Latest / Booker Scott: Truth Be Told / 2A Infringed: Dexter Taylor from a New York prison

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2A Infringed: Dexter Taylor from a New York prison · Booker Scott: Truth Be Told

• 0:06
  Speaker 1: You know seldom am I permitted to speak at Thanksgiving
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: or Christmas holidays.
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: You know why? Because I love talking about politics, religion, spirituality,
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: so it's just really better for me to keep my
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: mouth shut. It's better for everyone if I keep my
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: thoughts to myself during those times. In a way, it's
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: disappointing that we're unable to respectfully share opinions anymore, but
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: that's where we are. Christmas without an abortion discussion or
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: Second Amendment rights discussion just doesn't seem the same to me. Well,
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: But of course, I'm kidding. Joking aside, those two subjects
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: bring the best and the worst out of people. The
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: abortion issue, it's been settled by giving it back to
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: the states. But when it comes to the Second Amendment,
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: some states make laws that infringe on Americans' rights to
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: bear arms. Infringe. That's an interesting word. It's in the
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: Second Amendment. And when I've asked people, what does that mean?
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: I simply get back, It means shall not be infringed,
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: which I didn't really think that we were permitted to
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: use the word to define a word, but that's really
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: all I ever get from people. When one questions waiting
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: periods for gun purchases, many say that infringes on the
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: right to own a gun. Where I may counter or
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: others may counter, it doesn't infringe or prevent you from
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: owning a gun, but only from owning a gun today
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: or tomorrow or until a background check is done. There
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: is another interesting part of the Second Amendment rights question
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: that many states have made laws around, and some feel
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: it's a huge infringement. I'm Booker Scott, and this is
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: The Truth Be Told on America Out Loud Talk Radio. Tonight,
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: it's a special program because we're going to go behind
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: prison walls to speak to a New York man who
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: has been sentenced to 10 years in prison in October
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: of 2024 for possessing guns. His name is Dexter Taylor.
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: By all accounts, he's been a law-abiding citizen his entire life.
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: He's 53 years old now. He's a smart guy. He
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: taught himself computer code. He made his living that way
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: for over 30 years. As a hobby, he made guns.
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: He bought parts from different suppliers and then would assemble
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: them in his home. None of his guns were ever
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: used in a crime of any kind. But New York
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: law prohibits people from possessing guns unless they are registered.
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: Is that infringement? Dexter Taylor's guns were not registered. They
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: are what's called ghost guns. No license, no registration. Taylor
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: claims he has all the license he needs to make
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: and possess firearms. And that license is the Second Amendment
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: to the U.S.
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: Constitutions.
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: Tonight, we welcome on the program from prison, Dexter Taylor. Dexter,
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: welcome to the program.
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: Thank you, sir. Thanks for having me.
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: Let's start with your story as we start to tell
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: this story. First of all, you had a long career
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: in IT. You're a smart guy. And as a hobby,
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: you built guns. That was your hobby, just to build
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: guns and have them in your house. And I think
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: you also had some aspirations elsewhere. to possibly make a
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: living out of this, sell guns to the army or
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: the police. Am I right on that part of the story?
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: That's correct. I mean, one of my many hobbies, I mean,
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: by the time all this, you know, happened, I had
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: a long kind of secondary career as a shade tree mechanic.
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: You know, I did all the repairs in my own building.
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: You know, I make my own furniture. I taught myself
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: how to weld. You know, I did plumbing and electrical
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: work and all this business. I was even building a
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: data center in my basement. You know, I'm a lifelong geek,
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: put it that way. So, exactly. So, in around 2020,
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: I discovered that there would be things called 80% receivers,
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: and people were buying these receivers, machining them to completion,
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: adding parts, and building firearms. And I was, of course, fascinated.
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: I've been fascinated with weapons and firearms and what have
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: you ever since I was a kid.
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: Dexter, do you own any guns? Did you own any
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: guns besides the ones that you're making? Are these the
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: first guns you had?
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: That's correct. Yeah, first firearms I ever owned. Um, so I, uh,
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: you know, I went online and, and bought legal parts
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: from various suppliers, uh, in my own name, had them
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: shipped to my own home and machine lowers to completion
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: and added parts and came up with finished firearms. Um,
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: and I was completely hooked, you know, um, once I
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: made my first one, it was like, this is amazing.
