What Will Be Johnny Northside's Demise?

Johnny Northside self destructing?

Several Years ago I had to file an eviction against a tenant who proved to be somewhat of a lunatic monster. After I had filed it, she (the tenant) yelled when she saw me and made all kinds of threats. She told me she was going to blow up the building (a six-plex), have me beat up and even poison my dog.
When we went to court, she appeared to be a soft spoken, disadvantaged tenant and told the judge that I had threatened to kill her! I stood up and started to say something but, the judge waved his finger at me and told me to sit down and I would get my turn. The tenant then told the judge that I told her I was going to poison her dog! Again, I jumped up but, the judge waved his finger again, motioning me to sit back down. She went on to tell the judge a number of lies and the judge just nodded sympathetically and said he was so sorry that had happened to her. I didn't know if I was more upset with the tenant for lying or the judge for believing her.

Finally, the judge asked her if she had anything further to say and she whimpered as she said, "No. Thank you. Bless you, Sir." I was going to be sick after seeing such a display. The judge turned to me and asked if I had anything to say. I grabbed the stack of files off the table and as I stood up, I said, "Your Honor, yes, I do!" But the judge fired back, "No you don't! Judgement for the Plaintiff.... Next case!"

I stood there in a confused daze and leaned over to the Bailiff and asked what just happened? He was smiling and said, "You just won." The judge snapped his fingers at me and had a sarcastic smirk on his face as we waved me over to him. Still confused, he said to me in a giddy voice, "This is your first time, isn't it??" I nodded my head, yes. What the judge said next is something that I will never forget and is among the best advice I have ever heard. He said,

"These people are nothing new to me. Its the same song and dance every time. People assume I am here to pass judgement but, i'm not. I am here to give them enough rope until they hang themselves...And they do it every time."

 I think of what that judge told me as I read about Johnny Northside aka John Hoff of Minneapolis (soon to be of Oklahoma but, tune in later for more on that). Today on his blog, he has published part TWENTY FOUR in his onslaught against attorney, Jill Clark. Hoff claims his attack against her is because, she has represented so many people in "his community" that has made his attempts to revitalize the neighborhood, more difficult. While he gloats about the Moore v. Hoff case that was overturned by the Appeals Court, the fact remains... Jill Clark was the prosecuting attorney who BEAT John Hoff in District Court court when the jury ruled against Hoff and he was hit with a $60,000 judgement.  It is ironic because, up until the decision on the appeal was announced, Hoff went on a rant against Clark for nearly everything but, he didn't mention the "Blogosphere Trial of the Century" as he has named it. After the ruling was announced it seems he can't shut up about it. But... That's Johnny Northside.

His motto: "Do as I say! NOT as I do."

The people who have commented online with the articles that covered the appeal ruling, have been generally supportive of Hoff for his defending the first amendment but, the overall attitude towards Hoff is... "Your act is getting old."

Johnny Northside has been given a lot of slack by the residents and city of Minneapolis (delinquent property taxes, TISH repairs not being completed as agreed and operating a rental unit without a rental license to name a few) and upon seeing the people's reaction to him after the ruling... Perhaps he has been given enough rope and so we wait. We wait as John Hoff  prepares to hang himself.

Moore V. Hoff - Minnesota Appeals Court Upholds First Amendment, Leaves Public With No Protection From Hoff

Note: Be sure to read the update at the end of this post.

On August 20, 2012, the Minnesota Court of Appeals reversed the verdict, in Moore v. Hoff Click here for court ruling.
The following is the case summary as described by MediaLawMinnesota.com.

"The case, Moore v. Hoff, involved a long-simmering Minneapolis dispute between John Hoff, who writes a blog titled “The Adventures of Johnny Northside,” and Jerry L. Moore, who worked in the University of Minnesota’s Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center.

Hoff made a blog post that Moore claimed were defamatory, and in turn Moore claimed that his termination from the university was linked to the allegedly false post.  Moore sued Hoff for defamation but also for interfering with his business relations.  A jury found that the posts were not false but nevertheless found interference with business relations."

I have been researching John Hoff aka Johnny Northside for the past 4 years and during that time I have collected more than enough factual information on him that I could easily write a non-authorized auto-biography about him. 

What I have learned about Hoff is that he is a master manipulator as he has even published that claim in one of his books, "Dumpster Diving The Advanced Course - How to turn other people's trash into money, publicity and power." Here is a quote from that book about media manipulation:

"I have done it many times. But I have done it through my ability to scavenge and my rather advanced ability to engage in media manipulation."

