(Reporter's Note: Mike has connections to Arizona! He's yet another  land owner that wanted to build an off grid paradise only to have Da Man say NO. As you will see, Mike Nelson doesn't always take no for an answer.)

Greetings,

My name is Mike Nelson, and I'm a blind veteran who's passionate about freedom and upholding and defending the liberties of the people. In addition to the visual impairment, I've had multiple traumatic brain injuries (TBI), and I have debilitating migraines, long term memory loss, insomnia, PTSD, and injuries to my neck, knees, and back. Needless to say, I'm in constant chronic pain, but on my "good days" (non-migraine) I enjoy helping my wife of 18 years, Christina, with rearing and educating our four children.

When we relocated to North Carolina at the end of 2019, I tried to get access to the district courts to get a copy of the latest foreclosure lists, so we could find a house. I use my iPhone, Bluetooth headsets, audio recorder, sonar obstacle detector, and a GoPro, in addition to my dark sunglasses and white cane to help me navigate, communicate, take notes, read signs and documents, and find items in stores. The GoPro camera I wear on my chest and it records my daily adventures relearning and trying to master independence since my vision loss. If I'm out walking and run into obstacles, or have a difficult time traversing a route, the GoPro records the obstructions, and my wife reviews the footage and helps me find safer routes. We also will let the parties responsible for the obstacles know where they are, and how to fix them, so the walkways are safer for other visually impaired people.

The courthouses I went to attempting to find a house for my family, all have bans on using electronic devices. Most of these judges' orders have exemptions for assistive devices used to help people with disabilities. Assistive technology is rapidly changing and making it easier for people with disabilities to participate in everyday life. Some of the tech/ devices are: hearing aids and speech to text for the hearing impaired, electric wheelchairs for mobility, insulin pumps and pacemakers that connect to smart phones, and the visual assistive devices listed above for the visually impaired. Federal Law under the Americans with Disabilities Act requires these exemptions to prevent discrimination and to allow for equal access to the courts.

The Guilford County and Rockingham County court security denied me equal access to the courthouses because I use assistive devices. In February 2020 we finally got into a home in Madison, NC, but it wasn't from finding the house via foreclosure lists at the courthouses. In transferring my medical care to the VA facility in Kernersville, NC the mental health team discriminated against me because of my disabilities. They denied me mental health care for nearly six months. The VA has also stopped offering group therapies to veterans due to their Corona protocols.

On February 4th 2020, I went to the Guilford county health department in High Point, NC to ask about mental health services. While there, the security guards attacked me, and at some point I lost consciousness and I awoke some five hours later with multiple injuries, including another bleed in my brain!

On February 21, 2020 I was enjoying one of our first nights living in Madison with my wife. We were sitting in our van in a church parking lot, talking with each other and playing a game together. A member of the Madison police engaged us and threatened us some 25 times to surrender our IDs or he'd break my wife's (driver's side) window. We were terrified of the men surrounding our van threatening violence when we didn't do anything to harm anyone. They ultimately arrested me and took me to the Rockingham county jail where the jailers tortured me by taking away all my assistive devices including my glasses and cane, tossing me in an isolation cell with bright lights that triggered a migraine, then they stripped me naked and put me on suicide watch. All this because I refused to allow the police to force me to waive my fourth and fifth amendment rights!

Currently it's August 10, 2020, and there are pending charges and cases against me out of both Guilford and Rockingham counties. The judges in both county courthouses have violated federal law and my disability rights by denying me equal access to the courts. I have a court date of Aug 19, 2020 in Rockingham county, and we just received a threatening letter from the presiding judge that states he'll hold me in contempt if I attempt to attend my court proceedings with my assistive devices! So currently if I don't go to the court date, he'll have me arrested for failure to appear, and if I do attend while retaining and insisting on my disability rights to equal access, the judge will have me arrested for contempt!

Please do whatever you can to assist me combat and overturn this blatant injustice and attack on liberty here in North Carolina!

Thank you,
Michael Nelson
De Oppresso Liber

Postscript (by Aaron Askew, co-founder of Breathe Free Foundations):
You can contact Mike and Christina for comment and interview at:
insightisfree@gmail.com
or 336-310-9428
Their youtube channel is https://www.youtube.com/c/BlindJustice

Or you can contact me (Aaron) at this email and 480-489-8479 to field some questions or fast track/forward you to Mike and his wife. I am also a veteran, activist, and active member of the Libertarian Party.

Video footage related to the case:
-2/4/2020 Health Department:
 https://youtu.be/VKFaWsl62ZY

-2/21/2020 Madison Attack: https://youtu.be/-a43zSj0CSQ

-Updates while Mike was in the Rockingham County Jail
Streamed on
      -2/21/2020:  https://youtu.be/PIq5vV9z8eg
      -2/23/2020: https://youtu.be/p81sgl-MYDI

6/24/2020 Rockingham Courthouse update:
https://youtu.be/A1aDuLZalu8

Call Flood for: Mike Nelson. A blind veteran, activist, and father whose wife Christina Nelson grew up in and is native to this area of North Carolina. Co-Founder of the YouTube Channel: "Blind Justice."

On the charge of "resisting an officer" following a brutal arrest in February for not showing identification to an officer (video footage through comment links). A Rockingham County judge is now denying Mike use of his vision aids in a court proceeding on threat of arrest. His impending court date is at the Rockingham County Judicial Center the morning of Wednesday, August 19th.

Into the:
Rockingham County Judicial Center
(Rockingham County Sheriff's Office)
8:30am-5pm Eastern (M-F)
170 NC-65, Reidsville, NC 27320

North Carolina DOJ (Attorney General)
9001 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-9001

Numbers:
District Judge Chris Freeman
(336)634-6012
District Attorney
(336)634-6010
Judicial Center (Clerk of Court)
(336)634-6000
Rockingham County Sheriff's Office
(336)634-3066
Office of Josh Stein, Attorney General of NC
(919)716-6400

Suggested questions or talking points:
-Chris Freeman violating state and federal law with his threats, coercion, and intimidation against a blind veteran
-That you're watching and following the situation
-Support for Mike (particularly areas you feel strongest about)
-Violation of the American Disabilities Act (denial of vision aids with threat of arrest)
-Do they think (or feel) what they're doing is legal or moral
-Will they torture or harm Mike (again) if they arrest him

Links:

Judge's Letter excerpt, ADA excerpts, and videos pertaining to the call: https://unsubpress.blogspot.com/2020/08/from-oppression-to-freedom.html?m=1

Being both inquisitive AND respectful would be most helpful. Not only Mike's legal standing but his health, incarceration, and possible torture are in their hands.

If you also feel like filing a complaint with the NC DOJ, here's the link: https://ncdoj.gov/file-a-complaint/

Review your experiences with google reviews if you like :)
Judicial Center (Court):
https://g.co/kgs/Q8iF1w
Sheriff's Office: https://g.co/kgs/BCnu8y
North Carolina DOJ:
https://g.co/kgs/6rA3n5