THE LATEST IN THE DESTRUCTION OF AMERICA: OUR CURRENT FEATURE ARTICLE
Table of Contents
FROM BEHIND ENEMY LINES:A Conservative Libertarian Inside Academia
SOUTHERN HERITAGE: Dedicated to the truth about the War of Yankee Aggression
NEW WORLD ORDER, UNITED NATIONS, ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT AND AMERICAN SOVERIGNTY
Why is the government persecuting Ernst Zündel? Click here to visit the Zundelsite
How to Lobby Congress
Is it paranoia?
By
Dr. Jimmy T. LaBaume
I was accused in the July 17, 1997 issue of my local newspaper, the Alpine Avalanche, of being paranoid and in subsequent issues of being an anarchist. I will deal with the anarchist issue at a later date. For the time being, suffice it to say that, if Thomas Jefferson was an anarchist, then I am an anarchist and proud of it! What follows are brief descriptions of numerous documented and verifiable cases that vividly illustrate why our fear of government is real and not imagined.
We could ask Teresa Guiler and James Elliott of Clarksville, TN. Both are in their 50s. They were watching television when masked men stormed into their home. Guiler, whose arm was in a sling from a previous injury, tried to tell police that they had the wrong man as they pointed a gun at her and Elliott, who is deaf and had recently received a liver transplant. Elliott resisted. The police “controlled” him by ''bringing him down'' and kicking the 54 year old man while he was on the floor. So what's the problem? The police were in the wrong house.
Should we fear our government? We could ask the heirs of George Gerhardt who died of cancer at the age of 49. George was accused by a secret informer of receiving $10,000 for the use of the boat dock at his $250,000 Florida home to unload cocaine. Funny thing, but the informant could not remember the name of the boat, the date of the incident, or the names of the drug dealers. However, six months after George's death, the house was taken and his heirs were evicted. No charges of any kind were ever brought against any living person.
The Reverend Acelynne Williams was a 75 year old black minister. About 3:00 AM one morning a 13 man SWAT team sledgehammered down his door. Three of the goons forced him to the floor where they handcuffed him. Later they noticed that he was vomiting and breathing heavily. The cops were searching for guns and drugs based on an informant's tip. However, the subsequent investigation revealed that they had been in the wrong apartment partly because the informant had been drunk the night he had visited the alleged den of guns and drugs. If he wasn't dead, we could ask the reverend if he had imagined the fear (paranoia) that caused him to have the stress induced heart attack that killed him.
We could ask the 19 postal workers in Cleveland that were arrested by postal inspectors and accused of dealing drugs. Of the 19, some lost their homes, several divorced and one attempted suicide. The basis of the charges was the testimony of two paid informants posing as postal workers. However, it was later discovered that they had bilked the USPS out of $250,000. They had pocketed the money and given the inspectors bags of baking soda laced with a little cocaine.
We could ask Mathew Farrell who had his 60 acre farm near Kirksville , Missouri confiscated based on an elaborate story from a convicted drug dealer and bad check writer. A meticulous search with vacuum cleaners failed to turn up even one marijuana seed. All state criminal charges were dismissed, but that never seems to make any difference. When last heard from the Farrells were still tied up in costly federal forfeiture court proceedings in an attempt to get their farm back.
Why don't we just ask someone close to home who knows? Mr. and Mrs. Esequiel Hernandez Sr., what do you think? Is my fear of our government real, or is it imagined? (Esequiel Hernandez Jr. was an 18 year old high school student at Redford, Texas who was murdered in cold blood by a team of uS Marines on a counter-narcotics surveillance mission in conjunction with the uS Border Patrol. All Esequiel did was herd his goats.)
We could ask the owners of 11 auto dealerships in the Washington , DC area who had their real and personal property (including over $2.5 million in automobile inventory) seized. It seems that their sales people had accepted $10,000 cash payments for auto purchases made by undercover police. Ah ha, so the “crime” was laundering drug money or tax evasion, you say. No! No such allegations were ever made. The “crime” was failing to file “Currency Transaction Reports” (CTRs) with the Internal Revenue Service.
We could ask the New Jersey home owner who refinanced his home to finance his son's college education. He bought $15,000 worth of postal money orders and sent them to his son's bank. He had no knowledge of the reporting requirements of such transactions and postal clerks failed to inform him. Oh well--postal inspectors seized the bank account and charged him with “structuring” and “failure to report cash transactions”--e.g. file the CTR.
