Equestrian Traveler – 3MULES.COM

Part I: Mules Rebuttal to CHP Summary Incident Report

On January 23, 2020, the Mules were arrested by the California Highway Patrol (CHP) and charged with the failure to obey a lawful order. The San Luis Obispo County District Attorney decided to drop the case and not file charges.

The Mules have subsequently filed a lawsuit, Mules vs State of California / CHP claiming our arrest to be unlawful. This case is now in on-going litigation.

The Mules filed a public records request and have obtained the arresting officer’s Summary Incident Report. The report consists of six pages.

The Mules will be posting a series of rebuttals and comments to the contents of this report.

The following is the first segment in a series of responses to this report.

3Mules-Rebuttal-to-CHP-Narrative-11.27.21 Download

CHP Officer Narrative: I was on duty in a marked CHP patrol vehicle and was in full and distinct CHP uniform. At approximately 1128 hours, I received a call from CHP dispatch of an individual walking two mules eastbound in the westbound lane of Nacimiento Lake Drive from Chimney Rock Road. I responded to the area from US 101 at San Marcos Road and arrived with the individual at approximately 1155 hours. I could see a white male walking eastbound on the westbound shoulder pulling two mules.

Mule Rebuttal: I was not “pulling” the mules. I was leading the mules. They were walking behind me willingly at approximately the same speed as which I was walking. “Pulling” infers force. There was no force involved.

What it looks like leading the mules versus pulling the mules.

CHP Officer Narrative: Both mules were wearing packs and walking in the westbound lane and were blocking approximately half of the traffic lane.

Mule Rebuttal: We weren’t “blocking” the traffic lane. Blocking infers we were stationary with the intent of preventing forward motion of something in motion. We were not stationary. We were walking at approximately 2-3 miles per hours in a forward motion on the side of the road.

CHP Officer Narrative: I pulled alongside in the opposing lane and rolled down my passenger side window to make my first contact. I greeted the individual and engaged him in conversation. He didn’t acknowledge me and kept on walking eastbound.

Mule Rebuttal: The reason I didn’t acknowledge him was because he basically stopped in the middle of the road with his CHP cruiser, had no warning lights on, and tried to engage me in a conversation with traffic moving at high speed in both directions unaware of the dangerous hazard he was creating. I was not going to subject myself and my mules to that danger by stopping and engaging the officer in conversation.

CHP Officer Narrative: I drove forward, made a U-turn and was now parallel alongside him in the eastbound lane. I called out to him for my second contact. I told him that he can’t be blocking the traffic lane.

Mule Rebuttal: Once again, he uses the word “blocking.” Blocking infers setting up a stationary road block to prevent anybody from getting by. We were not doing that. We were walking from 2 to 3 miles per hour moving forward down the side of the road.

CHP Officer Narrative: He yelled back at me saying, “How do you know I was in the lane? Do you have any god damn proof?” I activated my rear warning lights as traffic began to build up behind me.

Mule Rebuttal: This was the first time the officer used his warning lights to notify traffic of his stationary position on the highway (blocking traffic) and the reduction of their speed would be necessary.

CHP Officer Narrative: I informed him that passing motorists have been calling him in as a traffic hazard

Mule Rebuttal: The motorists are the traffic hazard for refusing to obey the law and share the road with myself and mules as we were walking on the side of the road. They were the ones who were the traffic hazard. They had an absolute choice: obey the law, slow down, and stop if necessary, so that we could all pass each other safely. Or, refuse to do that and pass us at high speed, swerve out into the opposing lane to get by as fast as possible before they hit another car coming in the opposite direction. They made that choice. Nobody forced them to make that choice. Certainly not the Mules.

CHP Officer Narrative: and I told him to stay off the road.

Mule Rebuttal: And once again the CHP officer tells us to stay off the road. Telling myself and my mules to stay off the road was not a lawful order, but just the opposite. It was an unlawful order as we had the right to walk on Naciemento Lake Road.

CHP Officer Narrative: The individual began using a tirade of insults.

Mule Rebuttal: Well, I don’t know if it was a tirade of insults, but I wasn’t very happy with the way the officer was handling the situation.

CHP Officer Narrative: I could see that the mules were now on a wide, flat shoulder and were out of harm’s way. With traffic building up behind me, I advised him to stay out of the lane and I left the scene.

