"These are trying times. Never in the history of this country have we been so weakened and polarized by what many view as deliberate government policy. Now anti-gunners in the U.S. Congress, the Obama administration, and legislatures across the country are seeking to exploit the Newtown tragedy to promote their "gun control" agenda that envisions federal, universal background checks on gun purchases, and that could lead to gun registration and confiscation.
"At the same time, the increasing militarization of law enforcement, most visibly demonstrated by the growing use of massive, SWAT-type raids on businesses and individuals, sometimes with federal involvement or authorization, is heightening concerns that this country is moving toward a police state.
"Mountain Pure SWAT Raid: The Movie
"Mountain Pure Water, LLC is headquartered on Interstate 30 just outside the town of Little Rock, Arkansas. The company manufactures and distributes beverage containers, spring water, fruit drinks, and teas. In January 2012, about 50 federal agents, led by Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) Special Agent Cynthia Roberts and IRS Special Agent Bobbi Spradlin, swooped in, guns drawn. Without explanation they shut down plant operations, herded employees into the cafeteria, and confined them to the room for hours. They could not so much as use the bathroom without police escort. Cell phones were confiscated and all Internet and company phones were disabled.
"Plant Manager Court Stacks was at his desk when police burst through his office door, guns drawn and pointed at him--a thoroughly unprofessional violation of basic firearms discipline in this circumstance, and the cause of numerous accidental SWAT killings.
"According to Mountain Pure CEO John Stacks, the search warrant was related to questions about an SBA loan he secured through the Federal Emergency Management Agency to recover tornado losses to his home, warehouse, and associated equipment. Mr. Stacks says the SBA apparently doesn't believe that assets listed as damaged in the storm were actually damaged.
"The search warrant was extremely vague and some agents' actions may have been illegal, according to company attorney, Timothy Dudley. Comptroller Jerry Miller was taken to a private room and interrogated for over three hours by SBA Special Agent Cynthia Roberts, the raid leader. He requested an attorney and was told "That ain't gonna happen." According to Miller, the SBA unilaterally changed the terms of Stacks' loan. He says he asked Roberts what gave the SBA authority to do that, and she responded, "We're the federal government, we can do what we want, when we want, and there is nothing you can do about it." Miller said during the raid Roberts "strutted around the place like she was Napoleon."
"Stacks said the company has had three IRS audits in the past three years, including one following the raid, with no problems. The SBA has still not filed any charges, continues to stonewall about the raid's purpose, and refuses to release most of the property seized during the raid.
"Quality Assurance Director Katy Depriest, who doubles as the company crisis manager, described agents' "Gestapo tactics." She added that they confiscated CDs of college course work and educational materials for a class she had been taking that resulted in her flunking the course. Those materials have not yet been returned.
"Attempts were made to contact Ms. Roberts for this article, but she is no longer employed by the SBA. Questions were directed to the Little Rock, Arkansas U.S. Attorney's office. The USA's public affairs officer had no comment; however they have convened a grand jury to evaluate the case."
Replies (102)
The question is often asked: "If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?"
One might well ask: "If an abuse of power takes place in America, and the press is not around to report it, did it happen?"
These raids are happening all over America. I used to watch COPS on television, in which they sometimes showed police knocking down doors with S.W.A.T. teams, they knock once and then batter down the door. I found those images troubling, particularly in those instances in which they knocked down the door but found nothing, or little of consequence: no guns, no massive amount of drugs or large piles of money, nothing but a small amount of marijuana or some such. Hardly seemed worth the time and trouble of assembling a small army and breaking down the door. But, they probably seized the home and the other assets after the raid, which likely covered the cost.
Sometimes police knock down the wrong door. Sometimes they knock down the right door, but find nothing. Sometimes they accidentally wound or kill a resident. Why do we, a nation of free citizens, permit this?
-- Posted by Shapley Hunter on Tue, Apr 9, 2013, at 9:38 AM
Illuminati!!!!
-- Posted by Some Random Guy on Tue, Apr 9, 2013, at 9:51 AM
It was happening before 9/11. It's been happening as part of the 'War on Drugs' for ages. Back when they were rare, they usually made the news, now that they are common, they manage to be kept quiet, except for a handful of news outlets.
This one came to attention through a New Zealand report, oddly enough, after which it began to be reported more widely here, mostly through the blogosphere.
There was a thread elsewhere on the death of investigative journalism. This would seem to be a result of that decline.
-- Posted by Shapley Hunter on Tue, Apr 9, 2013, at 10:29 AM
-- Posted by Shapley Hunter on Tue, Apr 9, 2013, at 11:06 AM
The Gibson guitar factory has been raided twice.
"In 2009, more than a dozen agents with automatic weapons burst into a Gibson factory in Nashville and seized pallets of ebony fingerboards from Madagascar. Since then, the company has been fighting the seizure in court, arguing that the wood was exported legally from that African country. No one has been charged with criminal wrongdoing in connection with that raid. "
Automatic weapons? Inventory seized? No one charged? 4 years later still nothing. The whole story - Spaniard will love this. It's from the NY times:
Kind of sounds like Gibson agreed to a settlement that sounds more like extortion than justice, just to have the problem done with.
-- Posted by Have_Wheels_Will_Travel on Tue, Apr 9, 2013, at 11:56 AM
Sounds like this is the continued war on small businesses been going on for over four years now. If you operate a business under there terms your defined as mean and evil. If they need something to do how about arresting some of this bunch that is committing welfare fraud, food stamp fraud, social security disability fraud and extended unemployment fraud just to name a few. You will never see that because this country rewards failure and people that abide by the rules and pay there taxes are the bad guys in many of the far left liberal minds which some of them are on these blogs every day.
-- Posted by swampeastmissouri on Tue, Apr 9, 2013, at 12:39 PM
Most Law Enforcement Officers are former Military. Just a bunch of druged up baby killers.
-- Posted by Some Random Guy on Tue, Apr 9, 2013, at 12:40 PM
Thought this might fit in on this thread. Just happened this morning it appears. Note the vehicle in the backyard of the duplex. Looks like the Lincoln County law enforcement officers could do Rambo proud.
-- Posted by Have_Wheels_Will_Travel on Tue, Apr 9, 2013, at 1:13 PM
HWWT
Man the pigs are really drunk with power. They could make the father, Satan, proud.
-- Posted by Some Random Guy on Tue, Apr 9, 2013, at 2:11 PM
"What's the point of having this superb military that you're always talking about if we can't use it?" - Madeline Albright -
In the case of law enforcement, the question they would be asking is "what's the point of having this superb military hardware if we can't use it?"
The question we should be asking is "Why are we buying law enforcement all of this superb military hardware?"
-- Posted by Shapley Hunter on Tue, Apr 9, 2013, at 2:25 PM
It is almost a da**ed if you do and da**ed if you don't. There are times when nothing but a SRU/SWAT type unit will do, so they are formed. Then since they exist, they are tasked for things which they really should not be doing.
It takes more than black uniforms to make a good SRU Unit and in my opinion we have way too many of them. It has become a status symbol for departments and Officers and that's never a good thing.
-- Posted by 356 on Tue, Apr 9, 2013, at 3:15 PM
Most Law Enforcement Officers are former Military. Just a bunch of druged up baby killers.
-- Posted by Some Random Guy on Tue, Apr 9, 2013, at 12:40 PM
False and unnecessary comment. Most recent military have served several tours overseas and deserve respect for fighting for the right you have to spew hateful BS, under freedom of speech.
With that said, do not break the law or hang with those who break the law; and the risk of meeting SWAT at your door is pretty darn slim.