We could ask Terry Fields. The Feds seized the $3 million Malibu home that his family had lived in for three years. The justification? He had received the house as payment for legal services rendered to a criminal defendant.
We could ask Patrick Hallinan, a San Francisco criminal lawyer. He was arrested in his home at gunpoint based on accusations of a former client--drug kingpin Ciro Mancuso. It was later reported that Mancuro's family got back his previously forfeited property in return for his accusations.
We could ask the Cwiklas. Bobby Watts was arrested for growing marijuana on his farm. He got a suspended sentence and was allowed to keep the farm in exchange for turning over information on the Cwiklas. Another informant failed a lie detector test when ask to corroborate Watt's story. Regardless, and without any further verification or without a search, the Feds seized the couple's house. In spite of the fact that no dope was found and no charges were brought, the couple was forced to go into US District Court to try and get their home back.
The Cwiklas forfeiture proceedings were filed by Assistant US Attorney Leslie Ohta. This woman had gained a great deal of notoriety by taking the homes of parents and even grandparents whose children or grandchildren used, sold or stored dope in the homes--even though the homeowners had no knowledge or did not give their consent. But then one day Ohta's son was arrested for possession of marijuana and selling LSD out of her house. However, unlike her hapless victims, her cronies at DOJ allowed her to keep her home and her car.
We could ask Karen Lavelle and her 6, 9 and 11 year old children who lived in Vermont . Her husband was convicted in Minnesota of trafficking cocaine and went to prison for 10 years. The Federal Mafia seized the Vermont family home and evicted Karen and the kids. They went on welfare to survive. And there is more...
We could ask 15 year old Crystal Graybeel. She was asleep in her cabin on Santa Cruz Island off the California coast when 20 heavily armed goons descended in a military helicopter. Government snipers secured the perimeter while other “public servants” wearing ski masks, screaming and carrying sub-machineguns kicked in doors. They unzipped Crystal 's sleeping bag and placed her face down on the floor where she remained handcuffed for two hours. Who were these masked men? Were they Hitler's storm troopers? No. Were they even FBI or DEA? No. This was the work of the National Park Service assisted by local sheriff's deputies. So what was the result? Were there drugs found? No. Where there any illegal firearms? No. Three men were arrested on suspicion of robbing Chumash Indian graves and taking human remains and artifacts, charges which they denied. So what could have possibly motivated these federal jackboots to use such drastic tactics? The target of the raid was a 6,500 acre bow-and-arrow hunting ranch which was the last bastion of private property on the island.
We could ask Kay Van Sant who had a 30 year old son who had not lived with her for 10 years. City police arrested the son on drug trafficking charges. Then for what is still some unknown reason to me, they confiscated her $3,912 checking account. She was never charged with anything and she also never got her money back either.
We could ask Robert De La Torres who does not speak English. Robert had loaned his pick up truck to a cousin who was arrested in it with a pound of marijuana. In order to explain his side of the story to the court, he pleaded for an interpreter. At that point he was told, “the court doesn't speak Spanish” and the judge awarded the truck to the police.
We could ask the owner of a chain of gas stations in New York . He was convicted under the RICO laws of failure to pay state sales taxes. He was not only made to pay the delinquent taxes and penalties, the state Mafia also confiscated 29 separate, legally owned corporations through which he operated his gas stations.
We could ask the numerous creditors who were owed millions of dollars for legitimate goods and services by a man named McNamara. The case involved McNamara Buick-Pontiac which was accused of fraud by obtaining large bank loans secured by false statements of automobile inventory. The GM (Government Mafia) sought forfeiture of a $400 million empire including a car dealership, real estate, a gold mine, and many other legitimate holdings. But here is the kicker--this forfeiture was with no regard for the unsecured rights of these numerous creditors. And there is more...
We could ask Jim Spurlock who owned an aircraft sales company in Ft. Worth . US Customs goons seized airplanes worth more than a half million dollars from two of Spurlock's customers. The seizures were based on a tip from an informant that one of the buyers was a Brazilian drug smuggler. The Learjet supposedly contained a large sum of cash. Although Customs found no money (or drugs) in the airplane, they held it for seven months under the pretense that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) registration documents were falsely executed. (The buyer had checked the “corporation” box instead of the “foreign corporation” box on one of the forms.) The purchaser finally got his plane back but not before he paid the government a $16,000 “impoundment fee,” was out over $35,000 in repairs not to mention substantial legal fees. The really scary part is that Spurlock later discovered that the “informant” was one of his business competitors who had openly bragged about using the government to disrupt Spurlock's business.
