Small-town America rebels against 'police state' arsenal ~ By Leo Hohmann

Thousands of MRAP military vehicles like this one have been
distributed to police departments throughout the U.S. in recent years.

Law enforcement agencies across the country have quietly returned more than 6,000 unwanted or unusable items to the Pentagon in the last 10 years, according to a report by Mother Jones.

And the trend seems to be gaining steam since the August unrest in Ferguson, Missouri. That’s when many Americans got their first glimpse of camouflage-clad cops roving the streets in tanks and armored vehicles, blurring the lines between police and soldiers.

Recently, in response to a local outcry over aggressive policing tactics, San Jose, California’s police department announced plans to return its MRAP, and the Los Angeles school system police department has agreed to return its three grenade launchers. (Emphasis my own)

Whitehead said military recycling programs carry hidden costs and result in heightened risk for the community by transforming local police into extensions of the military.

Apparently, citizens are becoming uncomfortably aroused by the sight of military equipment and militarized police forces moving through their streets. Residents of Nampa, Idaho, a city with a population of 97,000, is one example, where citizens were disquieted enough to ask the city to return the military equipment.

"SWAT raids, which numbered about 3,000 a year in the early 1980s, now occur over 80,000 times per year across America," Leo Hohmann wrote in this article. Originally meant to help fight the drug war against well armed criminals, or help in active-shooter events, SWAT teams "are rolled out for the most routine police procedures such as serving warrants."

As noted here previously, even Gov. Jay Nixon (D-MO) was shocked that military equipment was being used by the Ferguson, MO. police department to quell unrest.   The question now could be if militarized police forces will be needed to handle the unrest should there be a full blown Ebola outbreak somewhere in America?

Five years ago, Massachusetts was considering this proposal: "Pandemic bill allows health authorities to enter homes, detain without warrant." (I was unable to determine if that bill was ultimately signed into law.)  But it adds a whole new dimension in to the argument about how militarized various state and federal agencies have become.  Remember the Bureau of Land Management raid on the Bundy Ranch last April?  Just sayin'...


RELATED STORY:

• August 19, 2014 ~ ISIS militants take to social media to encourage Ferguson protesters to embrace Islamic extremism

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Small-town America rebels against 'police state' arsenal
Citizens urge return of armored vehicles to Pentagon

By Leo Hohmann

Published: Sunday, October 5th, 2014

From wnd.com

Residents of an Idaho town are asking their city council to return an armored vehicle to the federal government and just say no to militarization.

John Whitehead

John Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute, said he was contacted by a group of residents from Nampa, Idaho, and asked to urge their elected leaders to send the town’s military-grade equipment back where it belongs — to the Pentagon. Of particular concern is a mine-resistant ambush protected vehicle, or MRAP, acquired with grants from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The discussion of whether local police need machine guns, night-vision scopes or an armored vehicle needs to engage the entire community, and should not be unilaterally decided by the federal government, the military, or law enforcement, Whitehead said.

