THE COST OF TRUTH

A Statement on Federal Retaliation, Systemic Misconduct, and Eighteen Years of Institutional Failure

by Samantha Syrnich ©2025

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(Protective Clarification – Read Before Reviewing This Record)

This Is a Document of Survival, Not Self-Harm

Before proceeding, it must be clearly stated:

I am not a danger to myself.
I have no intention of harming myself.
Nothing in this document reflects suicidality or self-harm.

Every threat described here came from external systems, institutions, or individuals in positions of authority, not from myself.

My trauma responses, fear, and the two times I medically died were caused by:
• systemic failures
• retaliation
• intimidation
• negligence
• and prolonged danger

They were not caused by any desire to harm myself.

I am writing this because:
• I want protection,
• I want truth on record,
• and I need Congress to understand the severity of what these systems have done to me.

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  1. The County Where I Won a Federal Case — and Immediately Became a Target

I sued DHS.
I won.
That alone should have placed a federal shield around me.

Instead, it placed a target on my back inside Whatcom County —
Washington State —
the same county where I worked, reported wrongdoing, and was supposed to be protected under federal law.

This is a county where:
• retaliation is normalized,
• misconduct is embedded,
• cover-ups are routine,
• and people who speak truth are punished.

This is not new.
This is not isolated.
This is not a misunderstanding.

Whatcom County operates like a closed system —
a place where power protects power,
and anyone who disrupts that system is crushed under it.

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  1. A County With a Criminal Pattern of Behavior — Not a One-Time Failure

My story fits directly into a long, well-established pattern of county-wide misconduct.

Today, the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office is being sued for $30 million by a detective exposing harassment, retaliation, and decade-long abuse.

But this is only the latest example.

There have been many lawsuits, claims, and complaints against county agencies over decades:
• excessive force
• civil rights violations
• harassment
• discrimination
• retaliation
• mishandled investigations
• whistleblower suppression
• misconduct hidden from public record
• leadership ignoring abusive culture

This county is not merely failing —
it is being run in a way that allows generational institutional abuse to thrive.

This is a county where:
• wrongdoing is buried,
• retaliation is rewarded,
• honest people are silenced,
• and victims are treated as disposable.

The system protects itself —
never the public.

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  1. The Night 911 Refused to Come — A Criminal Failure, Not a Mistake

With a witness some people stomped across my roof in the dark.

We called 911 on speakerphone.

They refused to respond.

They heard the danger.
They heard the fear.
They had a duty to protect.

And they did nothing.

This wasn’t negligence.
This was criminal dereliction of duty in a county known for ignoring threats against whistleblowers, women, and vulnerable residents.

Their refusal forced me out of my home.
And losing that home set off a cascade of trauma that lasted years.

This was not an isolated emergency failure —
this was part of a county-wide culture of:
• refusing to protect targeted people
• ignoring survivors
• punishing those who report danger
• and weaponizing inaction

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  1. My Unlawful 12-Month Case — A Manufactured Process to Break Me

I was wrongfully arrested.
Then forced into a twelve-month legal process that had no lawful basis.

This county has a long history of weaponizing its courts to punish people who expose truth.

My case was:
• retaliatory
• abusive
• performative
• jurisdictionally improper
• and designed to drain me financially, emotionally, and physically

The final hearing was in an almost empty courtroom —
the kind of secrecy consistent with a county trying to protect itself, not the public.

The case was dropped because it was unlawful —
not because anyone sought justice.

This is how corrupt systems operate:
manufacture charges, drain the victim, then quietly dismiss when exposure becomes a risk.

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  1. Eighteen Years of Silencing — A Generational Pattern of Suppression

This county did not just retaliate against me once.
They kept me trapped in court systems for eighteen years —
long enough to:
• destroy my finances
• prevent me from suing
• steal my stability
• push me into lifelong debt
• and keep the truth hidden

Eighteen years is not an accident.
It is a strategy.

This county has kept multiple people gagged, silenced, and trapped in legal purgatory — a generational pattern of procedural abuse and institutional suppression.

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  1. Living on Federal Land — and Still No Protection

Part of this happened on federal land, a former Army base.

Federal jurisdiction should have applied.
Federal whistleblower protections should have applied.

Yet even on federal property:

my TV exploded inside my home —
and there was no investigation.

This is not just county-level failure.
This is systemic breakdown across layers of government designed to protect citizens —
and especially whistleblowers.

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  1. The Physical Toll — I Died Twice from the Trauma They Caused

The stress and danger of living under systemic retaliation were so severe that:

I medically died twice
and was brought back twice.

The second time was after my brother had already passed away.

These medical events were not self-inflicted.
They were the direct physical result of:
• trauma
• fear
• institutional abandonment
• and eighteen years of being denied protection

I survived what no human should ever have to survive.

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  1. My Brother’s Case — Resolved Privately, Too Late to Help Him

My brother’s case was resolved privately, not in a courtroom.
No trial.
No public record.

His truth was buried behind closed doors —
a tactic familiar in counties that fear accountability.

And after his death, I still received no help, no protection, and no acknowledgment.

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  1. A Criminally Run County — A System That Harms Generations

At this point, the pattern is undeniable:
• This county silences victims.
• It buries wrongdoing.
• It shields abusers.
• It retaliates against whistleblowers.
• It uses the courts to punish the innocent.
• It refuses emergency protection.
• It financially destroys those who speak up.
• It operates like a closed system designed to protect itself.

This is not simple misconduct.
It is systemic criminal governance by a county where:
• corruption is normalized,
• accountability is avoided,
• and truth-tellers become targets.

The harm is not limited to one person.
It has affected:
• me
• my children
• my brother
• and countless other residents and county employees

This is generational harm caused by entrenched institutional abuse.

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  1. I Was Kept in Danger So I Could Never Sue

The county’s pattern is clear:

Keep the victim unsafe long enough to run out the statute of limitations.

And it worked.

The danger I lived in for years prevented me from suing.
That outcome was intentional.

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  1. I Was Treated Like Someone Marked

For telling the truth.
For surviving.
For exposing what they refused to face.

But I survived anyway.
And I am speaking now.

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  1. My Appeal to the United States Congress

To the Members of the United States Congress:

I am submitting this document because:
• I survived danger I never should have faced.
• I was denied federal protections I was legally entitled to.
• I endured criminal systemic misconduct inside Whatcom County.
• This county’s pattern of abuse has harmed multiple generations.
• I need protection, acknowledgment, and an investigation.

This is not just my story.
It is evidence of a systemic, criminal pattern of governance that must be addressed at the federal level.

I survived everything that was meant to silence me.

©2025 Samantha Syrnich
All rights reserved.

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Published by Samantha Syrnich TLC

About The Hand Behind The Phoenix Quill— I’ve lived many lives within one — some born of light, some forged in fire. Each left its mark, and in the ashes, I found my voice. The Phoenix Quill was never just a name; it became my heartbeat — a place where pain turned to purpose, and truth was no longer something to survive, but something to share. I am a poet, artist, advocate, and storyteller — guided by a love that refuses to die quietly. Through words and imagery, I tell stories of resilience, of rising when the world says you’ve fallen too far. My work carries pieces of the people and places that shaped me — veterans, children, the voiceless, the forgotten — and the fire that demanded their stories be heard. Every poem, every painting, every creation under The Phoenix Quill is born from that promise: to turn heartbreak into healing, to honor truth even when it burns, and to remind others that they, too, can rise. This is my life’s work — to give voice to the silence, hope to the weary, and beauty to the broken. Welcome to The Phoenix Quill: Words Born of Fire, Inked in Truth. Where ashes become art — and every word remembers how to rise.

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