We could ask Judy Enright who was an artist from Ann Arbor , Michigan . She had one of her paintings confiscated from an art show by the US Fish and Wildlife Gestapo. Why? Because it was decorated with migratory bird feathers that she had picked up from her own backyard and nearby woods. The ever vigilant “public servants” informed her that mere possession of such feathers was a violation of the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty and its implementation law.
We could ask Gerardo Pici who called the police to complain about a stray dog. The dispatcher informed him that no police were available to help him (it was Sunday). Pici, following the dispatcher's advice, loaded the stray up in his 1987 Mazda pickup truck and dropped it off in the woods a mile from his home. The next day the police, who were unavailable to assist him the day before, charged him with “larceny of a dog” and confiscated his truck.
We could ask William Zeig from Tampa , Florida who owned a BMW automobile equipped with a special $20,000 fuel injected engine. He was acquitted by a Clearwater , Florida jury of felonious assault of a police officer with his BMW. Nevertheless, even though he was freed of the charge on which the forfeiture was based, he still lost his car--engine and all.
We could ask Steve Seligman who was wrongly accused of taking 10 sheets of construction steel. Even though acquitted of charges of theft, police continued to press forfieiture against his truck. He not only lost the truck but $2,000 worth of tools that it contained and thousands of dollars in legal fees.
We could ask Benito Marerro whose Datsun 280Z was ordered returned to him by a Pinellas County, Florida judge. However, Benito soon learned that the police had sold it to a salvage company the week before and they had already crushed it into a small ball. The police kept the money from the sale. And there is more...
We could ask Donald L. Carlson. One night US Customs and DEA thugs broke down his door. Carlson, aroused from a deep sleep and thinking a robbery was in progress, grabbed his gun. He was hit three times--in the arm, the lung and the femoral artery. He spent three weeks on a ventilator in intensive care and will suffer from diaphragm paralysis, chronic pain and circulatory problems for the rest of his life. Carlson is a respected family man, vice president of a Fortune 500 company, has no criminal record and has never used illegal drugs. Yet he was targeted based on a false report by a paid informer who had already been kicked out of one anti-drug program for filing two other false reports--in one case he had fingered a vacant house. After the event, one agent was overheard telling another, “Now get the story straight: he shot first.” No one is yet to be charged with any wrongdoing.
We could ask 65 year old retired Joseph Lopes and his 60 year old wife, Francis. Lopes had been a sugar plantation worker in Hawaii for 30 years. During all that time his family lived in rented company housing and saved to buy their own home. In 1987 their mentally unstable 28 year old son pleaded guilty and was placed on probation for growing marijuana in the backyard of his parents' home where he lived. A full four years later (in 1991) a Maui police detective was combing old records looking for possible causes for forfeiture. Guess what he found. Yep! Guess what the Maui police department did with this older couples home. Right again!
We could ask Michael and Christine Sandsness who owned two gardening supply stores that sold, among many other things, grow lights. The DEA sent its undercover goons to the store to, unsuccessfully, try and get employees to give them advice on growing marijuana. Since that trap didn't work, the agents finally asked an employee advice on the amount of heat or noise generated by the lights. During this conversation the agents commented about High Times magazine and made oblique comments suggesting that they wanted to avoid detection, but never actually mentioned marijuana. Nevertheless, agents raided the two stores, seized the inventory and informed the landlord that if he did not evict Sandsness, the government would seize his building.
We could ask the 37 licensed medical doctors in 23 different cities whose offices were raided commando-style by US Food and Drug Administration bandits in black flak jackets brandishing automatic weapons. Why? Because these licensed doctors had prescribed holistic, herbal, vitamin, and other “health supplement” therapies held suspect by FDA bureaucrats. And there is more...
We could ask the Smith family, four generations of sheep ranchers near Bracketville , TX . They had their pick-up trucks confiscated by the government's Fish and Wildlife thugs--not because they were arrested, or tried, or convicted, but because they were “suspected” of poisoning bald eagles.
We could ask the 50 doctors and their patients in Los Angeles whose offices were raided by police who confiscated personal medical records and files. Why? They were looking for violations of workmen's compensation laws.
We could ask Craig Klein, a university professor from Florida . The US Custom's Service conducted a seven hour drug search of Craig's new sailboat. They used axes, power drills, and crowbars. They dismantled the engine, ruptured the fuel tank and drilled more than 30 holes in the hull--many below the water line. The $24,000 boat was damaged beyond repair. Although no drugs were found, the “Service” refused to compensate the good professor. One of the agents called Mr. Klein later and threatened his life if he complained to his congressman.