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: So yeah, I, I built maybe a five or six
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: Glock South pistols and I built eight very sexy AR rifles.
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: And yes, you're quite right. One of the things I
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: got interested in, especially when I started building rifles, was
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: the engineering problems that come along with designing and assembling
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: gas-operated and aromatic rifles. So I started trying to develop
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: theoretical frameworks and prototype products uh... and i hope would
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: kind of a launch my second career in weapon science
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: so i don't think we're going to get a cheap
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: quote or characterizing the behavior gas-operated semi-automatic rifles uh... as
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: circuit at max flow circuits that that could perhaps be
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: understood using electrical engineering metaphors uh... I came up with
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: a system called OSIRIS OpenShot Registration System. I came up
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: with a system called EMBER, Electronic Measurement of Barrel Resonance,
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: because I came to understand that barrel resonance is a
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: big problem. It's often measured using very high-speed cameras, but
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: I figured out a way to measure it using dirt-cheap
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: electronics and software. So long story short, this was my
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: new kind of My new obsession, if you will. And
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: I signed up for Rocket FFL to find out how
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: to do this stuff legally, how to go about applying
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: for an FFL. I passed a criminal background check to
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: become a member in good standing of my local gun range,
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: Westside Rifle and Pistol Range in Manhattan. And I thought
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: everything was going swimmingly until the SWAT team showed up.
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: And then we were off to the races.
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: And that changed things quite a bit in your life,
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: didn't it, at that moment? The SWAT team shows up
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: one morning, and I believe that was in 2022. Am
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: I right on that, Dexter?
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: That is correct.
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: April 6th or 6th of 2022.
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: April 2022. And as I mentioned in the monologue coming
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: into this, that.
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: New York has a law that says you have to
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: register and license guns. And your guns were not registered
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: and licensed, were they?
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: Well, I mean, this is, as I understand it, New
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: York insists that you ask the state for permission before
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: you manufacture firearms in your house. We know that New York,
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: I've known for a while that New York had so
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: much stringent carry laws. in terms of carrying weapons around publicly.
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: But of course, none of my weapons ever left the
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: threshold at my house, right? So this is something different.
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: This is saying, this is New York essentially saying that
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: before you manufacture a firearm, you have to ask the
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: state for permission. And the problem with that, of course,
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: is that if that's the case, it's no longer a right,
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: is it? Now it's a privilege. So I wasn't aware
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: of any transaction where we were just because of the,
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: the kind of geographical area we live in, in the
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: continent of the U S we've kind of given up
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: our basic rights and accepted privileges in return like that.
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: I missed that part. So, um, uh, that, but that's
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: more or less the contention, right? New York insists that,
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: that it, um, that it must... Well, New York insists
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: that the Second Amendment does not protect their rights, but
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: merely a series of privileges, that the government of New
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: York is free to extend or revoke as it chooses.
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: I think that the Second Amendment applies in all 50 states.
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: I think the Supremacy Clause in the Constitution is pretty clear.
• 9:19
  Speaker 3: And.
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: We're at odds in that sense.
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you and the state are. You and the SWAT
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: team were at odds with it too, weren't you? So
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: New York has strict laws regarding ghost guns. And again,
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: ghost guns are firearms without serial numbers. And they're often
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: assembled from kits or 3D print parts. You hear Dexter
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: say that he put them together by buying parts here
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: and there, whatever. These weapons, they're illegal in New York,
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: and possessing, selling, or manufacturing them, it says they can
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: lead to serious criminal penalties. No kidding. Dexter got 10 years.
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: That's what he's serving. The state's regulations align with federal
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: guidelines that classify unfinished frames and receivers as firearms, requiring
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: serial numbers and background checks, which is interesting. So, Dexter,
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: the SWAT team comes in there April 2022. They arrest you,
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: and there your journey starts. Did you get out of
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: jail after they arrested you, or have you been there
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: since April 2022? No, no.
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: Well, my bail was almost a quarter of a million dollars.
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: So my parents basically put their house up to get
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: me out of jail. And so I bailed out of
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: Rikers about 10 days after the initial arrest. And by
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: that time, I had already found a lawyer. You know,
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: my ex-wife had found a lawyer for me. And we
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: were already, you know, discussing strategy and things like that.
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: So I was at liberty at that time. I would
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: just like to add that... The federal law, I'm not
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: sure about what may have been enacted during Biden's term.
