The Enemy Downtown. The Buczek Affair.

Derby, New York businessman Dan Buczek 55, and 7 family members and
friends were enjoying an evening out like thousands of other Buffalo, New York
area hockey fans on Dec. 26, 2005—cheering their favorite Buffalo Sabres on to
victory over the New York Islanders. During the course of the evening, Buczek's
daughter Amanda and her boyfriend, Joel Lattuca went to the HSBC
refreshment stand to buy a beer and a
hotdog. And that's where the Buczek
family trouble began that evening.
Amanda Buczek asked the
refreshment stand vendor if he
accepted Liberties—as the Buczeks
quite often do when frequenting a new
retail spot since, in the Southtowns
area, close to 30 businesses now
accepted Liberties. They do so for only
one reason. They believe Liberties are
actually worth more than the US
currency that is, by law, legal tender in
America since the American dollar has
not been backed by gold or silver since
1971.

And, since most of the people who use

Liberties don't know whether or not a
business accepts the privately-minted
silver coins or certificates as barter
currency unless or until they ask—they
generally inquire. If the business says
they don't, they do what you and I do—
they pay for the products or services
they are buying with greenbacks (the
Federal Reserve banknotes that were
created by the Roosevelt
Administration on June 5, 1933 when
newly elected Franklin D. Roosevelt
unconstitutionally removed US
currency from the gold standard with
the Gold Repeal Joint Resolution that
illegally canceled the gold clause in all
federal and private debt obligations}.

Our monetary system would not

officially be divorced from the gold
standard until 1971 when President
Richard Nixon signed the 'divorce decree' (that was artfully buried in the
Bretton-Woods Agreement). Gold and silver were no longer specie. They simply
became a commodity. In doing so, Nixon and the Democrats that controlled
Congress violated the Constitution since the only way our monetary system could
legally be divorced from gold and silver was through a constitutional amendment
(according to Article 1, Section 10). For that matter, the Federal Reserve Act,
signed into law on Dec. 23, 1913, was also unconstitutional since the Founding
Fathers very carefully and very deliberately penned into the Constitution of the
United States a provision—Article 1. Section 8—that prevented the nation's
politicians from surrendering the power to "coin" money to private individuals. (It
is important to understand that in 1787, all money was coin. While copper and
bronze were used in some coins, the primary coinage was gold or silver. Paper
money, used only in national emergencies, was called scrip. Scrip was
redeemable in gold or silver at the end of whatever crisis allowed it to be printed.
When the monetary powers were surrendered to the private bankers at the Fed,
they argued that "coining" money and "printing" money were two entirely different
facets of creating money, and that only the coining of money was reserved for
the government. In point of fact, when the Constitution was ratified, all money
was coin. Today, the US Mint coins the pocket change we carry, and private
bankers print the trillions of dollars that
is circulated as legal tender.) The
victims of this theft were—and are—
the American people.

Most Americans are unaware that

when America's bankers and
industrialists deliberately caused the
Bank Panic of 1908 in order to
"prepare" America for the legislation
that would create a privately-owned
central bank called the Federal
Reserve System, the 16th Amendment
to legalize an income tax and the 17th
Amendment to eliminate the States
from the equation of power, the bankers also attempted to ratify as the 18th
Amendment a resolution remove the nation's monetary system from the gold
standard. But not even those who favored silencing the voice of the States in the
governing process, or creating the right to impose an income tax on its people
were willing to debase its monetary system. Congress could not muster the votes
needed to send the proposed 18th Amendment to the States for ratification.

The Buczeks, like a growing number of anti-fiat Americans across the nation
have discovered—and now use—an alternative form of "money" called
"Liberties." Liberties are silver coins or silver certificates that, unlike the
contemporary American dollar produced by the Federal Reserve System that is
legal tender, are actually backed by silver—and have an actual net worth equal
to its face value. Because thousands of Americans are now using them, and
because an increasing number of businesses throughout the United States are
accepting them, the Buczeks generally ask the merchants wherever they shop if
they take Liberties when they purchase goods and services. And, that was what
led Amanda Buczek to asked the food vendor at at the Sabres hockey game if
they accepted Liberties.

Because the vendor did not accept "Liberties," Amanda Buczek paid for the
beer and hot dogs with a Federal Reserve Note. As Joel Lattuca carried the
beverages his girlfriend had just purchased back to her family, neither realized
they were being followed by off-duty Buffalo Police Detective Edward Cotter.
When Cotter began to interrogate Amanda and Joel about
what he thought might be counterfeit coins, Dan Buczek
interjected himself into the discussion by asking Cotter who
he was and what he wanted with his daughter. Cotter
replied that he was head of security for the HSBC stadium,
and he wanted to see the coin she was trying to use with
the concession people. At that moment, Shane Buczek,
Dan Buczek's eldest son joined the group and asked what
was wrong. Cotter demanded to know who he was. As Dan
Buczek produced his driver's license, Shane produced an
Apostille badge. (An apostille badge is commonly used by
notary publics. It is not a badge in the sense that police
officers carry tin or bronze shields. It's simply an official ID card encased in a
hard see-through plastic holder. Many times today it is used by people whose
driver's license has been suspended. Shane Buczek would later be accused by
Cotter as posing as a federal agent and using his Apostille ID badge as his
government ID card. According to those close to the Buczek case, Shane's
apostille ID was issued by his church are were his ministerial credentials.)

