PrintMillie Weaver faces her first court hearing this morning after being arrested and jailed last Friday
New media reporter Millie Weaver is scheduled to have her first court hearing this morning after a weekend in jail following her arrest last Friday. Weaver's arrest came on the eve of the release of her 82-minute documentary, Shadow Gate, that is an exposé of the Deep State with the assistance of two individuals identified as whistleblowers. Her arrest and incarceration in the Portage County Jail in Ravenna, Ohio immediately raised suspicions that she was being subjected to a scary new level of intimidation and censorship.
Millennial Millie, as Weaver is known, is a conservative rising star on the new and alternative media landscape, having worked as a reporter and contributor for Infowars since 2012 and lately on her own as well. She has developed a loyal following, and there is widespread interest in the outcome of the legal case against her.
Millie Weaver in Shadow Gate.
Heavy dot com succinctly summarized the case.
Millie Weaver is a conservative filmmaker who was arrested at her home in northeastern Ohio hours before she was scheduled to debut her new documentary called Shadow Gate on YouTube. Weaver claimed she had uncovered a plot, orchestrated by both major political parties, against President Donald Trump and that the documentary would explain how it all worked.
The timing of her arrest flamed conspiracy theories online, with critics wondering whether the arrest was related to the Shadow Gate documentary.
Since my first article about this matter was published at American Thinker on Saturday, substantive new information about the case has emerged. It has now been reported that not only Weaver, but Gavin Wince, 45, variously described as Weaver's husband, boyfriend, and significant other, was also taken into custody on a warrant charging both of them with "robbery, tampering with evidence, obstructing justice, and domestic violence." The nature of the allegations, most or all of them serious felonies, will presumably be spelled out in an arraignment hearing this morning at 11 A.M. E.T., "where a Common Pleas Court judge will set bond." Weaver's two small children residing in the home with her and Wince were reportedly turned over to child protective services. A hearing on the children's fate is scheduled at 10 A.M.
Millie Weaver's mother weighs in
Some light was shed on the matter in a comment posted on Friday to a YouTube video report by licensed investigator and talk show host Doug Hagmann of The Hagmann Report that was uploaded several hours after Weaver's arrest. The author of the comment identified herself as Felicia McCarron. Public databases identify Weaver's mother as Felicia McCarron, 51, who resides in California. The comment at YouTube links back to what appears to be the real Felicia McCarron's YouTube channel.
In response to Hagmann's video about her daughter's arrest, McCarron wrote:
This is Millie's mother... It's my cell phone worth about $50, that she took during a family dispute that happened months ago when I was in Ohio visiting my family. She took it because I had my phone on record during an argument we were having. We resolved the issue immediately and I dropped all charges right after it happened before I left Ohio ... because it was a gross misunderstanding and no harm was done. All families have their disagreements...especially during a quarantine…. I am shocked my family was arrested after I told the police to drop all charges months ago. I had a general affidavit of non prosecution notarized today and I spoke with the police chief, who told me I could not do anything until Monday morning [August 17] and my daughter, son and her boyfriend have to stay in jail over the weekend. I am extremely upset... this is not what I wanted to happen. I think they have a lot bigger fish to fry… makes me think this might have been done to prevent her from coming out with some political information she is covering. There was no reason for this.
A theory of the case by a licensed professional investigator
In an email to me, Doug Hagmann proposed a hypothesis to explain Weaver's arrest, assuming for the moment that the post attributed to Felicia McCarron is real and accurate. Hagmann:
I first want to stress that this is my investigative opinion only, and I have the highest regard for Millie and her family. If the author [of the comments] is legitimate and the scenario is correct, I suspect that the situation involving Ms. Weaver originated from a personal event that was magnified by her high-profile status. Perhaps the police were called at the time of the event and a report was taken (hence the charge of domestic abuse). The police likely saw the video and/or audio and secured it as evidence. As cooler heads prevailed, no charges were pressed by any party, and the incident should have been closed absent of a complainant. In some instances, however, and with varying motives, I've personally seen some prosecutors advance a criminal prosecution without the consent or even knowledge of the involved parties. I've seen this happen to high-profile individuals by agenda-driven prosecutors.
