Connecticut Military Veteran Forcefully Disarmed By Police After Refusing Psychiatric Evaluation

It has been more than a month since local police came into the home, and confiscated the guns of fifty-year-old Navy veteran, Dave Schmecker.  Schmecker, when recalling that particular day, still can't seem to make sense of it all.

"I posed no threat to anyone", says the Navy Veteran, who lives alone, and doesn't have a wife, or children.  Schmecker continued, "I have no psychiatric history, or criminal past."

Jeff Durkin, of We Are Change CT, and myself, went to the home of Dave Schmecker, in Naugatuck, CT, to get the story straight from the military veteran, in his own words, and capture Dave's story on video. (video above)

According to Schmecker, it all started about six months ago when he called the VA hospital to request a check on his spine, which has been giving him pain for some time.  Schmecker was assuming he would be allowed to see a pain management specialist.  When the hospital called the veteran back, they informed him that if he wanted to see a pain management specialist, he would first have to see a psychologist for one half-hour, and a psychiatrist for one half-hour.  Schmecker refused.

"Why should I have to see a psychiatrist, and a psychologist, for a back pain?", asks Schmecker.  Several months went by, and Schmecker never heard back from the VA.

Fast forward to February 5th, Schmecker was having a conversation, over the telephone with his friend, and it was decided that the two should meet.  When the two friends met, they decided to attend a church, and maybe talk to a priest, for spiritual guidance.  They visited a church, at random, in West Haven, which to Dave's later surprise was 'a stones throw away' from the VA hospital of West Haven.  Dave had a private conversation with the priest, assuming their conversation would be kept private, and then left.

When Schmecker arrived back to his home in Naugatuck, CT, he noticed a missed called from the local police department.  When he called the police department back, and asked what they had called about, he was told that his primary care physician had called the police to perform a "wellness check" on Dave, because of a peculiar message that the doctor heard on Schmecker's answering machine.

Before Schmecker left his home, earlier in the day, to meet up with his friend to attend church, not having a cell phone, he changed his answering machine message, and directed it to his friend, with whom he was just having a conversation with, just in case his friend called, after Schmecker had already left.

What did the answering machine message say?  Well, according to Schmecker, the message was:

"I feel like it's poisonous staying in my house.  I feel like Co-Intel-Pro is after me.  I'm running."

Dave Schmecker insists "there was nothing in that message that was threatening to myself, or anyone else."  Schmecker also believes that the answering machine message was just used as an excuse, and it didn't matter what the message said, the police were coming.  I, Goodman, believe as Dave does, that the message doesn't seem to be of any significance in this ordeal, because, in my opinion, there is nothing in this message to cause alarm, and, also, I post worse things than that on my Facebook page, everyday.

Schmecker decided to go down to the police station and "clear this all up".  Schmecker was waiting in the lobby at the police station, and nobody came to see him.  The Navy veteran then decided to leave.  Schmecker called the police station and told them that he was waiting, nobody came, and that he left.  The police official responded that the police were called away, but they still need to perform a wellness check on Dave, so they were going to drive up to his house.  Schmecker told the police that he did not want the stigma of having police in front of his house, where the neighbors would see, so he would meet them at the end of the street.

In his truck, Dave was now waiting at the end of the street for the police.  When the police show up, they commandeered his vehicle, and told him he wasn't going anywhere.  The police then informed the fifty-year old veteran that he was going to let them in his house, give them his weapons, and he was being forced to go a psychiatric evaluation.  Schmecker was told forcefully, by the police, that "you must let us in", and "if you don't open the safe, we'll bust it open".  The veteran was also led to believe that the police had a risk warrant, but later found out that they did not have a warrant.

Schmecker says he submitted to the police requests under "duress".  "I live alone, I have no witnesses, if I did try to resist", says Schmecker.

The police, who Schmecker described as looking like "thugs with guns", performed a thorough search of his home, inspecting everything, rummaging through Dave's safe, taking his three guns, and sending him away in an ambulance to a psychiatric ward for three days.