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: This was after I was I was rated. But I
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: do know that according to the federal government, it is
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: not required to serialize. Serializing a weapon is not required
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: unless you have made that weapon. for the purpose of
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: transferring it or selling it or otherwise moving it around.
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: In other words, for commercial purposes. But that's the thing.
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: I didn't make any of my weapons for commercial purposes.
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: I didn't sell or transfer or even lend any of
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: my weapons to anyone. And the state of New York
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: knows I didn't because they submitted my email. They seized
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: my devices. They looked at my phone records and so
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: on and so forth. So they know that I wasn't...
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: that I wasn't doing anything like that. And by the way,
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: the ATF was also in my house on the day
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: of the raid. And they looked around and said, well,
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: I'm going to be here. Goodbye. The ATF looked around
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: and said, nothing to see here. We haven't heard from
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: them since. So this is all New York State. I
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: didn't get any federal charges.
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: And we are talking to Dexter Taylor. You heard there
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: the recording that said you have one minute left. Dexter,
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: are you going to need to leave or... Are we
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: going to be able to continue this conversation?
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: Any one phone call is capped at 30 minutes, but
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: I can just drop and come back. So that's all
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: there is to know. I'll drop the call and reconnect,
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: and I'll talk to you in a second.
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: Okay. It sounds good. That is part of it. If
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: you've listened to this program very much, you know that
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: from time to time that I have had people from
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: inside prison that have had phone calls with me, and
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: we've had Jake Lang from the D.C. Gulag several times,
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: and we went through this at that time. So right
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: now I am talking and filibustering until Dexter calls me back.
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: I want to get into this federal gun law, though.
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: He brought it up. I brought it up as well
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: with the New York law. Federal gun laws require licensing
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: for certain activities involving firearms, but as Dexter just said,
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: not for individual ownership or concealed carry in general. Federal
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: law requires licensing for those involved in the business of manufacturing,
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: and that's what Dexter just said. Importing or dealing firearms
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: is what that deals with. Individuals are known as federal
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: firearms licensees, and that's what Dexter was talking about. He
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: is not that. He is someone that is doing this
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: for a hobby at this point, And again, additional federal
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: guidelines say there are restrictions on who can possess a firearm,
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: such as convicted felons, which we probably all know that,
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: and those adjudicated as mentally defective. Now, here's some key
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: aspects of federal gun laws and licensing. A license is
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: required for businesses that manufacture guns. import, or deal firearms,
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: and this license is obtained through the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: and Firearms, the ATF. Prohibited persons. Federal law prohibits certain
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: categories of individuals from possessing firearms, including convicted felons, fugitives,
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: those under indictment for felonies, unlawful users of controlled substances,
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: individuals adjudicated as mentally defective or committed to mental institutions,
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: illegal aliens, those dishonorably discharged from the military, individuals who
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: have announced their citizenships, and those subject to certain domestic
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: violence restraining orders. And of course, there are also age
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: restrictions when it comes to guns. You can own a
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: long gun at 18, but for a pistol, you have
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: to be 21. So there are some infringements put on
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: the gun owners by the federal law's But the Second Amendment,
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: as Dexter says, is his license to carry. Again, Dexter,
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: he was making guns as a hobby. He had, I
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: forget how many. When he gets back on the phone,
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: we'll find out. He had, I think, seven or eight
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: AR type of guns. And then he had seven or
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: eight Glock-style pistols. And I believe Dexter is back now. Dexter,
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: are you back with us?
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: Yes, sir.
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: Okay, so I kind of went through the federal law there, so...
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: Let's get back into your story. You're making these guns
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: for a hobby. They're not being used anywhere. You're not
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: selling them, and nobody committed a crime with any of them.
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: The SWAT team comes in. They pick you up. They
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: take you to jail. That happens in April 22. You
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: go to court. When was your court? I know that
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: you were, I guess, sentenced in October of 24. When
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: was your trial?
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: My trial was in the early part of 2024. I
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: think we started around March or thereabouts. And yeah, we
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: lost the trial. The jury came back with a guilty verdict.
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: And the moment the guilty verdict was rendered, I was
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: taken into custody. I wasn't given a chance to post
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: bail pending sentencing. And so I was incarcerated from the
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: moment of conviction until I was sentenced, shortly after which
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: I was sent upstate.
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: And you were sentenced to 10 years. Is that correct? Okay,
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: so that's where you are now. Were you offered a
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: deal at all? Were you offered a plea deal prior
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: to your trial?
