Officer Elness couldn’t resist just had to get some Mule energy right from the source. And, while walking along the public thoroughfare in Manteca, Stephanie and Carlee from animal control stopped to greet the Mules.
Tag: Police Encounters
City of Ripon’s unconstitutional law
Upon arriving here last night within the city limits of Ripon, we the Mules were informed by the Ripon City Police that the Ripon City Council had recently passed a no camping law forbidding anybody traveling by foot, bicycle or horseback from stopping anywhere within city limits of Ripon on public space to sleep for the night.
The above being understood, we the Mules have taken it upon ourselves to deliver this day 4/24/2017 Mule Proclamation number 2645-A to the Ripon City Council.
PROCLAMATION #2645-A states:
Anybody traveling by foot, bicycle, horseback, crutches or wheelchair using their own physical resources to do said within the constitutional boundaries of the United States is doing so under the constitutional guarantees to move freely in anyone of all four directions, how you choose, when you choose. Stopping to sleep for the night is a necessary component for our right to move freely. For if the necessary function of sleep is denied, all other human activity and living experience is also being denied. To put it short and sweet without sleep, you die.
The Mules have come to the inevitable conclusion we cannot obey this law for to do so will be our death.
For any municipality and its city officials within the constitutional boundaries of the United States to spring forward and declare this most necessary function to life itself sleeping to be illegal and subject to heavy fines and jail time is a slap in the face in blatant disregard to all those who have given life and limb throughout this country’s history to protect and preserve humanity’s God given right to move freely.
The Mules will not give up this right. We’ve been here for hundreds of thousands of years. We haven’t given it up then nor will we now. The Mules invite the mayors and city council members of the many towns which the Mules will be traveling through to send their explanations and justifications as to why they have passed the no camping law in their town. The Three Mule Nation will be interested to hear the rational for enactment of such laws to be used against people traveling via non-motorized vehicles by foot, bicycle, horse. The Mules will gladly post their response in its entirety on our website 3Mules.com, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages.
The Mules
Little Girl stolen and found by Selma Police Department
On Thursday, October 13, 2016 around 1:15AM, while I was asleep behind the Selma Plaza Shopping Center in Selma, CA, the shopping center’s security guard drove up in his truck and woke me up. He said he had seen me with my two mules earlier in the evening at the shopping center. He wanted to let me know that he had just seen a man on a bicycle leading Little Girl, my 28-year old white mule, away on Highland Avenue.
Before I went to sleep, I had secured Lady and Little Girl on a picket line to the fence with a secure knot that can’t come undone by itself. I looked where Little Girl had been picketed and she was gone. I flagged down a police officer and told him what happened. I couldn’t risk leaving Lady alone and waited in place.
Around 2AM, Selma police returned and said that they located Little Girl. One officer stayed with Lady and my belongings, while the other officer took me to get Little Girl.
The Mules want to thank the Selma Plaza Shopping Center night security guard who woke me up to alert me that Little Girl was taken as it resulted in her quick recovery. I neglected to get his name and hope he sees this and writes us. I also want to thank the four Selma Police officers on duty last night – Officers Alvarez, Officer Johnson, Officer Hissong and Officer Musso, who responded and located Little Girl. Without the security guard as witness and fast action of all the officer involved, it would have been very difficult to locate Little Girl if we had awoken hours later without any witness information or any idea which direction to look if she got hidden. We also want to thank Selma Police dispatcher who we spoke to on the phone who gave us updates while we were waiting. We are forever grateful more than our words can express.
We do not want to go into details about the person who took her, so please do not ask for more info. We are just thankful that Little Girl, who has been with me and Lady for the past 25-years, was located and unharmed. This is the first time in in our 30+ year journey that this has ever happened.
This morning, we walked to Selma Police Department to thank the four officers but they had finished their night shift. These are photos of other Selma officers who came out to meet Little Girl and Lady. After we thanked the Selma Police Department for their help, we left Selma and continued on our migratory journey south.
