephone for 107 minutes; until the moment he was shot some two hours later.
The pursuit, shooting, and tampering with evidence indicates the entire event was actually connected to a transnational drug trafficking operation that involved Elliott and police officers.
“Thousands” of pills were found in Elliott’s vehicle by investigators but no charges were ever brought.
Elliott told Write Into Action he is receiving death threats.
America's Little Girl 