In the early morning hours of October 24, 2011, at the height of the Occupy Wall Street movement, a four-story building under construction in Fort Collins Colorado goes up in flames. It is one block from the Occupy Fort Collins assembly. A wristwatch engraved with the name Benjamin David Gilmore, a local beekeeper and Occupy member was found in the debris.
This fire made national and international news and created tremendous uncertainty throughout the Occupy community and the public at large. The Oakland Riots were heating things up in California and violent police action in New York was a common nightly event. The impact on the national perspective was profound in many aspects. Was this arson proof that the Occupy movement was a clear and present threat to society? Had all that angst focused upon the corporate mainstream just gone too far? Would this brazen act encourage others to follow?
This wasn’t just another shady character in militant green hiding his face and kicking over trashcans, this was an ordinary guy, a seemingly normal and productive member of middle society. He was a local business owner and family man who regularly attended church and helped the homeless. By all accounts he was an outstanding member of the community. Did the infectious Occupy ideology somehow consume this rational man’s intellect and drive him to commit this criminal act?
The zeitgeist of uncertainty crept like an evening shadow across Occupy and the nation as the media pumped fire-fueled images of unbridled anarchy for viewers across the globe.
For two years and two trials the public awaited a verdict that would historically determine if Occupy was a socially conscious movement engaging in a unified desire for answers and solutions, or was it simply a rebellious uncontrollable mob of angry anarchists aspiring to destroy the country. On October 18, 2013 the jury brought forth the verdict. The beekeeper was found guilty of the crime.
Occupy disillusionment began long before the smoke in Oakland had cleared, and the collective will for change seemed to bleed out close behind. With the burning of this building, Occupy Wall Street was itself remanded to an unfavorable place in history and “justice” was delivered for public consumption by the righteous hand of the Judiciary. Benjamin Gilmore was sentenced to 8 years in prison. The reparation of $7.5 million dollars to the insurance companies however, is nothing short of a life sentence.
It is very important to note that Benjamin was convicted in the same court, by the same District Attorney’s office as the Timothy Masters case. A famous murder case in which Larimer County had purposefully destroyed critical evidence and had knowingly convicted an innocent man to Federal prison. Masters was exonerated after serving ten years and successfully sued the Larimer County DA and City of Fort Collins for ten million dollars.
At first glance Ben’s conviction might appear a rational carriage of justice. His watch was found at the scene, he had no confirm-able alibi and there were burns on his wrists. One small glance into the case files and evidence however, one cannot deny the overwhelming inconsistencies and missing elements in the case against Benjamin David Gilmore.
The weight of evidence clearly leans toward the two original suspects. Both men had a history of violence and arson, were found at the scene and had means, motive and opportunity. One of the suspects was connected to a dumpster fire behind the local library previously and skipped town immediately. The number one suspect, “Clutter” Salazar told several people that he was planning to fire-bomb “that specific building”. He was observed collecting 40oz bottles for Molotov Cocktails and bragged to Occupy members after the fire. An arson dog detected accelerant on his clothing and he was caught lying several times to investigators during questioning. Both men were simply released with no real interest or concern.
Clutter Salazar was on felony probation from a previous conviction and was arrested for assaulting a Fort Collins police officer. His case was dismissed by the DA and he was allowed to leave the state. Clutter, the number one suspect, then died under very suspicious circumstances shortly before Ben’s first trial.
Due to provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act, the fire scene fell under Federal Jurisdiction and the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms directed the entire investigation. The Lead Investigator held only an Associate’s degree and was apparently still in training. The on-scene investigation lasted a completely inadequate five days resulting in the crime scene, of course, being completely cleaned and cleared. The ATF’s Origin of Cause Report reveals that the investigators found no evidence of arson or that a crime had actually even been committed. How did this case get to trial?
Except for Salazar’s statements, the only element to even possibly suggest arson was a blurry surveillance camera from half a block away. What’s fascinating about this video is that it shows the building transform from no fire to a massive conflagration in only eighteen seconds. The rotating camera then swings back to reveal the fire triple in size in only four seconds. How much fuel is necessary to cause such a large blaze, a fifty gallon drum of diesel? That's a lot for a one-handed man to carry up a scaffold. Firefighters and investigators suggest that to have grown so quickly it must have been “a large pour of accelerant”, though no evidence of accelerant was ever found. There is a definite unnatural rate of fire growth occurring in the video that can't be explained as 'accelerant'. There are time discrepancies that conflict with witness testimony and surveillance footage from cameras on the same building have evidence of being cut and spliced. Something is definitely going on here.
In Discovery I found Excel spreadsheets from Verizon showing cell tower data for texts sent to Ben’s phone during the fire. These held latitude and longitude information for towers that Ben’s phone transmitted to that night. Towers close to apiaries he claims to have been working. However, the data correlating the time with the location of these towers is not present. Coincidentally, the only redacted part of the entire Fort Collins Police report regards this cell-tower data. It appears they didn’t want us to see this data from Ben's phone. This time data could and should determine where he was at the time of the fire. Where is this data?
A serious investigation into the countless inconsistencies that are absolutely replete throughout this case is thoroughly warranted. The documentary “The Axiom Of Evidence” explores the complexities of what appears to be a wrongful conviction and seems to further reveal the real possibility of a SETUP.
The question is; -Who does one present this kind of evidence to? The Colorado Court of Appeals affirmed the judge’s ruling and the State certainly has no further interest, especially after his last 35C Appeal was shot down. One certainly cannot trust the CBI or the FBI as I have found in the past. Even the senator who got involved was of little help. What avenues are available for a man seeking justice in a system deprived of conscience that is designed at every step to protect the system? Both the investigation and the trial of Benjamin David Gilmore are saturated with gross exaggerations of fact and highly questionable legal procedures. Everything in this case screams Wrongful Conviction.
A way must exist to free Benjamin the beekeeper.
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