Anthony Henry v MOA - Former Alaska National Guard Boss Katkus Testifies [UPDATED] [2nd UPDATE with Complete Brown Report]

The ADN article Tuesday about the police trial that began Monday had me confused.  The Kyle Hopkins piece Thursday added more confusion.   There was a connection to the police discrimination case of two years ago when two black officers won a  million dollars each for discrimination.  That trial included the judge making extraordinary condemnation of the APD (Anchorage Police Department).

But it also seemed to relate to the Alaska National Guard scandal that helped defeat Gov. Sean Parnell in 2014.  It took him way to long to figure out what was going on and to fire Katkus.

But who exactly was Anthony Henry, why was he fired, and what all was this trial going to reveal to the public about the APD?  The ADN reported that Henry inappropriately shared confidential information about an investigation with the Alaska National Guard.  So, was he part of the web of corruption between the APD and the Guard?  Was he tipping them off?  If so, that would seem good grounds for terminating him.

So I decided that I'd attend the trial to see if I could get a better handle on this.  I missed the first 15 minutes or so.  When I walked in a striking looking man with a shiny bald head sat in the witness chair being questioned about his career and experience.  He was being called General by the attorney. Katkus has had a similar bald pate.  But this guy seemed a much better speaker than I remembered.

Some Background 

I blogged the Alaska legislature in 2010.  At one State Affairs committee meeting I observed the confirmation hearing of Thomas Katkus to be the Adjutant General of the Alaska National Guard.  I sat behind him.  He had a completely bald head and I wasn't impressed by how he handled the session.  Lots of jargon and self importance was my impression.  Looking back at the old post, perhaps this is what turned me off somewhat.  He was talking about quitting the APD to be in the Guard full time (he was already part time), and the note I wrote in the post was "bigger, better toys." I understand that could be a joke, but he clearly meant it.  That's not a good reason in my mind. 

That post got me an email from a spouse of a former Alaska national guardsman who quit because of the corruption in the Guard with Katkus mentioned as part of the problem.

And, like everyone else, I read the newspaper stories about the guard and Sean Parnell's firing of Katkus.  Here's a post on that with lots of the details, including a link to the investigation Parnell used to justify the firing.


Back To The Trial

So it's slowly becoming clear to me that, yes, this is Katkus.  But as the plaintiff's attorney questions him, there's a lot of cognitive dissonance for me.

There were questions and answers about the relationship among the APD, the National Guard, the State Troopers, the FBI.  They all worked together to fight drugs.  It was common for them to share information.  (The argument developing, I assumed, that it was normal for Henry to share the kind of information he was fired for sharing.) There was also discussion about Posse Comitatus - a federal law that limits the army (including the Guard) from being involved in local law enforcement.  Katkus talked about how they have to be careful not to be involved in drug busts, but that they have technical equipment the APD needs and that they have a very close relationship.

Katkus during a break in the trial

The guy being questioned is coming out looking like a victim of a smear campaign by Ken Blaylock, a disgruntled National Guardsman who constantly complained about sex, guns, and drugs abused by the Alaska National Guard.  Katkus, according to this testimony took sexual harassment seriously.  But given the chain of command, those things should have been handled much lower than his level and he shouldn't have heard about it.  (I'd heard about Blaylock in the past too.  He was the guy who had been finally vindicated by all the investigations and the sacking of Katkus.  Now he was being portrayed as a crazy conspiracy theorist.)

When Henry's attorney, Ray Brown, had finished with Katkus, the Guard was now a highly efficient and well run organization.  No one had ever been convicted of any crimes.  Katkus had been a strong leader who'd done nothing wrong.  His firing was based on sensational media reports, not truth.  There were some loose ends - something was fishy with the recruiters, but we never heard resolution about the charges of them having sex parties with high school age recruits.

Are you seeing where my cognitive dissonance is coming from?