Mule Rebuttal: Whenever there is room, we will always relent and go as far away from the lane of traffic as possible. That is a given. Many many times on these rural roads in California that option is not available. We have no choice but to walk in the lane of traffic. Walk on the road. We have the right to be doing so. The motorist must share that road. The road does not belong exclusively to a high speed machine called the automobile.

CHP Officer Narrative: At 1222 hours, I received a second call from CHP dispatch of the same individual blocking the traffic lane with two mules.

Mule Rebuttal: Once again, he uses the word “blocking.” We weren’t blocking anybody. We were walking 2-3 mph on the side of the roading heading south towards Paso Robles.

CHP Officer Narrative: I waited for CHP unit 9-1, Officer A to assist me with this incident. In the meantime, two witnesses came to my location and advised me of the dangerous traffic hazard the mules were causing.

Mule Rebuttal: The two motorists complaining about the mules being a dangerous traffic hazard for being on the road demonstrates the total misunderstanding by the motoring public of equestrian rights to use that road. It also demonstrates the negligence of the state of California, CalTrans, and CHP to properly inform the motoring public of their obligation under the state vehicle code to share the road. If the officer knew the law, he would have informed them of their obligation under the state vehicle code to yield and share the road instead of using their complaints of us being a hazard to justify our arrests.

CHP Officer Narrative: Officer A and I drove out onto Nacimiento Lake Drive and I made contact with the individual for a third time. I could see the subject walked eastbound on the westbound shoulder with the two mules in the westbound lane.

Mule Rebuttal: The CHP Pedestrian Tip Card states that pedestrians should walk facing traffic when there is no sidewalk and you have to walk on the road.

Mule Rebuttal: The Mules when walking these rural roads that have posted speed limits that far exceed their ability to safely accommodate all legal users, find ourselves many times crossing back and forth on the road to get on the side that provides ourselves the most room and safety for ourselves and the motorists passing us.

CHP Officer Narrative: The shoulder was wide enough that they all could have walked single file, posing less of a hazard, had the subject made the choice to do so. I recognize this to be extremely dangerous and his continued refusal to comply and walk he and the mules single file on the shoulder posed a hazardous situation to the subject, the mules, and the motoring public.

Mule Rebuttal: If I was to walk single file on that narrow road with very little room for the high speed automobile to get by us without side swiping us, it would be a big mistake. When I recognize the extreme danger of allowing a high speed automobile to what I call “thread the needle” going by us at break neck speeds, it is extremely dangerous for ourselves, the motorist, and the automobiles in the opposing lane. So when I find myself in this situation and I do many times, especially when crossing bridges, I literally get out in the lane of traffic because there is no place else to be and stop the motorist, jump up and down, wave my arms, and make sure the motorist knows that they must slow down. I literally have to force them to do so. They always get by us safely and nobody gets into a bloody wreck.

CHP Officer Narrative: I positioned my patrol vehicle blocking the narrow shoulder and exited to make contact. Officer A positioned his patrol vehicle in the lane to the rear of mine with the overhead emergency lights activated. He exited his vehicle and stood in the westbound lane to flag and warn oncoming traffic. The subject was irate and agitated saying that this was a public thoroughfare and he had the right to be there.

Mule Rebuttal: Of course I was agitated and irate. If a motorist was stopped by a CHP officer and told that he had no right to be in his car and driving down the road, what kind of behavior would you expect from that motorist?

CHP Officer Narrative: I explained that I was concerned for his safety. He said that traffic needs to slow down, if I was truly concerned about his safety.

Mule Rebuttal: Yes that’s exactly what the officer should have been involved in is slowing traffic down for the safety of myself, the mules, and the ignorant motorists.

CHP Officer Narrative: I told him that I witnessed his mules walking two abreast in the lane. I told him I wanted to make this as easy as possible and I asked him for identification. He said I knew who he was and to look at his website. He refused to give me any form of identification. I tried to reason with him and asked for his ID. He went to his saddlebag and produced a California ID card identifying him as John Cheney Sears. Mr. Sears went on to say that the speed limit should be 25 mph, people need to share the road, and that the CHP has him on surveillance.

CHP Officer Narrative: I asked him to work with me and stay out of the traffic lane.

Mule Rebuttal: Once again it was impossible to stay out of the lane of traffic due to the lack of anywhere else to be.

CHP Officer Narrative: He stated that he would not do that.

Mule Rebuttal: Well of course I didn’t do that, I couldn’t do that.

