Local citizen-journalist, US Air Force veteran, and US Senate candidate Sean Buckner of Sean Buckner Transparency recently found himself in the crosshairs of another journalist, with accusations of stolen valor, in an ongoing saga which has yielded some truly bizarre layers.

For the last year, self-described “Gonzo Journalist” Dustin Reed Terry and his cohorts at The Cold Cases have explored unsolved mysteries “that slipped through the cracks of mainstream attention but are no less deserving of answers.” Earlier this month, his team announced a membership drive in conjunction with the release of exclusive information regarding the death of Kurt Cobain. As explained in a press release to the Alachua Chronicle:

TheColdCases.com, a leading destination for investigative cold case research and analysis, will release an exclusive handwriting analysis of Kurt Cobain’s suicide note on April 4, 2026 at 9:00 p.m. ET — the eve of the 32nd anniversary of his death on April 5, 1994.

It is perhaps because his article was not met with the expected fanfare that, almost immediately upon its publication, Dustin Reed Terry found his career skipping toward an entirely new trajectory. Yet another reason for Terry’s sudden new mission may be the fact that the evening of April 4 is when the Oklahoma Department of Corrections released the unredacted video of an incident involving Sean Buckner and his close associate Ron Durbin of Guerilla Publishing. In the video, Durbin can be heard making remarks which have been widely criticized as racist.

Little more than an hour following the video’s release, on another one of his Facebook profiles, Dustin Reed Terry announced that he had purchased the domain public crime dot com, and that he would now be investigating “white collar and political crime.”

Ten hours later, Dustin Reed Terry announced the release of his first installment in a series of AI-generated Public Crime articles denouncing the collective activities of Rob Durbin and Sean Buckner, titled “The Troubling Trail of Ron Durbin and Sean Buckner Across Oklahoma.”

The article treated Sean Buckner lightly, focusing mostly on Dustin Reed Terry’s perceived personal and professional flaws of Ron Durbin. However, now that Terry had definitively linked Buckner to Durbin, Terry quickly revealed in subsequent articles that his main objective was to end the US Senate candidacy of Buckner. On April 7, Terry published a direct message sent to him by Buckner, in which Buckner offered Terry his private phone number and an opportunity for Terry to correct the record before Buckner files suit. Terry, confident in his work, flatly rejected the offer.

Buckner responded that night by explaining away Terry’s accusations, and vowing to investigate Terry himself:

You chose to publish this. You chose not to correct it. Now you get to deal with the consequences.

Now, Let me look into your life. My understanding is that you have been in and out of Mental Institutions throughout your life and your mom used to have total control of your finances through a conservatorship. Your Request for me to look into Ron Lockhart didn’t go unnoticed as you wanted me to investigate your relative. I will begin a full in-depth dive into you soon.

however, I don’t use AI. I use contacts that know you personally and have probably grown up with you. Pay attention things are going to get real.

The next morning, Buckner published a direct message sent to him by Terry, in which Terry revealed that, in addition to the fact that he has “been in mental institutions,” he has also starred in pornographic videos. Buckner at once called the whole thing off, promising not to sue or engage Terry any further.

Two hours later, Terry responded by announcing that he had been contacted by an attorney who claimed that it was Terry who could sue Buckner for discussing Terry’s mental health “while running as a U.S. Senate candidate.”

Terry continued producing articles and social media posts, as well as photoshopped images, personally and professionally attacking Buckner, while portraying himself as a champion against corruption. On the morning of April 10, Terry announced that he would be going on hiatus from The Cold Cases in order to pursue his agenda against Buckner, whom Terry decried as “a cult leader that is terrorizing Oklahoma.” A few minutes later, Terry posted his latest Public Crime article, in which he called into question Buckner’s military service, and called upon Buckner to release his military records. For the next few days, Terry continued making his accusations against Buckner on social media, before producing yet another Public Crime article on April 13 declaring that “Senate Candidate Sean Buckner is Allegedly a Stolen Valor Candidate.”

At first, Buckner laughed it off. Then he released his DD214 showing that he is in fact an honorably discharged veteran. Then he released various other records, soundly debunking any and all claims that he had committed the crime of stolen valor.

