Local Sheriff Buys a Tank, Others Clamor to Fight “Domestic Terrorists”
Oct 10th, 2008 by Will Potter
In what I can only attribute to one-too-many viewings of Red Dawn, the Sheriff Leon Lott of Richland County, South Carolina bought his department a tank. Oh, excuse me, an “armored personnel carrier”… with a .50-cal turreted machine gun. For all you city slickers, .50-cal means f’n HUGE.
From Reason:
Sheriff Leon Lott has charmingly named the vehicle “The Peacemaker,” and insists that using a caliber of ammunition that even the U.S. military is reluctant to use against human targets (it’s generally reserved for use against armored vehicles) will “save lives.”
I hate to be the bearer of bad news (which, I’ve been told, may become my official title if I keep running this blog) but the tankification of this sheriff’s department isn’t an anomaly. It’s becoming par for the course as local cops clamor to join the “War on Terrorism” and the fight against “domestic terrorists,” “eco-terrorists,” and, judging by the size of this tank, terrorist Tyrannosaurus-Rexes.
In Tennessee, the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI held a workshop (at the First Assembly of God Church, no less) on spotting terrorists. Folks were warned to watch out for people taking too many photos. And, of course, be on the lookout for “eco-terrorists.”
Allen said environmental groups and animal rights groups may harbor terrorists, but Jackson said the FBI will not infringe on those groups’ First Amendment right to free speech.
“We will never do anything to interfere with anyone’s First Amendment rights,” Jackson said. “But we do ask people to be on the lookout for that individual who comes into the group and talks a little bit radical.”
And in Arizona, Pima County Sheriff Clarence W. Dupnik asked citizens to be on the lookout for domestic terrorists including environmentalists, animal rights activists, and abortion-rights advocates.
“Eco-friendly, abortion-rights and animal-rights activists are among the most active groups that have committed acts of terror in the name of their cause,” reads the December issue of “Community Connection,” a newsletter published by the department…
Dupnik’s newsletter warning excludes a few potential domestic terrorists. There’s no mention of racist skinheads, gay-bashing homophobes and anti-abortion activists who have been known to kill a doctor or two and burn down clinics.
If you’ve read this site before, you know that animal rights and environmental advocates have never killed anyone. Meanwhile, just weeks before this article was published, a white supremacist in Utah was sentenced to federal prison for five years for beating two Hispanic and Native American men. And arsonists had just torched an Albuquerque abortion clinic.
But those crimes, much like the Oklahoma City Bombing, aren’t listed as terrorism.
I think the biggest concern of all this, though, isn’t necessarily the hypocrisy of this “terrorism” rhetoric. It’s that the Bush administration, with the support of Democrats in Congress, created a massive “War on Terrorism” bureaucracy, and now, not surprisingly, local cops want to talk the talk so they can get their hands on federal resources. For some, that means trying to catch “eco-terrorists” and get a promotion. For others, it means buying tanks and playing dress up like South Carolina is Afghanistan.
Not to get all black-helicopter-crowd on you all, but I think this also needs to be put in the context of the recent “pre-emptive raids” at the RNC, and sweeping programs like Main Core. From Radar:
One knowledgeable source claims that 8 million Americans are now listed in Main Core as potentially suspect. In the event of a national emergency, these people could be subject to everything from heightened surveillance and tracking to direct questioning and possibly even detention.
I can’t help but think the “tank sheriff” either has too much testosterone or feels the need to make up for shortcomings in a particular area.
“Eco-friendly, abortion-rights and animal-rights activists are among the most active groups that have committed acts of terror in the name of their cause,” reads the December issue of “Community Connection,” a newsletter published by the department…
wtf!? When did Planned Parenthood start bombing their own clinics and harassing their clients?
I think the tank was clearly necessary because there was a rumor that someone in South Carolina was thinking of becoming a vegetarian and you know what that leads to.
But I’m out of the loop…what have abortion RIGHTS advocates done to qualify as terrorists? Is it just because life begins at conception but ends if you become a doctor who performs abortions?