CHP Officer Narrative: I gave him a lawful order three times and told him that he may receive a ticket or worse, go to jail. The legal order was based upon section 21954(a) VC, Pedestrian Outside a Crosswalk.

Mule Rebuttal: Nacimiento Lake Road (G14) is a rural area. There are no cross walks any where. When you have to go across that road because of blind curves and get to the safer side for the safety of myself, the mules, and the ignorant motorist, that’s what we do. And we have the right to do that. And there are no cross walks on that road.

CHP Officer Narrative: Mr. Sears stated that if that happened, I would be opening up a can of worms. I told him that I didn’t want to take it to the next level. He said, “What happens, happens.”

Mule Rebuttal: The danger to the motoring public continues because of the reckless driving of that public. They make the choice to drive recklessly at high speeds. We don’t force them to do that. That is their choice.

CHP Officer Narrative: Officer A and I positioned our patrol vehicles at the intersection of Nacimiento Lake Drive and San Marcos Road. With the belief that the danger to the motoring public would most likely continue, I drove out to Mr. Sears’ location with the MVARS camera activated. Once again, I was able to see Mr. Sears walking his mules in the eastbound traffic lane, rather than on the shoulder, in defiance of my lawful order, a violation of California Vehicle Code section 2800(a).

Mule Rebuttal: The order was not lawful. We have the right to be on the road. We have the right to use it. And there was no place else to go. As I stated previously, if there was, we would be there. Anytime there is enough room for us to remove ourselves as far as possible from the high speed motorist, we do so. But in many cases, especially on that road, there isn’t. The order was not lawful. You can’t give an order that is impossible to comply with and call it lawful.

CHP Officer Narrative: I made a U-turn and activated my red lights to warn approaching traffic. Six vehicles including a Semi-tractor pulling a low boy trailer with heavy equipment had to utilize the opposing lane to get around Mr. Sears and his mules.

Mule Rebuttal: Well why did he have to do that? Because the semi-tractor refused to slow down and stop if necessary so we could all safely pass each other. The semi-tractor was blatantly breaking the law in front of the CHP officer and the CHP officer did nothing to address that.

CHP Officer Narrative: Had Mr. Sears walked the Mules single file as directed, there would have been much less of a hazard presented.

Mule Rebuttal: Far to the contrary, once again, there is extreme danger had we been walking single file. The semi-tractor would have side swiped us.

CHP Officer Narrative: I returned to the San Marcos intersection and waited for Mr. Sears to arrive.

CHP Officer Narrative: The situation posed an extreme danger to Mr. Sears, the mules, and the motoring public. Nacimiento Lake Drive is a winding roadway with ascending and descending elevations. The shoulders are narrow offering little room for a horse and even less for a vehicle. Mr. Sears was previously in an area of blind curves when CHP dispatch first received calls of him blocking the eastbound traffic lane. Mr. Sears was now about to travel east of San Marcos Road where the roadway is similarly dangerous.

Mule Rebuttal: CHP officer did not offer any assistance in alternate routes, nor did the officer offer a trailer ride to get to Paso Robles. We had no cell reception to call anybody. In the CHP dashcam video, the officer states that he has no cell reception either yet he was able to call for a trailer to take us to jail in San Luis Obispo but not a tralier ride to Paso Robles. The only way for us to physically get out of the area was to continue walking as we could not sprout wings and fly away, which is what we told the officer as well. CHP Officer turned his back on us and walked away as seen in the dashcam video.

CHP Officer Narrative: At 1312 hours, I notified my supervisor/Sergeant and advised him of the ongoing situation involving Mr. Sears, the mules in the lane, and the defiance of a lawful order. I explained that if the dangerous situation continued, I may have no other choice but to arrest Mr. Sears. Sergeant concurred with me.

Upon Mr. Sears’ arrival, I exited my patrol vehicle and detained Mr. Sears. Officer Abel held the mules and I placed Mr. Sears under arrest for disobeying a lawful order, without incident. I advised Mr. Sears of his Miranda Rights which he invoked. Mr. Sears went on to yell that this was an unlawful arrest, we had no right to do this, and we were “fucking cowards.” his two mules were turned over to San Luis Obispo County Animal Services for safe keeping. All of Mr. Sears’ property was taken to the Templeton CHP office for safe keeping. Mr. Sears was transported to the San Luis Obispo County Jail and turned over to jail staff for booking.