-- Posted by good.for.the.gander.good.for.the.goose on Tue, Apr 9, 2013, at 3:28 PM
"Then since they exist, they are tasked for things which they really should not be doing."
Exactly. That's why they send an armoured personnel carrier full of heavily-armed men to subdue a knife-wielding old lady, or to serve a search warrant on a company executive suspected of inflating the value of his wind-damaged barn. Hardly the stuff of S.W.A.T. team legend...
It's not unlike the need for the Fire Department to send a full hook-and-ladder unit to respond to the local grocery store because someone slipped in a puddle of spilled soap. But, they have it, they feel the need to use it.
-- Posted by Shapley Hunter on Tue, Apr 9, 2013, at 3:33 PM
-- Posted by Shapley Hunter on Tue, Apr 9, 2013, at 3:33 PM
That is often the case. I am a long time supporter of Law Enforcement, but I believe that in general they are over utilized as to SRU and other functions.
-- Posted by skittles1 on Tue, Apr 9, 2013, at 3:28 PM
Agreed, both my sons are ex military and one is a Social Worker and the other an EMT, both well balanced, caring individuals.
-- Posted by 356 on Tue, Apr 9, 2013, at 3:41 PM
More concerning is every LEO on the the parol flying across town to join an unnecessary high speed chase.
-- Posted by survivalist on Tue, Apr 9, 2013, at 3:47 PM
"-- Most Law Enforcement Officers are former Military. Just a bunch of druged up baby killers. --"
"-- Posted by skittles1 on Tue, Apr 9, 2013, at 3:28 PM --"
I've known law enforcement officers my entire life. Not since the World War II generation, when most men were former military, have I noticed the majority of them to be ex-military, and those that have were neither drugged-up nor baby killers. Some few, very few, appear to be military wanna-be's, but they tend to get booted out or straightened out pretty quickly in most forces.
But then, there are the S.W.A.T. teams, which are quite different from most law enforcement. I don't know many of them, since most small towns don't have them and, outside of the large cities, they are comprised of multi-jurisdictional units that are not local in nature. I don't live in the big city, so I have little opportunity to interact with them. I know my local law-enforcement, or at least most of them, but I don't know those guys and, I assume, they don't know me. I don't expect my local constable or my local sheriff to knock down my door because they know there's no reason to do so, they can knock on it if they need me, not knock through it.
But the S.W.A.T. teams dont' know me from Adam, and probably doesn't care that they don't know me. I would guess they expect that whoever called them in had reaso believe there was a need for their particulary skills, which they probably apply with an expected level of professionalism. The failure most likely occurs at the level of whoever is charged with deciding whether a particular situation requires that kind of response.
-- Posted by Shapley Hunter on Tue, Apr 9, 2013, at 3:59 PM
Most Law Enforcement Officers are former Military. Just a bunch of druged up baby killers.
-- Posted by Some Random Guy on Tue, Apr 9, 2013, at 12:40 PM
Shapley, The way you posted that offensive quote, it appears I said it. I did not; I merely defended military members.
-- Posted by good.for.the.gander.good.for.the.goose on Tue, Apr 9, 2013, at 4:08 PM
Most local law officers are not former military some are but the majority of them are not. With a case like this that is handled by a Federal Agency not a local agency. These guys are doing what they are told to do so don't take it out on them. Like the SBA agent she has already quit her job. If this was handled the way the article read than some of the agents need to be held accountable most of all the supervisor who handed this order down. The search warrant was Federally issued by a Federal judge you must show justification before the court why you need the search warrant more than likely this request to the court was made by the U.S. Attorney in that District not a local prosecutor or local Law Enforcement Agency.
-- Posted by swampeastmissouri on Tue, Apr 9, 2013, at 4:16 PM
"-- Posted by skittles1 on Tue, Apr 9, 2013, at 4:08 PM --"
I knew that you had not posted it, and I saw after I posted the reponse that it looked that way. I had intended to post the 'by line' both for the original quote and your response, but erased the wrong part of the original quote, leaving it with that impression, which could not be undone.
I was trying to respond to both, so I wanted both tageed. My apologies for the manner in which I did so.
-- Posted by Shapley Hunter on Tue, Apr 9, 2013, at 4:18 PM
"The question we should be asking is "Why are we buying law enforcement all of this superb military hardware?"
Excellent question. Clearly we should strip military style weapons from police forces, and while we're at we could easily prevent the sale of military style weapons to the general public, criminals and mentally unstable people.
But wait, we can't do that. Let the crooks and crazies have assault weapons, but we can take them away from cops.
-- Posted by commonsensematters on Tue, Apr 9, 2013, at 4:21 PM
"But wait, we can't do that. Let the crooks and crazies have assault weapons, but we can take them away from cops."
The cops are armed with fully-automatic weapons. Those aren't readily available to the general public, so you're premise is flawed. Nor are we talking about the firearms, we're talking about the tanks, armoured personnel carriers, battering rams, etc., etc., which these units are employing with increasing frequency.
Look at Wheels' link. The S.W.A.T. team arrived in an armoured personnel carrier to confront a knife-wielding grandma.
-- Posted by Shapley Hunter on Tue, Apr 9, 2013, at 4:26 PM
Just as Mr. Obama has done, Commonsensematters has attempted to blur the distinction between military style weaponry (i.e., fully-automatic weapons, grenade launchers, etc.) and the semi-automatic weapons being currently debated.
I assume that he is hoping most of us won't know the difference between a semi-automatic AR-15 and a fully-automatic M16.
-- Posted by Shapley Hunter on Tue, Apr 9, 2013, at 4:31 PM
The far left is always right god for bid do not disagree with them they have the social answers for everything as long as it is somebody else's money.
-- Posted by swampeastmissouri on Tue, Apr 9, 2013, at 5:35 PM
Hey if you've done nothing wrong ;)
-- Posted by Spaniard on Tue, Apr 9, 2013, at 5:18 PM
So let them do what they want hoping they don't think you might be a suspect?
-- Posted by We Regret To Inform U on Tue, Apr 9, 2013, at 6:17 PM
-- Posted by Dissident. on Tue, Apr 9, 2013, at 7:04 PM
Would love to see something to back al of that up.
Bullet proof vests have saved many regular Police Officers and you often can't tell someone is wearing one.
Most of the regular Police Officers I knew carried a backup weapon and some a backup to a backup. Many lives have been saved by a backup weapon.
I also believe that assault weapons have a place in special units of law enforcement, but agree many have them that really shouldn't and there are definitely to many special units.
If you ever have the chance, go to a quantification course for the average officer and you will see how little training they have and how poor of shots many of them are. Proficiency with firearms requires constant training and a high degree of commitment; many are not willing to put that time in nor are they required to do so.
-- Posted by 356 on Tue, Apr 9, 2013, at 7:34 PM
356
Many cop shops don't supply ammo for practice. Going to the range and blowing out 20 boxes of ammo is expensive. They should have a program available for training purposes to make it cheaper for them to make it cheaper.
I do notice many people hate cops until they need them. A few of my friends are cops so I get to hear the stories.
-- Posted by We Regret To Inform U on Tue, Apr 9, 2013, at 10:38 PM
I wonder if LEO's in the Cape area have accquired drones?
Go to www.house.mo.gov, Rep. Casey Guernsey, and look up his bill this session, HB 46.
This is all so sad, because I can remember as a child, it was all "support your local constable" and "the policeman is your friend; he'll help you," and I wish those days would come back.
