The Unwarranted Perjury of Austin Morris

[XLFD]

Austin Morris has been the School Resource Officer (SRO) serving the Ludington Area School District (LASD) since September 2021.  Our readers may remember his name from our 2019 article Ludington City Hall Loan Scheme, where he was the beneficiary of a no-repayment-necessary loan from Ludington City Hall, despite the fact that it was unlawful and unconstitutional for the City of Ludington to serve as a lending institution.  

The loan's purpose was to provide Morris with funds for furthering his training in law enforcement with the understanding that he would become a member of the Ludington Police Department (LPD) during and at least two years after his police academy education.  If he did not, he would be required to repay that unconstitutional loan.  His service to the LPD was good enough to reward him with the position of SRO following the retirement of Chad Skiba from that position.

Trusting a 24 year old officer with little practical experience to handle the complex role of SRO was a risky decision by the school district and the LPD.  There may be benefits in being more able to relate to and engage with the student population, but these positives can quickly become negatives, as the internet is littered with stories of inappropriate sexual conduct of SROs, as in these recent (the first two months of this year) incidents in Auburn NY and Newport WA and Augusta KY.  A young officer's inexperience can also lead to questionable arrests and assaults on students in an environment where the basic individual rights of students are often ignored under the aegis of campus safety.  Such recurring themes make many in the public question the value of putting police officers in our schools.

LASD SRO Austin Morris has not, to our knowledge, fallen into the traps mentioned, but he apparently has taken courses of action that bely the trust that the school, the police, and the public have placed on him by dint of his position.  The Ludington Torch will look at the part he played in a recent incident and how he has reportedly misused the Law Enforcement Information Network (LEIN) and more distressingly, substantively lied on a sworn affidavit in order to gain a search warrant, whose fruit ultimately led to an arrest that would not have otherwise happened.

Multiple FOIA requests have been sent to both the LASD and the LPD to investigate and corroborate what happened here, The Ludington Torch has also asked administrators from both agencies for clarifications when the record was conflicting or inconclusive; their cooperation in this quest for truth is duly noted.  This article will concentrate solely on Officer Morris' violation of the law and how it led to an injustice, another article or two will look at the other issues that came up and how school officials failed in many respects.

The tragedy begins quietly at the OJ DeJonge Middle School on the morning of November 17, 2021 shortly after 8:00 with a boy talking to his friend about an airsoft gun that he is interested in getting for Christmas.  This gets reported to Principal Mike Hart who detains the student at the office, a detainment that would last over 5 hours as school officials investigated and interrogated the allegations made; it is unclear what actions SRO Morris took during these hours after being notified, as his bodycam shows that he took the boy home at 2:07 PM (aka 1407 hours):

Both the school's report and Morris' report do not indicate why the detention at the office was required for so long of a period, with Morris' report suggesting that he arrived at 9 AM and cleared 38 minutes later:

The school's investigation has no mention of times at all, it just indicates that before the student was taken home, four witnesses were called to the office for questioning, one was brought back again for clarification, these student statements were inconsistent among themselves and with the student's own statement.  To be safe, the school desired a 'threat assessment:

One can find out what a school threat assessment entails by looking on the internet, it's a policy that has replaced 'zero tolerance', which was a disaster, and one of the hallmarks of any threat assessment is that the school and relevant police agencies develop threat assessment procedures that are clearly communicated to staff and families.  LASD Superintendent Kyle Corlett verified the school has no written threat assessment procedures, LPD Captain Steve Wietrzykowski who has drafted hundreds of pages of procedures for the LPD, admits they have nothing regarding these types of procedures.

Both the school (in the paragraph above) and Morris indicate that part of any threat assessment is a warrantless search of a threat suspect's home:

MARK is the student's father.  Had the school or LPD developed a threat assessment process, like this one, maybe they would have figured out that no actual threats were ever made in this incident (which will be further developed in succeeding articles) and that searching the student's home is not an endorsed routine, especially when the parents are otherwise cooperative and understand the situation.  