When the defense attorney for the Municipality, Doug Parker, questioned Katkus, he pointed out parts of the reports that Ray Brown had skipped over. [Note:  Ray Brown is part of a team of attorneys  representing Anthony Henry.  The Brown Report mentioned in this post was written by a Rick Brown, no relationship.]   Like the survey that found people in the Guard very distrusting of their superiors.  Of severe problems in the department that took sexual harassment complaints from 2007-2011.  The department got a new person who fixed a lot of that, but apparently the distrust continued.  The investigator who looked into Blaylock's charges, apparently didn't look too hard because he found them unbelievable.  And why did Katkus promote Blaylock if he was so problematic?

Katkus' memory got much worse when he was questioned by Parker.

I was also struck by his use - three times I think - of the term "There was no visibility on that"  which, I understood in the context to mean, I never saw that.  Maybe that's their jargon, but it's pretty bizarre sounding to me.

There was also an FBI agent involved in some meetings.  Three times Katkus referred to her as "the lady FBI agent" as though her gender were the most important factor.  We did know her name so he could have said Agent Kirkland without emphasis she wasn't a man. 

Katkus had been an APD officer and knew lots of the APD, but he said there were 4000 people in the Guard and he couldn't keep track of them all.  Yet, at another point he said that in a small organization like the Guard there were lots of rumors.   But as Adjutant General he was many levels above what happened and didn't need to know about details.  Too large for him to know people, so small there was lots of rumors, which, presumably, at the top of the hierarchy, he shouldn't have known about.  Rumors are a symptom of an organization that isn't transparent, where communication is closed. 

Katkus was on the stand from 8:30am until around 2pm.  There were three 15 minute breaks.  Katkus and a juror both needed to catch planes, so they skipped lunch to get out early.

By the end of the day's testimony, my mind was all twisted up.  I think it's important to consider whether what you believe is really true.  Keep an open mind.  This was only my first day at the trial.  I didn't hear the opening arguments or the earlier testimony.  Apparently there is a long, long list of witnesses yet to come.  Including Ken Blaylock.

I went to the Clerk of the Court's office afterward and looked at some of the documents on their computer.  There were several studies mentioned in the trial.  The Brown (Rick Brown) Report that was done for the APD, which had been keep secret until this trial.  The OCI (National Guard Bureau  Office of Complex Investigations)  report that Sean Parnell asked for in 2014.  An Inspector General (IG) report.  There's a report that Lisa Murkowski requested, and various 15-6's which are what some sort of internal Guard reports are called.

I found the Brown Report in the list of documents on the computer in the Clerk's office.  You can't download it or save it to a thumb drive or email it.  So I took pictures of the Cover Page, Reasons for Investigation, Synopsis of Investigation, Time Line of Significant Events, Conclusions, and Recommendations.  Pages 1-21 of 97.  This report was the basis for the two week suspension of then Police Chief Mark Mew and Anthony Brown's termination.  You can see these 21 pages right below.

[UPDATE Oct 21, 2018 10:30pm  - I managed to get an official copy of the Brown Report, so I have deleted my original photos of the computer screen version I posted originally.  It's in two parts.

Brown Report Pt 1 by SteveAK1 on Scribd

Here's Part 2:

Brown Report Part 2 by on Scribd

end of Oct 21, 2018 10:30pm  UPDATE0


When I got home home I checked the old post I did when Katkus was fired.  It should help people unfamiliar with all this understand why today was like being Alice in Wonderland.  But at the recommendation of a reader, I copied the OCI report and posted it at Scribd where you can still see it.

It almost felt like this was a trial to exonerate Katkus and to find Blaylock guilty.  This is supposed to be a couple week long trial.  Don't hold your breath.

[UPDATE Oct 21, 2018:  Devin Kelly's article in today's ADN does a much better job of conveying the details of the Friday trial.  I was having a lot of trouble figuring out what all the details were leading to, so I just gave some broad background.  Devin gives more details.  Also I've corrected the spelling of Blaylock.  It has a y.]