Road 415, Coarsegold, California
This morning as we were walking along Road 415 going to Coarsegold, a highway patrol officer stopped and told us he was responding to calls that we were walking on the roadway.
We said, “Yes, at times, we do walk on the roadway because there is no place else to walk. All city, county, state roads are public thoroughfares. They are open to all comers – person on crutches, driving a wheelchair, pedestrian, bicycle, equestrian and extra terrestrial (ET) on a vacation. These thoroughfares are not for the exclusive use of the High Speed Motorist (HSM) and its most favored and valued friend the Automobile. When the HSM sees a pedestrian, equestrian bicycle or an ET moving on the roadway exercising their absolute legal right to be doing so, the HSM must reduce its speed or stop if necessary so all involved can pass safely. There is nothing in the law stating the HSM has a legal right to be going at the speed limit regardless of the circumstance.”
The officer responded, “Be careful.” He went on his way and we continued our way.
“Run for the bushes, jump in a ditch, you all be damned. I slow up for nothing or nobody.” This is the pervasive attitude held by many HSM.
This HSM attitude is the main cause of death on the public thoroughfare in this country. The public thoroughfare is a place where people meet, trade goods and knowledge, experiences and generally enjoy moving freely from one place to the next. It was never intended to become a High Speed Dragstrip for machines running everybody else into the ditches in fear of becoming a bloody mess.
The Public Thoroughfare is the tenuous tread by which The Mules exercise their right to move freely in one of all four directions when they choose and how they choose. We will never give up our legal and mystical use of it. Nor should anybody else.
The Mules
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Below is National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Press Release from July 1, 2016.
“Every American should be able to drive, ride or walk to their destination safely, every time.” – U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx
“94% of crashes can be tied back to human choice or error.” – NHTSA Administrator Dr. Mark Rosekind
The Mules vs. City Council of Clovis
On Friday, June 24, 2016, the Mules arrived in Clovis, CA. We got onto a nice multi-use trail in the afternoon and were heading north. Upon walking for awhile, we met a TV news crew from KMPH and they asked if they could ask questions and take film for their FOX26 KMPH 10:00 news broadcast. We said sure.
We went to Trader Joe’s to buy some cranberry juice, then went back to the trail.
It was getting late so we decided to stop off to the side of the trail and rest for the night. A lady named Janeen brought the Mules some hay when we were at Trader Joe’s so they (the kids) were set. [Thank you Janeen for unexpectedly appearing out of nowhere and bringing the kids hay and carrots for their dinner.]
After fixing and eating my dinner, I was sitting on the water bucket on the Fresno-Clovis Trail, relaxing and enjoying being off my feet. At about 9:30pm, two officers with flashlights from the Clovis Police Department came upon us wanting to know what we were doing. We said that we have stopped here to rest for the night. The officer said the city council of Clovis says no camping in the city limits of Clovis. We said we were not camping, we have stopped here on this public right of way to rest for the night.
The officer said they were responding to calls from citizens about us being here. We said we were exercising our legal right to use a public thoroughfare and any attempt by the use of codes, regulations or laws to deny us that right shall be considered blatantly illegal.
The officer returned to his cruiser, came back in a reasonable amount of time, used discretion, in regards to the no camping law and said we could stay for the night if we would agree to leave in the morning. We said yes we would, which was stated intention.
So the kids and myself slept peacefully through the night, arose in the morning, ate breakfast, packed up and were on our way for another day living in balance with the Natural World all day, every day
Note: The Public thoroughfare in a free country must be open to all comers. The Mules are one of those comers. Our use of this thoroughfare is not the same as those who live, eat, play, and sleep inside houses then come out of those houses for some fresh air and exercise.
The Mules wander freely throughout the day then stop and use the public space to rest for the night. Any law that prevents the Mules from resting and sleeping, a most necessary function to sustain life, must be considered by any common sense mind, to be illegal.
With the above being said and understood, the Mules will not and cannot obey these no camping laws. For to do so will be the end of us. This place of any one human being wandering with his or her animal companions, has access to many dimensions. This dimension on this earth is the one we love the most. The Mules will not be removed from it. Long live human beings and their connection to Earth. There is no future without it.