Mules Rebuttal: Once again, it was not a lawful order, but just the opposite. The officer and the Sergeant had other choices, such as providing escort, providing a trailer ride to Paso Robles. The Mules could not sprout wings and fly away. If the CHP was able to summon Animal Services for a trailer so quickly, why couldn’t they trailer us past the area they thought was dangerous and drop off us to continue our journey to Paso Robles which was less than five miles way rather than drive us to San Luis Obispo 40 miles away. The CHP had other choices, just as the high speed motorist had a choice to obey the law to slow down and share the road.

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Golden Gate Bridge Crossing

On October 5, 2021 while the Mules were in Larkspur, the Mules phoned the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District office to inform them that the Mules were in Marin County and wanted to cross the Golden Gate Bridge to San Francisco. We were transferred to Lieutenant Roger Elauria who said that he remembered us from August 2015 when we wanted to cross the bridge. He said that we cannot walk across the bridge and that he would will work on finding a trailer ride across the Golden Gate Bridge for us. Later that afternoon, Lt. Elauria called and said to meet the next day (11/6) at the tunnel in Sausalito. Thus, Little Girl, Little Ethel and the Monk left Larkspur and proceeded to walk to Sausalito where we spent the night.

The next morning, the Mules woke up early, packed up and began walking 3 miles to the Sausalito tunnel. We weren’t sure if we were at the right location and called Lt. Elauria at 9:30am and told him where we were located to check if we were in the right place. He said yes. We waited for the trailer to arrive and were surprised at all the other resources that arrived as well…Golden Gate Bridge District officers, California Highway Patrol, and United States Park Police with the trailer. In 2015 when we cross the bridge, we only had one Humane Society Trailer who met us and it was a quick and simple meet up. Thus it was kind of puzzling as to why 8+ resources were needed. We stood around awhile after Little Girl and Little Ethel were loaded as we had to wait for a tow truck to put air in trailer tire. Once that was done, we were all set to go. The United States Parks Police dropped the 3 Mules off at Ocean Beach along the Great Highway in San Francisco.

The Mules say thank you to the Golden Gate Bridge Highway & Transportation District for answering our call, Lieutenant Roger Elauria for coordinating the trailer, and Sgt T. Roth of Golden Gate Bridge Authority, US Park Police Officers A. Ewing and A. Muller (part of Golden Gate NRA, USPP San Francisco Field Office) who trailered the Mules across the Bridge to Ocean Beach and provided some hay as well so that we could continue our journey south for the winter.

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San Mateo Police Encounter

On October 6, 2021, the Mules were trailered across the Golden Gate Bridge and dropped off at Ocean Beach. We spent the remainder of the day walking through San Francisco, then into South San Francisco with no police contact.

Little Girl and Little Ethel in South San Francisco with the Cow Palace behind us.

We spent two nights in South San Francisco where we had stopped many times before, got up in the morning, and started walking through Brisbane, San Bruno, then into San Mateo. The Mules’ goal was to stop in San Mateo for the night at a place we had previously stayed many times before, but when getting there found it to be under construction, so we continued on where we found another place to stop for the night.

Where we spent the night on October 8, 2021 and where the San Mateo Police woke us up at 11pm.

The monk put the mules on picket lines, fixed something to eat, then put his sleeping bag to the ground and went to sleep here in San Mateo.

At approximately 11:00 p.m. we were awoken by two police officers shining flashlights in our faces. They wanted to know what we were doing here. We asked them what were they doing here. They informed me they got a call of large animals in this area. They wanted to know who I was, where I was going, where I was coming from, what I was doing, so forth and so on.

I gave them my name, told them I was migrating South, and handed one of the officers my card.

They continued to ask me unnecessary and redundant questions at which time I stated I wasn’t going to answer any more questions. They then told me that I couldn’t be here because there were city codes against large animals in the city.

I told them we have been walking all day long and it was necessary to stop for the night. We could not walk in the dark as it would not be safe for we had no headlight or reflectors for that purpose.

The officer stated he had no previous experience with anybody walking through the city with a horse so he would call his supervisor and get her advice. So we waited for the supervisor to arrive on the scene and sort the whole thing out. She did and decided we could stay for the night. A total of six police vehicles showed up.

In regards to the officers claiming they did not know who we were I find that extremely hard to believe. We had been walking on the El Camino all day long with surveillance cameras on most intersections. At 4:20pm, one officer stopped, got out of his car, approached us, and started asking the usual question. We were certainly being surveilled and recorded. We stick out like a sore thumb needless to say with two mules.

