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- Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive
- From: Matt.Giwer@f326.n3603.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Matt Giwer)
- Subject: WOD: Scott raid update 1/3
- Message-ID: <1993Jun28.224916.21770@mont.cs.missouri.edu>
- Date: Mon, 28 Jun 1993 22:49:16 GMT
-
- Subject: WOD: Scott raid update 2/3
- Message-ID: <1993Jun28.224923.21829@mont.cs.missouri.edu>
- Date: Mon, 28 Jun 1993 22:49:23 GMT
-
-
- * Forwarded by MATT GIWER from the f-Politics conference.
- * Original from GARY STEINWEG to MATT GIWER on 06-23-93.
-
- Matt,
-
- This is one of my writings from late last year. Note the
- 3rd and 4th paragraphs and the following posts.
-
- FREEDOM LOST 1 of 2
-
- Under the guise of the "war on drugs," innocent Americans
- are losing their lives, liberty and Constitutional rights at an
- alarming rate. Under recently instituted state and federal for-
- feiture laws, government agencies may seize property if a judge
- (not a jury) determines that said property is associated with
- drugs. Doesn't matter how. The government does not have to
- charge the owner with a crime to take his property.
-
- For example, a charter/instructor pilot was chartered to fly
- an individual with a brief case from point A to B. When the
- airplane landed, it was surrounded by federal and local officers.
- Turns out the passenger was a suspected drug dealer, and his
- brief case was full of money. Since drug dealers always carry
- lots of money in brief cases, the money was seized AND SO WAS THE
- INNOCENT INSTRUCTOR'S AIRPLANE. The pilot had never met the
- passenger before and had no idea what was in his brief case. He
- was never charged with anything, but he is now bankrupt and his
- means of livelihood has been STOLEN from him. This is but one
- example of similar incidents being repeated at an ever increasing
- rate across this country, and it gets worse.
-
- A reclusive multimillionaire refused to sell his 200-acre
- Malibu Canyon ranch to the government as part of an expansion to
- an adjacent federal recreation area. It wasn't long before 24
- government agents stormed his home and shot him dead when he
- attempted to investigate the commotion with a gun in his hand.
- Their probable cause? An air surveillance expert reported seeing
- marijuana plants growing in pots on his property, and his younger
- wife was observed spending a lot of his inherited fortune. No
- drugs were found.
-
- Question! Why were he and his wife under surveillance in
- the first place? Do I think the raiding officers went there
- hoping to seize his property? Absolutely. It's free and easy
- money for government agencies. Officers participating in such
- confiscation receive a lot of "brownie points." Do I think the
- raiding officers were part of the orchestrated plot? Probably
- not. They were just doing what they like to do (kick butt), and
- were following orders from higher up.
-
- I was astounded when I first heard of property being confi-
- scated PRIOR to and WITHOUT a trial by jury. A couple years ago,
- "Operation Zero Tolerance" was my first hint of this tyrannical
- change in our government's behavior. Here in San Diego, honest
- and law abiding fishing boat operators had their vessels confi-
- scated because one of their crew had a marijuana cigarette. The
- actual offenders were only fined $100 and given suspended
- sentences. But the innocent fishing vessel owners' lives were
- disastrous disrupted. The motive is clear for anyone to see.
- Confiscated property worth a lot of money.
-
- What CAN YOU do about this? You can: 1) Wake up and pay
- attention to what is going on regarding the elimination of your
- basic rights. 2) After you've informed yourself, inform your
- friends. 3) Write your congressional representatives regarding
- your concern about your lost and threatened Constitutional rights.
-
- What SHOULD YOU do about this? Depends on how important you
- consider the Bill of Rights. Freedom is a lofty concept and a
- fragile reality. Once lost, it's difficult to regain. You've
- already lost a Constitutional and inalienable right and most of
- you weren't even aware of it. Ergo, it hasn't affected you (or
- me) - at least not yet. And besides, freedom can sometimes be a
- difficult responsibility to manage.
-
- We're on the verge of losing more of our Constitutional
- rights. Most of you don't care now, nor will you care after it
- happens. That's because ninety percent of the world's population
- including U.S. citizens are sheep. Sheep do just fine with or
- without freedom - most of the time, anyway. But every now and
- then they do get slaughtered.
- ===
-
-
- -- SPEED 1.30 >01<: Inhale to the Chief! He's allergic to the Flowers.
-
-
- --
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