The Mules
Sanger, California
Yesterday late afternoon, we arrived in Sanger, California and stopped to rest between two buildings. Earlier in the morning while we were in Reedley, Linda posted that she could bring hay if we needed it. When we found our spot to rest for the night, we wrote Linda back asking if her offer to bring hay to us was still available. She said yes. So the kids had nice hay for dinner and breakfast thanks to Linda, Matthew and Jacob.
As we were packing up to leave in the morning, Javier and Efrain from Apache Smog and Tire in the building next to us, came over and asked what we were doing and what we were all about. We talked a bit and they looked up our website. Javier said that Academy Feed Store is 3-miles down the road and asked if we needed anything. We said that we needed two horseshoe files. He said to go to the feed store, and if the store had what we needed, tell the store to give him a call and he would pay for it. We walked to the feed store, which had what we needed and they called Javier. Thank you Javier for your kind support toward the mules.
While securing the kids in a shopping center parking lot so that we could go buy bread, an animal control officer told us that we were not allowed to be walking through the City of Sanger. We said that we had the right to walk in any public thoroughfare in this country. I went in the store to buy a loaf of bread and when I came out the animal control officer was still there. The officer said he had looked at our website. We talked briefly and went our separate ways.
We went to deliver the Declaration of Emergency (DOE) to Sanger City Hall, then continued our way towards Fresno.
2015 Year in Review
On January 16, 2016, we received a post on our Facebook page that stated: “Quite fascinating but I’m wondering…all your walking and all your messages… does it really make a difference?”
We replied, “We were told to come to the megatropolis to bring this ages old way of life to its center and keep it here and to do this rather than stand watch and do nothing. To do nothing will be harmful to our movement. Through time and space we have no regrets.”
However, we know that pictures can speak a thousand words so we have compiled these collages to show what one human being with his animal companions have accomplished in 2015.
THE KIDS: In January 2015, we started out with two mules, Lady, 37, who has been with us for 32 years, and Little Girl, 27, who has been with us for 24 years. While traveling through Norco in March, a lady offered us her mule who was blind in one eye. We renamed him Who-Dee-Doo as he came to us out of the Who-Dee-Doo. He was a really friendly, easy going mule and liked people, but he refused to be shoed. In September and October, we stayed at a ranch in the Ventana Wilderness and helped clear miles of overgrown trails. In return, we were gifted nice new custom pack boxes with 3MULE.COM lettering on the side to replace the cracked and worn Ralide West pack boxes that we had used for over 20 years. As we were leaving the ranch, we decided that was best for Who Dee Doo to remain here as it would be a good home for him with other horses to keep him company. Lady, Little Girl and I continued our travels to Wind Wolves Preserve in Bakersfield where 11-year old, gentle and well-trained Babe joined our team and has already seen more different places these past couple months than some people in their lifetime.
MULE TRACKER: The Mules started 2015 by attending the New Year’s Day Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena and made our way down to Carlsbad before heading back north through the Central Valley up as far north as Chico/Mendocino National Forest/Covelo before heading back down south to Imperial Beach and turning around in time to arrive back to Pasadena for the 2016 New Year’s Day Rose Parade.
THE PEOPLE: 2015 was brought about by the accumulating energy of all the people we meet as we walk from place to place, all the people who offer their kind and generous support, all the people who take the trouble to stop and tell us they follow the 3 Mules page, all the people who understand and value this place of one human being walking with his or her animal companions using that basic freedom that we all cherish moving freely as we choose with the free flowing currents of natural energy that flow over and around this beautiful earth, our home.
CITY HALLS: The Mules delivered the Declaration of Emergency to 100 city halls in 25 counties in the state of California in 2015.
RESPONSE FROM OFFICIALS: In 2015, after delivering the DOE, the Mules began receiving more responses from officials for the first time as we never received responses back in 2014. We received a certificate of recognition from the mayor of Norco, as well as response to our DOE from the cities of San Francisco, Corona and the Golden Gate Bridge District, and other towns. We appreciate the acknowledgement received from these towns for our message.