That’s one hell of a “peacemaker.” It’s a shame the government and police forces decide to use imagery of peace to make their authoritarianism look safe and beneficial, but I guess it’s the only way they can buy tanks and huge guns without the general public becoming worried. And I think Kelly G. makes a great point. Why are they focusing on “abortion-rights” activists instead of the crazy pro-life activists that bomb clinics? THAT is terrorism. Protesting is not an act of terrorism, and I yearn to see the day that our leadership in government learns this.
Because burning a babykilling abortion mill is not terrorism, but heroism.
You seem to imply there is something wrong if a babykilling abortion mill is burned or bomb. Which do you prefer, a pile of bricks or a pile of dead babies? Innocent unborn babies deserve to be protected just as born children deserve to be protected. You would have no problem protecting born children if they were about to be murdered.
SAY THIS PRAYER: Dear Jesus, I am a sinner and am headed to eternal hell because of my sins. I believe you died on the cross to take away my sins and to take me to heaven. Jesus, I ask you now to come into my heart and take away my sins and give me eternal life. http://www.armyofgod.com
Well, instead of wasting time proving we have the moral high ground because we’re not fascists like the sheriff and his department, we could instead take time to find all the ways we can withdraw any support socially and physically from the state.
Starve them of any support in anyway.
Rev Spitz:
You are blinded by the ideology of your religion on this one and are unable to see clearly.
I pose another question to you though without justifying or condemning abortion. What would happen if no one had abortions? What would the population of today look like?
We have far exceeded the carrying capacity for humyn beings and many churches want to encourage people to have more and more children (especially the Mormon religion). With the on-coming population collapse, the less people there are on this earth to suffer, the better it is. People need to be conscious of their actions and take up birth-control, but then you have right-wing folks such as yourself who want to preach abstinence to people so others aren’t informed of birth-control and that leads to more children. You only have yourselves to blame in a situation such as that.
The point being though, regardless of our thoughts on abortion, whether we are for it or against it, it is something that is here to stay and to bomb a clinic to kill innocent people inside of it is an act of murder and terrorism regardless of what moralistic position you want to take up for yourself. In reality, your moralism contradicts itself too with your stance on this issue. The fact remains, the horror of the suggestion of taking innocent life reflects the position of those who are right-wing (people such as yourself) disregard for life in general. You speak of the life of an unborn baby but disregard the life that lives within the forests that you are fine with chopping down, the life that lives within the cities that are being built over them, the life that lived where there is now fields from agriculture. 200 species a day are going extinct and you take up this moralist high ground on the issue of abortion because some right-wing preacher has interpreted the bible as saying that abortion is wrong, and that God wants you to go and kill them, and that Whites are supreme, and all that other bullshit.
You spill the blood of the innocent and believe this is a justified thing while in the same comment showing your repulsion towards people who have abortions (their reasons for doing so you do not yourself know)? Funny how your bible says “thou shalt not kill” yet you interpret in your own way when it comes to people dying that you don’t like. Right-wing scum of the earth is all you people are.
Rev. Spitz - Fetuses are aborted; babies are not.
Let me guess: you’re also opposed to contraception on the grounds that it hurts the mighty spermies’ fee-fees, ya?
Egads!! Bubba with a tank! That is truly frightening stuff.
To Rev Spitz: If you are truly anti-abortion, the better approach is to make birth control readily available. However, most right-to-lifers fight to curtail access to birth control in the hopes (I guess) that those who mess around without being married will become pregnant and forced to bear a child as punishment. Scarlet letter, anyone??
Hey Rev,
Are you the one that tried to kill Judi Bari? Also, since you are “pro-life” I imagine you are vegan, yes?
Rev Spitz:
I can see why you are concerned about abortion laws. However, your missing this blogs point, which is ( among other things) that those who associate themselves with peaceful direct action groups, such as ALF and ELF are labbelled terrorists, and Right wing extremist groups are not even on the list, when they themselves are murders and use violent means to achiece there ends.