One fact that has not been published by anyone who has written about the previous verdict and the outcome of the appeal is what he told the truth about. Every publication and the courts have repeated what Hoff said that Moore was involved in a high profile mortgage fraud case. That was the true statement but, what was the actual "involvement?" In other words, HOW was he involved?
In the residential house deal that Moore was "involved" with, the fraud was committed by the buyers and they were prosecuted and convicted. Jerry Moore was not even the seller. In fact, he was listed on the HUD-1 statement as a "consultant to the seller."  He was a CONSULTANT to the party who did NOT commit fraud but, technically he was involved in the transaction as a consultant.

As an example, lets assume John Hoff went to have dinner at the Four Seasons Hotel restaurant and he was seated on the far side. Also eating dinner at the same time on the other side of the restaurant was famed former New York City Mob boss, John Gotti. Lets say I was a waiter working there that night and I wrote about my brush with fame on my blog by saying, "John Hoff had dinner with New York mob boss John Gotti at the Four Seasons." That would technically be true because, everyone seated in the restaurant would be having dinner while Gotti was also having his. I could say in public all I wanted that John Hoff had dinner with a convicted thug and murderer...AND get away with it because it was true.

I have to agree with the Court of Appeals ruling as I believe the ruling protected free speech for everyone. What this case and knowing first hand about John Hoff has shown me is that there has to be some sort of protection for people when the First Amendment is manipulated and used as a weapon. John Hoff has a degree in Law (UND 2004) but, he has yet to take the Bar exam. He knows the loopholes and how to manipulate them in order to avoid accountability for his aggressive behavior. Hoff has used the First Amendment as an offensive weapon against the very people it is supposed to protect. 
I know this to be true because, after this blog was established John Hoff insisted I delete it and if I refused, he would "first amendment retaliate" against me. Click here to read the actual email containing Hoff's threat.

Update: I was notified by Blogger that a comment has been submitted for moderation. The comment was submitted by none other than John Hoff himself.
I am publishing his comment so readers can see for themselves how he uses free speech with the intent to bring harm upon his critics. Here is a copy of the comment made in response to this post by John Hoff:

"(Sarcasm font) Right, Jerry Moore is so peripherally involved that he's being sued by the victims of the mortgage fraud. (End sarcasm font) How many times did you predict a victory like this would never come for Johnny Northside? Who is your big monkey daddy now, Jim Watkins, you whining little non-entity and friend of fraudsters? HA!!!! Say hi to your friend Thomas Balko in PRISON. I have plenty more to write about HIM."

The reference to my friend is an example of his aggressiveness while using the first amendment as a tool. Readers should also know that because Hoff was not able to force me to comply with his demands to delete this blog, he blogged to others to write prison officials in order to attempt to make life more uncomfortable for my friend. Clich here to read (in comments section). He attacked my friend in order to get to me. He made good on his threat to write the prison and the result brought on the end to my 30+ year friendship. Click here for that story.
I don't think the first amendment was intended to actually protect people like Hoff. 

Blogger Johnny Northside Continues To Attack Attorney Jill Clark

John Hoff aka Johnny Northside
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John Hoff's weapon of choice

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John Hoff continues his attack on attorney Jill Clark of Minneapolis. He recently posted The Madness of Jill Clark Part Eight ( Click here to read ) on his blog, The Adventures of Johnny Northside. Seriously... Part EIGHT!

As painful as it is to read through all the banter contained in those posts, it appears that the  over all message is to publicly discredit Jill Clark. He rants about how she is a bad lawyer (not his exact words) and how he predicts that the "end is near" for her. On and on he goes with no end in sight as he has now published part EIGHT!

While reading his drivel that he claims is fair criticism while being a "journalistic" blog, I had an interesting thought on the matter...

Hoff claims that Jill Clark is a bad lawyer (based on his EIGHT posts on his blog about her). So, lets just say that his claim is accurate (hypothetical) and that Clark is a bad attorney. As many readers know, the case of Moore v. Hoff aka the "Trial of the Century" (which I would consider must be a huge, monumental case to be called that) was led by.... Attorney Jill Clark. In that case, Hoff was the Defendant and Clark represented the Plaintiff.  That said, here is my interesting thought....

"IF" Jill Clark, who litigated against Hoff in the Trial of the Century, is indeed a bad attorney (as Hoff insists), then what does that say about John Hoff? Oh, I'm sorry! I forgot to mention that Jill Clark WON that case! The jury ruled AGAINST Hoff! 

