More on “LTC” Royston Potter and polygamy

| April 24, 2013

Following up on yesterday, I have some more info to share on “LTC Royston Potter”. If you haven’t read that post, start there.

According to his Youtube page:

I am a former US Army LTC of 28 years. I served in various Military Police and Military Intelligence positions around the globe. I was also a municipal police officer for about 3 years. I bring my unique experience, training, education, and spiritual insights to bear in analyzing important issues and trends in the U.S. and the world.

When I told him I would be filing a FOIA, he immediately played the standard card that we wouldn’t find anything without his SSN [I have that now too], and that we would need that because:

You do if you want to find me at DOD, which is where you will have to go. You will not find me at NPRC, for a VERY good reason, and it is not that I did not have 28 years. Have fun!

Yes, I’m sure there is a very good reason. Nonetheless, we already filed the FOIA.

There is no Royston Potter in AKO. Additionally, as I said yesterday:

Is he the same dude as this guy who was fired from the police for polygamy? Who knows.

I spent the bulk of yesterday working with Nicki and Hondo looking into that aspect. The reason for that is because we know that the Polygamy thing would have come smack dab in the middle of his military career. This would make his claim even more dubious of course. So I went to my JAG Off. friend.

Convicted by a civilian jurisdiction? Normally you would expect that to result in separation under AR 635-200, chapter 14 I think.

So let’s backtrack and see what I have on that.

On April 30, 1985 the Tenth Circuit ruled in the case of Royston E. POTTER v. MURRAY CITY. Like our video diarist, this Rosyton Palmer was also a police officer.

In this suit the plaintiff-appellant Royston E. Potter (plaintiff) challenges Utah’s proscription against polygamy or plural marriage.1 His principal claim is that the termination of his employment as a city police officer for the practice of plural marriage violated his rights to the free exercise of his religion and his right to privacy. On cross-motions for summary judgment, the district court ruled in favor of defendants, explaining its reasoning in a scholarly opinion. Potter v. Murray City, 585 F.Supp. 1126 (D.Utah 1984). Plaintiff appeals.

Plaintiff is a former police officer of Murray City, Utah. The City terminated plaintiff’s employment after it was learned that he practiced plural marriage. The basis for the discharge was that by his plural marriage plaintiff failed to support, obey and defend Article III of the Constitution of the State of Utah.

Now, is it the same guy? For three different reasons, I believe it is.

As noted yesteday, Youtube Royston made video effluvient mascarading as a movie about Jesus’ brother or somesuch nonsense entitled “The Crimson Thread.” It’s on his Youtube. It is based on his equally wretched book. I found a book review from Jeffrey Needle of the “Association for Mormon Letters” who confirms it is the same guy:

1982. Everyone was talking about Royston Potter. A police officer in the Murray, Utah police department, he was fired when it was discovered he was living “the Principle” — plural marriage. Potter did all he could to fight the decision, but eventually lost as the courts upheld the right of the police department to dismiss him for bigamy.

I first met Roy about 15 years ago. It was a gala birthday party for notorious polygamist Ogden Kraut. The party was held at Roy’s home. I spent a glorious afternoon among those evil polygs — and learned very quickly that I liked them very much! When Ogden passed away a few years ago, I knew I’d lost a good friend. Roy remains very much alive, and very busy at the task of producing a literature that I believe will make an enormous impact on the way we think of religion, God and Jesus.

Indeed, Roy has journeyed quite a way from his roots. His biography has him born a Jehovah’s Witness, a subsequent conversion to Catholicism, and then his journey to Mormonism. When I saw Roy last August, I was amazed at how much he has accomplished in the past ten years.

The current volume, “The Crimson Thread,” has an intriguing sub-title: “The Struggle To Become Jesus During The Revolt Against Rome.” This will come as a surprise to many: why did Jesus, the pre-existent Jehovah, need to *become* Jesus in his mortality? Potter takes the reader off into the intellectual, historical and imaginative world of the young Jesus. And he adds a fascinating twist: what if Jesus had a twin brother?