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: I was offered a few plea deals prior to my trial,
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: and I turned.
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: All of them down. Tell me why. Tell me what
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: the best deal they offered you was. What was that
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: best deal?
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: The best deal was an informal deal that my lawyer
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: and people in the prosecutor's office had been discussing. And
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: he let me know about, which is three and a
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: half years. Um, they started with, with offering me at
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: the time we were looking at something like 18 years.
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: He did the math on the charges they had, they had, uh, offered.
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: They had preferred. Um, so, uh, you know, they offered
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: me eight years and I said, no, um, they offered
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: five years and I said, Of course, I said no. And,
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: you know, the three and a half years, you know,
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: my lawyer came back and said, hey, they're talking about
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: a three and a half year thing, this and that.
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: I said, well, no to that as well. I mean,
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: I told my lawyer when he and one of his
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: partners came to visit me in Rikers before I bailed out.
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: One of the things I told him first off was
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: I'm not accepting any plea deals. Not at all. Not ever.
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: So he knew what the deal was. And he was
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: he was on the side with that.
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: We're listening to Dexter Taylor from inside a prison in
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: New York where he was convicted of making guns, possessing guns,
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: ghost guns that were not registered or licensed. He says
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: his license is the Second Amendment. Maybe you agree with Dexter.
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: Dexter had plea deals. He did not take them. You
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: just heard there he could have gotten three and a
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: half years. He ended up with 10. We're going to
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: continue this conversation in just a minute. I have some
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: questions about those plea deals. And if he has any
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: regret now, still sitting in a prison in New York,
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: having this phone call with me that you're listening to tonight.
• 18:41
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• 18:44
  Speaker 4: because it brings a grain and a little bit of money.
• 18:48
  Speaker 4: We put it back in the plate. I guess that's
• 18:50
  Speaker 4: why they call it God's country.
• 18:55
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• 19:01
  Speaker 3: be as high as 70% Chinese-based sellers. How much money
• 19:04
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• 19:39
  Speaker 2: Someone asked me the other day, how do you even
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: get a sense of what's going to happen next? It's hard.
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: I don't know that we can, the way the news
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: moves so fast. But you know what I told him?
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: Them?
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: I said, I've been checking out PolyMarket a little bit.
• 19:54
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  Speaker 2: pulse on what the public actually believes. And you can
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: see trends before they even happen and before they even
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: make the mainstream news. For me, it's not about gambling.
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: It's about understanding the probabilities and where the momentum is shifting.
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: If you like or love the news like I do,
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: maybe you're a news junkie, but you want to take
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: a little deeper look at what people really think, go
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: to Polymarket. It's a fascinating tool. Polymarket.com. We have a
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: special guest, Dexter Taylor. He's sitting in prison in New York.
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: We're getting through this with this phone call from this
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: prison in New York. Dexter, I'm so glad you're here.
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: And I do want to follow up with the plea deal,
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: because I believe if it were me, with the opportunity
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: to have three and a half years, when I could
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: be looking at, what, 15, 18 years as a possibility?
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: Is that what you were looking at?
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: Yes, sir. 18 years was, if you did the math
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: on the charges, that's what we were looking at.
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: So if I'm sitting there and they said, okay, well,
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: you could get 18 years in prison, or here's a
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: deal for three and a half years. And by that time,
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: you probably have been in jail a little bit. There
• 21:36
  Speaker 2: might be some time served. And three and a half
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: years isn't long. It's not terrible. But you denied that.
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: And just before the break, you said that you told
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: your attorney, I'm not taking any deal. Where did that
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: conviction come from? why are you so convicted to, to
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: go to prison, go to trial, go to prison for
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: 10 years when you could have had three and a half?
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: Well, uh, that's a good question. I mean, uh, you know,
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: I mean, first off, um, first off, you know, part
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: of my backstory that we didn't talk about is that
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: I've been, I've been, um, I've been a conservative for, um, Well,
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: since about 20, maybe 2010 or thereabouts, I started doing
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: conservative podcasting online about maybe 2015, 2016. And so this
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: is something that I thought a lot about. I used
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: to be on the left. I used to be on
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: board with so-called gun control until I found out what
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: the origin of gun control was. And then I realized, hey,
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: this is not righteous. And so I understood and I
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: still understand that the Constitution is the law of the land.