October 8, 2021 4:20pm – officer who stopped, got out of his car, approached the Mules, and started asking the usual questions.

The mules have passed through San Mateo walking down the El Camino many times in previous years. We have our website name in large white block letters 3MULES.COM on the side of both of our pack boxes to be easily seen by any officer observing us walking down the El Camino.

Furthermore, on August 8, 2015, San Mateo Police Department posted on their social media page welcoming the Mules where we spent the night within city limits near where we stayed the other night. For them to say they didn’t know who we were was ridiculous. [Read our 2015 post about this here.]

San Mateo Police post welcoming the mules in 2015 — San Mateo Police Department social media post welcoming the Mules to San Mateo in August 2015.

Anyway all the above being said, the Mules packed up in the morning and proceeded to walk through Belmont, San Carlos, in and thru Redwood City, Atherton, Menlo Park, then into Palo Alto, where we spent the night at the Cubberley Community Center in Palo Alto on Middlefield Road. Having no police contact and a quiet peaceful night, we then proceeded in the morning through Mountain View and into Sunnyvale where we are now as a guest of another supportive member of the Three Mules Nation.

The Mules resting at Cubberley Community Center, Palo Alto, CA on October 9, 2021

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Weeping Willow

Nature’s air conditioner a weeping willow tree. Step in under its umbrella and I bet it’s 20° cooler than when you step outside of it. Sure seems like that to us.

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The Mules v State of California

The Mules view this case as a gift. As we gaze into the mist, we see a brown table resting upon it a foot square one-inch thick type folder emitting glowing brown shining light, gIving off a clear message mixed with glowing light. Contribute your unique spiritual energy in ways only you can and have that energy returned in ways your imagination can never foresee.

The Energy of this case continues to grow. The Mules will be leaving Tehachapi where we’ve been resting for over a month on Lori’s property. Exactly why I can’t say but Chuck and Lori have been extremely welcoming and after coming up from Imperial Beach, the southernmost point of our migratory journey, the extended stay has been appreciated.

The Mules will carry this one foot square one-inch thick brown folder emitting its powerful spiritual light with us to the Templeton CHP office where the 3 Mules vs. State of California lawsuit was spiritually activated. This case is a spiritual gift to the Mules and all those who live and practice the art of peacefully pursuing freedom on this earth. It will express the energy it gathers and harbors in ways as yet to be understood.

As the Mules move one step at a time towards Templeton, CA, the lawsuit of 3 Mules vs. California will pull huge amounts of negative energy, harbored within the walls of the Megatropolis, and from those walls into the 3 Mules journey, where the ages old knowledge of this nomadic way of life which the Mules live in service to, will be converted to positive spiritual energy that will then serve the 3 Mules journey in many ways. The 3 Mules vs CA court case will certainly be drawing from that source of energy.

After the Mules deposit the spiritual energy of our lawsuit 3 Mules vs State of CA at the door of CHP Templeton office, we will once again be using G-14 (the road the Mules were arrested on) as we make our way to Sacramento. This road, like most county, state roads, are extremely dangerous due in large part to the total negligence of the state allowing a speed limit that far exceeds the capacity of these roads to provide enough room for all legal users to safely use them. Also the state has totally failed to sign these roads to inform the motorist that sharing the road with all who legally use them IS THE LAW.

Spiritual Energy is the only true wealth. The paper money the Megatropolis doles out to its citizens is no wealth at all. The Mules know this so we speak of this.

The Mules’ wealth is the spiritual energy we create around us by the way we live. The nomadic way we live is the connection to the spiritual realm that provides the energy that makes life worth living for us the Mules.

The Mules

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3/19 Lawsuit Update: Mules vs State of California and CHP

3/19/2021 Lawsuit update: California Highway Patrol headquarters in Sacramento and CHP Templeton officer Agredano did not respond to our initial mailing of the complaint and summons within the 20 day required amount of time. Therefore, our lawyer hired two processing services to deliver the summons and complaint. The summons was delivered to CHP Sacramento by Moe’s Processing Service on 3/16/2021 (cost $35), CHP Templeton officer David Agredano on 3/19/21 by United Process Servers (cost $95), and acknowledged by San Luis Obispo Superior Court on 3/19/2021. We are now waiting for the defendants to respond. They have 30 days.