Both agencies, however, were firmly intent on getting inside the student's home as part of an undeveloped process for a non-existent threat.  From a 11-24-2021 letter from Principal Hart to the interim superintendent:

Morris 'obtained a search warrant to conduct the threat assessment' according to Hart who led the investigation which uncovered a basketball and a bible among the student's backpack and belongings.  The problem was that absent any threats and any lethal weapon mentioned by any witness, how could Officer Morris procure a search warrant for the home?

He found a way, by inventing his own incident.  In his follow-up report, he mentions that he hears something from the assistant principal Abby Schaperkotter the next morning:

If this sounds suspiciously convenient, it is.  In the school's report, which covers events during November 17-19, this conversation with MARK and Abby's relation to the SRO is not mentioned.  I attempted repeatedly to get a statement from Abby regarding whether this conversation ever took place before I received a reply back from the superintendent saying that he was forwarded my inquiry and that "We cannot give you any additional information regarding this incident other than the information we already gave you."

That seems like an admission that such a phone conversation never happened, but this was actually confirmed by talking with MARK and finding out that he had made a call that morning to talk with Principal Hart.  Hart was unavailable at the time he called, as reflected by the short duration of his call, fielded by Abby Schaperkotter.  MARK emphatically states that all he did was return Hart's earlier call, and only told his assistant that he would call back later when he was available.  The school's report indicates that Hart called him after that, while excepting the alleged admission promoted by SRO Morris. 

Temporal physics also works against Morris' claim as to how a conversation between these parties could include such an admission and last under a minute.  Not to mention why would MARK make such an admission to a veritable stranger out of thin air, when the school's report does not indicate there was any questioning for this effective 'missed-call'.  

My initial FOIA response from the LPD additionally aroused suspicion.  They shared with me the two reports made by Morris and his edited bodycam footage, but suspiciously they left out the search warrant affidavit and the warrant itself.  When I requested this later I found out why they may have been reluctant to share this piece of fiction.

Among the nine paragraphs are the following statements sworn to under oath before the magistrate Glenn Jackson, who signed it without reservation, with factual refutations following:

2)  "... (student) made comments about bringing a gun to school."

Morris conveniently left off "airsoft" to describe the toy gun, nor does he relate that the student repeatedly denied ever making a statement about bringing one to school

3)  "Affiant is aware that a threat assessment includes searching the home where the student resides for any means or signs that the student would commit a school shooting.  For this particular case, affiant's threat assessment included going into (student's) home to conduct a search for weapons."

As noted, neither the school or LPD have protocols for threat assessment, especially where absent any threat of violence or absent of lethal weapons, there is no legitimate threat.  This is a minor prevarication compared to:

5)  On 11/18/2021 at 0832 hours, affiant was informed by OJ DeJonge Assistant Principal Abby Schaperkotter that MARK was denying consent to search his residence because he is a convicted felon and did not want to get in trouble for possessing a firearm."

Notice that Morris doesn't mention a phone convo between Abby and MARK took place where this was related, and with good reason, it never happened.  It was a mechanism manufactured by Morris in order to look up MARK on the LEIN database, where he found a marijuana conviction that happened way back in 2008, which would not be criminal with Michigan's current marijuana laws. 

Willfully or intentionally stating a falsehood as a fact on an affidavit is an act of perjury.

Morris would also emphasize that Schaperkotter dictated that the student would not be allowed to return to school until a threat assessment was completed in the eighth paragraph, signaling that both he and Schaperkotter would do anything necessary to carry out their version of what a threat assessment should be.  In paragraph six, he relates what he found when he used the Law Enforcement Information Network (LEIN) to look at MARK's background.

MARK talked openly and transparently with SRO Morris on his porch when Morris dropped his son off, only balking at the home inspection because he admitted the house was a mess, admitted to a hunting gun.  There was no reason for SRO Morris to look up MARK on the LEIN, he was not suspected of any crime at that point. 

