Pro-Trump activist concerned about MN precinct caucus training has inspirational backstory

On Tuesday, Bluestem posted in In email to Star Tribune, Pugh distances self from anti-Muslim post; FB comments tell another story that Stillwater Republican Kathy Lohmer had shared one version of the fearmongering narrative about precinct caucus trainings in mosques:

A friend sent news that Kathy Lohmer, R-Stillwater had also shared the message, as our screenshot below illustrates. It's on her Facebook page as we write. It's shared from Alley Waterbury, whose Facebook page speaks for itself.

Both Lohmer and Waterbury appear to have deleted the posts or made made them private, but the January 26 date on Waterbury's slightly different version of the material made us curious about her, since it was the earliest version we saw--though we haven't seen a screenshot of the Dave Sina post that includes a date to know when he shared his version.

UPDATE: A reliable source tells Bluestem that the screenshot of the Dave Sina post was grabbed on Monday, January 29. [end update]

Waterbury turns out to be an active Trump supporter who organized two March 4 Trump rallies at the state capital in March and May, both of which were marked by rowdy counter-protests from the left--and alt-right movement guys who wanted to be supportive of the president. Erik Striker at the Daily Stormer wasn't much pleased with Waterbury in an article about the latter event:

. . .one of the soccer mom organizers, who have taken to the media to condemn the people protecting her free speech, while saying nothing about the Communists who would gladly murder them for supporting Donald Trump.

It appears that Striker's smug stereotyped dismissal of Waterbury misses the mark.

Waterbury's backstory is should prove inspiring for all Minnesotans working to restore the rights of people with felonies on their records. We're pleased to see her work as a civic-engaged citizen.

Let us unpack the paragraph above. Google searches about the March 4 Trump rallies yielded an "Alley Waterbury" named as an organizer in media outlets ranging from the Star Tribune to Alpha News. However, other news sources, including Fox News 9, identified an organizer named Alison Heruth.  We googled that name; the search floated a tantalizing photo of a younger woman (top of the article) in the google image bar.

This and other photos about appear to be the same person as the still lovely woman in Waterbury's Facebook picture.

Minnesotans, who elected pro wrestler actor Jesse Ventura--born James George Janos--to be governor, should have no issue with the varied names of Waterbury, Heruth-Waterbury or Heruth, since stage names are a standard practice in the entertainment industry.

The content of the article--and others more focused on Heruth-Waterbury--should give all Minnesotans some thoughtful consideration on the gain the state can make by passing laws that help restore rights to people with felonies on their records.

The picture's from a CNBC show, American Greed Episode 12: Inside the WorldCom Scam | DHS: Department of Hollywood, about con man Joseph Medawar. The American Greed episode notes:

The allure of Hollywood. Promises of an action-adventure series based on cases from the Department of Homeland Security. Producer Joseph Medawar's plans for a new TV series to attract attention... and money. But the show is just a scam to bilk millions out of investors.. . .

Dana Rohrabacher. A Congressman and writer with a screenplay. Medawar offers to make his script a movie. A deal is struck. Rohrabacher is also interested in "DHS: The Series" and begins introducing Medawar to many influential figures in Washington, D.C. The con takes on an air of legitimacy. . . .

The FBI and IRS catch on to Medawar's scam. The con game is about the end, but not before investors are taken for more than $5.5 million. American Greed profiles the case of a Hollywood dream that turned into a nightmare for investors.

Oh my. What's Waterbury-Heruth's part in this? The LA Times reported in 2011:

In May 2006, Medawar pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and income tax evasion for the fake reality TV project, having used investors' money on luxury cars, high-rolling dinners and shopping sprees and a $40,000-a-month Beverly Hills mansion for the show's purported lead actress, Alison Heruth-Waterbury.

Heruth-Waterbury, charged as a codefendant in the fraud, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years' probation. Jeffrey Rosenberg, former chief financial officer of Medawar's Steeple Productions company, was sentenced to 10 months in federal prison for lying to agents about the fraud.