-- Posted by Givemeliberty on Tue, Apr 9, 2013, at 10:44 PM
"...In January 2012, about 50 federal agents, led by Small Business Administration (SBA)...".
What federal agency were these 50 agents from?
I've always been amazed how the Fdederal Bureau of 'Investigation' that went from an information collecting agency to a police force for a special purpose and then never reverted back to it's original legal duties.
Now we have an alphabet soup of agencies wielding police powers of arrest and detention.
Best not draw out or deposit any sizeable sums of cash from or into your bank account lest the drug dog may think it could go for a new collar.
Shapley, Sometimes I thinks all these crime drama and cop shows are a way to endoctrinate us into recognition that anyone who holds ID of "federal agent", "FBI" or the initials of some police department are of totally unchecked power and authority.
-- Posted by Old John on Tue, Apr 9, 2013, at 11:17 PM
"I assume that he..."
There's the old "assume" problem....
It has to be recognized as ironic that many of those that shrug off Sandy Hook as an aberration, whose impact is clearly subordinate to and less significant than the 2nd Amendment rights of gun show operators and vendors to promote peddling of semi-automatic weapons to any criminal or mentally unstable character that wanders in off the street, are so incensed when law enforcement officials go overboard with their operations.
Obviously the use of force must be constrained and appropriate to the threat or crime, but if you insist that extremely dangerous weapons be readily available to the public, it should be no surprise that police react correspondingly.
-- Posted by commonsensematters on Wed, Apr 10, 2013, at 6:11 AM
And when the government starts kicking down doors with armies of government agents in full combat gear, you should not be surprised that free Americans want the right to protect themselves, their families, and their homes from overzealous 'enforcement'.
Not everyone has forgotten the lessons of the past.
-- Posted by Shapley Hunter on Wed, Apr 10, 2013, at 6:45 AM
We are losing many of our freedoms every day. The drivers license issue in Missouri is one example where all of us will be stored in a data base ran by DHS this is under a UN program world wide. More and more freedoms are fading away this is not what America is about.
-- Posted by swampeastmissouri on Wed, Apr 10, 2013, at 6:54 AM
It is hard to believe that the Waco Massacre happened almost 20 years ago to the date...
-- Posted by Rick Vandeven on Wed, Apr 10, 2013, at 7:19 AM
"...whose impact is clearly subordinate to and less significant than the 2nd Amendment rights of gun show operators and vendors to promote peddling of semi-automatic weapons to any criminal or mentally unstable character that wanders in off the street,..."
And who has supported the 'rights of gun show operators and vendors promoting and peddling of semi-automatic weapons to any criminal or mentally unstable character that wanders in off the street"?
I notice that you've also not commented on the distinction between the AR-15 and the M16. Those aren't AR-15s the police are holding when they bust down the door...
-- Posted by Shapley Hunter on Wed, Apr 10, 2013, at 8:26 AM
-- Posted by We Regret To Inform U on Tue, Apr 9, 2013, at 10:38 PM
I know, most of my friends are present or former LEO and few could afford to buy their own practice ammo, I reloaded all of my own and for a while reloaded for some others, but it became too time consuming and had to quit.
-- Posted by 356 on Wed, Apr 10, 2013, at 9:08 AM
I remember Waco. They tried to claim that the cult started to fire. When it was clear that the ATF and the FBI used flame throwers. And when they tryed to get out they guned them down. The plan all along was to massicer them. Just like the killed JFK and did 9/11.
-- Posted by Some Random Guy on Wed, Apr 10, 2013, at 9:35 AM
I remember Waco. They tried to claim that the cult started to fire. When it was clear that the ATF and the FBI used flame throwers. And when they tryed to get out they guned them down. The plan all along was to massicer them. Just like the killed JFK and did 9/11.
-- Posted by Some Random Guy on Wed, Apr 10, 2013, at 9:36 AM
Well, while I think Some Random Guy's post is a bit over-the-top, Waco is a good example of what we're talking about. Basically, we had a group of people who were concerned that the government was going to come knocking down their door to try to take away their guns. The government response was to brand them wackos and come knocking down their door to try to take away their guns.
Then, suppsoedly out of concern that the kids inside might be harmed, the government stormed the compound, resulting in the fire which burned it down, kids and all. The kids, after all, were the community's, not theirs. If those kids were to be harmed, it was the community's place to harm them, not their parents...
-- Posted by Shapley Hunter on Wed, Apr 10, 2013, at 9:44 AM
"I assume that he..."
I think that is the most reasonable assumption you could make... Common is never going to admit to that.
What I really find funny is Common objects to someone make a reasonable assumption when he is king of the "Probably" statement.
Have you ever noticed how many times he use phrases like 'Probably they mean this' or 'probably whatever'. Most often when explaining away an 'Obama foot in the mouth statement'.
I believe using "Probably" is just another assumption.... and I don't believe an assumption needs to be made when a person makes a direct statement that he/she really meant something else. That is just spin.
-- Posted by Have_Wheels_Will_Travel on Wed, Apr 10, 2013, at 9:58 AM
Wheels, He probably meant extremely dangerous people available to the government instead of extremely dangerous weapons available to the public.
-- Posted by Old John on Wed, Apr 10, 2013, at 10:06 AM
Wheels, He probably meant extremely dangerous people available to the government instead of extremely dangerous weapons available to the public.
-- Posted by Old John on Wed, Apr 10, 2013, at 10:06 AM
Old John,
Yeah..... probably! I don't expect an acknowledgement, Common ignores me, much like someone else on here used to do.... but I don't ignore them, I was taught to never be that rude to people. :-)
-- Posted by Have_Wheels_Will_Travel on Wed, Apr 10, 2013, at 10:31 AM
"Check out the book our "Leader" was reading in 2008:"
I've read a lot of radical writings in my time. I can't fault the man for reading current bestsellers...
I've read the entire Harry Potter series, but that doesn't make me a wizard, or lead me to believe in them...
-- Posted by Shapley Hunter on Wed, Apr 10, 2013, at 2:32 PM
This terrible event was a turning point for me.
-- Posted by Simon Jester on Wed, Apr 10, 2013, at 7:19 AM
Same here. Thanks to Janet Reno (Hillary's girlfriend) pushing the situation to save face for the Clinton administration we ended up with a lot of dead people.
Can we forget Ruby Ridge?
-- Posted by We Regret To Inform U on Wed, Apr 10, 2013, at 4:22 PM
"...lot of radical writings in my time."
Zakaria "delivers a stimulating, largely optimistic forecast of where the the 21st century is heading."
Furthermore the book does not "posit a 'defeated America.'"
Where is the "radical" viewpoint?
-- Posted by commonsensematters on Wed, Apr 10, 2013, at 4:27 PM
"Where is the "radical" viewpoint?"
Where did I say there was one? I merely pointed out that, if we are judged by what we read, then I'm a Marxist and a Trotskyite, among other things.
-- Posted by Shapley Hunter on Wed, Apr 10, 2013, at 5:01 PM
"Perhaps you could work on being so sensitive..."
I'm guessing there was a "not" missing in there.
Perhaps you could explain the purpose and/or the intent of the post in the first place...
-- Posted by commonsensematters on Wed, Apr 10, 2013, at 6:29 PM
False and unnecessary comment. Most recent military have served several tours overseas and deserve respect for fighting for the right you have to spew hateful BS, under freedom of speech.
With that said, do not break the law or hang with those who break the law; and the risk of meeting SWAT at your door is pretty darn slim.
