Area 51 website owner who says armed feds raided his homes speaks out: ‘It could be your door next’
Arnu says all he knows is that the investigation was related to something he posted online
Fox News / Andrew Mark Miller / November 20, 2022 7:47am EST
The owner of a prominent Area 51 website is speaking out after he says federal government agents raided his homes at gunpoint and broke down the doors while investigating a crime he still does not know the details of.
“I discussed the case with an attorney specialized in Federal cases,” Joerg Arnu, proprietor of the website Area-51 themed website Dreamland Resort.com, said in a statement to Fox News Digital on Saturday. “What I learned is truly incredible and in my opinion a much bigger story than the raid of my homes. What was done to me and my girlfriend, two unarmed, innocent, cooperating senior citizens, is apparently totally within the law. Truly incredible!”
It was reported earlier this week, that Arnu claimed 15-20 armed federal authorities from the U.S. Air Force and FBI raided two Nevada homes belonging to him and his girlfriend including a home he was present in where he says agents busted through his door and yanked the pair outside where they were “detained and treated in the most disrespectful way.”
Arnu said on Saturday that he still does not know what specific crime he violated and only knows what an agent told him during the raid that the incident was “related to images posted on my Area 51 website.”
(L) Joerg Arnu,(R) Door on Joerg Arnu’s property
Arnu claims that between the damages to his houses, including the broken down door, and the value of the hard drives, cameras, and other equipment, amounts to a dollar value of around $25,000. “I have not been charged with a crime and all my attempts to reach out to the FBI to at least get my much-needed medical and financial records and passwords stored on the seized computers were in vain,” Arnu said. “Crickets from the feds!”
In photos provided to Fox News Digital, doors to Arnu’s homes can be seen bent and damaged where he says agents stormed into his dwelling. Arnu explained earlier this week that his girlfriend was “led out into the street barefoot and only in her underwear in full view of the neighbors” during the raid and that he was led outside “handcuffed and only in a T-shirt and sweats in sub-freezing temperatures.”
“The federal government has the right to harass and traumatize random citizens that are not accused of any crime,” Arnu said. “Kick in their doors, manhandle them and take whatever they want from them. Said citizens have no rights whatsoever to reimbursement of their damages, return of their property or compensation for the trauma they were subjected to.”
Lt. Col. Bryon McGarry, Nellis Air Force Base spokesperson, confirmed to Fox News Digital that there is currently an open investigation into Arnu but did not provide details as to the specific crime.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Federal Bureau of Investigation multiple times but did not immediately receive a response.
Arnu started Dreamland Resort in 1999 and the site features videos of drone footage from around Area 51, satellite images of the base, discussion forums, and articles on various rumored top-secret projects involving UFOs. The site also features photos of “super-secret” aircraft being developed by the U.S. military.
Arnu says that he took down some photos from this website following the raid in an attempt to “diffuse” the situation but does not believe he posted anything illegal.
Arnu created a GoFundMe to raise money to replace the items he says that his lawyer told him he is unlikely to get back. “By the time you get your laptops back they will be obsolete,” Arnu says his lawyer told him. “IF you get them back.” Arnu has suggested that he will take legal action in order to recover his property.
“This is America, land of the free,” Arnu said. “Not so much from where I am standing right now. Everyone should know about this injustice. It could be your door that is kicked in next!”
Andrew Mark Miller is a writer at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to AndrewMark.Miller@Fox.com.
