Koernke denied parole; family soldiers on
Posted: December 30, 2004
In March 2004, Mark Koernke reached his earliest prison release date. Despite a letter-writing campaign organized by wife Nancy, Michigan authorities denied him parole. Koernke will have additional chances for early release before his full sentence is finally served in March 2007.
While Koernke remains in jail, increasingly out of touch with the followers he used to reach daily through his shortwave broadcasts, his wife and children (the latter, now in their twenties, able to take a much more active role) try to soldier on with the help of longtime friends in the “patriot” movement. Nancy Koernke, for example, has spoken at militia/patriot events such as “Freedom Fest 2004,” held in Pennsylvania in August.
However, lack of money has greatly hampered the family’s efforts. Their main radio shows – the Intelligence Report (formerly hosted by Koernke, then by friends during his incarceration) and the Kitchen Militia (hosted by Nancy) – have been taken off shortwave and satellite radio.
In late 2002, authorities raided the Koernke household to seize an FM microtransmitter that one son, Edward, had been using to broadcast his “Liberty Tree Radio.” “Liberty Tree Radio” is an Internet-based radio station that airs patriot/militia rock bands such as Poker Face, as well as the current version of the “Intelligence Report.”
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