Bushwickhuman

[Kathryn Huwig @khuwig1]

It has been a very hard couple days with the passing of Warner Mendenhall @MendenhallFirm early Monday morning. I have watched and read so many tributes to him across my feeds, ones that make me smile, ones that make me laugh, ones that make me cry.

Over the last years, I have received the rarest of blessings. I got to witness the full, complex, unfathomably deep man that he was.

I have been beyond fortunate to have spent thousands of hours with him. On the phone, on zoom calls, traveling, at events, or working with him in his office on nights and weekends when the rigidity of his daytime schedule eased.

I worked the full gamut of his cases in different ways, with him showing and explaining the way the law actually worked.

He would often use shared docs when a deadline loomed, and I will admit that sometimes when I was helping him edit those briefs, I would just sit and watch in awe as he would take an awkward phrase and turn it around into something clear, moving and evocative in one smooth motion.

I can attest that he took every single person who came to him seriously. I watched him dig and dig to exhaust all possible angles, always on the lookout for another way in.

I watched how he would take in suggestions from anyone and everyone with no snobbery as to the source. Puzzling it through. Not afraid to try something never tried before.

I particularly loved sitting with him through depositions. He was a delight to watch. Just as sweet as everyone has described their interactions with him, but with teeth. I loved being able to be there passing notes and him taking my scribbles, grasping the meaning in a second and turning it into a question that made the deponent squirm.

Not everything was sunshine and rainbows. And that is one of the things I will treasure most in my time with him. He had no filter with me. I occupied a space in his world that I know was unique, and sometimes people would look askance since they only experienced the public version. They only saw the sweet, patient man with the perpetual smile and ready laugh. I got the full unpolished version because he knew I understood.

As he liked to say to me, I was "watching the sausage get made and it’s not pretty." And it often wasn’t. But it has been the greatest, most stimulating experience of my life. We would intellectually spar all the time. He would challenge me and invite me to challenge him back. There were times I would astonish myself when I would outmaneuver him, and more so when I would come out on top more times than he did. And he would invite more.

I will say I was highly amused reading one tribute saying they had never heard Warner say a rude word. HAH!!! The man could, and would, swear like a sailor, with more than a few choice words for people and situations that would make you blush.

Warner was full of contradictions that were all so perfectly him. Everyone who has been anywhere near him knows how gregarious he was. Everyone was an instant friend, and he was always making sure everyone felt fully welcome and taken care of. It was a joke between us when we traveled together that even in far-flung airports, we'd run into somebody he knew. A person from his soccer league, an old lawyer acquaintance from decades earlier.

But he was also fiercely independent, and would take control of things and ‘make it work’ by sheer force of will, no matter what it took.

If there was one thing I would say he failed at, it was giving others true agency. He would step in quickly, take the lead and take total control, so it was hard for people to learn how to do what he did, only watch in awe. As I would often remind him, he needed to learn how to pass the baton, not throw it.

But that’s where the magic between us really happened. He was the Hero, I was the Builder. Sometimes that would create friction. He wanted to move fast, think never, live in the moment, while I wanted to think things through, time things right, and build a foundation, what I called a ‘playground’. Create the frameworks that make it easier and more natural for other people to act and interact in a way that is constructive and not chaotic. But convincing people (especially lawyers!) to try something that there is no precedent for is not something easy to do, especially when it’s a multi-step, long-term process that’s hard to see when you’re just starting.

I could build, and he could shine, brighter than anyone I had ever encountered.

That’s how Freedom Counsel started.

I remember the day, so perfectly. It was a beautiful sunny day exactly three years ago in June 2023. And I was sitting on the dock to his private island (beautiful, but less sexy than it sounds!) and he was sitting in his canoe. We talked for an hour or more that way. Me twisting his arm that we needed to move quickly to capitalize on the momentum from the first Covid Litigation Conference, and him worried about stepping on toes. But as with every conversation between us, we balanced, and Freedom Counsel was born.

The conversations we would have were amazing, both in the breadth and depth of everything we talked about, everything from the law, the story of his dog, politics, the nature of good and evil, his favorite science fiction books, work (of course!), deep philosophical conversations, and his always entertaining running commentary on anything and everything. The ‘quick’ call at the end of the day that would turn to an hour or more as he would tell me about the day’s events and seek my thoughts on things.

All while our shared all-consuming drive to help people who could not help themselves colored every conversation without ever needing to be explained to each other. Finding someone who matches your own intensity, drive and willingness to act even when it's hard is precious beyond words. And I had it in him.