-- Posted by skittles1 on Tue, Apr 9, 2013, at 3:28 PM
Our military is fighting for our right of free speech? False. Neither Iraq nor Afghanistan have threatened our right to free speech or any other right for that matter. Our returning soldiers do deserve our respect. Our respect for their willingness to sacrifice and die for our government's political agenda.
Exactly what law was it that this company broke that deserved the Gestapo tactics employed upon it by our federal storm troopers? (SBA is now carrying guns to use against citizens for possible loan fraud?) What law did the banker from San Diego break for which the fedeeral government deemed death was appropriate?
The Police State is alive and well.
-- Posted by FreedomFadingFast on Wed, Apr 10, 2013, at 8:09 PM
Mmmmmm.....brussels sprouts. The taste of the smell of dirty feet.
-- Posted by FreedomFadingFast on Wed, Apr 10, 2013, at 8:31 PM
"...but Brussels sprouts are a bad taste too..."
First, as you're now aware, it was not "an 'after America is gone' book."
Second, I like Brussel sprouts, and they're great when fresh and prepared properly.
-- Posted by commonsensematters on Wed, Apr 10, 2013, at 8:37 PM
"A SWAT team," the headline screamed, "blew a hole in my 2-year-old son."
"Historians looking back at this period in America's development will consider it to be profoundly odd that at the exact moment when violent crime hit a 50-year low, the nation's police departments began to gear up as if the country were expecting invasion -- and, on occasion, to behave as if one were underway.
The ACLU reported recently that SWAT teams in the United States conduct around 45,000 raids each year, only 7 percent of which have anything whatsoever to do with the hostage situations with which those teams were assembled to contend. Paramilitary operations, the ACLU concluded, are "happening in about 124 homes every day -- or more likely every night" -- and four in five of those are performed in order that authorities might "search homes, usually for drugs." Such raids routinely involve "armored personnel carriers," "military equipment like battering rams," and "flashbang grenades."
-- Posted by not_sorry on Sun, Jun 29, 2014, at 9:09 AM
Their funding is justified by the number of raids they conduct, so it is hardly surprising that the number is increasing.
-- Posted by Shapley Hunter on Sun, Jun 29, 2014, at 10:15 AM
What Would Happen If a Thug WITHOUT a Badge Threw a Grenade on Top of a Baby?
By Daisy Luther
The Organic Prepper
June 28, 2014
Last month, a family in Georgia had their lives turned upside down by a brutal home invasion.
Imagine this: You're visiting a relative's home because your own house was destroyed by a fire. You, your spouse, and your children are peacefully sleeping and you awaken to terrifying chaos: Loud bangs, men shouting, your children screaming...you have no idea what's going on.
Then you realize that you are the victim of a home invasion -- you're under seige...but the criminals who have burst in unannounced and launched an assault have badges and uniforms so it's somehow legal...
This is exactly what happened to the Phonesavanh family last month. It gets worse...in order to stun the slumbering family, a member of the SWAT team threw in a flash-bang grenade. It landed in the crib of 19 month old Bounkham "Bou Bou" Phonesavanh and blasted a hole in his little chest that actually made his rib cage visible to the casual observer.
The baby had a hole in his cheek, a large gaping wound in his chest, lost the use of one of his lungs, and suffered 3rd degree burns all over his small body. He was put in a medically induced coma, has undergone surgery, and doctors have yet to establish whether or not he will suffer permanent brain damage. He will most likely remain scarred for the rest of his life.
What is a flash-bang grenade? (Flash-bang makes it sound almost cartoonish, doesn't it?)
Upon detonation, it emits an intensely loud "bang" of 170--180 decibels and a blinding flash of more than one million candela within five feet of initiation, sufficient to cause immediate flash blindness,deafness, tinnitus, and inner ear disturbance. Exposed personnel experience disorientation, confusion and loss of coordination and balance. While these effects are all intended to be temporary, there is risk of permanent injury or even death. (source)
Of course, when it lands right on top of you, in your bed, it's a bit more than "disorienting." It's potentially deadly, especially for a baby.
Alecia Phonesavanh, BouBou's mother, wrote a grim account of the attack -- an attack for which no one has been held accountable. Here's an excerpt -- put yourself in this family's terrifying position:
After our house burned down in Wisconsin a few months ago, my husband and I packed our four young kids and all our belongings into a gold minivan and drove to my sister-in-law's place, just outside of Atlanta. On the back windshield, we pasted six stick figures: a dad, a mom, three young girls, and one baby boy.
That minivan was sitting in the front driveway of my sister-in-law's place the night a SWAT team broke in, looking for a small amount of drugs they thought my husband's nephew had. Some of my kids' toys were in the front yard, but the officers claimed they had no way of knowing children might be present. Our whole family was sleeping in the same room, one bed for us, one for the girls, and a crib.
After the SWAT team broke down the door, they threw a flashbang grenade inside. It landed in my son's crib.
Flashbang grenades were created for soldiers to use during battle. When they explode, the noise is so loud and the flash is so bright that anyone close by is temporarily blinded and deafened. It's been three weeks since the flashbang exploded next to my sleeping baby, and he's still covered in burns.
There's still a hole in his chest that exposes his ribs. At least that's what I've been told; I'm afraid to look.
My husband's nephew, the one they were looking for, wasn't there. He doesn't even live in that house. After breaking down the door, throwing my husband to the ground, and screaming at my children, the officers -- armed with M16s -- filed through the house like they were playing war. They searched for drugs and never found any.
I heard my baby wailing and asked one of the officers to let me hold him. He screamed at me to sit down and shut up and blocked my view, so I couldn't see my son. I could see a singed crib. And I could see a pool of blood. The officers yelled at me to calm down and told me my son was fine, that he'd just lost a tooth. It was only hours later when they finally let us drive to the hospital that we found out Bou Bou was in the intensive burn unit and that he'd been placed into a medically induced coma. (source)
I truly cannot even fathom the desperation those parents must have felt. Clearly the officers blocked Alecia's view because they were horrified by the injuries they had just caused to the screaming child.
Incidentally, the person the police were looking for was not on the premises and no drugs were found. So this raid accomplished absolutely nothing except for the opportunity for the cops to dress up in their little black SWAT outfits, throw some grenades, and act macho. Well played, officers. You must be so proud of your heroic actions.
Thus far, from what I can find online about the case...no one has been fired. No one has been suspended. No one has been arrested. No one has been charged with a crime. No one has been forced to pay the medical bills for the injuries suffered by the child. No one is footing the bill for the hotel the family must stay in to be near their son.
But wait. There's more.
Even more repulsive, Habersham County Sheriff Joey Terrell defended the actions of the SWAT team. Even though he claims they'd been staking out the house for days, they somehow had no idea that 4 children were present. (This is despite the minivan with the stick figures in the windows, the car seats, and the typical kid detritus like shoes and clothes and toys.) The raid was made based on a story by a confidential informant who claims to have bought $50 worth of meth from the nephew of the homeowner.
According to a report on RT, Sheriff Terrell...
...told the AJC the raid was properly executed, but ended in a tragic result. He defended the use of the no-knock warrant and lack of investigative work, saying that it would have risked revealing that the officers were watching the house.
The informant told police there were a couple of men standing "guard" outside the room -- a converted garage area -- where the Phonesavanhs were living. But the CI was unsure if the men were armed, and told police there were no children or dogs present in the home, CBS46 reported.
Surveillance on the house might have prevented the raid altogether. Thometheva wasn't in the home when the police raided, and was later arrested along with three other people at a different house on a felony drug charge of distribution of meth, the AJC reported.
The Phonesavanh family is also criticizing the police for the way they used the stun grenade. "I was told they were suppose to roll those things," Alecia said to the AJC. "If they had rolled it, it would not have landed on my son's pillow."
