By Lee Williams
SAF Investigative Journalism Project
Special to Liberty Park Press
Patrick “Tate” Adamiak said Monday he was incredibly touched and extremely grateful for the petition drive and rally held Saturday just miles from his federal prison in New Jersey.
“I am ecstatic that people I don’t even know came together to support me,” Adamiak said Monday. “It means the world to me that people were rallying behind me and giving me a voice as to what happened to me. I spoke with the mayor, Daniel Francisco, who said he is out there fighting for me, which really made me feel good too.”
The rally was sponsored by the New Jersey Firearms Owners Syndicate and conservative activist Scott Presler’s Early Vote Action.
More than 200 people signed petitions to show their support for Adamiak, who has 17 more years to serve of his 20-year federal prison sentence.
Attorney Joe LoPorto, Director of Legal Operations for the New Jersey Firearms Owners Syndicate, helped organize the event, which precisely met his group’s foundational goals. The New Jersey nonprofit was “founded to protect the civil liberties and Second Amendment rights of New Jersey residents through public advocacy, research, and impact litigation.”
“I have been following this case through all of your coverage for the past year, but sitting with Tate’s father really put it into perspective in terms of how egregious this case is and how horrible its outcome has been for this family,” LoPorto said Monday morning. “We as an organization decided to take this up because Tate is a resident of New Jersey, and it’s clear to me that this is a critical project that has to be completed.”
The 200 signatures his group received, LoPorto said, are merely a start.
“We’re not stopping. We want thousands of signatures,” he said. “We are going to deliver them to the White House.”
His group’s next event to help Adamiak by gathering more signatures will be held July 12 in Easton, Pennsylvania at Heritage Guild gun shop.
On Monday morning, Tate’s father Dave Adamiak was figuring out how to thank all of the organizers and attendees. He was still extremely excited about the event.
“It went incredibly well. We got hundreds of signatures,” Dave Adamiak said. “Tate is doing pretty well. He is pumped, really psyched. He really feels events like this will bring some good momentum. They want him to sit quietly in a corner for 20 years, but they don’t know the type of person he is. He is going to keep fighting like his idol, President Donald Trump.”
John Petrolino, a Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms board member and author, said that Adamiak’s mistreatment is a “gross injustice.”
“It shows that a weaponized ATF is dangerous and real,” Petrolino said. “This isn’t us being Chicken Little. This is proof positive that the ATF and the federal government conspires against average Americans. This young man should be celebrated as a hero, not thrown away for the rest of his life.”
To be clear, nothing the ATF found in Adamiak’s home during a search warrant was illegal, but that didn’t matter. During his trial, the ATF’s false testimony turned toys into machineguns and gun parts into actual firearms.
Adamiak’s appeal is scheduled for September. President Trump and Pardon Czar Alice Marie Johnson may be his last hope for justice, because unless some actions are taken, the ATF and prosecutors will likely victimize Adamiak one last time with more false testimony and rule breaking.
Despite the odds, Adamiak remains hopeful.
Said Adamiak: “When you’re in prison you have no voice, so this feels great. I am blocked from all links to life. I feel great getting some notoriety, because through everyone else’s voice, mine will be heard.”
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