Furthermore, i read your article about Paul Hill and his murder. I find it quite ironic that Hill, as a member of the peace promoting christian faith, uses violent HUMAN HARMING and KILLING methods to achieve his means. A rule of the ALF is to take all possible precautions not to harm anyone, while Hill did the exact opposite.
Abortion though, is a topic that in the grand scheme of things is not that big of a topic. Human fetuse’s or babies do not have the capacity to fear or think in anyway so as to differentiate between non-humans, and they have or depending on thier stage in the womb, only the basic abilities of pain and hunger. So I pose the question to you: how come unborn babie fetuses, which can have no or little cognition or sentience be regarded in such high standards that you are willing to kill for, when you willingly partake in the slaughter and death of over 100 animals a year by leading a meat based diet?
The fact is that over 130 billion animals die each year for food, and only about a couple thousands baby fetuse’s are aborted each year. Also, two thirds of the world lives in impoverishment and a child dies every 3 seconds. Shouldn’t we, as messengers of gods love be trying to help babies who are already born in a peaceful way, not by blowing up and shooting abortionists? Also by shooting up the abortionists it only postpones the abortion.
To me it seems a blatant waste of time to be advocating violent a pro-life agenda with murder and hate, when so much other non-violent aid can be offered in third world countries.
I’m not trying to belittle you Rev, I’m just trying to shed light on this issues. I don’t take a stance on abortion, simply because I don’t think its needed. Theres so much evil in the world, and abortion is such a difficult issue. A pro-life advocate and an pro-choice advocate can be united in thier quest to end poverty, can they not?
This post was far from the topic of the blog, but oh well…
I’ll make sure to have myself a few abortions for every irritating comment you make, Rev. I’m keeping count, so it’s up to you!
Note the recent rallies where Sarah Palin riled up the crowds by saying Obama was “palling around with terrorists.” The primary intent, of course, was to link him to William Ayers. But she kept saying “terrorists,” plural. This wasn’t a slip of the tongue. She used the teleprompter cortex of her brain to memorize and repeat the word at rally after rally. So who are the other “domestic terrorists” Obama’s been palling around with? People on the fringes, traitors, America bashers who are trying to impede the god-given American right to limitless consumption with their talk of global warming, conservation and, most inexplicable of all to people like Sarah Palin, the well-being of polar bears.
Rev. Spitz
You really know how to bring people to the true faith. First insult them, then threaten them, plus you show yourself to be full of the milk of human kindness (soured). I know and repect many Christians, but you take your Jesus and shove … ah but that would be stooping to your level. But then your just a troll aren’t you.. Is that you again, Joe?
#11 (and others): WOW. I just saw the Paul Hill support pages on the Army of God website. I mean, WOW. What do you think would happen if animal rights or environmental activists put up web pages not only supporting illegal action, not only supporting physical violence, but interviewing and promoting the murderers, and then calling for more? I think most folks would be so offended by all of this, regardless of how you feel about animal rights or ALF/ELF…
The fact that the SHAC 7 are in jail and the Rev is not says it all.
I find myself in strange waters here! First I beleive that the Shac 7 should be in jail, second (and this is the strange part) I find myself agreeing with the group about the good rev and his website…holy shit!
Having read about the case and reviewed the appeal filed on behalf of Kevin Kjonaas, I do not believe the SHAC activists should be in jail. The only reasons they are there are (1) political and (2) because their methods were successful. If they did the same things in an effort to curb abortion, nobody would care because abortion is not big business. If they were unsuccessful in their efforts, nobody would care because the corporations would be unaffected. I think we all need to be concerned that corporations are now able to have laws passed that target those who stand in opposition to their actions. I really believe that, if justice is to be served, all convictions will be overturned and the AETA will be found unconstitutional. Unfortunately, meanwhile, some very successful activists are confined to prison and unable to further the cause of Animal Rights, which is what the corporations really wanted and is really a tragedy.
Be afraid people. Look up Naomi Wolf’s writings and books about the end of democracy in the US.
fuck you testosterone kicks ass. so do little penis sheriff people from so. carolina
I’m with Tracy and Beaner: I took one look at this article and thought, “Small peenies.” Poor boopies.