The time spent in the psychiatric ward was an extremely traumatic experience.  Being stuck with needles, given pills, and getting his blood pressure checked every half-hour, Schmecker says he felt he had to submit to this treatment because other patients in the ward were telling him "you better be cool here, or you'll end up in a patted room".

After 72 hours inside of the psych ward, Schmecker was released, and began trying to make sense of the event.  He called his doctor and asked him why he called his house that day.  According to Schmecker, the VA told him they called his house "because you hadn't renewed your medication", though they never did this before, and he has let his medications lapse in the past.  On top of that, according to Schmecker, his medications did not need to be renewed.

Dave Schmecker now believes that the priest that he confided in, at the church in West Haven, called the VA hospital in West Haven, to report on Schmecker, who in turn, called his doctor at the VA of Waterbury.  This would not be surprising to me, as I have reported in the past, on my experiences with learning of religious leaders in Waterbury, secretly working with the federal government.  

So far this event has cost Dave Schmecker several thousands of dollars in bills from the hospital stay, the EMS ride, and more, plus an unmeasurable amount of emotional turmoil.  This experience "has literally devastated me," says Schmecker.

Target: Military Veterans

This is not an isolated case.  The targeting, and disarming, of gun-owning Americans, especially military veterans, through "mental health" evaluations, and placing their names in federal background registries, seems to be the preferred method of 'gun control' being used by the current federal administration.

Veterans around the country are receiving letters from the federal government informing them that because of alleged physical or mental disability their financial decisions will be made by a government-appointed “fiduciary” and they will be forbidden from “purchasing, possessing, receiving or transporting a firearm or ammunition.”

According to the Veteran Affairs government website, under the section "What Are My Rights":

"The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act prohibits you from purchasing, possessing, receiving or transporting a firearm or ammunition if you have “been adjudicated as a mental defective or been committed to a mental institution.” In compliance with this act, VA reports the names of incompetent beneficiaries to the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), which then adds the names to a database called the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). Gun dealers must check NICS for the name of a potential buyer before selling him/her a firearm. You may be fined and/or imprisoned if you knowingly violate this law. You may apply to VA for relief of firearms prohibitions imposed by the law by submitting your request to the VA. The VA will determine whether such relief is warranted."

Of course, the VA assures veterans subject to disarmament that if they file a timely objection to the decision, a VA board will consider their appeal. This is hardly the rigorous legal process required before the government can constitutionally deprive citizens — or any person — of their most basic constitutional rights.

Last year, another shocking case involving the mistreatment of a military veteran made headlines when Brandon Raub, a Marine combat veteran who served in both Iraq and Afghanistan, was held involuntarily as a psychiatric patient at the Salem Veterans Affairs hospital, in Virginia, over anti-government postings on his Facebook page.  Raub was visited by FBI and Secret Service agents at his North Chesterfield home on August 16, then taken by police under an emergency custody order to John Randolph Medical Center in Hopewell. He was transferred to the veterans hospital on August 20. A medical assessment of his condition at John Randolph described him as paranoid and delusional, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported. But after an hour-long hearing in Hopewell Circuit Court August 23, Judge W. Allan Sharrett dismissed an involuntary commitment petition as invalid.


There is now evidence that Homeland Security is targeting vets, labeling them "right wing extremists", and potential threats to national security.  According to an April 2009 Homeland Security document titled, "Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment", the threat to the homeland may come from "disgruntled military veterans" who link up with "right wing extremist groups" who "perceive recent gun control legislation as a threat to their right to bear arms".  Homeland security is warning that "rightwing extremists will attempt to recruit and radicalize returning veterans in order to exploit their skills and knowledge derived from military training and combat."  The document also mentions the paranoia associated with these extremists, who sometimes use the term "New World Order", or are worried about a "One World Government" being formed, and other "conspiracy theories".

The Homeland Security document also mentions that during the 1990s, rightwing extremist hostility toward government was fueled by the implementation of restrictive gun laws, like the 1994 Brady Act. The Brady Act is now cited in the letters being sent out at the VA informing veterans that they cannot possess firearms.