Austin Morris knew this too, that's why he invented MARK's admission to his accomplice, Assistant Principal Schaperkotter, to get that elusive rationale.  It seems reasonable to infer that Morris justified the use of LEIN to look up MARK's history by creating the bogus phone call between other parties.  This creative way to get around the system allowed him to search the man's home and find that his other (grown up) son had several hunting rifles in his gun safe.  Misuse of the LEIN is a misdemeanor the first time it's done, filing a false police report is a felony, and the perjury on Morris sworn affidavit is a felony.  

Because of Austin Morris crimes, MARK has been sentenced to 90 days of jail and over $700 in fees.  He was initially charged with two counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony by an overzealous local prosecutor just for having his adult son's hunting rifles at his home, but those charges were dismissed in a plea agreement.  

The ramifications of this incident are scary.  Austin Morris serves in one of the biggest positions of trust in Ludington, the school's resource officer, but he belays that trust by lying on a police report, lying on an affidavit, and misusing the LEIN in order to manufacture serious crimes against a parent.  All this while misrepresenting in grand fashion the policy of the school and his own police agency, and equating an airsoft gun with a regular gun in order to secure an unwarranted search warrant.  

Austin Morris is not the person you want serving as a school resource officer, just like Austin Billings is not the person you want serving on the fire department.  We need to expect more from our public service providers.

[Sidney Johnson]

This is somewhat disturbing to hear. The incident concerning this student and the violation of his civil rights in a relatively inconsequential school system makes me wonder about its legitimacy. We know that educators and especially school officials are promoters of gun control.  Please continue to investigate this incident and inform the public. We must remain ever vigilant of the safety of our children but also of their civil rights.

[XLFD]

Thanks for your input, Sidney, I hope to get the rest of the story (so far) out by the end of this week as the city council of Ludington and the school board committees are both holding session next week and I can alert them fully to the problems.  We should not stand for such clear, unproductive violations of the rights of students and their parents, unless we stand up at these meetings and call them out. 

The school could have done the right thing back in August and let parents make their own choice as to how their child should face the plandemic, they decided to muzzle the kids instead.  That they would go after the parent in this case should not be surprising, but what you might find even more surprising is how they went after this parent's youngest son, who has no record of disciplinary action or behavior that deserved counseling, and ruined his educational experience by branding him an aspiring school shooter for desiring a BB gun.  

I can see Ludington City Manager Mitch Foster taking issue with a kid wanting an airsoft gun for Christmas, he remembers the time a couple years back when he nearly put his eye out with the Red Ryder he got:

[AnxiousGuy]

These are the most concerning stories but happen more than anyone would like to admit and need to end.  

I wanted to mention another case that needs some looking at.  In Scottville the women arrested for a large quantity of meth may have been illegally detained to allow for a dog search.  From what I understand this is illegal and needs to be pointed out if I am correct.  

There was a local news report indicating one officer made a stop, and "called for a dog search."  Magically the wording of that report was changed within the first 24 hours of it being posted on the local news website in that area.  Not sure if you caught that or not.   

[AnxiousGuy]

Another thing to consider with MARK'S case is the school's collection of information during enrollment.  They have parent submitted documents explaining any arrests to the school in the event you would volunteer or be around students such as chaperoning a field trip or attending a class party.  Was this unrelated previous arrest discovered from school records and used against him?  Being how she obtained it and not through a phone call?  He confirms using the LEIN after her snooping?

[XLFD]

Morris does confirm using the LEIN after talking with her about the morning phone convo-- which according to MARK was basically him asking to speak with Mr. Hart, Abby telling him that he wasn't there and him telling her his name and that he would call back later when he was in.  Abby stated she would add nothing to the school's investigation report, which mentions Hart's later call where nothing substantive was gleaned but has nothing about the convo between Abby and MARK.

