Bryan Dawson mugshot (left); as 1819 publisher
The head of 1819 News, the right-wing website that published stories leading to the suicide of small-town Alabama mayor Fred "Bubba" Copeland, once was sentenced to 384 years behind bars in Colorado for a series of crimes that included helping Mexican drug cartels flood America's streets with cocaine, according to a report today at donaldwatkins.com.
Kenneth Bryan Dawson, CEO, president, and publisher of 1819 News, signed off on a series of stories about Copeland's cross-dressing lifestyle, which left the mayor so distraught that he took his own life with a self-inflicted gunshot. Dawson served only 16 years of his 384-year sentence, and somehow found his way to Alabama and hooked up with the conservative Alabama Policy Institute (API), which was co-founded by current U.S. Rep. Gary Palmer (R-AL) and Tom Parker, chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court. Palmer briefly had his hat in the ring to become speaker of the U.S. House before that post went to Mike Johnson (R-LA).
How much mayhem did Dawson create in the towns and cities of Colorado, with the fallout of his drug dealing and thievery likely spilling into other states? Watkins provides details:
By his own admission, 1819 News president, CEO, and publisher Kenneth Bryan Dawson reduced his potential prison sentence in 2008 from 384 years to 12 years. Dawson is a convicted cocaine drug dealer, motor vehicle thief, and attempted murderer in Colorado. Court records confirm Dawson's extensive criminal history.
Dawson was a “shot caller” in prison. He reportedly declared his allegiance to the “white car” at his various prison locations, and he eventually became one of its leaders. The “white car” is an inmate description for a White supremacist group within the general population.
As “shot caller,” Dawson ordered the beatings of other inmates and participated in some of these beatings himself. Dawson has publicly confessed to his prison violence.
The Colorado Department of Corrections punished Dawson for his violent behavior by placing him in the “Hole” for several months. The “Hole” is administrative segregation, which means Dawson was removed from the general inmate population and placed in an isolated detention cell.
In contrast to Bryan Dawson’s couple of months in the “Hole” for prison violence, I spent one year in the “Hole.” However, my punishment had nothing to do with any violent behavior on my part. I was punished for writing news articles for my website, even though prison rules allowed it.
My ordeal in the “Hole” began with the April 28, 2020, publication of an article dealing with Mack Smith (Reg. No. 59923-019), an elderly White inmate in my dormitory who contracted COVID-19 at the Talladega Federal Prison Camp. My roommate and I desperately tried to get Mr. Smith the medical help he needed. Prison officials ignored our repeated requests to send Smith to a hospital. Smith later died from complications related to his non-stop coughing, shortness of breath, profuse sweating, and fatigue.
After multiple stays in the “Hole,” prisons officials realized they could not “break” me or stop the publication of my news articles. They eventually released me from the “Hole” for the last time in February 2022.
Bryan Dawson found God in prison. In contrast, God accompanied me to prison, stayed by my side the entire 3 years I was incarcerated, and heaped plenty of His blessings upon me after my release in August 2022.
The gist of Dawson's crime spree, Watkins reports, was this: Dawson Traded Stolen Motor Vehicles to the Mexican Cartels for Illegal Drugs. Here are specifics, and they are grim:
Bryan Dawson stole ATVs and motorcycles for Mexican Drug Cartels in exchange for a steady supply of cocaine. Dawson helped the Cartels flood the United States with cocaine that crossed the Southern border. His stolen ATVs and motrocycles helped Cartel members evade a cocaine supply chain disruption and capture by Border Patrol and DEA agents.
This is how Dawson explained his drug dealing with the Cartels:
“What that looked like was we would steal 4 wheelers and motorcycles and give them to Mexicans that would take them back across the border, and they would pay me in drugs. I was supposedly the ringleader of that whole thing. I don't know how true that was, but that's the way it was in the cop's eyes. They busted one of the houses that had the motorcycles, and they pressured the guy who lived there and he said that I was running all these rings.”
Is there any sign in the statement that Dawson took responsibility for the offenses? I see no sign of it; he seems to lay it all off on other people. No wonder this guy became a Trump supporter when he landed in Alabama. Before leaving Colorado, Dawson went off on a trail of bloody and vicious violence. Watkins explains:
After Dawson was busted for trying to kill the police informant who snitched on him and "outed" his illegal "stolen ATVs & motorcycles-for-cocaine" operation to law-enforcement officers, Dawson was facing 384 years in prison. He pleaded guilty to an assault charge and received a 12-year sentence.
I will tell you why Dawson was able to go from 384 years in prison to a 12-year sentence in an upcoming article. [Hint: It had nothing to do with great lawyering.]
After landing in Alabama, Dawson made connections with the Alabama Policy Institute (API), a conservative "think tank." After Copeland's suicide -- and now that Dawson's criminal record has been made public -- API seems to be in a rush to cut ties with Dawson and his news outfit. API issued a statement to AL.com late last week, which turned into a story yesterday (11/13/23) under the headline "Alabama Policy Institute, 1819 News have ‘no legal, editorial, or financial affiliation,’ think tank says." The article includes this from reporter Howard Koplowitz:
“In response to erroneous reporting by several national publications, the Alabama Policy Institute (API) would like to highlight that 1819 News and API formally separated on December 31, 2022. There is no legal, editorial, or financial affiliation between the two entities,” the think tank said in a statement Friday.
AL.com’s reporting of Copeland’s suicide has stated that 1819 News is a website that was once owned by API.
The think tank launched the website in October 2021. In January, 1819 News announced its “formal independence” from API.
Jeff Poor, editor-in-chief of 1819 News, told AL.com Monday he did not have a response to API’s remarks.
It is not clear what is inaccurate about the AL.com reporting cited in the highlighted paragraph immediately above. It also is not clear what was inaccurate about national news reports, and which outlets made the alleged errors.
Watkins' research indicates the issue is not as simple as API might want it to appear -- especially now that civil liability (and maybe even criminal penalties) could become part of the matter. Writes Watkins:
After Bryan Dawson was released from prison, he relocated to a secluded part of Alabama and hooked up with the right-wing Alabama Policy Institute (API). This hookup is explained in my November 8, 2023, article titled, “Kenneth Bryan Dawson: The “Shot Caller” Who Sanctioned 1819 News’ Hit Job on Fred ‘Bubba’ Copeland.”
After this article was published, API tried to distance itself from 1819 News – at least from a public-perception standpoint. However, API’s tax return for 2021 and “dark money” contributions from API supports paint a much different story.
API's 2021 tax return, alone, shows that the organization funneled $1,077,500 to Bryan Dawson’s 1819 Media, despite Dawson's rap sheet as a cocaine drug dealer, accomplice to Mexican drug cartels, motor vehicle thefts, and history of violent criminal conduct. (See API tax document at the end of this post.)
In the wake of Fred "Bubba" Copeland’s November 3, 2023, suicide, API began a public relations/crisis management campaign to disassociate itself from Dawson and 1819 News.
Yesterday, API issued this statement:
“[T]he Alabama Policy Institute (API) would like to highlight that 1819 News and API formally separated on December 31, 2022. There is no legal, editorial, or financial affiliation between the two entities.”
Despite this disclaimer, API-related "dark money" is still flowing to Dawson's 1819 News organization.
API views Kenneth Bryan Dawson as somewhat of a hero. They view me as a troublemaker.
Coming soon -- Who are the big money donors propping up Bryan Dawson, Jeff Poor, and 1819 News, and why?
