Jump to content
When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.
  • Current Donation Goals

Land of the free?


Pugwash

Recommended Posts

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/200...aids/index.html

Protesters here in Minneapolis have been targeted by a series of highly intimidating, sweeping police raids across the city, involving teams of 25-30 officers in riot gear, with semi-automatic weapons drawn, entering homes of those suspected of planning protests, handcuffing and forcing them to lay on the floor, while law enforcement officers searched the homes, seizing computers, journals, and political pamphlets.

Wow, I thought you had laws against that kind of thing?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 84
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Ok I don't want to sound establishment like here but it sounds to me like something big is going down ie; police have received inside info on......say.....a soon to be launched bombing attempt.

At least I hope this is the case, otherwise it is a very disturbing situation.

Ken

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok I don't want to sound establishment like here but it sounds to me like something big is going down ie; police have received inside info on......say.....a soon to be launched bombing attempt.

Fromt the news story:

"

Each of the raided houses is known by neighbors as a "hippie house," where 5-10 college-aged individuals live in a communal setting [...] that they were filled with "peaceful kids" who are politically active...."

Absolutely, Kenberg. Unlike what the hippies would have you believe, law enforcement officers don't just raid the houses of people they dislike. These kinds of initiatives require lots of resources, and are based on evidence gathered through painstaking research and investigation conducted by leading experts and professionals.

Keeping families safe from law breakers is the job of the police, and I know what many of these college punks can do to wreak havoc in communities. I can only begin to imagine what kind of terror these ne'er-do-wells were inflicting upon their neighbors, but rest assured it definitely warranted professional intervention.

I also doubt the accuracy of the article. I've never heard of "salon.com" but given that the author was inside one of these houses as the raids occurred seems like a conflict of interest to me in the line of objectivity.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fromt the news story:

Absolutely, Kenberg. Unlike what the hippies would have you believe, law enforcement officers don't just raid the houses of people they dislike. These kinds of initiatives require lots of resources, and are based on evidence gathered through painstaking research and investigation conducted by leading experts and professionals.

Keeping families safe from law breakers is the job of the police, and I know what many of these college punks can do to wreak havoc in communities. I can only begin to imagine what kind of terror these ne'er-do-wells were inflicting upon their neighbors, but rest assured it definitely warranted professional intervention.

I also doubt the accuracy of the article. I've never heard of "salon.com" but given that the author was inside one of these houses as the raids occurred seems like a conflict of interest to me in the line of objectivity.

You're right. Not to mention that the feds don't typically have much influence over local police. I doubt this is true in all honesty. And if it is, its not complete.

BTW, salon.com is a well known (relatively I guess) liberal web site. It's most famous alum is Jake Tapper, who you may have seen on (I think) NBC. So, it's not a nothing rag, but it ain't the NY Times (well actually, neither is the NY Times anymore!)...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Pug, did you change your avatar or does my new machine not display it properly? All other animated gifs work. Just wondering.

It's a new avatar. I think I'm way too geeky for this crowd if no-one's got it just yet. :)

As for the news item, time will tell whether or not it was a home-grown terror plot or a genuine abuse of power. Let's sit back and wait and see.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Break in my door and its on cuz!

;)

haha yeah they beat you down faster then you can say AA SORRY.

We do. Then we have the 2nd admendment to make sure the laws are being followed in the best interest of the people. ;)

sure believe that as much as you like., truth is the freedom ones had in the US is all over.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's a new avatar. I think I'm way too geeky for this crowd if no-one's got it just yet. :)

Am I right in thinking it's a variant of 'tracking/identification' technology, which, in it's most common form, is seen and known as a bar-code?

haha yeah they beat you down faster then you can say AA SORRY.

sure believe that as much as you like., truth is the freedom ones had in the US is all over.

Indeed, all thanks to Dubya and the Patriot Act ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Pug, did you change your avatar or does my new machine not display it properly? All other animated gifs work. Just wondering.

And the story is told here also:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/30/us/polit...amp;oref=slogin

I'm going to go watch Escape from New York so I can see what life will be like for my kids.

And here...

http://www.startribune.com/politics/276952...UnciatkEP7DhUsr

nothing new. Remember Chicago is 1968. This is no biggie as far as I can tell... would you rather we let them throw urine on the delegates?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Funny (?) how we never heard a peep from the liberals when Janet Reno was the perpetrator of police state tactics. But now that they're on the receiving end, it's an issue. :rolleyes:

As I'm neither Liberal nor on the receiving end of US police tactics, this makes no sense.

Oh, and what's a Janet Reno?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You need to learn more about the sources you quote to understand the comment, then.

No news is unbiased. That's the way it is. I've read as many sides to the story as I could find.

While the mainstream media seems to be picking up on the raid on the office, the fact that several houses (including raiding next-door to one place by mistake) were raided at the same time seems to be slightly below the radar. [censored]-ups happened and the police didn't quite do it right. This story isn't over by a long shot.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No news is unbiased. That's the way it is. I've read as many sides to the story as I could find.

I notice the author got his digs in against the Republicans at the end, and doesn't seem to know the difference between 'semi-automatic' and 'automatic'. :lol:

While the mainstream media seems to be picking up on the raid on the office, the fact that several houses (including raiding next-door to one place by mistake) were raided at the same time seems to be slightly below the radar. [censored]-ups happened and the police didn't quite do it right. This story isn't over by a long shot.

Good. It's time to reign in these thugs. We give them SWAT teams and expensive military toys, yet they still can't make a dent in gang crime?

Oh and BTW, at Kent State the governor had to call in the National Guard to quell a riot. There really aren't any parallels between that and this SWAT madness.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I notice the author got his digs in against the Republicans at the end, and doesn't seem to know the difference between 'semi-automatic' and 'automatic'. :lol:

Good. It's time to reign in these thugs. We give them SWAT teams and expensive military toys, yet they still can't make a dent in gang crime?

Oh and BTW, at Kent State the governor had to call in the National Guard to quell a riot. There really aren't any parallels between that and this SWAT madness.

I agree with you, and trust me, I am no right-winger, but how do you know this is madness. Sounds like they are looking into a group planning some illegal activity, and are acting within the bounds of the law. I don't know enough to know for sure, of course, but the police should be able to stop anarchy before it starts based upon reliable information as long as they have the right warrants, etc...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree with you, and trust me, I am no right-winger, but how do you know this is madness. Sounds like they are looking into a group planning some illegal activity, and are acting within the bounds of the law. I don't know enough to know for sure, of course, but the police should be able to stop anarchy before it starts based upon reliable information as long as they have the right warrants, etc...

The house raids don't sound like they were done in a proper and legal manner.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree with you, and trust me, I am no right-winger, but how do you know this is madness. Sounds like they are looking into a group planning some illegal activity, and are acting within the bounds of the law. I don't know enough to know for sure, of course, but the police should be able to stop anarchy before it starts based upon reliable information as long as they have the right warrants, etc...

Too much force for this situation (based on the current information at hand), in my opinion. This is something a group of uniformed officers can handle. SWAT is for hostage situations and other high risk encounters.

And let me stress, the information currently available is very limited and very biased. It would be enlightening and interesting, for example, to see the affidavits used to get the warrants (if any).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Too much force for this situation (based on the current information at hand), in my opinion. This is something a group of uniformed officers can handle. SWAT is for hostage situations and other high risk encounters.

And how, at this early stage, do we know that the info the police have doesn't point to one of these hippy groups as being an Al-Qaeda sleeper team?

Just as an example.

Ken

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×
×
  • Create New...
Please Sign In or Sign Up