When he saw Shane's "badge," Cotter 'trumped" him by producing his own
Buffalo detective's shield, "I'm a Buffalo detective," Cotter said, "I'm off duty—
and, I'm the head of security here." He told the Buczeks to "come with me." The
Buczeks followed Cotter to an exit hallway near Section 316 where Cotter then
ignored Amanda Buczek and Joel Lattuca—who had already given him one of
the Liberty coins—and concentrated his wrath on Shane. "Where did you get this
f*cking coin?" Cotter demanded, then looking at Shane, insisted on knowing if
he was "...the same f*ckin' Shane Buczek that knows Billy Crawford"—another
Buffalo police officer. Years before Shane Buczek chummed around with several
Buffalo police officers, Billy Crawford being one of them. Buczek insisted at that
time that he was asked by Crawford to help the police in a sting operation. But,
when the sting was over, Shane Buczek found himself in the county lockup.
Buczek insisted the cops had tricked him into letting them use his credit card,
and it was their signatures, not his, on the transactions they bought—and kept.
Whatever the true details of that incident are, Shane Buczek served county time;
and bad blood existed between Buczek and the Buffalo Police Department—
except, it seems, with Billy Crawford whom the Buczek's claim still owes Shane
over $13,000 from the scam sting.

"I've been looking all over this f*cking stadium for you all night," Cotter told
Shane, adding that he'd received reports from several vendors at the stadium
that people were trying to buy beer with counterfeit coins—claiming the coins
were worth $100 each. Cotter called the Buffalo police
department for back-up to take the Buczeks into custody.
Cotter accused Dan and Shane Buczek of trying to sell
what he described as phony coins. (And, of course,
Cotter—who didn't know Shane Buczek was at the hockey
rink until he identified himself shortly after 8 p.m.—wanted
Shane to believe that Cotter knew the coin "scam" was his,
and that he'd been looking for him all evening.)

Buczek explained that his daughter Amanda had tried to use the coins to pay for
beer, as did two of his sons—Adam and Caleb. At no time, he said, did anyone
try to sell anything to anyone—particularly since the value of the coins are
imprinted on the reverse side of the Liberty and nobody would pay $100 for a
coin clearly valued at $20. IN addition, Buczek explained to Cotter, the coins
were not counterfeit money. They were privately-minted Liberties that many
storekeepers in that area accepted as money.

Many Southtown businesses accept Liberties as cash. Daniel Hyman, owner of

the Red Apple Convenience Store said that "...about 20 of my regular customers
use them. They pay me with silver and they accept silver as change. With
inflation and government deficits, I see more and more people who don't trust
paper money anymore. Eventually, I hope the banks will accept Liberties for
deposit." Shawn Clawges, owner of Openers' Grille in East Aurora admitted they
also take the Liberties "...at par with dollars. They're a pretty coin, and they're
backed with silver. It's a commodity that's going up in value—unlike the US
dollar."

All his children were doing, Buczek concluded, was trying to see if any of the
beer vendors at the stadium accepted Liberties. Cotter continued to curse at
Buczek as he cuffed him, saying, "You South Buffalo guys think you're tough—
but you f*cking' G**d*mn Timon boys ain't that tough now, are you?" Cotter
pulled the cuffs, jerking Buczek off balance, adding caustically: "I should tear
your hair piece off your head!"

Cotter searched Dan Buczek and emptied his pockets, taking his comb, cell
phone, his Sabres ticket—which Buczek wanted to save as a souvenir—his
billfold plus several $20 Silver Liberties. Amanda, Adam and Caleb Buczek and
Joel Lattuca—all of whom attempted to pay for beer or hotdogs with the silver
liberties—were not detained. Only Shane Buczek and his father were arrested.
They were charged with felony possession of forged instruments (the silver
liberties). Shane Buczek was also charged with criminal impersonation when
Cotter claimed the younger Buczek represented himself as a federal official with
his Apostille ID card. When Buczek received his belongings back upon his
release, he was so glad to get out of the hellhole jail, he scribbled his signature
on the release form, grabbed his belongs and left. When he got home he
discovered that there was $100 missing from his wallet and all of the $20 coins—
which Cotter decided were either contraband or evidence of counterfeiting—
were gone as well.