Synopsis
As the Mules wander and roam throughout the western half of America, we are showing all those by whom we pass the extreme value of this ages old sacred relationship between human being and horse. The Mules are also showing that all others who travel by their own speed and their own power (foot, bike, horse) must have access to the public thoroughfare unhindered and unobstructed. Non-motorized methods of travel must be protected by all those who depend on these alternative ways of traveling.

On January 23, 2020, the Mules were unlawfully and illegally arrested and incarcerated by the State of California/California Highway Patrol (CHP) using the false pretense of safety to justify the arrest. The Mules have brought this lawsuit against the State of California and its enforcement agency CHP to protect the most sacred right in this country for all its citizens to move freely how they choose, when they choose by using the Public Thoroughfare and all city, county, state roads to do so.

Was the Mules arrest planned and executed on purpose by CHP or simply their gross misunderstanding of the state law? CHP used the two words “safety hazard” to justify our arrest. The Mules are a legal but slower mode of transport. The safety hazard is not the slower legal modes of travel (pedestrian, cyclist, equestrian) but the high speed motorist (HSM) who refuses to obey the law, reduce its speed, stop if necessary, to create a safe space for other slower modes of transport, such as the Mules, where they can pass each other safely.

On January 23, 2020, when the CHP stopped and ordered the Mules to stay off the Nacimiento Lake Road, the area had no alternative routes for us to take. We had no physical way to get out of the location where we were other than continuing to proceed forward. The officer used his radio to contact animal control to pick up the mules for impoundment and the Monk was then taken to jail by CHP.

The Mules will not shirk their responsibility to themselves, their ancestors, and all those who will follow us, having the deep need within their bones to spontaneously move freely on this earth.

Proof of Service, Summons and Complaint delivered to CHP Sacramento

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The Mules sue the California Highway Patrol over their right to travel on the public thoroughfare

CHP dash cam shot of 3 Mules walking along Naciemento Lake Road prior to their arrest on January 23, 2020.

San Luis Obispo, CA: On January 21, 2021, John Sears, who lives a nomadic lifestyle and has traveled the state of California with his mules for the past eight years, filed a lawsuit in San Luis Obispo Superior Court alleging that the California Highway Patrol wrongfully and illegally arrested him in violation of his natural, Constitutional and statutory rights.

As noted in the first paragraph of the complaint: “By this action John Sears seeks to protect this ages-old nomadic way of life and the sacred relationship between man and horse to travel together with reverence and respect for this beautiful place in which we all reside called Earth.”

Sears, 73, and his mules began traveling when he was 36. He has lived full-time outside and traveled with his mules after retiring from his work as a tree trimmer in 2001 at age 54. He documents their endless journey on his website 3Mules.com, 3 Mules Facebook and Instagram pages, which have over 60,000 followers worldwide.

On January 23, 2020, the Mules were walking along Nacimiento Lake Drive, a rural two-lane country road near Paso Robles in San Luis Obispo County. Such route is the only route between Bradley, California and Paso Robles other than Highway 101, and is part of the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail, a historically designated trail that stretches 1200 miles from Nogales, Mexico, through the California desert and coastal areas in Southern California and the Central Coast region, to San Francisco.

Despite the Mules right to travel such road, and all public thoroughfares in California, excluding interstate highways, he was ordered by CHP officer David Agredano to “stay off the road.” Such order was not only impossible to safely comply with, it was in violation of Sears’ rights under the U.S. and California Constitution.

Sears states: “Nowhere in the California vehicle code does it state that the public thoroughfare is for the exclusive use of the high speed heavy machine called an automobile.”

The California Vehicle Codes and Food and Agricultural Codes provide all non-motorized travel equal access to the public thoroughfare. (Veh. Code § 21050, See also, Food and Ag Code § 16902, 16903.

“The driver of any vehicle approaching any horse drawn vehicle, any ridden animal, or any livestock shall exercise proper control of his vehicle and shall reduce speed or stop as may appear necessary or as may be signaled or otherwise requested by any person driving, riding or in charge of the animal or livestock in order to avoid frightening and to safeguard the animal or livestock and to insure the safety of any person driving or riding the animal or in charge of the livestock. “
California Vehicle Code 21759

Sears notes: “The Mules were not creating a safety hazard. The Mules were legally using the public thoroughfare in conformity with the state vehicle code. The motorist has one of two options: 1) obey the state vehicle code, slow down, and stop if necessary, when approaching livestock, or 2) disobey the state vehicle code, refuse to slow down, recklessly pass with no concern for the consequences, and call 911 to complain that there is a person walking with horses on the road.”