MULES IN THE NEWS: As we walked through California in 2015, we were interviewed by local reporters in various towns and cities. As well, the Mules gained an international following after we were interviewed by Germany’s Deutche Welle WorldLink radio and University of Sydney’s Bull Magazine. In June 2015, the 3 Mules were featured on the cover of the June edition of Mules and More Magazine and have been featured in a recurring monthly column since then. Currently, we have followers in 45 countries around the world.
STUDENTS: In January 2015, the Mules received these treasured drawings from Finn and Pearl as we passed through San Clemente. In March, we spoke to students at Anacapa School, Santa Barbara, and in September to students at Alisal High School, Salinas. We appreciate being able to share our life and the importance of protecting this earth with our future leaders.
POLICE ENCOUNTERS: We are stopped frequently and questioned by law enforcement. Oftentimes, we are woken up in the middle of the night by police. Freedom has been reduced with laws and municipal codes created that prevent freedom of travel by foot on public roads and that disallow sleeping outdoors in public space to rest for the night. We must protect our right to use public space that is shrinking and disappearing rapidly. The public space is our freedom. Public space must be used and enhanced for us not to lose it. We started a blotter in 2015 but have not kept up with the number of times we’ve been questioned and/or awoken in the middle of the night.
COURT CASES: Read more about in the Court Cases section.
PUBLIC LIBRARIES: The Mules appreciate the availability of public libraries with friendly staff. We didn’t get photos of all the libraries. Most libraries are located next to or near the city hall, which makes it a convenient place to stop. Public libraries gives a place to charge our devices, use the computer and internet, research information, and print our documents and letters.
ROADSIDE MEMORIALS These are just a few of the many roadside memorials that we passed during our travels in 2015. The Mules stop and always sadly reflect of the lives unnecessarily lost at the countless roadside memorials we pass as we walk all day, every day. These crosses on the sides of the roads were there before the Mules and will continue to appear until the High Speed Motorist (HSM) is reigned in to obey the law. Getting rid of the Mules will not stop the carnage by the HSM. Carnage will continue. This Roadside Memorial album will be a visual reminder for drivers to obey the law and to pay attention when driving.
The Mules varied greetings received by city, county and state officials and officers in Ventura County
While our January 13th blog post told about our two separate police encounters in Simi Valley in Ventura County, this blog post will cover the varied greetings that we received from city, county and state employees and officers as we traveled through the Ventura County cities of Camarillo, Ventura and Ojai.
City of Camarillo
On January 21, 2016, we arrived in Camarillo. The City of Camarillo’s city emblem on all the street signs throughout the city and on the sign in front of city hall is of a man on a horse –the city’s namesake, Adolfo Camarillo, on his Camarillo White Horse that his family bred from the 1920s through the 1980s.
We first stopped by the City of Camarillo Library to charge our phone. As we were sitting outside the library, the librarian came out, introduced herself and presented me with this t-shirt and book “Farm City” by Novella Carpenter on inner city farming, which I find very interesting and appreciate the kindness of the librarian to give the Mules these gifts.
From the library, we proceeded to walk to Camarillo City Hall to deliver the Declaration of Emergency during which time we had two police contacts. During the first police contact, two plain clothes officers pulled up in an unmarked car, got out and wanted to know who we were, what we were doing and wanted to see our identification and wanted to know if we were offering services. We said no we don’t offer services nor do we ask for donations. They continued to ask us inquisitive type question. They were pleasant enough and went on their way.
It wasn’t too long afterwards that two police marked cars stopped us and basically wanted to know the same stuff and wanted to see our ID. It was a forced stop. We weren’t breaking any laws but the officer decided that we were illegally passing through the city of Camarillo.