“Whenever this kind of armament is brought into a community, it should only be done with the knowledge and consent of the citizenry,” Whitehead, a constitutional attorney based in Charlottesville, Virginia, said in a statement released to WND.

~~~ READ MORE on wnd.com ~~~

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As an additional feature here on Blogging In Our Time 2 Escape, this blog will be including videos that have been posted on the johnny2k's America Facebook page! Videos can sometimes say more than what can be expressed in text.  Be sure to visit the archive with hundreds of videos to peruse.

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Don't be afraid!

WE the PEOPLE

are the MOB
ONE NATION UNDER GOD

YOU ARE NOT ALONE!
johnny2k's Tea Party Gear

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VIDEO: The Gov. got the equipment for them, now surprised how it is used

UPDATE: September 8, 2014
In this video, the discussion was revolving around the Ferguson, MO. story. I was doing some maintenance in the blog, came across this post, and got thinking what all of the governors will be saying if the President declared martial law, and that is why all of the cities got this militarized equipment? "We're very surprised how it is used"?  Just sayin'...

Post by Johnny2k's America.

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As an additional feature here on Blogging In Our Time 2 Escape, this blog will be including videos that have been posted on the johnny2k's America Facebook page! Videos can sometimes say more than what can be expressed in text.  Be sure to visit the archive with hundreds of videos to peruse!

*     *     *     *

Don't be afraid!

WE the PEOPLE

are the MOB
ONE NATION UNDER GOD

YOU ARE NOT ALONE!
johnny2k's Tea Party Gear

*     *     *     *

ISIS militants take to social media to encourage Ferguson protesters to embrace Islamic extremism

One ISIS sympathiser calling himself Mujahid Miski, who claims to be from Minneapolis–Saint Paul but suggests he is now based in 'the horn of Africa', has led the campaign to encourage those taking part in the protests to embrace radical Islam.

In one message he tweets: 'So how is democracy treating you guys? #FergusonUnderIS #Ferguson.'

He adds: 'I thought u guys back in #Ferguson were supposed to be Free & that u had equal rights. I'd really like to know what changed? #FergusonUnderIS'.

Miski goes on to retweet dozens of messages by a Twitter user with the handle @AmreekiWitness, who claims to monitor and support the growth of radical Islam in the U.S.

As officers sat with guns pointed atop armored vehicles, the authorities used LRAD (Long Range Acoustic Device) crowd control systems to send out a painful noise to try and disperse the crowd

Oh, the irony! I was just telling a friend last night that I hadn't posted any stories about the situation in Ferguson, MO, because I didn't have enough information to make any kind of sense of the violence and the media coverage, let alone to be able to either defend the victim of a shooting by a police officer, or the police officer himself. Sadly, the tragedy itself of a dead young man, is the focus on the race of the young man, sparking anger among the black population of this city. Anyway, I told my friend there wasn't much I could discuss that most people weren't already aware of.

That being said, there was a significant part of the story of the Ferguson police shooting and subsequent demonstrations and riots that some people in the media are covering, and that is the use of militarized police units to quell the violence. The tactic of using militarized police is being criticized by pundits and politicians from both the left and the right. I imagine that both Dennis Kucinich and Rand Paul are by now having conniptions. Well, for sure, most of us do not want to live in a police state!

But now for the REAL irony that really hasn't hit the wires yet. Surplus equipment and grants have been fueling the militarization of the police for a few decades, but has been greatly expanded by the Obama administration, purportedly for fighting terrorism (foreign or domestic, you decide!).  However, here we have this story, where ISIS is using the social media to send messages of support to the people of Ferguson, and suggesting that they convert to Islam!

May I suggest that we start taking ISIS very, VERY seriously? They may already have forces in Ferguson, Missouri! If they do, then the same people that are bashing the use of militarized police forces to quell the public unrest because of an alleged social injustice, may be the same people lauding the federal government, and especially President Obama, for helping local police to be able to fend off a terrorist attack. Oh, the irony. Just sayin'...


RELATED STORIES:

• August 20, 2014 ~ VIDEO: The Gov. got the equipment for them, now surprised how it is used

• August 19, 2014 ~ The Best Reporting on Federal Push to Militarize Local Police ~ A few facts you might have missed about the flow of military equipment and tactics to local law enforcement.

• July 10, 2013 ~ 7 Ways The Obama Administration Has Accelerated Police Militarization

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'How is democracy treating you guys?' ISIS militants take to social media to encourage Ferguson protesters to embrace Islamic extremism

• ISIS supporters urge Ferguson demonstrators to embrace radical Islam

• Use social media to stir up racial hatred and encourage yet more violence

• Militants urge ISIS sympathisers in U.S. to travel to Ferguson to join protest

• News comes as image appears to show demonstrator holding ISIS banner

• Man was seen holding an 'ISIS is here' placard on purported CNN footage

• Chilling developments come on ninth night of violent protests in Ferguson following the shooting by police of unarmed teenager Michael Brown

By John Hall for MailOnline

Published: 04:18 EST, 19 August 2014
Updated: 12:14 EST, 19 August 2014

From MailOnline via wnd.com

ISIS militants and their supporters are using social media to encourage protesters in Ferguson to embrace radical Islam and fight against the U.S. government.

Jihadists in Syria and Iraq and their sympathisers in the West have taken to Twitter to send messages of support to hundreds of demonstrators taking part in a ninth night of angry protests in the U.S. city following the shooting by police of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown.

The militants' tweets denounce local officers for the way they have attempted to quell the violence, make reference to historic acts of police brutality, and even use the hashtag #FergusonUnderISIS in an attempt to get angry young men in the city to declare allegiance to the Islamist group.

The news comes as footage purportedly taken from the scene of the Ferguson protests appeared to show one demonstrator marching along a street holding a sign reading 'ISIS is here'.

'Chilling': Footage purportedly from a CNN live stream of the protests appeared to show one young demonstrator marching along a street holding a sign reading 'ISIS is here'

~~~ READ MORE on MailOnline ~~~

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Don't be afraid!

WE the PEOPLE

are the MOB
ONE NATION UNDER GOD

YOU ARE NOT ALONE!
johnny2k's Tea Party Gear

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