Now, not that Royston Potter is not a rare enough name, but what about the middle name of “E”. Well, Youtube Diarist Potter helpfully links to his video production company, located at this link. (Based exclusively on his movie, if you hire this guy, you deserve to be kicked in the nuts, super hard.) If you look down on that site, you will come to “LTC Royston Potter”‘s email address:

Royston Potter is available for interviews and other engagements. Please email him at rep4301@netscape.net […] He now resides in Evanston, Wyoming.

The REP portion is presumably his initials. So, I think we can rest on that one.

Hondo did a search of that name with Evanston, and it came back thusly:
Royston

(NOTE: Murray City, where the defendant in the case was from is located in Salt Lake County Utah, where the search indicates that the Royston E. Potter of LTC fame is from.)

Now, here is a picture of the groom and his (then) two lovely brides captioned “SALT LAKE CITY: Royston Potter and his two wives, Denise (left) and Joanne, taken on the day of the second wedding April 26, 1983:

Royston2

[Picture used under Fair Use.]

Now, note that at the time of the picture, he had 2 wives, neither named “Mary” which is what is listed in the search above. Fear not intrepid reader, for People.com is here to save us:

Meanwhile, Roy’s unusually extended family has drawn even closer together during the crisis. His wives, who call him “the patriarch,” have taken jobs—Denise, 30, as a waitress, Joanne, 31, as an inventory control specialist, and Mary, 26, as a secretary. All praise their family situation and the way they are raising their children…

Roy married Mary last May. Originally the three women lived in separate residences, with Roy shuttling among them. Now, with money tight, Mary has moved into the three-bedroom main house with Denise, while Joanne lives in a nearby apartment. The house is sparsely furnished, the living room dominated by a picture of Jesus praying. The entire family gets together for Sunday dinners.

Per this article dated November 28, 1983, Roy was 30 at the time. (Presumably born in 1953*, which matches the search above.) Mary was 4 years younger, which again matches the search.

*[DOB confirmed as 7/22/1953]

Here is the picture of his face, matched against a picture from his website:

Royston 3

Looks like same dude to me, what do you think?

Now, why is this important at all?

Crazy people are a dime a dozen, I get that. But crazy people who have amassed in excess of 500,000 page views on a Youtube video discussing how the Federal Gov’t, and especially our Special Operations Brothers killed innocent people and then framed two innocent Chechans deserves attention. Even that wouldn’t be worthy, except, as you note here on this video with 385,484 views, he is being billed as “A retired Lieutenant Colonel in the Army.” He’s a primary source for the lunatics at both Veterans Today, and Infowars.

Now, is it possible he was still in the Army despite having been fired from his law enforcement gig in Utah? I suppose if no one in the Army noticed, but this case went up to the Supreme Court before they denied it a hearing. Someone had to have seen it. Besides, how was he both a cop and in the military full time. I guess he could be a reservist or Guardsman, but that suffers the same infirmity: why would he be allowed to stay in the Officers ranks with that notoriety.

And just how deep does this guy’s bullshit go? It’s hard to tell, but I wanted to show you this video of his. I personally liked this quote: “I wanted to read a little excerpt from my journal one day. I wrote it when I returned from the war….which war? Well, I’ll just leave it at that.”

Yeah, must have been a top-secret war, like his military record.

PS, your writing is wretched. I’d say do something different, but I fear it would be acting, and you suck donkey balls at that too.

BTW- His proof that he served in the military? This picture, which I kid you not is this actual size. It could be Potter, Selena Gomez, the Loch Ness Monster or Derek Jeter. Alas, it’s so damn small I don’t find it particularly conclusive.