While he was in custody, Cotter accused Dan Buczek of stealing his Sabres
ticket. Buczek was able to prove that his cousin had purchased the ticket. The
Buczeks were detained at the HSBC stadium by Cotter and Buffalo police
officers Jill Halor and George Wagner from 8:05 p.m. until 9:45 p.m. At that
time, Dan and Shane Buczek were finally escorted from the stadium in
handcuffs. They sat in a police cruiser for approximately 35 minutes. They were
read their Miranda rights at 10:15 p.m. in front of the Buffalo Police Station after
being grilled and threatened by Buffalo police officers for 2 hours and 5 minutes.
It should be noted that at the time of their detention, and later arrest on
felony charges, none of the Buczeks had done anything that should have
merited scrutiny from the police—let alone the abusive treatment they
received at the hands of "Buffalo's finest." Detective Edward Cotter's
interest in the Buczeks was purely personal. He used his badge and his
authority as a police officer to harass someone he disliked. Hopefully
Internal Affairs will investigate Edward Cotter and pull his badge. This man
should not be a police officer.

When the story hit the Buffalo News the following day, Erie County
District Attorney Frank J. Clark said the felony charges—which
should never have been filed—would be reduced before the case
went to trial. The case was scheduled to go to trial on Thursday,
Jan. 26. Instead, in a hearing before the city court,
the charges were reduced to misdemeanors, and
the trial scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2006.
However, when the "people," represented by
Assistant District Attorney Molly Jo Musarra appeared in Erie
County Court, they weren't ready to pursue the prosecution of Dan
and Shane Buczek. She asked the court for another week.
Defense attorney James Ostrowski threw in an additional week
since he realized the immensity of the task before the
prosecution—trying to build a case out of the fable handed to her
by Cotter. However, when Ostrowski asked for the judge to return the bail his
clients had been forced to post to get out of jail, Musarra objected although she
was not quite sure of the legal basis for her objection. Clearly, the defendants
weren't about to flee from the jurisdiction of the court—and even Musarra wasn't
clear enough what laws they had broken to pursue her case in court without
another week or two to ponder her options. Since they were arrested on Dec. 26,
2005, the Buczeks have been in court six times and they still don't know the
nature of the charges against them. That will be decided on Feb. 15. Maybe.

As Cotter tried to cover his tracks by pushing for the prosecution of the Buczeks
on anything the DA could make stick, he called the Buffalo office of the Secret
Service and asked for an agents to investigate the counterfeiters he had locked
up. Michael C. Bryant, special-agent-in-charge sent one of his agents to see
Cotter. The Buffalo detective was disappointed to learn that no counterfeiting
had taken place. Bryant told the media that "...we did send an agent to question
[the Buczeks], but we determined this was not a counterfeiting case.
Counterfeiting is when someone illegally makes a copy of actual US currency.."

"Liberties are not made by the government," said Michael J. White, a Treasury
spokesman noted. "No business is required to accept Liberties," adding that
while businesses are not required to accept Liberties as payment for goods and
services, there are no laws preventing them from doing so if they want. Liberties,
like any other numismatic you own, are assets that must be included in your net
worth for tax purposes.

The Buczeks were placed in nine different holding cells over the 26 hours they
were detained as Cotter used every trick he knew to find a charge that would
stick. He told told Dan Buczek he would "...send your son up the river for a long
time." Cotter even offered to set Dan Buczek free if he would testify against his
son. Testify to what? The Buczeks were required by Erie County Judge Joseph
A. Fiorella to post bail of $2,500 each—a total of $5,000—to get out of jail.
Fiorella thought the bail was reasonable due to the seriousness of the crime.
Deborah Buczek, the wife of Dan Buczek, posted the bail for her husband and
son at 12:22 p.m. Cotter held up the release of Dan and Shane Buczek until
sheriff's deputies pushed him to turn in the paperwork. Finally, after enduring 26
hours of Hell, two innocent men walked out of the Erie County
Sheriff's Department lockup. As far as I can determine, there was
only one guilty person in this sorry affair. And, he still wears a
detective shield for the Buffalo Police Department. His name is Ed
Cotter.

At the time of the confrontation between Cotter

and the Buczek family on Dec. 26, Ed Cotter
was the hands-on favorite candidate to become
Buffalo's next police commissioner. Most of the Buffalo media
favored Cotter as well since the Cotter name is well known
and respected in both the Buffalo police and fire departments.
But, the mayor had other ideas. On Feb. 5, 2006, Buffalo's
mayor announced the appointment of former Buffalo police
officer H. McCarthy "Mac" Gipson as the city's new police
commissioner, leaving Cotter out in the cold. it's nice to see
that Buffalo's mayor was not taken in by Ed Cotter and his
family's stellar reputation. Bad cops make bad chief's of police even when their
grandfathers have fireboats named atter them.

According to Bernard von NotHaus, the CEO of Liberty, more and more
businesses in "pocket communities" across the country are beginning to accept
the privately-minted, shiny Liberties as an alternate form of barter even though
the coins are not legal tender and cannot be regarded as money. Quite naturally,
the US Treasury does not approve their being in circulation and does everything
it can to discourage people from using them. However, since the Liberties are not
represented as US coinage, they are recognized as "collectibles"with a par value
that the US government grudgingly tolerates.

Well, once again, you have my two