What I will most treasure is what he allowed me to be to him in all of those conversations. He allowed me to be his mirror, trusting me to reflect him or the situation truly.

Sometimes (many times!) he disagreed with what I said at first, but he wouldn’t shrink from it.

I got to see the man behind the ready smile, and he was all the more beautiful for all the broken and busted edges.

I will end this with part of my last spoken message to him. One that I know he listened to not long before he was taken to the hospital.

I described a memory I had of a moment we had one night, two years ago. We were leaving his office, him shutting off all of the lights, and he was proclaiming that he was doing all of this because he had always been fighting governments and authoritarians. I laughed, and told him no, that’s not why. He paused, and said that it was for his kids and grandkids. I said no, that’s part of it, but that’s not the underlying reason. He asked what the underlying reason was, and I answered ‘You love people’. And he stopped walking and spun around, moaning and walked back to his office door as he choked back tears and surprised laughter. It took him a moment to (somewhat) compose himself again and he admitted I was right.

That was Warner Mendenhall.

And I’m not sorry, Warner, even though you told me that night that you never wanted me to accuse you of loving people in public. It’s true. And I always spoke the truth, even when it hurt.

Finally, I will leave everyone with something he would say when tragedy struck:

“Hearts break open”

He explained it to me that when we lose somebody, if you can let it happen, that it opens you to other people.

Warner, you know my heart has broken wide open, and I will always hold it there. Know that everything I touch in this world will forever hold an imprint of you in it.

[Vaccine Safety Research Foundation @VacSafety]

Such an immense loss for all of us. Rest in peace, Warner.

[Tom Renz @RenzTom]

It is with a very heavy heart that I say goodbye to my colleague and fellow health freedom warrior, Warner Mendenhall. Warner has come to the conclusion of his battle with cancer and I pray for all that were close to him.

Warner was one of the few attorneys that had the courage to fight against the most corrupt and evil attacks on humanity in history - the COVID scamdemic and mRNA poisons. He stood with @IamBrookJackson and many others and truly did God’s work.

Thank you Warner and may you enjoy the peace and rewards you so thoroughly earned for your courage and strength defending humanity against true evil.

[Mary Talley Bowden MD @MaryBowdenMD]

@joeroganhq For all the people claiming I’m lying….

[Feds For Freedom @feds4freedomusa]

Please go to https://t.co/Ti0rlkw5kQ
to find the closest showing to you.

[Tom Renz @RenzTom]

🚨🚨🚨 WAR ON MAHA - Instead of putting Bill Gates in jail, the Administration is re-engaging with GAVI to poison people in Africa with Ebola using more mRNA kill shots.

Gates is currently pushing more mRNA poisons to deal with the new strain of Ebola despite the endless safety issues we are finally hearing about with the COVID vaccines. No mRNA vaccine has yet to be demonstrated as safe or effective in any legitimate long-term study, yet the administration is partnering with GAVI to make more.

Gates has been in trouble for legal and ethical violations due to his lack of ethics in his vaccine work in both Africa and India. He has talked about people as useless eaters and is funding GMO ticks and mosquitoes that we are releasing on the public. Bill Gates has talked eagerly about reducing the population of the Earth by 3 billion people with “better” food, medicine, and vaccines (“fact-checkers” claim this was out of context but he said it numerous times in different videos).

Why would we betray MAHA like this? Why is Rubio pushing this corruption? Why is RFK not fighting back on this foundational issue? @VigilantFox @RealAlexJones

[Children’s Health Defense @ChildrensHD]

"Remember, if there was a treatment, vaccines would not have passed."

Testifying before the Senate, Dr. Sabine Hazan (@SabinehazanMD) described her COVID-era clinical research and said early treatment data was repeatedly suppressed via retractions.

Who decides which science gets heard and which gets removed?

[sabine hazan md @SabinehazanMD]

BIG THANK YOU to @SenRonJohnson for exposing the truth on today's hearing with @weldeiry @DrAseemMalhotra https://t.co/YHgucJQulv

[Sense Receptor @SenseReceptor]

NEW: Oncologist ANGUS DALGLEISH

"There are at least 12 mechanisms where mRNA can insert into DNA and activate oncogenes"

"there is no way you can control this technology"

"its use for future vaccines should be banned and the Covid ones stopped now"

@ChildrensHD

[Senator Ron Johnson @SenRonJohnson]

I’m holding a hearing tomorrow at 2:30pm ET: “Plausible Mechanisms of COVID-19 Injections Causing Cancer and Attacks on Scientific Publications and Research.”