Terrell said the team used the device because the encountered resistance when trying to push the door open. "When they entered the door, they noticed it was a playpen, or like a pack-and-play type device," he said to WXIA. "There was a young child in the pack-and-play."
A family member disputes the police's description, telling WXIA that the crib was seven feet away from the door, not propped against it. (source)
In a rather audacious and desperate game of "Pass the Buck" the Sheriff also commented that the nephew (who was later arrested SOMEWHERE ELSE and charged with possession) could be held accountable for Bou Bou's injuries. Really? And this man was actually elected?
So these are the questions in my mind:
What would happen to a thug without a badge if he perpetrated this type of home invasion, resulting in such a traumatic injury to a baby? Considering the fact that you can get life in prison for a little bit of weed, I have to think that the punishment would be severe. So why on earth are the cops exempt from punishment for permanently scarring and nearly killing a toddler?
Why are these no-knock warrants occurring in situations that are far from life and death matters? It's understandable if a person's life is at stake, for example, in a suspected kidnapping. But where on earth was the probable cause to burst into the bedroom of a sleeping family?
Why isn't every member of that SWAT team being prosecuted? And what about the judge who signed the warrant? The DA that asked for the warrant? All of them are culpable. Every single person that thought this would be a good idea is guilty of harming a 19 month old baby. I'm sure no one set out to hurt a baby, but the fact remains, they did, and they are guilty of being negligent and careless, at the very least.
Where the heck is the accountability? They aren't paying the child's extensive medical bills, they aren't paying the hotel bill for the struggling family, and they aren't taking any responsibility for their actions.
When you are in a situation where you see people doing wrong, you are every bit as guilty if you don't stop it. Not only is the person who threw that grenade at fault. What about the person who held Alecia Phonesavanh down while her baby was screaming in agony? What about the officers that waited before getting medical treatment for that poor suffering child? What about the people who said they were watching the house but didn't notice the presence of FOUR CHILDREN? The judge who signed the warrant? The DA who asked for it?
Every person involved is as guilty as the unnamed cop who threw a grenade on top of a sleeping baby.
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men should do nothing."
~ Edmund Burke, 1770
It's easy to say that all cops are not bad. And I'd really like to believe that. I would like to be able to tell my children that there is a group out there putting their lives on the line -- a group you can depend on in a crisis situation -- that the police are their friends.
But I can't. Instead I tell them never to talk to police because much of the time, the purpose is to trick you into making yourself look guilty of something. I tell them not to open the door to police if they knock. I tell them that despite the uniform and the cop shows that portray them as heroes, police are generally not to be trusted. (Who can forget the warrantless searches in Boston last year when innocent families were marched out of their own homes at gunpoint?)
I'm sure that my opinion will not be a popular one, and that's fine with me. I'm sure many people can tell stories about "good cops" that they know or are related to. I'm sure there are a lot of folks that want to believe the cops are there to help us.
The problem is, those who enforce the law should not only be held to the law, they should be held to a higher standard. Instead, it appears that police are held to no standard at all. They are increasingly brutal. They taze people. They beat people. They molest people. They kill the family pet. And they aren't punished. They aren't held responsible. What would happen if a thug WITHOUT a badge threw a grenade on top of a baby? Can you imagine the public outcry? That person would be lucky to make it to trial without being lynched. He'd never survive being in prison, because those who hurt children get a different kind of justice when they're behind bars.
All of that changes when the thug throwing the grenade wears a badge and a uniform. The cops in America are becoming increasingly militarized, and this trend shows no sign of slowing down.
Personally, I can imagine no situation in which I would call 911 for police assistance because there are just too many stories about that going horribly wrong. (HERE, HERE, and HERE, for example) I don't want them in my home. Their purpose is NOT to serve us and protect us. The people they serve are NOT the people in the community. Their purpose is to generate revenue for their cities or counties. It is to charge people with a crime and gather evidence to imprison them, because prisons are the new slave ships. Work done for pennies in a prison is making big bucks for industry, so this whole war on drugs baloney is really just a way to legally take people and enslave them, forcing them to perform labor for which other people realize profit. (Learn more HERE)
Inquiries to discover whether the child's very extensive medical bills are being paid by the county have not been answered at this time.
A press release issued by the Phonesavanh family's attorney updates us on Bou Bou's condition:
June 24, 2014 Atlanta, GA --Bounkham "Baby Bou Bou" Phonesavanh, the baby severely injured by a flash bang grenade thrown in his play pen by the Habersham Sheriff's Department and City of Cornelia police raid, has been transferred to Children's Scottish Rite Hospital to begin rehabilitation. The family, who was set to move back home to Wisconsin the day after the raid, continues to need financial support as they have been living in a hotel to remain closer to their son.
"I was able to hold my son and hear his voice for the first time since the grenade exploded. After all that has happened to him, I am amazed at his strength. He has a long way to go but our prayers are being answered. We feel like it's a miracle." Bounkham Phonesavanh, Father of Baby Bou Bou
All donations to the family can be made to a Wells Fargo Bank Trust account in the name of Bounkham Phonesavanh. Online donations be made at www.justiceandprayersforboubou.org
" While this family is focused on the rehabilitation of their 19month old baby, the ACLU has lent their support releasing a report on S.W.A.T. teams and the militarization of police which includes Baby Bou Bou's mother, Alecia Phonesavanh's chilling story about what happen the day the grenade blew a hole in their son's face and chest. This family could be any of us." Attorney Mawuli Mel Davis, Davis Bozeman Law Firm
The ACLU report can be found on www.aclu.org/militarization. The family has set up a Facebook page to keep well-wishers apprised of the child's condition can be found HERE. "Like" the page to show your support to this little guy, the helpless victim of epidemic police brutality and carelessness.
Reprinted with permission from The Organic Prepper.
-- Posted by FreedomFadingFast on Sun, Jun 29, 2014, at 12:39 PM
FFF - thanks for the link to the donation site for the baby. It's sad that this happened with "authority". It's criminal that they would then defend it afterwards.
-- Posted by not_sorry on Sun, Jun 29, 2014, at 1:14 PM
Their funding is justified by the number of raids they conduct, so it is hardly surprising that the number is increasing.
-- Posted by Shapley Hunter on Sun, Jun 29, 2014, at 10:15 AM
Seriously? Have a link for that. Troubling if true.
-- Posted by L'Espagnol on Mon, Jun 30, 2014, at 4:28 PM
I have it from an ex cop, but here is a link that describes the process:
"Can you describe how this plays out at the local level? How do any number of small towns now have SWAT teams even as small towns are suffering? How does that training happen? And how does it get used?
"I think part of it is the Pentagon giveaway, the DHS grant; that gets them some of the hardware they need. And then they make the case for starting a SWAT team, and inevitably -- I've watched this happen in towns -- they'll get the equipment and they'll get the SWAT team. They'll invoke Columbine or Virginia Tech or Newtown, now, and they'll say, "This could happen here. This is why we need to be prepared." And of course, as high-profile as those things are, they're vanishingly rare.
"Once a small town gets a SWAT team and starts one, it's expensive to maintain and you want to use it, and the easiest way to use it is to send them out on drug raids. It's not just that it's easy -- there are incentives. There are federal grants that are tied to drug policing. If you wait until you're about to arrest a suspected murderer or rapist -- which, in small towns, doesn't happen that often -- a SWAT team's going to be a negative when it comes to revenue. Send them out on a bunch of drug raids, you get all this federal money; there's also asset forfeiture that is usually tied to drug crimes, and the SWAT team can actually generate money for the department.
