I received this in an email from my good friend Jim. His words struck home and gave me great pause for thought.
The article <Excellent Article from Hillsdale College (Imprimis)> discusses and provides explicit examples of out-of-control Federal agencies, particularly the extreme rise in American citizens being gunned down WITHOUT CAUSE by various police, FBI, Sheriff, ATF or “other LE agencies.”
- I put that in quotes because today, agencies such as Department of Fish & Wildlife, The Treasury Department, the Labor Department and even the US EPA, all have their own SWAT teams.
- I’m not at all clear why the Labor Department or EPA would need to have their own SWAT teams.
- Are you?
The article is an excellent description of the problem we all are facing: Today, SWAT teams are increasingly used to execute high-speed, high-lethality “arrest” or seizure operations…for cases that historically have been handled by lawyers arranging for simple surrender procedures at LE offices.
- Instead, innocent citizens are being treated like al queda terrorists in Baghdad, Syria or Iran.
- One must ask: WHY??
- Unsurprisingly, MANY of these operations end with weapons being used by LEOs, innocent citizens shooting back because they believe they are being home-invaded by criminals…then promptly being kinetically ventilated by automatic weapons fire from the very LEOs sworn to “protect and defend” them.
- The author suggests this is a “KGB style” trend…and I can’t disagree with him.
When I was a kid, SWAT teams were brand new and rarely used. ONLY in the VERY worst of situations / scenarios would the call go out for a SWAT team to come out & take down the “worst of the worst” of criminals.
- Over the decades, though…the operational uses of SWAT teams have expanded…DRAMATICALLY.
- Why? I’m not sure. Some of it is probably the simple proliferation of SWAT units to the point where almost every LE-ish agency — and many NON-LE agencies — has their own team. So many exist, there aren’t enough “real” operations to actually USE their skills and talents. So, maybe they get used just because the units (or their superiors) want to test their capabilities in the real-world. IOW: “give the boys some practice.”
- Not infrequently, the SWAT operations have a legitimate criminal target…BUT THE SWAT TEAM IS SENT TO THE WRONG ADDRESS.
- Sadly, too many of these “sorry, wrong address” operations end in the use of lethal force…against completely innocent civilians/citizens.
- And there’s also the phenomenom of “swatting,” where patently false calls are made to 911 numbers, such as: “Armed gunmen are holding hostages at such & such address…HURRY, they’re shooting people!!”
- And the SWAT teams not infrequently end up shooting & killing folks who were just enjoying dessert or watching TV.
- Even when the SWAT teams figure out they’ve been sent to the wrong address before anyone is shot, innocent civilians end up with full-auto machine guns being shoved into their ears, handcuffed, traumatized, assaulted & bloodied!
- Sometimes…those victims are children. No kidding.
Certainly, there’s been a dramatic increase in both the numbers and percentages of SWAT Team utilization.
- THE MAIN TROUBLE IS…THEY’RE NO LONGER BEING VECTORED ONLY TOWARD “THE WORST OF THE WORST” TYPES OF CRIMINALS.
- They’re being vectored toward…us. You & me. Average citizens.
- Normal folks just trying to live their lives with ZERO criminal actions involved.
- For some reason, SWAT raids don’t ever seem to occur at locations with, say, illegal aliens.
- They do seem to occur against legal, law-abiding citizens that happen to own firearms.
- They do seem to occur, at high percentages, against citizens that are politically conservative.
- Heck — even a SCOTUS judge’s home has been SWATTED — several times!!
- You’d have to ask the LE agencies why all that is — I surely don’t know. There is no logical thought process that could lead to such one-sided scenarios.
I’ll let you read the article for more details. Just understand this:
- The old days of common sense use of SWAT teams in only the most extreme cases…are long gone.
- Today, SWAT teams are increasingly likely to be used against NON-Criminal citizens.
- Those usages are overwhelmingly, extremely biased against anyone who is not on the Left, politically.
- Of course, the article’s main example happens to be a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat who was shot dead in an unnecessary SWAT raid. So, maybe that’s changing. Finally.
Best to you all.
Jim
Related Articles –
- Excellent Article from Hillsdale College (Imprimis)
- Hillsdale College (Imprimis) – My Opinion
- “Comply and Die!” vs “Comply or Die!”