Potter4

Category: Politics

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Ex-PH2

@48 MAJMike – Here’s something that may help you understand the fakers. There are people who love the Renaissance Faire and dress up in period costumes for it, adopt the language patterns, give themselves names like “Lord This” and “Lady That”, and even make complete suits of armor for themselves, but when the end of the day comes on Sunday, and the drum jam is over with and the Danse Macabre has wound its way to the exit gates, everyone packs up swords, armor, costumes, and personae, and goes home to the real world. There are people who are perfectly normal but dress up like Klingons or Romulans and go to Star Trek Cons once or twice a year. They all know it’s a game, they know it’s just for fun, and they get to pretend that they are whoever they cook up out of whole cloth. It’s the same thing as writing stories, except that you’re actually physically involved in it. Re-enactments are all over the place: Civil War, War of Independence, Williamsburg, all here in the US, and in the UK, people who create things like the 18th Century Club and Roman Army re-enactments, so that they can briefly return to the Days of Yore. It’s harmless fun, and they know it’s just for fun. But these self-embellishers can’t get into that mindset, for reasons known only to themselves, so they attach the role-playing to their own lives and try to pretend that they are more extra-ordinary than they actually are. Some of them are the bull-goose looneys like Dallas Wittgenfeld. And some of them do it because they can make money from it. There is a hole in their souls that simply can’t be filled, no matter what. I have yet to see that kind of emptiness with Trekkers or Rennies or Roman Army re-enactors or Civil War re-enactors. Some of the battlefield scenes in “Dances With Wolves”, for example, were done with re-enactors. They got paid to do something that they had fun doing. How cool is that? You won’t see that ‘fun’ concept connected to… Read more »

FriendofTAH

Durn, fat fingers again.

Royston Edward Potter was selected for promotion to Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army Reserves in 1996:

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ntquery/D?nomis:1:./temp/~nomisMr0qsC::

Hope it works this time.

FriendofTAH

Hondo, for comment # 49, you are absolutely correct. I am not doing my math correct nor thinking straight today. If he is entitled to being retired, he would start drawing his retirement pay in 2013 (age 60), not 2003 as I previously stated. Maybe in 2004, he had enough “points” in the USAR to get out that timeframe, that is, receive his “20 Year Letter?” As you stated, the FOIA will have it all. Am looking forward in seeing it as well.

Combat Historian

Holy shit…this guy really was an O-5?!? God help us…

FriendofTAH

Oh, dear…I just found his picture in the CGSC Class of 1991 yearbook THE BELL. He is listed as Major Royston E. Potter, Military Police. His wife’s name is Mary! He DID go to CGSC at Leavenworth!

TSO

Wow. How on earth did this guy get to stay in with the polygamy thing?

PintoNag

@56 Difference between religion and law. If you were to check his state marriage records, he probably only legally has ONE wife. What he did within/without/outside of/behind the back of his religion may be something else.

Athena

@25, The problem with polygamy is the kids involved and the welfare fraud, which WE pay for. Just like the scum bomber in Boston, he probably lives off his wife or the taxpayer.

FriendofTAH

Combat Historian,#54, yes, he was selected for O5/LTC in 1996.
When you go to this site, type in his name (Royston Potter) and hit SEARCH:

http://thomas.loc.gov/home/nomis.html

And yes, TSO, #56, he did indeed graduate from CGSC and not by the Correspondence course. And he only listed one wife: Mary. I’m as puzzled as you and everyone else on all of this.

A_Proud_Infidel

If he WAS allowed to stay in the Army while being that big of a wacko, it must have happened because of someone he “knew and blew”! That poodle turd is one that I classify as the same species as Wittgenfeld, “wackjobimus maximus stupidicus”.

Just an Old Dog

Strangely enough I can see this happening.In the Early 80s ( and I’m sure in happened in the late 70s) I remembered a there being more than a fair share of slightly off 2nd and 1st Lts. They squeaked through OCS, TBS and MOS School, then did their 2 years or so in the fleet ( getting moved from one shit billet to another). To my Surprise I’d bump into them 6-8 years later doing some type of reserve duty. I imagine if you keep a pulse and really want to stay “on the rolls” you can manage it. Chris Dorner, one of the more recent wack-jobs made it through 11 years in the reserve as an O-3. If he hadn’t put himself on the skyline he could have been a turd lurking in the Officer Pool for 20 years or so.