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: And It applies or is supposed to apply in all
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: 50 states. The states get to make their own laws,
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: but those laws are not allowed to contravene the Constitution.
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: The states also, by the way, get to make laws
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: and enforce laws governing public carry of weapons. And the
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: Supreme Court has spoken on that. Yes, state permitting laws
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: within limits are valid and are constitutional. But this wasn't
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: a case of me carrying weapons around. This wasn't a
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: case of the police stopping my car and finding weapons
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: in my car or on my person. This was my home.
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: And so to me, the question was very stark. The
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: question posed by New York State's actions against me was
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: very stark. Does the Second Amendment protect the right to
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: keep in their arms privately, quietly, peaceably in your own
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: home as a law abiding citizen. And what I thought then,
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: and what I think now is that if the second
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: amendment doesn't protect at least that right, then it's a
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: dead letter. Public carry is a separate question, but if
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: you can't, if you don't have the right to keep
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: arms in your house, then we might as well pack
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: it up and go home. That's the first thing. The
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: second reason is that, you know, I raised my daughter,
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: I have a teenage daughter, um, And I raised my daughter, um, with, well,
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: with my values, I raised her to be conservative like me.
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: And I raised her to, to, to love her country
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: with her eyes open. You know, I raised her to, um, well,
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: you know, to embody the principle of gratitude first, which
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: I think is a fundamental conservative principle. Um, I raised
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: her to, to, to know about these things, to know
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: about the civics behind, uh, things like the second amendment,
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: what have you. And, and, and, um, it's go home
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: and look my daughter in the face and say, well, yes,
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: I know I taught you all these things, but you know,
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: I decided to, I decided to, uh, um, to change
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: my mind. Yeah. and to confess to being a criminal
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: because standing my ground was inconvenient. You understand what I'm saying?
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: It just, it doesn't stand. I mean, my daughter, you know,
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: when I bailed out of Rikers that first time after
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: the initial arrest, you know, one of the things, the
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: first things I did after I got home was I
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: went to my ex-wife's place, picked up my daughter, and
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: we had a long walk. And I told her everything. And,
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: you know, my daughter told me she was proud of me.
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: She said, Papa, I'm proud of you for fighting these people.
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: So the New York state isn't going to, you know,
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: show me, uh, you know, dangle a sentence in front
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: of me. Okay. And, um, and scare me. It's not
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: on the table. It's not in the cards. The answer
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: is no. Right. Um, Again, this is very simple. Our
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: founding document says that we have certain rights that adhere
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: to us as human beings. They don't come from the state, right?
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: The Second Amendment, just like the other amendments, do not
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: confer these rights on us. We already have them. The
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: special thing about this body of law is that unlike
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: most laws that tell the citizen what he may or
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: may not do, this body of law tells the state
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: what it may or may not do. And it says
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: the state may not infringe on or that the state
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: may not interfere with the enjoyment of these rights which
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: we already have. And that to me is very simple.
• 27:05
  Speaker 2: I want to go back to something you said. just
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: a second ago when I asked you the question about,
• 27:10
  Speaker 2: you know, why wouldn't you take three and a half years?
• 27:14
  Speaker 2: And then you went in to explain that you have
• 27:17
  Speaker 2: this daughter that you have taught your values to.
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: And I.
• 27:23
  Speaker 2: Don't think many people would do what you did, which
• 27:27
  Speaker 2: is you faced a trial because you knew you had
• 27:31
  Speaker 2: eyes that were looking at you of a child that
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: you had raised to be a certain way And at
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: all costs, even if it costs you potentially another 14
• 27:41
  Speaker 2: or 15 years in prison, you were going to go
• 27:44
  Speaker 2: through what you went through to show that daughter that
• 27:48
  Speaker 2: this is what you do when the government oversteps their bounds.
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: Yes, sir. Yes, sir. This is, you know, this is... Yes,
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: it was and is.
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: Important for me, uh, to show my daughter, um, well,
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: to make her understand what, what a man is, what
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: a man is supposed to be. Right. Interesting. Um, and,
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: and that we're, and that we're supposed to stand up
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: for certain things and protect certain things, um, at all costs,
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: at all costs. Right. That's basic.
• 28:32
  Speaker 2: That's called honor, Dexter. That's called honor, and not many
• 28:36
  Speaker 2: people have that anymore. If more people had honor, then
• 28:40
  Speaker 2: this country wouldn't be where we are. Is it worth it?
