Jesse Adam Macbeth

more http://want2be.info/listingview.php?listingID=23

SEATTLE TIMES

Friday, June 8, 2007 - 12:00 AM

Man who lied about actions in Iraq admits faking forms

By David Bowermaster
Seattle Times staff reporter

Jesse MacBeth stoked opposition to the Iraq war in 2006 when he spoke out about atrocities he committed as a U.S. Army Ranger serving as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

MacBeth, 23, of Tacoma, claimed to have killed more than 200 people, many at close range, some as they prayed in a mosque. He spoke at an anti-war rally in Tacoma and appeared in a 20-minute anti-war video that circulated widely on the Internet.

Trouble is, none of MacBeth's claims was true. He made it through only six weeks of Army basic training, was never a Ranger and never set foot in Iraq.

Conservative bloggers exposed MacBeth's lies in May 2006, destroying his credibility and embarrassing the Seattle company that produced the video about his exploits.

MacBeth's comeuppance continued Thursday, when he pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Seattle to one count of making false statements to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Before becoming a public figure, MacBeth admitted, he filed a bogus claim for VA benefits in 2005 that included a fraudulent military-discharge form.

MacBeth said on the forms that he had been in the Army for more than three years and had achieved the rank of corporal. He also claimed he had been awarded a Purple Heart and that he was discharged because he suffered from post-traumatic-stress disorder.

None of those assertions was true, MacBeth acknowledged in a plea agreement. MacBeth spent 44 days as a private at Fort Benning, Ga., in 2003 but was released "for issues related to entry-level performance and conduct," according to court papers.

PepperSpray Productions in Seattle produced the video titled "Jesse MacBeth: An Iraq Veteran Speaks Out."

In the film, MacBeth told nuanced tales of brutal killings he carried out at the behest of his commanding officers.

"They would actually feel the hot muzzle of my rifle on their forehead," he reportedly said on the video, which is no longer in circulation.

The production company, which describes itself as a "video activist collective" of volunteers formed after the World Trade Organization protests in Seattle in 1999, has a link to a "Jesse MacBeth Retraction" on its home page.

The statement reads, in part: "Jesse Macbeth misrepresented to PepperSpray Productions and others his military service and was never deployed in Iraq. When we learned that Macbeth's service records were fraudulent, we immediately pulled the video and are no longer distributing it."

MacBeth, a skinny 23-year-old with close-cropped hair and a goatee, said little as he entered his guilty plea before Magistrate Judge James Donohue.

U.S. District Court Judge Robert Lasnik will sentence him Sept. 21. The maximum penalty for making false statements to the government is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

David Bowermaster: 206-464-2724 or dbowermaster@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company

Self-proclaimed "Army Ranger" -- SERVED one month 13 days ARMY. May 1 to June 13 2003.

SEE May, Eric Holmes also

http://www.sweetness-light.com/archive/pretend-us-ranger-jesse-macbeth-is-in-custody

http://want2be.soft-vision.com/listingview.php?listingID=23&PHPSESSID=4fb7c68432e062479d00dfea8ac1ec5c

http://www.sweetness-light.com/archive/jesse-adam-macbeth-was-born-jesse-adam-al-zaid

http://www.sweetness-light.com/archive/warrant-out-for-ranger-macbeth-for-assault

http://www.sweetness-light.com/archive/macbeth-im-proud-of-my-battle-buddies

http://www.sweetness-light.com/archive/james-macbeths-damned-spots-credit-card-fraud

======================
Man who bragged of murdering Iraqis debunked by Army

Writen by: By Jeff Schogol, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Sunday, May 28, 2006

ARLINGTON, Va. — Debunking the claims of a minor Internet celebrity, the Army said it has no record of a man who claimed he committed atrocities with Army Rangers in Iraq.

In an interview posted on the Web site SocialistAlternative.org, Jesse MacBeth claimed that his job was to “strike fear in the hearts of the Iraqi people” while serving with the 3rd Ranger Battalion.

“We would go into people’s houses and plow down entire families,” MacBeth said. “We would interrogate people. If we didn’t like the answers that they gave, then we would kill the youngest child. If they gave more answers that we didn’t like, then we’d move on to the rest of the family. They could’ve been innocent people.”

MacBeth also claimed U.S. troops would “slaughter” Iraqis in mosques.

But U.S. Army Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg found no evidence of a soldier named Jesse MacBeth ever serving with Army Rangers or Special Forces, said Army spokesman Paul Boyce.

Boyce also noted several red flags about MacBeth’s appearance.

“There are also numerous wear and appearance issues with the soldier’s uniform — a mix of foreign uniforms with the sleeves rolled up like a Marine and a badly floppy tan beret worn like a pastry chef,” Boyce said.

In one picture of MacBeth posted online, he is wearing his beret with the insignia centered over the wrong eye.