It quickly became evident that Terry simply did not understand the process of retrieving public records. Although he had made a request for a veteran’s records, the National Personnel Records Center could not find any records of the veteran for whom Terry made the request. However, that did not mean Buckner never served in the military or committed stolen valor. It simply meant that Terry had botched the request and then misinterpreted the NPRC’s response. The next morning, Buckner posted a public comment in which Terry remarked that “Getting my 15 minutes of fame with Sean was a strategic business decision. Nothing more, nothing less.” Terry further stated in the image that “Controversy is a business. I am just a businessman. And Sean is a supplier of business.” Addressing Terry’s confession, Buckner wrote:

Folks, there is a lawsuit that’s going to be filed after the election process. Making claims that I stole valor as a US Senate candidate and denouncing my military service while writing long articles about it for profit is Libel. When a candidate is running for US Senate, you might want to get some facts strait. Thank you dustin, this is going to be an easy one.

Less than an hour later, Terry posted his latest Public Crime article, in which he retracted his reporting on Buckner’s military service “until further notice.”

Terry did not, however, end his feud against Buckner. That night, he explained the reason why he began targeting Buckner in the first place: Buckner reminded Terry of someone from Roland whom Terry used to know. The person in question had allegedly stalked and harassed Terry to the point that Terry nearly committed suicide. Although Buckner had done nothing of the sort, Terry made it clear that Buckner now stood as a replacement adversary for the unnamed person from Roland. Terry vowed that he “will not back down from this fight.”

The following morning, Terry officially announced that he was indeed backing down, by “moving on from this Buckner thing” to run his newest entrepreneurial endeavor at debited dot org.

In yet another post an hour later, Terry announced that he had officially transferred ownership of The Cold Cases to investigator Taya Whitney Brown, and that he “will be shutting down PublicCrime.com as I close that chapter of my journey.” Later that afternoon, Buckner posted that he had been “asked to look into an organization calling itself the American Hero Project.” Buckner revealed that the organization had been founded in 2012, by Dustin Demoss and Clint Davis, who “solicited donations under the claim of supporting military families but may have failed to distribute those funds as promised.” Buckner further stated that the charity collapsed when “questions arose regarding Clint Davis’s military record.” Buckner also revealed that the AHP founder Dustin Demoss is none other than Gonzo Jornalist Dustin Reed Terry.

Buckner then posted a YouTube video of Dustin speaking about his military service before an audience, and soliciting donations on behalf of the AHP in 2013. Buckner reiterated his understanding that AHP co-founder “Clint Davis was known to exaggerate his military rank, experience,” and commendations. Buckner also wrote that if “anyone had contributed to this cause please reach out. I will try to help you get your money back.”

Dustin responded by denying that he had scammed anyone out of money with the AHP. However, he completely failed to explain what actually did happen. Did Dustin knowingly send out as his co-founder and sidekick a notorious military service embellisher?

It is important to remember that the Stolen Valor Act of 2005 was struck down as unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court in 2012 as an infringement upon the First Amendment right to free speech. Until that time, the simple act of military service embellishment was a crime. Throughout the first half of 2013, a new Stolen Valor Act raced through the US Congress, signed into law that June, which outlaws military service embellishment for profit. Phonies could still legally lie about their military service, under the new law, but they could not do so in exchange for compensation. Did the AHP rely upon that brief period of legal stolen valor to build its presence upon a foundation of lies? Did the AHP run afoul of either law at any time?

On April 16, Dustin issued a warning, threatening to expose any source or informant to Buckner on the matter. A couple of hours later, Dustin exposed one alleged Buckner source as “C.D. (Clint’s Brother),” however, he offered no evidence for the charge. The next day, Dustin announced that he is resuming his feud with Buckner because “artificial intelligence analysis of the DD214 Sean Buckner posted publicly has assessed the probability of it being legitimate at under five percent.”

Dustin created yet another Facebook profile, and he has proceeded to attack Buckner in dozens of subsequent posts, many of which can be described as “unhinged.” Buckner has not yet reported back on the matter. In addition to what actually did happen to the AHP, many questions remain. Who is the person that almost drove Dustin to the point of suicide? For what actual reason does Dustin conflate that person with Buckner? Will Dustin retract his attacks upon the military service of Buckner once and for all?

As the area’s preeminent military blogger, I will keep up with this story as it unfolds–and see what I can dig up on my own.