• 28:44
  Speaker 2: Was it worth it? When you heard her say those words, Papa,
• 28:48
  Speaker 2: I'm proud of you, after you just came out of Rikers,
• 28:53
  Speaker 2: does it make it all worth it for you?
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: I would say... Okay, the audio quality is really going
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: away right now. We're going to see if this clears
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: up because I want to hear what Dexter has to
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: say here. I know where he was going, and I
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: want to hear him say this, but.
• 29:27
  Speaker 2: As you are listening to this, you know that the
• 29:30
  Speaker 2: audio quality hasn't been spectacular, but it comes and goes,
• 29:34
  Speaker 2: and let's see if we can get him back in
• 29:35
  Speaker 2: here now. He happens to be in a cell block
• 29:38
  Speaker 2: in a prison, so it's not the greatest setup that
• 29:42
  Speaker 2: we have here, but we're trying to bring you this story.
• 29:44
  Speaker 2: Go ahead, Dexter. I'm sorry for interrupting you. It sounds
• 29:46
  Speaker 2: better now.
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: That's all right. That's all right. Yeah, I just repositioned
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: the tablet. Yeah, so we were talking about.
• 29:57
  Speaker 2: About how your daughter... Sorry, I won't... About... Was it
• 30:00
  Speaker 2: worth it to you? Your daughter said, I'm proud of you, Pop.
• 30:03
  Speaker 2: Was it worth it? You could have been out in
• 30:04
  Speaker 2: three and a half years.
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: So I'd say this. One, I wouldn't change anything. I
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: wouldn't change anything I did. I wouldn't change my flat
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: refusal to take any plea deal whatsoever. But the question
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: of is it worth it is a little bit different.
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: In other words, I think this will have been worth
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: it if it results in New York being compelled to
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: obey the law of the land. In other words, I've
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: said this before when I've done interviews and podcasts and
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: so on and so forth, it's only really worth it
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: if it's not only about me. In other words, it's
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: not worth missing Christmas with my daughter. It's not worth
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: not being able to go on walks with her and
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: so on and so forth and hang out with her
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: in my recording studio. It's not worth any of that unless,
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: unless it's about something bigger than me. Okay. So would
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: I change anything? No, absolutely not. okay? But it's worth
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: it if this type leads to a fundamental change in
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: how New York chooses to create and enforce laws.
• 31:26
  Speaker 2: Let's talk about that, Dexter. I want to get into
• 31:28
  Speaker 2: that because I'm sure that you're going to appeal this trial.
• 31:33
  Speaker 2: You're going to try to probably take this all the
• 31:36
  Speaker 2: way to the Supreme Court because taking it to the
• 31:38
  Speaker 2: Supreme Court could ultimately change New York's laws, which is
• 31:42
  Speaker 2: what Really, it sounds like you are after here.
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: Yes, sir. You know, the good news is that in
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: terms of American jurisprudence, and particularly Second Amendment jurisprudence, the
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: good news about my case or around my case is
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: that we have, is that a new test has been established, right?
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: So when I say test, what do I mean? Well,
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: you said before we've agreed that states get to make
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: their own laws. But those laws must not contravene the
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: Constitution or the Bill of Rights. The Constitution is supreme.
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: All judges are bound by it. That's the Supremacy Clause. Okay. Now,
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: in the past... The various states of the union were
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: allowed to use a kind of what's sometimes called an
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: interest balancing test to determine whether a law, a gun law,
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: would be allowed to stand. Well, yes, we know this
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: law violates the Second Amendment, but we have a big
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: crime problem. Yes, we know this law takes away people's
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: rights or violates people's rights. But there's, you know, someone
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: got robbed at gunpoint last week and we're trying to
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: do this thing. OK, that interest balancing test has been
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: done away with. That's gone now, thanks to the Bruin
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: decision rendered by the Supreme Court of the United States.