"So, it starts with the equipment. You just need unsupported justifications for why it's necessary, and then there are all these incentives for police departments who are using it for pretty low-level crimes.
"Training is another problem. At least in the big cities, when they have these SWAT teams, they're usually well-trained. It's usually a full-time position. In some of these small towns and little counties, there are cases where there's a 15-man police department and they also have an eight-member SWAT team. These guys are part-time, and they're not getting the training that they need to do this. I think even the well-trained SWAT teams are used too frequently, but it's better to have a well-trained SWAT team than a bunch of guys who are kind of in it for the thrill."
__________
There are a number of police sites online that explain how to start a SWAT force. They are relatively mum on financing, though. I would expect it to be an "insider secret" how to get the grants.
I did find a source for police grants, but you have to be a registered user to log in to it, so it was not much help.
-- Posted by Shapley Hunter on Mon, Jun 30, 2014, at 5:00 PM
Ask YOUR elected mayor and YOUR elected county commission if they have an MRAP yet, which they got for "free" from the military.
Then ask them why they need it.
-- Posted by Givemeliberty on Mon, Jul 7, 2014, at 8:56 AM
A great-grandmother at 51? Wow !!
-- Posted by left turn on Mon, Jul 7, 2014, at 9:36 AM
Rick,
Glad I didn't become a great grandmother at 51... don't think I could have survived those punches.
I guess the positive thing is the police didn't see any sign of bruises or injury to her. I would say that would qualify as a modern day miracle the way that guy was hammering her in the video.
-- Posted by Have Wheels Will Travel - ΑΩ on Mon, Jul 7, 2014, at 10:05 AM
Maybe this 51 year old great grandmother should also be in the following thread: Should Contraceptives Be A Government Entitlement?
-- Posted by D.schaefer on Mon, Jul 7, 2014, at 10:50 AM
So the government's now kiling citizens for non payment of taxes. Isn't that just peachy.
-- Posted by FreedomFadingFast on Sun, Jul 20, 2014, at 2:42 PM
-- Posted by FreedomFadingFast on Sun, Jul 20, 2014, at 3:02 PM
Better keep yours current, FFF
-- Posted by left turn on Sun, Jul 20, 2014, at 3:06 PM
Keep what current?
-- Posted by FreedomFadingFast on Sun, Jul 20, 2014, at 5:29 PM
"Residents of Boston do not need shotguns or rifles, according to Boston Police Commissioner William Evans.
"Boston's top cop made that statement Wednesday on Boston Public Radio in response to Massachusetts state senator Stan Rosenberg's position that there are already "sufficient controls" on long guns at the federal level, giving no need for new state laws that grant police additional powers to deny ownership to citizens.
"According to WGBH, Evans responded:
I don't agree with that. Having long guns--rifles and shotguns--especially here in the city of Boston. I think we should have, as the local authority, some say in the matter. [And] the federal [government] doesn't really allow us to have the discretion that we want in these particular cases.
"...For the most part, nobody in the city needs a shotgun. Nobody needs a rifle.
"Police have been urging lawmakers in Boston to restore a provision to a gun bill allowing them to deny someone a license to own a rifle or shotgun even if the person passes a background check.
"The Massachusetts House voted to give police those powers, but the senate later stripped that section out of the bill. Lawmakers are now expected to attend a conference committee, where the dispute could kill the bill altogether
-- Posted by FreedomFadingFast on Tue, Jul 29, 2014, at 8:28 PM
At the risk of overly repeating previous posts:
" Find out just what people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; the limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress." Frederick Douglas
-- Posted by Old John on Tue, Jul 29, 2014, at 9:23 PM
OJ - thanks for that one. Douglas certainly knew about the limits of tyranny.
-- Posted by not_sorry on Tue, Jul 29, 2014, at 10:04 PM
The so-called "Department of Homeland Security" make a military exercise out of collecting a car apparently illegally. They showed up to a couples house in 6 vehicles and make a Rambo-style raid.
"Jennifer and Bill Brinkley were satisfied that their $60,000 dollar purchase of a Land Rover Defender on eBay complied with regulations because it fell into the exemption category of a vehicle 25 years or older.
However, when DHS agents turned up at the property, they compared the car's Vehicle Identification Number to a list and immediately seized the Land Rover. The couple were not given "a chance to debate the issue."
WBTV's Steve Ohnesorge said DHS agents conducted "almost like a raid to get the car."
"The DHS is becoming America's domestic standing army. The menace of a national police force, aka a standing army, vested with so much power cannot be overstated, nor can its danger be ignored".
======
I'll feel so much safer and protected tonight knowing this couples Land Rover has been confiscated. I love being tucked into bed at night by the federal government.
"DETROIT - A judge has declared a mistrial after jurors failed to reach a verdict in the trial of Joseph Weekley, a Detroit police officer, who fatally shot 7-year-old Aiyana Stanley-Jones during a 2010 police raid.
"Wayne County Judge Cynthia Gray Hathaway dismissed jurors about an hour after urging them to keep working Tuesday. The jury sent three notes, the last one indicating it still couldn't reach a unanimous verdict on the third day of deliberations.
"Weekley was charged with involuntary manslaughter. He accidentally fired his gun, killing Aiyana, while leading officers on a raid to find a murder suspect in 2010.
"He said he pulled the trigger during a struggle with the girl's grandmother, but Mertilla Jones denied interfering with the gun and another officer testified there was no struggle over the weapon.
"The raid was recorded for a police reality TV show, "The First 48," and Aiyana's family members have said they believe the officers involved were more concerned about how they appeared on TV rather than properly conducting their police work.
"A retrial date has not been set. A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for July 25."
-- Posted by Shapley Hunter on Fri, Aug 1, 2014, at 9:00 AM
I think a fascist police state is acceptable to both the left and the right. From illegal aliens to school lunches. Everything must be controlled.
-- Posted by BCStoned on Fri, Aug 1, 2014, at 10:39 AM
So true.
-- Posted by FreedomFadingFast on Fri, Aug 1, 2014, at 2:29 PM
-- Posted by Shapley Hunter on Fri, Aug 1, 2014, at 2:50 PM
My point, exactly. I asked commonsensematters why the government issues such weapons if, as he claims, no one needs them for defense. He has not responded. Is he claiming the police and military are offensive? Do they change weapons when they go on the defense?
The weaponry looks to be excessive merely for enforcing a "no student drop-off" policy, though. ;)
-- Posted by Shapley Hunter on Sat, Aug 2, 2014, at 8:11 AM
I have also asked Commonsensematters to explain what a "military-style semi-automatic" weapon is and how it differs from any other semi-automatic. He has not responded to that question, either.
-- Posted by Shapley Hunter on Sat, Aug 2, 2014, at 8:20 AM
-- Posted by Shapley Hunter on Sat, Aug 2, 2014, at 9:18 AM
I think a fascist police state is acceptable to both the left and the right. From illegal aliens to school lunches. Everything must be controlled.
-- Posted by BCStoned on Fri, Aug 1, 2014, at 10:39 AM
The reason? We don't trust our fellowman. And the news tells us we shouldn't. We can't control everything by ourselves, so we ask for help.
Sometimes I wonder what happened to the front porch, where people visited and knew their neighbors. I guess the internet, which is a gift, but it has also caused us to lose 'human' contact.
-- Posted by Reasoning on Sat, Aug 2, 2014, at 9:28 AM
Ferguson seems to have it's share of military equipment.
Reckon they don't want to waste the chance they have to use it.