We’ll hear from 6 doctors and a cancer survivor:

- Angus Dalgleish, M.D.
- @weldeiry
- @SabinehazanMD,
- Saskia Mostert, M.D., PH.D.
- @DrAseemMalhotra
- @jrgralow
- Tamika Felder

Tune in on my X account and find more information at the link below⬇️

[Died Suddenly @DiedSuddenly_]

People who use nicotine were almost immune to Covid….

“Those smoking ads saved people’s lives” -Theo Von

[Mary S. Holland, Esq. @maryhollandnyc]

The man who blacklisted RFK Jr. told an elitist summit democracy moves too slow — then volunteered himself as the gatekeeper of what you're allowed to say online. You can't make this up. @CHDTVLive @ChildrensHD @SecKennedy @KimMRosenberg

Read the complete Defender story:
https://t.co/39XGNbtafw

[Tom Lapolla @LapollaForNY]

@thestinkeye If every Chief & the @FDNYFC of the @FDNY had marched over the Brooklyn Bridge with us in 2021, along with the Chiefs of the @NYPDnews & their @NYPDPC , “this shitshow” would have been shut down in NYC “in its infancy” as well…
America has a leadership problem

[DannydeHulk @DannyDeHulk86]

This is amazing! However here in NYC there are still 1000s of blue collar workers who haven't been reinstated despite the mandate ending in '23. We could really use some national support to compel Mamdani to reinstate us (not even asking for compensation). We're being tormented!

[Dr. Naomi Wolf. 8 NYT Bestsellers. DPhil, Poetry. @naomirwolf]

God bless this administration.

[Under Secretary of War Anthony J. Tata @USW_PR_HONTata]

Proud to welcome back another brave warrior who was negatively impacted by the COVID-19 vaccine mandate, Brett Bender.

Sergeant Bender, a 68W Combat Medic, was involuntarily separated in July 2022, leading to significant hardship for him and his family. With support from the @USArmy COVID-19 Reinstatement & Reconciliation Task Force - and under the leadership of @SecWar and @SecArmy - he was reinstated in March 2026 with full relief, including backpay, a backdated promotion to E-6, MOS & duty station preference, entitlements, benefits, and constructive service credit. Now, Staff Sergeant Bender and his family are preparing to head overseas for his next assignment.

He shared, “I have long felt called by the Lord to serve the men and women who serve our country, and I do not take the opportunity to return to that noble profession lightly. I am excited to continue my career and encouraged to once again…serve my country and my fellow soldiers.”

Welcome back to the formation, SSG Bender!

[Lara Logan @laralogan]

Yep. Send her back to the bar.

[MAZE @mazemoore]

This is one of the more important videos I’ve made.

Never forget this evil.

[Vaccine Safety Research Foundation @VacSafety]

🔥🔥MAHA BETRAYAL: Trump’s DOJ Sides with Mandates!!

While the campaign trail was filled with promises to protect "Health Freedom" and "End the Mandates," the legal reality just hit the Supreme Court and it’s a gut punch to every healthcare hero who stood their ground.

In a shocking move, the DOJ (under Solicitor General D. John Sauer) just filed a brief in Doe v. Hochul asking the Supreme Court NOT to hear the case of healthcare workers fired for their religious beliefs.

The Double Standard:
❌ The Promise: "I will sign an executive order to ban all vaccine mandates."
✅ The Reality: Trump’s own Solicitor General is arguing that this case is a "poor vehicle" for review because the law was repealed, ignoring the thousands of workers who were already fired.

They are even suggesting that the lower court was "consistent" with federal law when it allowed hospitals to prioritize avoiding state fines over protecting religious rights.

They are using legal hair-splitting to block justice for the nurses, doctors, and first responders who lost their careers. If the @dojphofficial won’t stand up for Title VII and your religious rights when it matters, the promises are empty.

Demand accountability. Share this everywhere.

#VSRF #HealthFreedom #NoMandates #TrumpBetrayal #MedicalFreedom #TitleVII #SCOTUS #MedicalLiberty #MAHA

[Leland Lehrman @I0veandfreedom]

Massie for President. 2028. Sign The Petition....Join the independent grassroots movement to Draft Thomas Massie to run for President in 2028.
❤️🕊️🌎
https://t.co/ixEyiKeyMh