Along substantial stretches, Nacimiento Lake Drive is hemmed with steep banks on both sides of the road. It has narrow to non-existent shoulders in many areas as the CHP dash cam video clearly shows. The non-paved area directly adjacent to the road was a steep upward bank, which would be difficult to impossible for a pack mule to navigate.

“The Mules were walking as close to the steep bank as we could to provide the motorists that were obeying state vehicle codes to safely pass.”

Sears further notes: “If this arrest was legal, then all U.S. citizens traveling under their own non-motorized power (equestrians, pedestrians, cyclists, wheelchair, and all others) is likewise illegal. This nomadic lifestyle which the Mules practice, which is over hundreds of thousands of years old, is how the Mules live on this earth. The Mules are bringing this case to court to preserve the right for all equestrians, pedestrians, and cyclists to travel on these public thoroughfares without fear of arrest.”

Sears filed a complaint alleging violation of his civil rights under Federal and California law, false arrest, and declaratory and injunctive relief. In addition, to his damages, he seeks a declaration of his rights that he can present to law enforcement in the future, and for the CHP to issue a training bulletin informing officers of the right for equines and other animals to use the public thoroughfare.

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People often ask the Mules what their mission is. “Our purpose is to walk and live peacefully taking only what we need. Seeking balance and harmony with all that surrounds us and bringing the energy and value of this ages old way of life to all of those who we pass.”

“Spiritually, we are all unique. The Mules are experiencing the sacredness of this place in our own unique way. We are not doing anything spectacular. We get up in the morning, fix something to eat, and walk all day long. We enjoy it. Just walking. We enjoy the sacred act of walking in harmony and balance with the energy of this beautiful Earth that flows in, around and through us.”

“The public thoroughfare has been designed for the high speed motorists and their automobiles,” Sears explained. “The Mules and those who travel under their own power and speed (equestrians, cyclists, hikers) must preserve the right to use these same public thoroughfares as there is no adequate trail system to get equestrians and non-motorized travelers from one community to the next in this state.”

Sears has hand delivered copies of his Declaration of Emergency to over 200 city halls in California as well as to the governor’s office at the California State Capitol. In the declaration, he says the Natural World is being destroyed by a sprawling Megatropolis. Sears describes the Megatropolis as “the man-made world, spreading sprawling concrete, putting up lanes, putting up buildings everywhere. It wants all the remaining open space and it is unrelenting. It doesn’t want any other venues (pedestrians, cyclists, equestrians) to use the public thoroughfare except for its most favorite tool, the automobile.”

For further press inquiries or interviews, contact Attorney Todd T. Cardiff Office (619) 546-5123 or Cell (619) 885-1443 – www.tcardifflaw.com

3-MULES-PRESS-RELEASE-FINAL Download

Complaint-1.20.2021_FINAL-Signed-2 Download

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The Mules deliver their State of California Government Claim to Sacramento

The Mules delivered to Sacramento the following claim against the State of California and its enforcement agency, the California Highway Patrol, for our unlawful and illegal arrest on January 23, 2020, for allegedly failing to obey a lawful order.

The purpose of the Mules filing this claim is to protect the Mules legal right to the use of the public thoroughfare. Without access to a strong healthy public thoroughfare, the Mules ages old nomadic way of life will come to an end. The energy of our ancestors who have roamed and wandered across this earth for thousands of years is harbored and available for our use. We will use it in this dimension and all others in which we may find ourselves to preserve this sacred way of life for ourselves and those who will inevitably follow.

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California State Capitol

On Monday, July 27, 2020, the Mules brought our claim for over 1000.00 dollars pertaining to our wrongful and illegal arrest by the State of California and its enforcement agency CHP to the California State Capitol.

The Mules were arrested on January 23rd, 2020 (read about that incident here) for failure to obey a lawful order which was anything but a lawful order. The Mules were ordered off the road it’s our right to walk on the road under state law and the US Constitution.

The energy of our ages old nomadic way of life that has been practiced by the mules through the ages is in company with this claim. The spiritual energy accompanying this claim will make itself known in the most of unforeseen ways.

Be ready get ready for what is to come. For the energy of our ancestors who have lived their sacred way of life on this Earth will never sit back and watch its beloved way of living destroyed by the megatropolis/man made world.

The Mules

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