I'm reminded of the Chicago mayor that issued an order to shoot looters on site.
-- Posted by Old John on Thu, Aug 14, 2014, at 10:23 AM
And while the opportunity holds, this is a good time to flex state and federal powers.
-- Posted by Old John on Thu, Aug 14, 2014, at 10:36 AM
Old John,
Actually I think those armored vehicles belong to the St. Louis County Police Force.
But now I see Nixon and Clay are entering the scene and telling the County Force to go away. It will surely get fixed now with two politicians running the show. Really didn't know the St. Louis County Police took orders from the Governor. Maybe he is taking his cue from Obama and going to issue some executive orders, or declare a disaster area... who knows.
Is Rev. Al still in town, haven't seen anything of him last day or so? Team him up with Nixon and Clay and we can put this one in the closed file.
-- Posted by Have Wheels Will Travel - ΑΩ on Thu, Aug 14, 2014, at 10:46 AM
It's all but over... all the big guns are trained on Ferguson now.
-- Posted by Have Wheels Will Travel - ΑΩ on Thu, Aug 14, 2014, at 10:49 AM
I read one story that said even the rioters are telling the Rev to go home.
-- Posted by Old John on Thu, Aug 14, 2014, at 1:16 PM
While I've commented many times on the militarization of the police over the past few years, recent events have begun to cause a flurry of questions about it.
"The city of Keene, N.H., population 23,000, nestled in a valley in the state's southwest corner, may not be the first place that comes to mind as a terrorism target, but this summer it will take delivery on a $286,000 armored vehicle, compliments of the Department of Homeland Security.
"The Lenco "BearCat," fitted with thermal imaging, radiation and explosive gas detection systems, gun mounts and rotating hatch is but one example of the kind of quasi-military equipment that has been acquired by local and state law enforcement agencies through billions of dollars worth of federal grant money in the last decade."
As Jim Geraghty (Nation Review Online) notes: The current generation's view of the police has shifted from Office Friendly to something that more closely resembles the storm troopers from Star Wars.
Maybe all that combat gear helps to foster a combat climate? The arrival of the State Police in Ferguson, wearing regular uniforms, seems to have fostered a calmer attitude there:
"Hundreds of protesters gathered and marched near the flashpoint where riots and civil unrest have unfolded here in recent days, but no violent clashes were reported as of early Friday morning.
"Citizens protesting the death of black Missouri teenager Michael Brown appeared to be getting along peacefully as they marched alongside state troopers, who took over operational control of the protest scenes Thursday.
"Several marchers stopped to shake hands with police and troopers. Some people stopped to hug and chat with Capt. Ron Johnson of the Highway Patrol, who was born and grew up near this community and is now overseeing security.
"The scene stood in stark contrast clashes earlier this week when officers wore riot gear."
-- Posted by Shapley Hunter on Fri, Aug 15, 2014, at 9:13 AM
The local police has pulled back and the name of the officer has been publicized.
-- Posted by Old John on Fri, Aug 15, 2014, at 10:12 AM
Michael Brown was the primary suspect in a strong armed burglary captured on video just minutes before the altercation with the police. Today the police have confirmed that it was, in fact, Michael Brown shoving the store clerk into some shelving during the robbery.
The truth will come out. Who is racist here? A police who shot a man in an altercation (because he is white) or a community that calms down when a black policeman is put in charge?
Thirty-odd years ago, when the Carl Vinson visited Japan and other ports, we witnessed the police in full riot gear lined up to block the entrance of "peace protestors", who threw rocks and bottles at the Police, and at us, in the name of "Peace".
-- Posted by Shapley Hunter on Fri, Aug 15, 2014, at 3:15 PM
Turning America Into a War Zone, Where 'We the People' Are the Enemy
By John W. Whitehead
The Rutherford Institute
August 21, 2014
"If you don't want to get shot, tased, pepper-sprayed, struck with a baton or thrown to the ground, just do what I tell you."--Sunil Dutta, an officer with the Los Angeles Police Department for 17 years
Life in the American police state is an endless series of don'ts delivered at the end of a loaded gun: don't talk back to police officers, don't even think about defending yourself against a SWAT team raid (of which there are 80,000 every year), don't run when a cop is nearby lest you be mistaken for a fleeing criminal, don't carry a cane lest it be mistaken for a gun, don't expect privacy in public, don't let your kids walk to the playground alone, don't engage in nonviolent protest near where a government official might pass, don't try to grow vegetables in your front yard, don't play music for tips in a metro station, don't feed whales, and on and on.
For those who resist, who dare to act independently, think for themselves, march to the beat of a different drummer, the consequences are invariably a one-way trip to the local jail or death.
What Americans must understand, what we have chosen to ignore, what we have fearfully turned a blind eye to lest the reality prove too jarring is the fact that we no longer live in the "city on the hill," a beacon of freedom for all the world.
Far from being a shining example of democracy at work, we have become a lesson for the world in how quickly freedom turns to tyranny, how slippery the slope by which a once-freedom-loving people can be branded, shackled and fooled into believing that their prisons walls are, in fact, for their own protection.
Having spent more than half a century exporting war to foreign lands, profiting from war, and creating a national economy seemingly dependent on the spoils of war, we failed to protest when the war hawks turned their profit-driven appetites on us, bringing home the spoils of war--the military tanks, grenade launchers, Kevlar helmets, assault rifles, gas masks, ammunition, battering rams, night vision binoculars, etc.--to be distributed for free to local police agencies and used to secure the homeland against "we the people."
Is it any wonder that we now find ourselves in the midst of a war zone?
We live in a state of undeclared martial law. We have become the enemy.
In a war zone, there are no police--only soldiers.
In a war zone, the soldiers shoot to kill, as American police have now been trained to do. Whether the perceived "threat" is armed or unarmed no longer matters when police are authorized to shoot first and ask questions later.
In a war zone, even the youngest members of the community learn at an early age to accept and fear the soldier in their midst. Thanks to funding from the Obama administration, more schools are hiring armed police officers--some equipped with semi-automatic AR-15 rifles--to "secure" their campuses.
In a war zone, you have no rights. When you are staring down the end of a police rifle, there can be no free speech. When you're being held at bay by a militarized, weaponized mine-resistant tank, there can be no freedom of assembly. When you're being surveilled with thermal imaging devices, facial recognition software and full-body scanners and the like, there can be no privacy. When you're charged with disorderly conduct simply for daring to question or photograph or document the injustices you see, with the blessing of the courts no less, there can be no freedom to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
And when you're a prisoner in your own town, unable to move freely, kept off the streets, issued a curfew at night, there can be no mistaking the prison walls closing in.
This is not just happening in Ferguson, Missouri. As I show in my book A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State, it's happening and will happen anywhere and everywhere else in this country where law enforcement officials are given carte blanche to do what they like, when they like, how they like, with immunity from their superiors, the legislatures, and the courts.
You see, what Americans have failed to comprehend, living as they do in a TV-induced, drug-like haze of fabricated realities, narcissistic denial, and partisan politics, is that we've not only brought the military equipment used in Iraq and Afghanistan home to be used against the American people. We've also brought the very spirit of the war home.
This is what it feels like to be a conquered people. This is what it feels like to be an occupied nation. This is what it feels like to live in fear of armed men crashing through your door in the middle of the night, or to be accused of doing something you never even knew was a crime, or to be watched all the time, your movements tracked, your motives questioned.
This is what it's like to be a citizen of the American police state. This is what it's like to be an enemy combatant in your own country.
