Why was adam kokesh fired

Adam's father Charles Kokesh says he doesn't share Adam's politics. Yet, like Adam, he has a knack for running afoul of the law. Lately, Charles is reveling in his Nov. But the year-old is still facing prosecution by the US Securities and Exchange Commission for allegedly defrauding 21, investors in four business development companies.

These run-ins, along with Adam's failed bid for a New Mexico Congress seat in , have given both men their fair share of lumps in the press and in the public eye — setting them up as arguably one of the most controversial father-son pairings to come from Santa Fe. The men, neither of whom call the City Different home today, have different ways of handling notoriety.

While Charles shies away from attention, his son Adam relishes it. Charles, the one-time owner of the Santa Fe Horse Park, has maintained a low profile while weathering an intense cycle of court battles that cover a spectrum from alleged mortgage default to accused violations of the Endangered Species Act.

Adam, meanwhile, is a firebrand Iraq War veteran who delivers a breathless message that the government as we know it is beyond repair, and it is up to the people to change or destroy it by "whatever means necessary.

His demonstrations of civil disobedience don't lack spectacle. Adam coordinated a dance party inside the Jefferson Memorial and got himself body slammed by a US Park Police officer. Adam has confronted so many Transportation Security Administration workers in airports across the country that some guards recognize him on the spot.

Each act of defiance is captured on video and posted on AdamVsTheMan. But Charles just scored a victory against the government and could be on the way to emerging a victor in other challenges. He beat the elephant-tusk charges in a Florida federal court. He is in settlement negotiations with the SEC. He lost a former home on Santa Fe's east side, but he was able to keep his family in the house virtually rent-free for years as he fought its foreclosure in court.

Both men say that these experiences have helped foster a resolve in father and son to fight any charge that they face, no matter how negative the backlash may be. Just because they have the power to ruin you, as the SEC did, doesn't mean you have to give in. Elephant tusk trading went sour for Charles Kokesh pictured in an unrelated jail mugshot and landed him in hot water with the federal government.

Nine years have passed since Charles shot an elephant on the. Caprivi Strip in Namibia. At the time, he was the CEO and an equity owner of Dakota Arms, a South Dakota arms manufacturer that specializes in professional hunting rifles. He was an experienced hunter and had shot his fair amount of big game including cape buffalos, gemsboks and springboks. He had even killed a charging lion just feet away from him.

But he had never hunted a pachyderm until the trip to the West African nation. In an article he wrote for the summer issue of Dakota , the house publication for Dakota Arms, Charles says that the experience made a person feel "that you have earned your trophy. However, Namibia is among the four countries in Africa—including Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe—with more sustainable elephant populations.

These elephants are considered under the international treaty as Appendix II species, with the caveat that all trade involving their populations is only permitted for noncommercial purposes. Two years after the kill, in , Charles legally shipped the tusks to the United States as trophies. But between then and this spring, he got in hot water. In May, the US Department of Justice issued an indictment charging him of using false documentation to disguise the sale of the tusks as a charitable donation.

According to the indictment, Charles had contacted Duke McCaa, the owner of Gulf Breeze Firearms in Florida, about divesting himself of a few hunting trophies in He wanted McCaa, whom Charles had done business with during his days with Dakota Arms, to appraise the elephant tusks. McCaa privately reached out to a special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and tipped him off to Charles' intentions of selling the tusks.

Both agencies enlisted McCaa, who did not respond to requests for comment for this story, as a confidential informant and had him record several phone calls with Charles. In one recorded telephone conversation that took place on Dec. In the recorded conversation, which was played in the Northern District of Florida court during the three-day trial, Kokesh says "that's easy The Army launched an inquiry, but she was never formally charged.

Army spokesperson Lt. Under the Military Whistleblower Protection Act soldiers may take their grievances to Congress, but that involves risks as well. The Appeal for Redress site explains in great detail that soldiers who sign are protected by the Whistleblower statute. Even so, founder Jonathan Hutto says many are still too scared to sign. Seemingly with good reason: After signing the appeal last year, and shortly thereafter vocalizing her thoughts on the war to the New York Times, Air Force Sergeant Tassi McKee was suspended from her work assignment, stripped of her security clearance, and interrogated by superiors.

Her complaint to the IG earned her back her military assignment, but her reputation among superiors remained tarnished. The Marine Corps contends the men fall under regulations that govern the public conduct of armed service members because they belong to an emergency reserve of former active-duty troops.

But Kurpius, whose organization represents 2. Kokesh is scheduled to appear before a disciplinary board in Kansas City on Monday. He also has been accused of showing disrespect to a superior officer by responding to a Marine investigator with a profanity.