In my humble opinion, any attorney who WINS a "Trial of the Century" must be a pretty damned good attorney! Take into consideration that the LOSER in that case just happens to be the same person who has posted EIGHT anti-Clark articles on his blog... Well, it is pretty clear why John Hoff continues his personal attacks against Jill Clark. 

Hoff is a sore loser if I ever saw one. 

"First Amendment" Versus "Dumpster Diving -The Advanced Course" Author John Hoff. A Chilling, In-Depth Look At Who Johnny Northside Really Is! Part 1

Copyright 2002 Paladin Press - By John Hoffman

I am REALLY excited to be able to write this series of reviews of the book, Dumpster Diving- The Advanced Course. The book was written by John Hoff (he used his "pen" name Hoffman rather than his own name) who is also a Minneapolis "activist" who is no stranger to controversy. For those not familiar with his current antics, you can read about the lawsuit he recently appealed Click here for StarTribune after a jury determined in March 2011, that he used intimidation & threats of a negative publicity campaign with his blog, The Adventures of Johnny Northside to get one of his enemies fired. The jury awarded the Plaintiff $60,000 in damages but, what these reviews of what he wrote in this book will show is that he is nothing but a world class cyberbully continues to clutch onto the First Amendment as his justification for what he says. As usual I will show the facts and proof of what I write about Hoff and let the readers judge for themselves.

I bought (yes, bought) a copy of his book and had it with me when I was in Minneapolis in the spring of 2009. I met John for lunch after he extended the invitation and I asked him to sign my copy of his book. The picture below is what John wrote on the inside cover.

John calls me (Jim Watkins) "the Anti-Johnny" here. This is where the nick name came from.

The John Hoff who is currently claiming to be a neighborhood activist intent on turning his north Minneapolis neighborhood into an "urban utopia" does his best to convince the public and the media as well that he represents all that is good, stands up against criminals and sex offenders and constantly makes it known that he has a close, personal relationship with the Minneapolis Police, local media and many local politicians, including city councilman Don Samuels. In other words, Hoff knows who he needs to manipulate and in a way, hide behind as he continues hius quest for fame and headlines. However, everything he does is all part of a well thought out, calculated plan and these reviews will include quotes from John that detail what he has done and will do again to anyone who he feels might stand in his path to urban utopia.

The title of chapter 2 in his book is called, "The Master Key To Successful Diving."
The chapter details the events leading up to and after he stumbled upon a "master key" to the padlocks that locked the majority of the trash dumpsters in Seattle, Washington after he moved there in 1994. His admission of how he could use that key against anyone he pleased, is enough to chill just about anyone's blood. Here are some segments from that chapter.

After finding the key, Hoff went to show it to a friend whom he called, "Bicycle Bill" and told Bill that they should make copies of it and give one to "everybody." His friend then said,

"They could come down on us hard. This is criminal shit. You are actually opening a lock with a key that is not yours."
This is what Hoff then wrote... "Yeah, Yeah" I muttered, waving him off. I just wanted to figure out how many corporations I could fuck in the shortest span of time possible. I wanted to unleashall the power of the key at once.

A few paragraphs later, he said...

I agree. I have to know exactly how much chaos this thing can unleash before I unleash it. So I can unleash it in he best way possible. This key might very well open up the entire city of Seattle.

Hoff then explains how people reading his book can go about getting a master dumpster key of their own.  Rather than taking the added time to type the next few quotes, I just took pictures of the actual page from the book. Forgive the yellow highlighter marks but, I had to remember somehow.
(note: If any of the images have words cropped off the ends, click the image to view full size.

This is one of Hoff's suggestions on how to get a key

But Hoff wouldn't do that himself... Unless

A word of warning to anyone or any company in Minneapolis: If you hire John Hoff, make sure you have a video camera recording his every move and that he does not have access to any sort of sensitive materials. Wait, he would steal a paper clip and call it liberating it so, maybe have him escorted at all times. Or wait, you could simply NOT HIRE HIM!

He continues on with his self promoting and has a very arrogant attitude about the effect his first book had with the FBI and take note what the last part says!

Thats right, if you don't do as he says... He will merely find dirt on you and threaten you

Let me set the context of this quote. John said he...
 had seized "Controlled narcotics keys." from a drug-impared nurse then threatened (this must be where John learned how to do this) in her manipulative substance abuser way - to frame me for the theft of Avitan. With Satan speaking through her mouth, trying to get to the root of my innermost fears and doubts, she said... 

"John, everybody knows how street smart you are. How you find stuff in people's trash and sell it for money. What if I confessed I was stealing Ativan and you were selling it? But that you are street smart that you sell drugs without using drugs, which is why you never get caught." 