So if you don't want to get shot, tased, pepper-sprayed, struck with a baton or thrown to the ground, by all means, stand down. Cower in the face of the police, turn your eyes away from injustice, find any excuse to suggest that the so-called victims of the police state deserved what they got.
But remember, when that rifle finally gets pointed in your direction--and it will--when there's no one left to stand up for you or speak up for you, remember that you were warned.
-- Posted by FreedomFadingFast on Thu, Aug 21, 2014, at 8:56 PM
"An interesting take on America's police state."
...but thankfully, imaginary.
Cherry-picking the exceptions and trotting them out as the "rule" in the form of a "warning" is a dishonest and deceitful means of struggling to make a point.
The truth is that there are instances of police misbehavior, some of which is illegal, but it is and will continue to be, in my opinion, extremely rare.
Granted, living in rural Southeast Missouri is significantly less risky, than North St. Louis, nevertheless during the 20 years (10.5 million minutes) that I've been here, I've had 3 contacts with police or sheriff officials totaling about 10.5 minutes. Hardly a "police state."
-- Posted by commonsensematters on Fri, Aug 22, 2014, at 6:36 AM
Hardly a "police state." -- Posted by commonsensematters on Fri, Aug 22, 2014, at 6:36 AM
The proverbial frog in the pot of boiling water. With your blinders on you won't notice a police state - and refuse to recognize it's rise - until it's in your face.
-- Posted by not_sorry on Fri, Aug 22, 2014, at 8:34 AM
Where in the world is Scopus, MO?
-- Posted by Have Wheels Will Travel - ΑΩ on Fri, Aug 22, 2014, at 9:44 AM
"...what is the point of the Homeland Security and Justice funnel billions' worth of dollars and military equipment to state and local law enforcement..."
There is no point to it. I would think that Homeland security and Justice overbought billions of dollars of equipment, and now they have to get rid of it somehow.
-- Posted by commonsensematters on Fri, Aug 22, 2014, at 9:53 AM
There is no point to it. I would think that Homeland security and Justice overbought billions of dollars of equipment, and now they have to get rid of it somehow.
-- Posted by commonsensematters on Fri, Aug 22, 2014, at 9:53 AM
One of the few common sense statements you have made in ages..... but you should have finished it with the words "so they can purchase some more arms and ammunition they do not need".
-- Posted by Have Wheels Will Travel - ΑΩ on Fri, Aug 22, 2014, at 9:58 AM
Hardly a "police state." -- Posted by commonsensematters on Fri, Aug 22, 2014, at 6:36 AM
Then you're not paying attention.
-- Posted by L'Espagnol on Fri, Aug 22, 2014, at 2:12 PM
There is no point to it. I would think that Homeland security and Justice overbought billions of dollars of equipment, and now they have to get rid of it somehow.
-- Posted by commonsensematters on Fri, Aug 22, 2014, at 9:53 AM
Now I understand why you believe that we need tax increases despite the federal government collecting record revenues.
-- Posted by FreedomFadingFast on Fri, Aug 22, 2014, at 3:25 PM
Who got the billions of dollars for producing military equipment that was not needed ?
-- Posted by ✴Rick on Fri, Aug 22, 2014, at 10:05 AM
The defense contractors who make campaign contributions and provide 6 and 7 figure salaried jobs to politicians after they leave office.
It's that, "you scratch my back, I'll scratch your's" thing that we've all heard tell about.
-- Posted by FreedomFadingFast on Fri, Aug 22, 2014, at 3:28 PM
The Afghanistan war is winding down , gotta stir up Syria now . -- Posted by ✴Rick on Fri, Aug 22, 2014, at 4:21 PM
More military equipment for the local police?
-- Posted by not_sorry on Fri, Aug 22, 2014, at 5:07 PM
The Afghanistan war is winding down , gotta stir up Syria now . -- Posted by ✴Rick on Fri, Aug 22, 2014, at 4:21 PM
More military equipment for the local police?
-- Posted by Dug on Fri, Aug 22, 2014, at 5:07 PM
Yes. And then pay defense contractors for new equipment to fight a war in Syria. The circle of U.S. defense spending.
-- Posted by FreedomFadingFast on Fri, Aug 22, 2014, at 5:55 PM
Seems some of this military equipment given to cities and counties is unaccounted for.
-- Posted by Old John on Thu, Aug 28, 2014, at 10:50 AM
I recall from another thread not too long ago, as posted by a non liar, that lack of government accountability with regards to tax dollars was no big deal. Therefore why should lack of accountability with regards to military equipment be any big deal?
-- Posted by FreedomFadingFast on Thu, Aug 28, 2014, at 11:07 AM
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http://www.aim.org/special-report/police-militarization-abuses-of-power-and-the-...
"These are trying times. Never in the history of this country have we been so weakened and polarized by what many view as deliberate government policy. Now anti-gunners in the U.S. Congress, the Obama administration, and legislatures across the country are seeking to exploit the Newtown tragedy to promote their "gun control" agenda that envisions federal, universal background checks on gun purchases, and that could lead to gun registration and confiscation.
"At the same time, the increasing militarization of law enforcement, most visibly demonstrated by the growing use of massive, SWAT-type raids on businesses and individuals, sometimes with federal involvement or authorization, is heightening concerns that this country is moving toward a police state.
"Mountain Pure SWAT Raid: The Movie
"Mountain Pure Water, LLC is headquartered on Interstate 30 just outside the town of Little Rock, Arkansas. The company manufactures and distributes beverage containers, spring water, fruit drinks, and teas. In January 2012, about 50 federal agents, led by Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) Special Agent Cynthia Roberts and IRS Special Agent Bobbi Spradlin, swooped in, guns drawn. Without explanation they shut down plant operations, herded employees into the cafeteria, and confined them to the room for hours. They could not so much as use the bathroom without police escort. Cell phones were confiscated and all Internet and company phones were disabled.
"Plant Manager Court Stacks was at his desk when police burst through his office door, guns drawn and pointed at him--a thoroughly unprofessional violation of basic firearms discipline in this circumstance, and the cause of numerous accidental SWAT killings.
"According to Mountain Pure CEO John Stacks, the search warrant was related to questions about an SBA loan he secured through the Federal Emergency Management Agency to recover tornado losses to his home, warehouse, and associated equipment. Mr. Stacks says the SBA apparently doesn't believe that assets listed as damaged in the storm were actually damaged.
"The search warrant was extremely vague and some agents' actions may have been illegal, according to company attorney, Timothy Dudley. Comptroller Jerry Miller was taken to a private room and interrogated for over three hours by SBA Special Agent Cynthia Roberts, the raid leader. He requested an attorney and was told "That ain't gonna happen." According to Miller, the SBA unilaterally changed the terms of Stacks' loan. He says he asked Roberts what gave the SBA authority to do that, and she responded, "We're the federal government, we can do what we want, when we want, and there is nothing you can do about it." Miller said during the raid Roberts "strutted around the place like she was Napoleon."
"Stacks said the company has had three IRS audits in the past three years, including one following the raid, with no problems. The SBA has still not filed any charges, continues to stonewall about the raid's purpose, and refuses to release most of the property seized during the raid.
"Quality Assurance Director Katy Depriest, who doubles as the company crisis manager, described agents' "Gestapo tactics." She added that they confiscated CDs of college course work and educational materials for a class she had been taking that resulted in her flunking the course. Those materials have not yet been returned.
"Attempts were made to contact Ms. Roberts for this article, but she is no longer employed by the SBA. Questions were directed to the Little Rock, Arkansas U.S. Attorney's office. The USA's public affairs officer had no comment; however they have convened a grand jury to evaluate the case."
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