Todd Gardner
This article first appeared on American Gulag.
Guest Post By Kelly Wilde
1st Time Speaking Out: J6er Todd Gardner Writes an Open Letter Awaiting Sentencing Next Month
Todd Gardner was one of the nearly one million Americans who showed up at the Capitol on January 6th for a redress of grievances after a long and horrible year. And when security failures led to a riot, Gardner was among those swept up in the mass prosecutions.
Avoiding the inevitable bloodbath of a DC jury, Gardner entered a guilty plea, and the judge—who had previously sentenced retired NYPD & US Marine Thomas Webster to 10 years in prison—ordered Gardner’s immediate surrender.
But the massive caseload and ongoing judicial vacancy crisis in local DC courts have already caused seven months of hearing delays for Gardner who, unable to provide for his family, waits in custody to be sentenced.
***Please consider supporting Gardner on his way through the belly of the beast HERE.
In that time, the personal damages are mounting
Gardner’s mother told us about the devastating collateral damage the legal injustice has caused.
“Todd’s Grandma Joan passed away on Sunday,” his mother Barbara said in an interview after Gardner’s second scheduling delay. “He is just devastated that he was not able to be there with her. They were so close. She helped me raise him.”
His mother explained that when his grandmother became very sick two years ago, she was forced to take out a second mortgage on the home to pay for medical expenses.
“Todd called her one day and said, ‘Grandma, your mortgage is paid off. The note is coming in the mail.’ He paid off her mortgage for her. He loved her so much, and he did whatever he could to take care of her,” his mother said.
“That’s just the kind of man he is.”
Todd Gardner and family.
New levels of chaos coming soon
While days crawl for Gardner in a squalid jail, the federal government is in overhaul mode—ramping up prosecutions of conservatives and adding liberal judges to local courts at alarming rates.
According to CNN, the bloated Omnibus budget Biden signed last month from a billionaire donor’s vacation villa in St. Croix includes:
– $2.6 billion for US Attorneys, including funding efforts “to further support prosecutions related to the January 6 attack on the Capitol and domestic terrorism cases”
– $11.3 billion to the FBI, including for efforts to investigate “extremist violence and domestic terrorism”
– $39 billion budget for the Justice Department (an increase of $2.6 billion from last year)
And to prepare for the deluge of new cases coming down the pike, Biden is putting more liberal justice warriors on the bench than any president since JFK—completely remaking the lower courts. (As usual, using weirdly racist and sexist benchmarks.)
76% of his appointments have been district court judges, those who preside over Jan 6 cases.
And even worse, these are lifetime appointments.
Watch out America, because all of these new cases and new justice warrior judges will almost certainly mean new levels of chaos.
Gardner wrote an open letter exclusively to The Gateway Pundit to express his hopelessness about the situation before he got the news of his grandmother’s passing earlier this week. Little did he know his premonition, that he would never see them again, would come true.
***Todd Gardner could have just as easily been me or you. Please consider supporting him HERE.
Read the full letter below:
Dear friends and fellow Americans,
My name is Mitchell “Todd” Gardner. I am a 35-year-old patriot from Brandon Florida. I love God, family, and country. I went to DC to watch president Trump speak. I have never been to a rally or any other political event. I just wanted to be a part of the camaraderie of fellow Americans. It was never my intent to be part of or cause harm to anyone.
Like I said before, I love my country and only want what is best for our nation as a whole. I even voted for Obama, twice. I felt he had the better plan at the time. This time, I thought Trump had a better plan. I wanted to watch him turn over the country to the next commander. Things got crazy so fast. I would describe it as stepping outside myself. This is not who I am as a man, father, or son. It breaks my heart that I am away from those I love. I know this sounds like a kid, but I just want to go home.
Now, I am sitting in a jail that I wouldn’t wish on anyone. As a J6 defendant, I am treated poorly, harassed and physically abused. We get fed terrible food in portions smaller than elementary school. I have to constantly ask for money from my mom to get food from the commissary. I have been denied my medications and toilet paper. I have also been denied basic human necessities like water and kept from communicating with my attorney.
***Please consider donating to Gardner’s legal and living expenses HERE.
My attorney took advantage of the J6 situation. I paid him my life savings and he did very little for me and the other J6 defendants. In some ways made it worse. He overbooked his schedule. I was supposed to (d0) 100 days in jail before sentencing in November. I have been here since the beginning of July and won’t be sentenced until February. He has other more important cases so I now having to pay another lawyer for the sentencing phase. This all-cost money that I nor my family can afford. They are doing their best, but the cost of jail is so expensive. My mom just doesn’t have it.
Before all this happened, I worked as a small business man in the roofing industry. That was my job and I did it well. I went from have very little to making a name for myself in the industry. In my free time I worked with men with opioid addiction. It takes a lot of courage and strength to overcome addiction. Helping them was very satisfying and humbling.
My greatest joy is being the father of 2 of the most amazing daughter and son. Adeline is 11, she loves plays and musicals. Miles is 8 and all boy. He has been obsessed with Mario Kart since he was born. I miss reading to them. I miss watching them grow. I just miss them terribly. I am missing so many important events and milestones. I hate that I cannot provide for them and their mother is struggling to pay bills.
I am lucky to have the best grandparents. They in are in their 80’s and not in good health. I stayed with them a lot as a kid because my mom had to work a lot. My grandfather’s healthy is steadily declining and is in Hospice care until he passes. My grandma, who has never smoked, got lung cancer about 2 years ago. She is one of the kindest and loving people on the planet. Unfortunately, they had to take a second mortgage on their house because of the medical expenses. It couldn’t watch them struggle to make the payments. I paid it off for them. I didn’t want them to lose their home of more than 50 years. My grandma was so overwhelmed that she couldn’t speak. Sadly, they both had to go to nursing homes because they can’t take care of themselves and the in-home care that I was helping with is no longer an option. They are in separate nursing homes as of now. I will never see them again. That is my reality.
***Support Gardner through this spiritual battle of a lifetime HERE.
I have a younger sister, Haley. She is almost thirteen years younger than me. We have been close since the day she was born. My mom had a very hard pregnancy due to cervical cancer cells. She had to be put on bed rest for the last three months. My mom was tired, scared, and stressed. I made sure she stayed in bed and rested. I kept the house clean for her and took care of my little brother. My mom showed me how to do laundry and cook from her bed. It’s my mom. It’s what I was supposed to do. She needed me. Once Haley was born, I became her protector. I didn’t let her out of my sight. It has always been this way. She was the first person I took for a ride when I got my license. She was the first person I took out when I got my first check. Haley started kindergarten when I was a senior in high school. We were on the same campus so I took her to school every day. Later, she had some teenage problems. She went through a really rough time. Luckily, she came to me. It took a while, but she made it through. I’m so proud of her. She is now a grown woman and getting married in October. I want to be there. I want to be her “Man of Honor.” I told her not to postpone her day because of me though. It’s all about her. We will all be together soon to share stories.
Even through all of this, I have not lost faith that God will provide and look over me. God has shown me that I am I am still a good man. I am still a good father. I am still a good son. My family will support and love me. I love my country and want what is best for all of us. I pray nightly that my kids will get through this stronger. I ask God to make sure they are safe and provided for. I am grateful for the love so many strangers have shown me and my family. Please pray for all of us.
In God’s name,
Mitchell “Todd” Gardner
Prisoner #52419-509
DC is a no-man’s land where the Constitution is suspended and justice is just a campaign slogan.