We were not illegally passing through the city of Camarillo. We have the legal right the same as any automobile, the same as any bicyclist, and the same as any pedestrian to walk freely through the city of Camarillo. So, we weren’t breaking any laws but we were treated as we were. We were stopped forcibly by the police officer. He called it in and found out that we had the right and released us. He went his way and we went our way to Camarillo City Hall and were greeted kindly by Camarillo City Hall staff who came out to take pictures with the mules and ask questions to learn more about our ages old nomadic way of life.
After we left city hall, we found a big vacant area on that same road to rest for the night. In the middle of the night Camarillo Police car stopped to look at us but the officer continued driving. We got up in the morning and left the area clean as we always do and did not leave behind anything.
Ventura County Animal Services
While we were passing through Simi Valley and Camarillo, we stopped by Ventura County Animal Services building in both these towns and asked permission to fill our bucket with water for the kids. The nice staff and volunteers at the shelter greeted the mules and let us have some water to drink.
San Buenaventura State Beach, Ventura
On Sunday January 24 in the evening, we arrived in Ventura by San Buenaventura State Park just a little before dark. We had stopped here a couple times in the past to rest, so we decided that we would do so once again. We didn’t go inside the confines of the park. We were outside the fence in a large grassy area between the street and the fence. We stayed here. I picketed the mules out, fixed my dinner and went to sleep.
I got up in the morning and was packing up to leave. A park ranger drove up in his truck and informed me that I was illegally camping in a state park. He said I would have to leave immediately. I said I was in the process of packing up to leave. He said that if I didn’t leave immediately or if I ever showed up again, I would be subject to arrest and the animals would be impounded. I packed up and left.
Ventura River Trail, Ventura
From San Buenaventura State park, we followed the Ventura Promenade to the Ventura River Trail going from Ventura to Ojai that parallels the Ojai River.
We walked for about 6 miles on the trail and found a good place to graze. It was a brushy vacant area that had no signs forbidding trespassing and had no fences or locked gates. It was a matter of stepping off the trail and walking back into the brush. We decided this place was also a good place to rest for the night.
Upon getting up in the morning the mules were happily grazing. I decided to do some shoeing. By the time I was through putting new horseshoes on the mules, it was around 11 to 11:30am. I took the mules out towards the freeway to let them graze in a grassy area. We were up there for about an hour grazing when we were approached by a gentleman in a white construction hat. He asked if he could take our picture, we said sure and we exchanged a few pleasantries and that was the end of it. The mules continued to graze and we were there for another half hour.
I decided to go back to camp and pack up and leave. As I was in the process of rolling up my horseshoe tools and putting them away in the pack boxes, two Ventura county sheriffs showed up with the gentleman in the white construction hat. The officers informed me that I was trespassing and I would have to leave. I was in the process of leaving so that was no problem.
I mentioned the fact that there were no signs or fencing so I could not be trespassing and I could not be arrested for that because there was no notification that I was trespassing. The sheriffs said, “We are giving you notification now and you have to leave.” I said fine. They hung around until I got all packed up. They were there for over an hour. When I finally got packed up and left, they left.
City of Ojai
We proceeded following the Ojai Valley Trail to Ojai and walked for about 6 miles when we found another good place off the trail to graze. We decided to stopped here for the night so that the kids could continue grazing. The next morning, we packed up and followed the Ojai Valley Trail to Ojai City Hall and delivered the Declaration of Emergency. We have had no police contact in Ojai.
While we were in Ojai, we met Molly who later put up a Facebook posts that nicely describes who we are and what we are trying to accomplish as we walk and live outside all day every day.
“Mule has been living outside with his mules for 31 years. Just walking. He’s dedicated to trying to convince people that when we destroy nature, take up all the wilderness space with buildings and concrete and no room to roam freely, we’re destroying ourselves and our true nature. He’s trying to affect a change by encouraging the “People in Charge” to link the outdoor spaces, parklands, etc., so a horse, a mule, a bike, a walker – can pass through continuously without breaking a law. He’s also trying to have those same ones in charge consider making it possible for a traveler like him to spend one night legally in outdoor space.”