The Obama Administration


In January of this year, President Obama released 23 'executive actions' pertaining to 'gun violence reduction', in response to the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School, in Newtown, CT.  These 23 actions did not propose a physical ban on any weapon, but does give some insight as to how President Obama plans to use the 'mental health' debate, to disarm citizens.

Of the twenty three executive orders, the one that seems the most disturbing to me is number sixteen, which states, "Clarify that the Affordable Care Act does not prohibit doctors asking their patients about guns in their homes."  There was already concern that the Affordable Care Act intruded on doctor/patient confidentiality, and this new executive order furthers those concerns. Essentially, the federal government will spy on you through your medical doctor.

I asked Dave Schmecker whether he ever had a conversation with, or whether his doctor had ever asked him about guns.  Schmecker says he was not sure, but he might have, because he was asked lots of personal questions by his doctor.


The same Brady Law that was cited in the Homeland Security document, as well as the VA letter, was also cited numerous times by Former White House Chief of Staff to President Barack Obama, Rahm Emanuel, in his now infamous speech, at the Brady Center in 2007, in support of his crusade to disarm the American population.

During his speech, Emanuel expressed his intention to have a no-gun buy list, similar to the no-fly list, used at the airports, where if a federal agent suspects you of maybe, possibly being a 'terrorist', your name goes on a list, and you no longer have any of the rights provided to you by the US Constitution. (video below)

""if you are on the no fly list, because you are known as MAYBE a POSSIBLE terrorist, you cannot buy a handgun in America." - Rahm Emanuel

Important to note, regarding the absurdity of not being able to buy guns because of your name being on the no-fly list, "in September 2007, the Inspector General of the Justice Department reported that the Terrorist Screening Center (the FBI-administered organization that consolidates terrorist watch list information in the United States) had over 700,000 names in its database as of April 2007 - and that the list was growing by an average of over 20,000 records per month."  It seems as if a vast number of Americans are being placed on this list, every month, with no warning, no trial, no jury, and no due process.

An old clip from 1995, of current Attorney General Eric Holder, surfaced, that shows he has been giving anti-gun speeches for at least two decades now.  In this CSPAN-2 clip, a young Eric Holder is expressing his hopes that he, with the help of the media, and schools, can "brainwash people into thinking about guns in a vastly different way." (video below)

Conclusion; 'Mental Illness' & Guns

I have been following, and documenting, this trend to link mental health evaluations, with the governments attempt to restrict gun ownership in the United States.  You need to be aware of how there is an attempt to use 'mental illness' as an excuse to not give you your Constitutional rights.  You may be thinking, "I don't have a mental illness, so this does not concern me", but you may be surprised to learn that either you, or someone in your family, probably fits the description of having a 'mental illness'.  According to a Fox News report and a study from the Children’s Services Working Group, it is estimated that 20% of people in Connecticut have a mental illness.  

I understand that there are people that have serious mental issues in our society, and the issue of what to do about it, is complicated.  However, that is not what is going on here.  There are numerous 'experts' that are claiming that a large portion of the American population are 'mentally ill'.  One mental health advocacy group in Colorado claims "about half of us will have a serious enough mental health issue to affect how we function" at some point in life, and according to a coalition of health "experts" claim "only about a third of the people who actually have a mental illness get any care."  So if people with mental illnesses shouldn't have guns, and about 'half of us' will have a mental illness in our life, then a lot of us who have guns now, shouldn't have them.  See where this is going? 

In a recent interview (video below) with Dr. Andrew Wakefield, Mike Adams of NaturalNews.com, revealed that in the fourth edition of the DSM-IV-TR (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), the so-called "bible of modern psychiatry", it shows that there is a mental condition named "Oppositional Defiant Disorder", and you could be labeled ODD by "disagreeing with someone in a position of authority", or if you "often argue with adults".  The point is, 'experts' have come up with a mental condition for everything, and everyone.

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