(I swear that sounds JUST like what he does to others)

The bullying, self centered way that John Hoff replied is very common to people who challenge him on his blog and attitudes like this is exactly why he was sued and LOST and now has a $60,000 judgement against him (here's hoping the judges uphold the conviction). Pay attention to what he is actually saying. 

Now I can't say for certain that John really "meant" what he said in the last quote but, based off of things he has said on his blog and others as a comparison, I think he definitely believes it.

Part 2 - coming soon! 

"Advanced Dumpster Based Media Manipulation"

After Effects of Hoff's "Trial of the Century"

RIP Irving Inquisition

The Irving Inquisition has been dormant now for the past four weeks. After the jury in the Moore v. Hoff case ruled Johnny Northside must pay $60,000 in damages, the other NoMi Blogs have either scaled way back with the number of posts or have literally stopped completely. Ok, there is the North by Northside blog still active but, Jeff Skrenes gives the skit "The Delicious Dish" of SNL fame a run for its money. The difference being, the skit is intentionally boring as hell.

Of course, the reasons for the II blog being dormant is merely my opinion but, as Johnny Northside would say... "FARE-THEE-WELL" !!!

Moore v. Hoff Trial- Email Sent By Hoff Details His Intent To: "First Amendment Retaliate"

I posted the information below on November 8, 2008. Click here for the full post. Hoff Email Threats
I have been keeping up with the current court case John Hoff is involved with and seeing what John has commented to the StarTribune and other blogs about how he feels he should have free speech and the typical Hoff B.S. he spews. It reminded me of an email John sent to me in 2008. I had just started the Mis-Adventures of Johnny Northside Blog and Hoff was pissed off about it and he demanded that I delete it. He went on to make some very detailed threats and exactly what he would do if I didn't delete the Blog and more importantly... He explained what his intentions were and the results they would have if I did not comply with the North Minneapolis activist.

I really hope that Jerry Moore's attorney, Jill Clark will see this post as I think it has what is needed to discredit John Hoff and show the jury what a ruthless bully he really is and that he has no problems with doing the same thing to anyone else.

Below is the exact email John Hoff sent to me. It really is disturbing.
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All I can say is that I REALLY HOPE that this email makes it into the current trial. If not, I am confident that it will surely be used against him in a future trial. I will locate the email he sent be before the one above where John stated that he didn't suggest that I sue him because, "It's been tried before and it's boring."
With all his blabbing away about his current trial and his public invitations for all to attend the "Trial of the Century," it would appear he is clearly not "bored.""

From John Hoff hoffx106@umn.edu September 1, 2008:


"Jim, I am indeed THAT busy. I type fast. And I'm not up for a long phone call. You have a tremendous opportunity to BACK THE HELL OFF, JIM so I won't be forced to "First Amendment retaliate" with a posting about "who is Jim Watkins" which will have you wearing un-removable egg on your face for the rest of your life or as long as our civilization has the internet, whichever is longer.


I did it to you once BY ACCIDENT on the Bigger Pockets blog, so imagine what could happen ON PURPOSE?


The expert opinion in my possession about your unpublished woe-is-me article, and your unpublished article itself gives me all the metaphorical ammunition I need to put a hole in your real-estate teaching ship. I really prefer not to do that, however, simply because it is ugly and personal and therefore unpleasant. But maybe I need to think of the good of the students. Maybe it's my duty to expose you as a fraud, especially when you are out there saying I'm the fraud.


I think you can see how the course of action I have in mind becomes tempting. And I'm not the one who started the unfriendly tone, either, you did that when you blew your stack over some stupid non-remark I hardly even made about your (alleged) girlfriend.


We didn't start out as friends, Jim, so why should you expect me to walk on eggshells about whether you have a real or imaginary girlfriend?


Two can play the pissed off and retaliating in the blog-o-sphere game, Jim, and I'm the pig who revels in muddy controversy while you're the just-barely holding-his-shit-together real estate teacher who lives in a glass house. If you even own a house at this point. If you don't live with your GRANDMOTHER. You really can't afford to have me pissed off, Jim, but I prefer not to battle somebody I have personally liked at some point. It feels too much like my former marriage. But I won't defend myself with one hand tied behind my back forever.


You press the DELETE button and I put down the mud pie and we both go our merry way: me to helping the North Side and you to trying to rebuild your real estate teaching career after one of your ventures went seriously south. And when you're up here, if you like, we can do lunch. Or not. Doesn't matter to me either way.
John 

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