Simi Valley, California
On Tuesday, January 12, 2016, while walking down the street going through Simi Valley, we encountered a couple of Simi Valley Police officers who stopped to talk to us. We had a friendly conversation. They wanted to know about our journey and we told them and we proceeded on our way through Simi Valley.
As it was getting dark, we found this location to stop to rest for the evening about 50 feet away from the the railroad tracks. I picketed the mules onto a fence.
Around 6:30am this morning I got up, checked the mules, then started fixing my breakfast when Simi Valley Police appeared and informed me that they received a phone call that there were loose horses along the railroad tracks. Of course, they saw that this was not true. The mules were not loose and secured on picket lines. The officers informed me that I was on railroad property and trespassing and I had to leave.
The officer were nice about it and asked when we would be leaving. I told them that I was in the process of leaving as soon as I finished eating my breakfast in about an hour or so. We fully intended to leave and be on our way. They said fine.
As they were leaving, one officer informed us that we could not trespass on railroad property and if we ever returned here again, they would have to arrest me and impound my mules. They said that they were notifying me of that so hopefully that would not happen. I said it wouldn’t.
Before they left, I said that being the case, there is really no place in Simi Valley to stop and rest for the night. Because of that, the next time I come through Simi Valley we’ll have to use public space, county, city, state parks to to exercise our right to stop and rest for the night. They didn’t say anything and that was the end of the conversation.
This is a perfect example of how all space in this country is being taken away. You have to have access to public space to exercise your freedom to move freely in this country. If you don’t have it, you don’t have any freedom. You can’t have one without the other. To walk freely and to move freely in this country when the end of the day comes, one has to be able to stop and rest. And if there is no space for that, you in effect have no freedom at all.
This kind of occurrence is constantly happening to us. Public space must be available to stop and rest for the night. We’re not talking about staying and putting up a tent and staying for long periods of time day in and day out. We’re only talking about a stop for the night, resting, and continuing on our way.
Letter from Pasadena Police on the Mules being in the Rose Parade and our response
On New Year’s Day, the Mules were in Pasadena to watch the Rose Parade. At one point, we entered the parade from a side street and walked in front of a float for one block for about 5 minutes or so. As we got to the end of the block, a police officer asked us to leave so we did and went about our way.
Yesterday, January 8, 2016, the Mules received the following e-mail from Pasadena Police Department Sergeant Paul Carpenter:
“Sir, my name is Paul Carpenter. I am Sergeant with the Pasadena Police Department and I work in our Event Planning Section which works to police special events in the city. I understand you inserted yourself and your mules in the Tournament of Roses Parade last week and that was not the first time. The Tournament of Roses carefully selects the participants that they allow in the parade and, as you can imagine, an unauthorized entry is a concern for me, from a security perspective. I am sure that you mean absolutely no harm to the parade or any of the parade goers, however we cannot have your, or any one else, inserting themselves into the parade.
If you have any questions or if you wish to discuss this any further please contact me at the email listed above.
Thank you.
Sgt. Paul Carpenter
The Mules do understand Sergeant Carpenter’s concern of the Mules inserting themselves into the Rose Parade. We respect the necessary job of police agencies. We will not insert ourselves again into the Rose Parade. That being said we feel it necessary to state the reason we did so.
The Megatropolis uses the Rose Parade to put its best side out for all to see and tell us all the great things its done and continues to do. However, there is two sides to every coin. The catastrophic consequences of what it is doing are not being shown.
The Megatropolis uses the parade to hide its tracks, the extreme destructive consequences of its activity on earth. Current examples of this destruction include the methane gas leak going on right now in Porter Ranch, California with 1800 people evacuated from their homes and the poisoned water supply in Flint, Michigan destroying lives of the future generations. Just the tip of the iceberg.
The Mules know they cannot just stand by and watch the destruction of life on earth. We are driven to do something, so we walk peacefully all day every day and carry and spread the message of the energy that surrounds us and envelopes us that the human race must create a new path and adjust its course if we are to live on this earth.
The Mules