Hagmann further suggested the following possible scenario, stressing that it is only his professional opinion:
Perhaps Millie, with or perhaps without Ms. McCarron's permission, accessed the cell phone and/or the data it contained (hence, the burglary charge), and maybe erased the data (hence, the evidence tampering charge). Again, I suspect the police already had "the evidence." In my opinion and experience, a typical non-agenda driven district attorney would simply drop it. Alternatively, a DA may decide to put the evidence before a grand jury and let them make easy indictments if he thought he could receive favor from someone for political or other purposes.
Now, toss in a very explosive documentary and knowing that the hammer can be dropped at an opportune time an indictment. The timing of effecting the high-profile arrest coinciding with the release of the video might have been at the direction of someone at a much higher pay grade.
Is Millie Weaver's arrest related to the video? Most likely yes, but as I have described it, not necessarily in the way or manner people might think. Plus, exploiting a personal situation for political gain is simply not right and can be quite damaging. Ms. Weaver's potential political enemies know this. I call this tactic "lawfare," and suspect that it was an attempt to marginalize the credibility of Ms. Weaver and the video.
That is what I think happened. I cannot prove it. It is my personal opinion based on open sources and other reports so far, and on my more than three decades of professional experience.
One of the two whistleblowers who appears in the film, who uses only her first name (Tore), was deeply involved in its post-production. During an appearance on Infowars yesterday, she told host Alex Jones that she was on the phone with Weaver last Friday when the police showed up. Tore essentially confirmed the accuracy of the comments posted Friday on YouTube by McCarron, Weaver's mother, about the incident involving McCarron and her daughter that resulted in the 911 call. Tore said that the family squabble took place about three months ago.
To the extent that the mainstream media has reported on Weaver's arrest, she and her documentary have predictably been described in less than flattering terms. The article Saturday at cleveland dot com, for example, said Weaver:
... released a trailer last week of a new video that she claims "may be the biggest whistleblowing event to date." The video appears to include interviews between Weaver and two people who claim to have first-hand knowledge of a clandestine attempt by government officials to use psychological warfare and mind-control tactics to carry out a "coup" against President Donald Trump, an iteration of the often debunked conspiracy theories about a so-called deep state.
In fact, a number of conservative outlets, including citizen journalists opining on Web sites and in video podcasts, have speculated that Weaver's arrest was a direct result of an effort to suppress her documentary on the part of the individuals and entities named in her film. That possibility cannot be ruled out. But what the arrest has achieved is to raise Weaver's public profile to new heights. The documentary itself, meanwhile, that was uploaded to YouTube on Friday by Tore has become an instant hit. In addition to the 1.35 million views at the Tore Says YouTube channel, the documentary has been copied and posted at other online video hosts, including ones that are not susceptible to YouTube's censorship whims.
Social media has also embraced Weaver and her documentary. Whistleblower Zach Vorheis (Twitter @Perpetualmaniac), who describes himself as "a Senior Software Engineer at YouTube/Google until I discovered their AI censorship weapons," tweeted the film at pscp.tv on Friday:
might have been arrested because she was about to release the documentary "ShadowGate".
So @tore_says (now suspended) released the film anyway:
12k LIVE viewers... sorry deepstate. You can’t stop what’s coming.
Since Vorheis's tweet three days ago, Twitter has now suspended Weaver's account.
On Sunday, YouTube finally deleted the first upload of the complete Shadow Gate film at the Tore Says channel after it had gotten over 1.35 million views. The stated reason was that "This video has been removed for violating YouTube's policy on hate speech."
The fate of Shadow Gate at YouTube.
A clarification courtesy of heavy dot com: Preliminary reports that the charges against Weaver and Wince were "secret" are a result of the fact that "in Ohio, a 'secret indictment' simply means the indictment is sealed until after the accused has been arrested."
The Portage County Jail where Weaver and Wince are being held has been the subject of investigations by both media and official bodies for a range of alleged complaints and problems. The Portage County Record-Courier, in an article published Jan. 25, 2020, "FBI 'looking into' Ohio county jail," mentioned a long list of violent abuses reported at the facility. After reading some of the articles about the jail that have been published recently, it is disconcerting to imagine what Weaver and Wince may be experiencing during their stay there.
Millie Weaver in a video call from jail, Sunday, August 16, 2020. Photo by Tore via Infowars.
Later today, the picture of what's going on with Weaver and Wince will hopefully be clearer, assuming they get their day in court. The hearing is scheduled for 11 A.M. EDT. Meanwhile, the fate of journalistic critiques of the Deep State and the ability of Americans to watch and read these critiques remain in serious doubt.