In a telephone interview Thursday, MacBeth said he purposely wore his uniform backward in a video interview in which he made his allegations because veterans are prohibited from wearing their uniforms at protests.

Asked why the Army found no record of him, MacBeth said, “They did the same thing to John Kerry.”

But the group Iraq Veterans Against the War, to which MacBeth belonged, said it too was skeptical of MacBeth.

In a statement on its Web site, the group said MacBeth’s claims of service “have not been verified” and the group is conducting an investigation of the matter.

Group member Garett Reppenhagen called MacBeth a “troubled kid.”

“I’m not sure why he would want to be fraudulent to IVAW,” Reppenhagen said in a telephone interview Thursday.

Reppenhagen said the group would take steps in the future to verify its members’ service, but he could not say what those measures might be.

Vietnam veteran Doug Sterner is an advocate for a proposed law that would make it a felony to make false claims of decorations earned. MacBeth claimed he had earned a Bronze Star.

Sterner said he believes MacBeth is more interested in “self-gratification” than getting a political message across.

“If he was honestly a war protester, he would do it honestly, so his opposition to the war is as transparent as his military service is bogus,” Sterner said.

But MacBeth insisted he served in Iraq with the Rangers and claimed Iraq Veterans Against the War had betrayed him.

“When the heat gets on them they stab me in the back,” he said.

Still, MacBeth said he would not defend his credibility any further.

“I’m not going to follow this battle no more. The right wing won,” he said.

=====================================================================================

Man who claimed Iraq war crimes accused of fraud

By GENE JOHNSON

The Associated Press

A man who tried to position himself as a leader of the anti-war movement by claiming to have participated in war crimes while serving in Iraq is facing federal charges of falsifying his record.

Jesse Adam Macbeth, 23, formerly of Phoenix, garnered much attention on blogs and in some alternative media after he began claiming in 2005 to have been awarded a Purple Heart for his service, which he said included slaughtering innocents in a Fallujah mosque.

His story was contradicted by his true discharge form, showing that he was kicked out of the Army after six weeks at Fort Benning, Ga., in 2003 because of his "entry-level performance and conduct."

A complaint unsealed Friday in U.S. District Court in Seattle charged him with one count of using or possessing a forged or altered military-discharge certificate, and one count of making false statements in seeking benefits from Veterans Affairs.

LaMont Stokes, an agent with the VA's Office of the Inspector General, wrote in the charging papers that Macbeth collected more than $10,400 in benefits to which he was not entitled.

Iraq Veterans Against the War and other organizations removed his allegations from their Web sites after learning they were false.

At Macbeth's initial court appearance Friday, a magistrate judge ordered him to remain in custody pending a detention hearing Wednesday.

================================================

Phony Soldier Charged With Making Up Claims of Atrocities in Iraq

Sunday, May 20, 2007

SEATTLE — A man who tried to position himself as a leader of the anti-war movement by claiming to have participated in war crimes

while serving in Iraq is facing federal charges of falsifying his record.

Jesse Adam Macbeth, 23, formerly of Phoenix, garnered attention on blogs and in some alternative media after he began claiming in 2005

to have been awarded a Purple Heart for his service, which he said included slaughtering innocents in a Fallujah mosque. His story was

contradicted by his discharge form, showing that he was kicked out of the Army after six weeks at Fort Benning, Ga., in 2003 because of his

“entry level performance and conduct.”

A complaint unsealed Friday in U.S. District Court in Seattle charged him with one count of using or possessing a forged or altered

military discharge certificate, and one count of making false statements in seeking benefits from the Veterans Administration.

Macbeth’s public defender, Jay Stansell, declined to comment.

Organizations that opposed the war, including Iraq Veterans Against the War, posted videos or statements containing Macbeth’s claims on

their Web sites. In one videotaped interview, a skinny, stuttering Macbeth, dressed in a camouflage jacket, described slaughtering

hundreds of people in a mosque: “We would burn their bodies ... hang their bodies from the rafters in the mosque,” he said.

Iraq Veterans Against the War and other organizations removed the claims after learning they were false.

“He approached us in early 2006, posing as a war veteran. He seemed very emotionally distressed about his experiences,” said Amadee

Braxton, a spokeswoman for Iraq Veterans Against the War, based in Philadelphia.

Macbeth claimed in an application for benefits to have served from May 2001 to June 2004, to have been shot in Iraq and to have suffered

post-traumatic stress disorder, LaMont E. Stokes, an agent with the VA’s Office of the Inspector General, wrote in the charging papers.

He also collected more than $10,400 in benefits to which he was not entitled, Stokes wrote.

Stokes said he interviewed Macbeth in a Tacoma jail, where he has been serving a sentence for fourth-degree assault, and that Macbeth

admitted falsifying the documents because he was homeless and wanted to “sucker” anything he could out of the government.

2007 FOX News Network, LLC.