We could ask Billy Munnerlyn who operated an air charter service out of Las Vegas . He was hired to fly Albert Wright to Ontario , CA. DEA agents seized Wright's luggage and found $2.7 million. They arrested both Billy and Albert. All of Munnerlyn's office records, his airplane, and even his $8,500 charter fee for the flight were confiscated. The charges against him were quickly dropped, but the government refused to release his airplane. He spent $85,000 in an effort to get his plane back. When he finally did, the DEA had caused about $100,000 worth of damage to it. They are not liable and Billy is driving a truck for a living.
Donald Scott owned a 200 acre “ranch” near Malibu , CA that the National Park Service wanted to add to the adjacent Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. The 61 year old Mr. Scott was known to be “fanatically anti-drug.” Regardless, thirty local, state and federal agents (including US Park Service personnel, even though they had no legal jurisdiction) burst into Scott's home in an attempt to serve a search warrant enabling them to inspect his property for suspected cultivation of marijuana. When the jack boots kicked in the front door, Scott's wife screamed for help. He came running down stairs, pistol drawn. We could ask Donald if he thought it was paranoia, but he couldn't answer. They shot him to death, in his own home, in front of his wife. After a five month investigation it was concluded that the police never had any evidence of drug cultivation and had obtained the search warrant by illegally withholding that lack of evidence from the judge who signed the warrant. It was also concluded that the affidavits given to the judge by the police in support of the warrant were either false or misleading. No one is yet to be charged with any crime. And there is more...
We could ask Ben Lacy who, at 70 plus years of age, is now a convicted felon. Ben was sentenced to 20 years in prison and a $2,000,000 fine because the Feds found 7 erroneous entries (out of over 2,000) on reports he had to file relative to pollutants his apple cider plant was putting into a stream. No pollution was found in the stream.
We could ask Willie Jones. Willie is an African-American who owned a landscaping service. In 1991 he bought an airplane ticket and paid for it in cash. Since black men paying cash is “suspicious” behavior, the ticket agent alerted the police. Their search of Willie's luggage turned up no drugs. But, he had $9,600 in cash which he was planning to use for the purchase of plants from growers in Houston . He had done it this way every year since being in business. There was no arrest made, but they took Willie's cash. After a two year long, costly legal battle he finally got it back.
We could ask gynecologist Owen A. Chang, M.D. who was accused, but not yet convicted, of conducting a medical exam of a female patient without the presence of a nurse. Since this violated a local law, Dr. Chang had his office equipment and building confiscated.
Why don't we ask Kathy Schrama? She was accused of stealing UPS packages worth less than $500 from her neighbor. As a result, the local police took away her home, two cars, all her furniture and even her 10 year old son's Christmas presents.
We could ask the New Jersey building contractor who bid on, performed and was paid for several city construction contracts. Later, the state alleged that his company was not legally qualified to make the bids in the first place so they (the state) confiscated his entire business.
We could ask the owner's of several hotels that were confiscated by the Feds because one room was used for a drug transaction.
We could ask the owners of the oceanographic research vessel Atlantis which was seized by the US Coast Guard because of the discovery of one marijuana cigarette in the ship's crew quarters.
We could also ask the Scripps Oceanographic Institute. One of their research vessels was seized because a marijuana “roach” was found in the locker of a sailor who had long before been fired.
And it never seems to end…
Copyright ©2004, FlyoverPress.com
Jimmy T. LaBaume, PhD, ChFC is a full professor teaching economics and statistics in the School of Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences, Sul Ross State University, Alpine, TX. He wishes to make it abundantly clear that he does not speak for Sul Ross State University and Sul Ross State University does not think for him.
Dr. LaBaume has lived in Mexico and spent extended periods of time in South and Central America as a researcher, consultant and educator.
"Gunny" LaBaume is a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War and Desert Storm. His Marine Corps career spanned some 35 years intermittently from 1962 until 1997 when he refused to re-enlist with less than 2 years to go to a good retirement. In his own words, he "simply got tired of being guilty of treason."
He is also currently the publisher and managing editor of FlyoverPress.com, a daily e-source of news not seen or heard anywhere on the mainstream media. He writes a syndicated column, FROM BEHIND
ENEMY LINES: A Conservative Libertarian Inside Academia, and can be reached at mailto:jlabaume@sulross.edu .
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