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: I think this was in 2022. I'm not mistaken. And
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: the Bruin decision says a lot of things that the
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: proper test for whether a state gun law or gun
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: laws must stand or fall is a very simple one. A,
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: does this law comport with the plain text of the
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: Second Amendment? And two, does it conform to the history
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: and tradition of the United States? And that's a very
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: interesting test for us, right? Because it's very obvious that
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: for a state to say that a person is a
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: felon merely for manufacturing a firearm in his home, for
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: nothing a firearm in his home, that is an obvious
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: violation of the plain text of the Second Amendment. And
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: you can see also right away that it's beyond ridiculous
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: to think that we have a history in this country
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: of saying that a person is a felon for manufacturing
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: a weapon in his house. From the founding of this republic,
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: maybe even some years before that, most or all American
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: firearms were created, were manufactured in American homes. And that's why,
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: by the way, I don't call them ghost guns. I
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: call them traditional guns because that's what they are. They're
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: manufactured in the traditional American way inside someone's home.
• 34:37
  Speaker 2: That's a great point. Tell us about your court case.
• 34:40
  Speaker 2: When will you appeal this? And again, sorry for the audio.
• 34:46
  Speaker 2: As you know by now, we are having this discussion
• 34:48
  Speaker 2: with Dexter Taylor. He is in a prison in New York,
• 34:52
  Speaker 2: and he's been nice enough to come on the program.
• 34:54
  Speaker 2: We're almost finished with this. We're coming up on a
• 34:56
  Speaker 2: break here in a few minutes. But I want to
• 34:58
  Speaker 2: get from Dexter about your court case. Where is it now?
• 35:02
  Speaker 2: Where is the appeal? And when do you hope to
• 35:05
  Speaker 2: get to the Supreme Court with this?
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: My legal system has already generated the appeal. Now we
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: have to file it. Filing it, like everything else in
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: this process, costs money. So we've been boosting our fundraising
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: efforts in the last few weeks to raise enough money
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: to actually file the appeal. Um, once we file that appeal, it's,
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: it's mostly a process of part of it away because
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: of course, first we have to go through all the
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: appeals courts in the state of New York in which
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: we probably won't get any second amendment relief. Okay. Right. Um,
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: and then, and then end up in the federal court
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: system where we may get some relief, but may have
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: to go to the Supreme court. Um, I will add
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: that we might get some, uh, relief in state or
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: state appeals courts, uh, based on kind of the, uh, Well,
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: the numerous irregularities in my trial, let's put it that way.
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: We might get some relief on that basis, but not
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: on the 2A basis. So that's the legal strategy. Our
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: political strategy is just to keep making more and more
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: noise about this, to keep alerting more and more people
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: to what's happening, and eventually become a big enough political
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: embarrassment that we might get some relief in some other way.
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: For example, the DOJ taking New York State to court,
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: which would be which would be peachy, in my opinion.
• 36:32
  Speaker 2: Well, you said you need some help on trying to
• 36:35
  Speaker 2: get some money to get these appeals filed. Would you
• 36:38
  Speaker 2: tell people where they can go to help you on that?
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: Sure. My hit and go, I think the name of
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: the hit and go is called Dexter Taylor Two-Way Legal.
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: Dexter underscore Taylor underscore Two-Way underscore Legal. If you're on Twitter...
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: There is a, you know, my Twitter ID is future
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: radio cast. And on my Twitter page, there's a link
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: to the gifts that go. Uh, I have a link
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: tree that's called, uh, I believe the name of this
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: carbon mic. People use link tree. They can, they can
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: search for that. Um, it should be a picture of
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: me on the link tree or a picture of my insignia,
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: my microphone insignia. Um, because again, that's when I did the,
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: you know, uh, conservative media as carbon mic. And, um,
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: there should be a link to the gifts and go, uh,
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: entry as well.
• 37:39
  Speaker 2: Well, Dexter, thank you so much for doing this. I
• 37:42
  Speaker 2: appreciate you coming on the program. We wish you well.
• 37:45
  Speaker 2: You said your mom likes to listen to conservative right-side
• 37:49
  Speaker 2: broadcast and programs, so I hope you get this to
• 37:52
  Speaker 2: her and let her listen to you on here. But, Dexter,
• 37:55
  Speaker 2: thank you so much. Hang in there. Good luck with
• 37:57
  Speaker 2: the appeals, and hopefully for the sake of you and
• 38:00
  Speaker 2: your daughter, you get some relief and you get back
• 38:03
  Speaker 2: home and you can watch her grow and have Christmas
• 38:06
  Speaker 2: with her.
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: Thank you, sir. I really appreciate it. Take care.
• 38:10
  Speaker 2: There is only one truth. You've been listening to The
• 38:14
  Speaker 2: Truth Be Told with Booker Scott on America Out Loud.