Get Off The Property - Bohemian Grove 2015

On July 25th, 2015 we returned to Bohemian Grove, one day before the two-week encampment ended. There we met Mr. White Hat, a Bohemian Club/Grove employee.

“I need you to get off the property,” an older Bohemian Club employee told me.

“We’re not on the property,” I told the old man.

“Yeah you are on the property.”

“No, I’m not. I know where the property-line is, sir.”

He then got back into his little golf cart and went to speak to the Sonoma County Deputy Sheriff, who was parked inside the property of the Bohemian Grove. A second employee shadowed the bigger one, but never said anything. A few minutes later the deputy came and spoke to me, “Hi,” she politely said.

“Hello.”

“How’s your day going?”

“My day is going great,” I responded. “How about you?”

“Good. There’s just a request to move to the other side of the road. Would that be ok with you sir?”

“Um, sure. Why not?”

“Sounds like a plan,” said the deputy.

“Would you mind answering one question for me? Please? Pretty please?” I asked. Finally, I thought I would be able to have a real conversation with a deputy sheriff about why they were guarding the Bohemian Grove entrance, on the Bohemian Club’s private property.

“You can try.”

“I can try? Yeah. Well we were just wondering, I had spoken to a deputy sheriff two weeks ago and I had asked him why they are guarding the Bohemian Grove property. Can you shed any light on that?”

“Nope, just doing my job. Ok,” the deputy told me.

“They paid you for that?”

“So, thank you for moving to the other side. I’d really appreciate it.”

“Sure.” As requested, I did move to the other side of the road, for a few minutes anyways. They can request whatever they want to, but if I want to move back to the other side of the road, I know I can. Even the employees who gave us the donuts last year pointed out where the property-line is. In 2012, 2013, 2014, and even two weeks ago in 2015, I stood in the same spot where the elderly employee in the white hat said I was on the property. Never, in all the hours I had spent in front of Bohemian Grove, did anyone, whether an officer of the law or a Bohemian Club employee, ever ask me to move to the other side of the road.

Once I stepped to the other side of the road, the employee was still not pleased. Now they wanted me to move further back down the street. That was not going to happen. “I’ve been told by many sheriff’s deputies that this is the property-line and we can stand here,” I told the deputy.

“Ok,” the deputy seemed to agree, “but he was saying, where you’re standing belongs to a different property owner.”

“Right.”

I asked the deputy, “So is there someone that I could talk to? A sheriff’s deputy or a sheriff maybe, and find out why the sheriff’s deputies are guarding the Bohemian Grove? What would be the best way? Contact Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office, I guess?”

“Yeah, you could try that route if you’d like,” the deputy answered.

“Oh, sheriff’s deputies are always nice to us. Every year.”

The deputy smiled, “Well, we’re humans too.”

“And we do appreciate that and we are too. We’re not trying to be disrespectful or trying to cause trouble or anything.”

“I get that.”

For a second time the elderly employee began to walk away, but stopped when the deputy asked me, “What’s your plan here today? I haven’t met you before.”

“No and actually, no I haven’t see you here before.”

“Ok I’m Caroline.”

“I’m Greg, nice to meet you.”

“Ok, are you part of a group or?”

“No.”

“Just a private citizen?”

“Yeah, just citizens. We’re just trying to figure out what’s going on here and so far I haven’t gotten too many answers so we’ll be here ‘till we do.”

“But it sounds like you’re aware of the trespassing laws, correct?” Deputy Caroline asked me.

“Well, I am aware of what the sheriff deputies have told us, where we can stand and where we can’t stand.”

“Ok, just as long as the person who owns the private property where you’re standing doesn’t complain. If that person complains, you might have to move to where your friend is.”

“I would have no problem with that. No problem,” I told her. I should have asked her who owned the “private property” where I was standing. It has to be the same owner where in 2014, a tree branch almost fell onto one of the Bohemian Club employees during that year’s protest. I also should have asked her about the truck that was parked behind me on the same private property for two weeks now, and why it hadn’t been towed despite the truck being parked behind a “no parking” sign. But I didn’t think of it at the time. Maybe I’ll include those questions in my letter to the Sonoma County Sheriff.

Alex Jones talked about the Bohemian Grove on Friday, July 24th, in the second-half of the second hour.