Caner records (10-22-13 submission) (USMC)

To Whom It May Concern:

This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I hereby request the following records:

All records to, from or mentioning Ergun Caner created between August 1, 2010 and the date this request is processed.

To help you understand why the USMC would have such records and where they may be, I offer the following:
(a) On or around April 15, 2005, Ergun Caner provided training to Marine Aircraft Group-29, New River Air Station, North Carolina. In this training Caner represented himself as a person who was raised as a Muslim in Turkey and trained to hate Americans. Under this guise, Caner gave cultural training that went as far as advising the Marines on how to determine whether an Arab Muslim is friendly or hostile based on dress and gestures. However, the truth has since been revealed that Caner was born in Sweden and moved to Ohio at age two and was raised by his Swedish mother following a divorce of his parents. It is reasonable that the USMC would become aware of a fraud being committed against themselves and hold records concerning it.
(b) Media inquiries have been made to the Marines concerning this event. It is reasonable to assume that the division of the Marines which handles such press inquiries have sought guidance on how to respond and have researched the issue and created records in doing so.
(c) Ergun Caner is now suing for copyright infringement for the posting of the responsive records released by the USMC under HQMC-201000446. Thus, Caner is accusing the USMC of violating his copyright by releasing this video. It is reasonable to assume that the USMC has been learned of this and has considered the copyright status of this video and has considered the liability of the US Government (if any) for releasing the video. Thus, it is reasonable to expect the USMC to maintain records concerning the copyright status of the video and related topics perhaps in the FOIA office or other legal offices which would consider the USMC's liability in such a case.
(d) In more recent FOIA requests, the Marines have not released the same video released in 2010, citing computer failure as the possible reason for the USMC no longer having responsive records. It is reasonable to assume that the USMC would be aware of intentionally embarrassing records being deleted by the very USMC office which would potentially be embarrassed by the record. Any office which would investigate a suspicious deletion of public records occuring at Marine Aircraft Group-29, New River Air Station, North Carolina should be searched.
(e) It is reasonable that any of the above may have been included in a CMC monthly report (or whatever type of report replaced the CMC monthly report), further, the same can be said for many other regular reports from Marine Aircraft Group-29 up through the chain of command. These records should be searched for potential responsive records.
(f) In the video released under HQMC-201000446, the officer who introduced Ergun Caner appeared to be familar with him. Whoever invited Ergun Caner likely has continued contact with Caner about some of these matters. Communications such as emails should be searched for the individual(s) responsible for inviting Ergun Caner to speak to Marine Aircraft Group-29, New River Air Station, North Carolina. In fact, it may be appropriate to do a system wide email search for communication to or from Caner to locate these records either at a domain level or at the local level at New River Air Station.

I authorize fees up to $25. If fees are expected to surpass this amount, please let me know before incurring them to allow me an opportunity to agree to higher fees or to narrow my request.

Although I make requests in various capacities, this particular request is being made as a news media requester.

I have a track record of being able to take raw materials released under the FOIA and turning them into a unique work using my editorial skills. For a related example, please see the article titled United States Marines duped by pretend jihadist, Ergun Caner, which is available online ( http://www.witnessesuntome.com/2010/08/united-states-marines-duped-by-pretend-jihadist-ergun-caner/ ).

Witnesses Unto Me will be publishing the work created based on the results of this FOIA requests. My numerous works published with Witnesses Unto Me demonstrates my ability to distribute my work to an audience made up of the general public.

The material requested is the subject of current news, it is of current interest to the public. This can be demonstrated by the media attention which this issue has recently received. For example, in July of this year, Janet Mefferd discussed the issue on nationally syndicated radio. The Week published a story on July 22, 2013. Associated Baptist Press has written a series of articles on the subject. Tech Dirt covered the story on June 26th, 2013. The Virginia Coalition for Open Government printed an abstract of the article by The Week amid their list of open government news issues. Christianity Today will be running a story on this topic in their December, 2013 issue, showing other news media outlets find the issue of current interest to the public and expect it to remain of interest as the story is planned for their December issue, while I submit this request in October.

Just as a major newspaper would contain editorials, funny pages, and advertisements along side of the news, Witnesses Unto Me also publishes a variety of types of material. Similarly, writers whom are published in major newspapers are considered news media for the purposes of FOIA, this request should also be billed as a news media request. Again, the responsive records will be turned into a unique work product using my editorial skills and published as a news piece on Witnesses Unto Me.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 20 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,
Jason Smathers

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 22, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 22, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 22, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

Hello,

Per the attached, this request has been forwarded to theMarine Corps Air Station -Cherry Point. Please confirm receipt.

Thank you.