Via Backstage, the AP reported in Actress Sentenced in TV Investment Scam:

A Minnesota actress was sentenced Monday to five years probation for helping cover up a scam that authorities say bilked dozens of people out of $5.5 million invested in a fake TV series about the Department of Homeland Security.

Alison Heruth, 41, of Oakdale, Minn., was also ordered by a federal judge to perform community service and pay restitution. She had faced up to three years in prison.

Under a deal with prosecutors, Heruth pleaded guilty in April to one felony count of making false statements to federal agents. In return, prosecutors agreed to recommend probation. . .

Local news media also reported on the case in Minnesota. Lillie News covered details of the arrest in Oakdale woman arrested for Hollywood swindle. She tells her story in ‘I can apologize for being naïve, and that’s it’. More sympathetic coverage in Lillie News is found in Supposed scammer’s schoolmates surface.

As is its bent, Boing-Boing's take on Heruth-Waterbury is found in DHS: The Series, the scandal, the website:

Following up on yesterday's post about Joseph Medawar , the Hollywood scam artist producer arrested for allegedly swindling over $5.5 million from churches and little old ladies for a Department of Homeland Security TV show said to be backed by the Bush administration -- . . .

* Medawar's business partner, actor/co-producer Alison Heruth-Waterbury appears in the trailer. She has not yet been charged in the case, but her acting is a crime.

UPDATE: My friend and ex-colleague Ben Fritz covered this for Variety, and unearths reports that Medawar pitched "DHS" to investors as "promoting Christian values."

Here is a reg-free Link for "Producer arrested over fake show: 'DHS' creator meets FBI, IRS." Ben adds,

"I think the Washington Post article is extremely skeptical. But as I noted in my Variety piece, there's another media outlet that did get totally suckered: NPR's On The Media (ironically). Here's a link to the transcript: Link."

Snip from that "On The Media" transcript:

BROOKE GLADSTONE: To what extent is the White House and the Department of Homeland Security involved in the program?

JOSEPH MEDAWAR: We try to give on a every two week basis a complete package of what we're filming and what the story's about to the proper authorities that we are working with here in California at the governor's office, and they pass it on. And it continues to the right channels, and the person with us is Congressman Rohrbacher from our district.

ALISON HERUTH-WATERBURY: Rohrbacher is the one who has had contact with, a complete conversation with the president, and we know that he knows about it; we, we told him ourselves personally.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: The president.

ALISON HERUTH-WATERBURY: Yeah, we met with him for a photo op- and we briefly ran it by him with the little time that we had.

JOSEPH MEDAWAR:Before we saw the president, we had a very nice conversation with Karl Rove on where we are and how far we're going with it. When Mr. Tom Ridge came to Los Angeles to inspire the entertainment division of doing shows about the department, the head of our production had met with him; there was tremendous amount of enthusiasm and excitement, and I, I -- if I may add something, it was very funny. Our head of production turned to Mr. Ridge and said "Who would you like to see play your part? And Mr. Ridge kind of giggled, and he says 'Hold off two years. Maybe I'll come back and play it myself.'" . . .

Bluestem is pleased to see Heruth-Waterbury put her life back together after serving the punishment for her crime. We're a big supporter of Restore the Vote and other efforts to integrate "ex-felons" into community life. We hope that she might also be able to see the civil rights of Muslim Americans as equal to her own, but these things may take time.

Here's a YouTube of the "Straight Talk" with Bob Anderson where Heruth-Waterbury, billed as a writer and speaker, talks about her Trump organizing. She's not too fond of groups like Black Lives Matter--but we'll let her speak for herself:

Here's the screengrab of Kathy Lohmer--who was a speaker at one of the Trump rallies--sharing Alley Waterbury's post of the fearmongering report about precinct caucus training for Muslims:

As we noted, both Lohmer and Heruth-Waterbury appear to have removed the posts. Too bad: we should all hope that both women--regardless of our opinions of them--continue to speak their minds.

Screengrabs: American Greed still (above); the Lohmer screenshots (below).

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