WHO IS MATT DEHART?
Matt DeHart is a 30 year old U.S. Citizen and former U.S. airman
with Top Secret clearance who the U.S. government detained at the U.S.
Canadian border on an alleged “espionage matter.” While detained he
was given a thorazine I.V. without his consent and repeatedly
interrogated about Anonymous, Wikileaks, and a file allegedly
detailing an FBI investigation of post-9/11 domestic criminal activity
by a U.S. intelligence agency that appeared on a server he was an
admin on. Later that day the government hastily drafted and filed a
criminal complaint, in what looks like a smear campaign, charging Matt
with the solicitation of child pornography based on two-year-old
allegations it had previously investigated but never filed charges on.
The charges stem from nude selfies of a teen found on the phone
belonging to another teenager who was part of Matt’s World of Warcraft
guild. An irate mother reported Matt after she found them on her son’s
phone. No child pornography has been found on any of Matt’s devices,
and he vehemently denies the allegations. The FBI interrogated Matt
without a lawyer for roughly two weeks, even after one was appointed
for him at his federal detention hearing, and never questioned him
about matters relating to the child pornography allegations.
Matt was an early associate of Chris Poole, founder of 4-Chan,
and was there at its inception. Matt was also an early supporter of
Chanology. He is an avid World of Warcraft gamer. His parents, Paul
and Leann DeHart, are active in Christian ministry, and both had Top
Secret clearance while they worked for the U.S. Military as linguists
analyzing signals intelligence. After the FBI interrogation and nearly
three years of trying to work through the US legal system the whole
family fled to Canada to seek asylum under the UN Convention Against Torture.
WHAT HAPPENED
Around 8 am on August 6, 2010 Matt DeHart was detained at the
United States border with Canada based on an espionage alert that came
across the United States Border Patrol’s computers. Immediately the
FBI flew special agents up from Washington D.C. to interrogate him.
Against his will he was administered thorazine via an I.V. and
repeatedly asked questions about a file that had appeared on a server
he operated, as well as his alleged connection with Anonymous.
In the afternoon of August 6, a criminal complaint and arrest
warrant were filed against Matt based a dormant two year old
investigation into allegations that he had solicited child pornography
in 2008. This is highly unusual, particularly when allegations related
to child pornography are involved. The FBI agents asked nothing about
these charges and continued to interrogate him, without a lawyer,
regarding the server file on the basis that it involved a matter of
national security. Published reports however, suggest that the file in
question contains information involving an FBI investigation of
domestic criminal activity by the CIA.
On August 7, 2010, as a result of the FBI interrogation, Matt
ended up in the emergency room of a nearby hospital. He told the E.R.
doctors that FBI agents were interrogating him on a matter of national
security. The E.R. doctors dismissed this as delusional talk and
diagnosed him as having an acute psychotic break down. He was returned
to the custody of the FBI who continued to interrogate him without a
lawyer. He did not appear in front of a federal magistrate judge for a
detention hearing until August 9, 2010, when there was a brief
detention hearing. On August 11, 2010 he appeared again in front of a
federal magistrate judge who remanded him back into the custody of the
FBI. According to published reports he collapsed in the courtroom
after his arraignment. After being taken back into custody by the FBI
he was interrogated without a lawyer until August 20, even though the
Court had appointed one for him.
The focus of the interrogation was not child pornography – none
of which can be found in any of Matt’s computer files, but the alleged
national security file on the server he controlled. The FBI forced him
to sign consent forms giving up his online identities. Eventually he
was arraigned in the Middle District of Tennessee on the child
pornography charges. The arraigning Judge commented on the strangeness
of Matt’s case –– and the FBI’s behavior –– and commented that the
FBI’s case did not seem as strong as they were pretending it was. No
espionage charges have ever been filed in this case.
Nearly a year after his release on bail, he and his family fled
to Canada to seek refugee status because of the actions of the United
States government. He was detained by the Canadian government and is
currently in jail in Canada, where he and his family’s refugee status
is currently pending.
You can read about the details of his case in the links below
and come to a decision yourself as to whether this case is really
about child pornography or about a cover-up of domestic criminal
activity by the CIA.
National Post: Matt DeHart Part 1 –
Wanted For Working With Anonymous
National Post: Matt DeHart Part 2 – The FBI Raid His Home
National Post: Matt DeHart Part 3 – The FBI Tortures And Grills Matt About Wikileaks
National Post: Matt DeHart Part 4 – Matt Break Down In Court
National Post: Matt DeHart Part 5 – Waiting In A Canadian Jail As Authorities Decide His Fate
HOW YOU CAN HELP: DONATE TO THE MATT DEHART DEFENSE FUND
Upon learning about the case through the media and being
disturbed by the glaring problems with the record, Tor
Ekeland P.C. contacted the DeHarts offering to help. Since the
DeHarts had already been forced to sell their home to cover previously
incurred legal fees of other lawyers, Tor Ekeland P.C agreed to help
with this matter without requiring the family to make any payments for
the legal work undertaken by his firm.
This defense fund has been established with the DeHart family’s
approval to help defray our expenses in helping the DeHarts with this
case, as well as to pay our customary legal fees should any money be
available to do so. Anticipated expenses include computer forensics,
investigators, court fees, travel expenses (Canada where the DeHarts
are, Tennessee, where the case is, and Maine, where the interrogation
took place), legal research subscription costs, expert witnesses, and
printing, copying and mailing, The more money donated to this fund the
less we have to worry about funding it through other sources and the
more time we can spend on it. Make no mistake though; we are committed
to this case to the end and will defend him vigorously whether we
raise $1 with this fund or $1,000,000.00.
ALL DONATIONS ARE THE SOLE PROPERTY OF TOR EKELAND P.C. AND WILL
BE USED TOWARDS EXPENSES AND FEES IN THIS MATTER AT TOR EKELAND P.C.’S
SOLE DISCRETION. THERE ARE NO REFUNDS. WE EXPECT TO SPEND MONEY ON
TRAVEL EXPENSES BETWEEN CANADA, MAINE AND TENNESSEE, THE RETENTION OF
EXPERTS, COMPUTER FORENSIC ANALYSIS, CONSULTANTS, AND CUSTOMARY LEGAL
FEES AND EXPENSES RELATED TO MATT’S FEDERAL CRIMINAL TRIAL AND ANY
OTHER LEGAL ACTIONS WE BRING RELATED TO THIS MATTER. BY DONATING TO
THIS FUND YOU ARE AGREEING TO THESE TERMS.