USMCE8Ret

I think too much time is being spent on this shit stain.

Sam Naomi

Guys,
Sorry to barge in on your tread, I just wanted to leave this message for@@ A PROUD INfdel, you wanted to know what part of the Mid-west I was from. I am from the South-West part of Iowa, 20 miles from the Missouri state line. Retired Railroad Conductor from the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, which now belongs to the Union Pacific Railroad. Get down this way your more then welcome to drop in. Jonn has my email address.
Sam

Green Thumb

I am suprised he is not the president of IVAW.

Green Thumb

Only Sprite for this clown!

Ex-PH2 in Kill Bill

He’s not smart enough to be president of IVAW.

Wait till he gets hit with the bill for LEO services rendered.

Rapture

In one of Roy Potters videos, he stated that he has 11 kids!!! Does it take a Polygamist to have that many kids!!!??? LOL Just saying, I would not want to birth that many… also he stated that he is 59 years old! I had stumbled across a video, where someone in the church scene….Mormons, I guess,…. a guy, was talking about a man named Roy being fired from the police dept. a while back, because he married 3 wives!!!! Did’nt take me long to figure it out!!! My thought was how could he serve 28 yrs. in the military, be retired, plus work about 3 yrs. in police dept.??????? also….In his video, called Loneliness, he loses a wife named Carol to cancer!!!??? In 2008…. He mentions that he created the film and donated it to Hospice???Also, he claims that he lost a daughter to a drowning in 1999….

streetsweeper

I lived in Wyoming and remember seeing him and both wives around Evanston during that time frame. Because of the local mainsteam Mormons, the one wife was “just a friend” and Denise waited tables at the local hotspot during the oilfield boom when he made the 6 o’clock news over the Murray City PD thing. Ogden Kraut (his friend) owned a 6 or 7 house “compound” located at the I-80 & Park City interchange (Summit County,Ut). IIRC.

streetsweeper

PS- I’ll see if I can locate a former liberal friend that was an EPD detective. Him and old Roy here butted heads a few times. I always my friend was a bit of a loon until talking to Potter one fine afternoon. I never did mention being an MP to him either, that’s how bat shit crazy I sensed he is.

streetsweeper

*always thought* my friend was..sowwy

Hondo

FriendofTAH: could you scan and send a copy of that “Bell” page to Jonn (see “Contact Us” button at top of page for address) and ask him to forward same to TSO and/or myself? I don’t think CGSC puts their yearbooks on-line, and I for one would like to have a look at that – and I don’t have ready access to historical hardcopies of “The Bell”.

Jonn Lilyea

Someone sent us a copy of that stuff from CGSC yesterday and I spent it to TSO

Hondo

Jonn: thanks, didn’t know that when I made the previous comment.

Anonymous

Something doesn’t add up here. Unless he lied to the Army about how many wives he had… But if he claimed he only had one wife, and had more, he would be guilty of adultery. Something is hinky and doesn’t add up here.

EdUSMCleg

@74… They may not be able to say he was being adulterous. Unless they caught him having sex, there is no proof. So, instead, they get him for having more than one wife. Not inconceivable.

SJ

Can he get SBP for all the wives? / I can’t follow this case. My head hurts when I try to wade through it. Need a Cliff notes on it.

Nicki

Oh, ferpetessake! @74 is me. Forgot I cleared my cache yesterday.

Nicki

@75

I would think it would be easy to prove adultery if one or more of his kids were born to other women during the time that he was in the military and married to the one he listed. I have no idea. The whole thing is weird.

Hondo

Well, it looks like Mary – his wife in 1991 – got tired of his act a decade later:

http://www.utahsright.com/divorceprofile.php?id=1769340

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