If you look at the last snippet, Morris clearly points out that Abby learned just that morning on a phone call the information that he would conveniently confirm on the LEIN.  

[Mark Nash]

After doing my first 30 days in jail I get to comment on this. Ive never filled out one of the forms its only if you participate my wife has gone on field trips with my son but i never have.

[XLFD]

That Scottville story wouldn't be surprising, the small town has become a police state as Chief Murphy has no regard for the law, and no respect for it either.  I missed the rewording of that article, but to call for a dog search in such a situation there should a reasonable and articulable suspicion that a crime has been or is going to be committed.  An officer shouldn't be able to call for a 'dog search' just because someone looks like they've been using meth in the past.

I did notice the Hathaway arrest posted earlier today:

"According to Scottville Police Department Chief Matt Murphy, law enforcement officers were dispatched to 407 N. Thomas St. on Tuesday, Jan. 25 at 8:45 a.m. for a report of a possible domestic situation. “Upon arrival, Scottville police officers found Brandon Charles Hathaway (of that address) yelling and being belligerent and likely under the influence of some type of controlled substance,” Murphy said. “During our attempts to arrest Mr. Hathaway, he resisted and became unruly.”

Hathaway was arraigned in 79th District Court on two charges of assaulting/resisting/obstructing a police office. One of those charges were dismissed in a plea agreement.

At the time of his arrest, Hathaway was already awaiting sentencing for the same charges against the same police officers for an incident that occurred on March 23, 2020."

Hathaway was resisting an arrest, but you notice that there was nothing to arrest him for before they did, rather it appears to outsiders that the SPD officers involved (you have to believe Murphy was there) had a grudge against the man from the prior encounter, where the chief allegedly got kicked in the face.  I looked at the snowmobile incident from 2018 mentioned in the article via the FOIA, it was totally escalated by the SPD.

Please link me to that story you say was altered, Anxious.

[AnxiousGuy]

Here is a link actually stating the dog was called.  

Scottville woman caught with 124 grams of meth arraigned on felony ...

It seems there are constant questionably legal arrests being made in that town recently.  It's tough because the people are being caught with a nasty community ruining drug but, are being arrested under questionably illegal methods.   

There were 2 other meth arrest in Scottville that stated vehicles were pulled over coming out of a "known drug zone" being the reason. Both within blocks of the police station, MCP, and library.  I would hate to miss my turn and end up in one of these areas and would love for them to be publicly defined if they do exist. 

[XLFD]

This woman was arrested by SPD's Katrina Skinner at her home in the past under questionable pretexts, in an incident that may have led to the woman to seek the escape offered by drugs.  It's good to see drug busts, removing the poison from our community, but it's not good when the local police suspend the rule of law when making unjustified traffic stops leading to searches and arrests.  

[Willy]

Even though Mr Morris's behavior and actions are potentially criminal, my concern is with his bosses. These are the people we should  beware of. Also I cannot imagine how these tin hat dictators who run the schools and are in charge of law enforcement can be in favor of searching anyone's home without a warrant. That Magistrate needs to read the Constitution and make sure all the facts are true before allowing the trashing of our Fourth Amendment Rights. 

[XLFD]

Over the next few weeks, I'll be finding out how Morris' bosses at the school and LPD respond to the serious allegations in this article, and whether their defense will be any better than Councilor Johnson's unqualified support of Austin Billings being on the LFD.  An agency could be said to be only as strong as their weakest link, provided that link is supported by the agency's leader.  The way the school, LPD, and LPD have treated the two Austins so far do not give me much confidence for those agencies.

[Freedom Seeker]

In case you haven't noticed, X, it seems this article has drawn quite a relative amount of readership in just a day:  2221 reads to date at 3:20 p.m.

I can't comment much on this without more facts, but if it is as you say, I hope the community takes takes action against this alleged lying, perjuring STO.  Thanks for reporting.  I know it's not easy being the whistle blower but without your reporting, this corrupted police action would probably continue and get worse in the little town of Ludington.