Time: Fri Sep 05 05:33:30 1997
	by usr04.primenet.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with SMTP id DAA21348;
	Fri, 5 Sep 1997 03:58:31 -0700 (MST)
Date: Fri, 05 Sep 1997 03:58:30 -0700
To: (Recipient list suppressed)
From: Paul Andrew Mitchell [address in tool bar]
Subject: SLS: Our Very Own KGB? (fwd)

<snip>
>
>OUR VERY OWN KGB?"
>08-28-97
>
>By Paul Weyrich
>
>I am indebted to Sarah Foster of WorldNET Daily, a publication of the
>Western Journalism Center in California, for compiling some data about the
>growing use of lethal weapons by various federal agencies.
>
>These agencies are beginning to use their firepower against American
>citizens as they are tasked with enforcing the many new federal laws which
>have been enacted, federalizing crimes which heretofore have been handled
>locally.
>
>Foster estimates the number of heavily-armed federal agents at some 60,000
>and even provides a convenient list of agencies which have more than 25
>personnel under arms. As Larry Pratt of Gun Owners of America exclaimed
>when he was told the number: "Good grief, that's a standing army. It's
>outrageous."
>
>These federal agents have been trained to enforce the more than 3,000
>criminal laws and the hundreds of thousands of federal regulations which
>now carry criminal penalties. This is why the U.S. Park Service now has
>military-style helicopters and trained snipers which they turn on
>unsuspecting citizens. One 15-year-old girl, Crystal Graybeel, was sleeping
>late in her cabin, according to Foster, when federal agents wearing ski
>masks and armed with machine guns raided the place she was staying on Santa
>Cruz Island off of the California coast. Although she had nothing to do
>with the purpose for the raid, she was handcuffed and kept in custody for
>more than two hours. Most of the island is already owned by the government,
>but there is one remaining privately held piece of property, a 6,500-acre
>bow-and-arrow hunting ranch. It seems that the Park Service suspected that
>Chumash Indian graves which were on the private property were being raided
>for human remains and artifacts. Caretakers who have been charged with this
>crime have vehemently denied it, but, meanwhile, those who happened to be
>there on January 14th of this year were subjected to armed U.S. agents
>training their guns on U.S. citizens. Maria Daily, the president of the
>Santa Cruz Island Foundation, put it this way: "It saddens me that the Park
>Service resorted to Ruby Ridge tactics. This incident crosses the line."
>
>The founders of this constitutional republic never intended for the United
>States to have a federal police force to deal with domestic matters. Yes,
>we had armed forces and even armed border patrols, but these troops were
>for the purpose of keeping our potential foreign enemies at bay. 
>
>In the past, when federal agencies needed to enforce a federal law, they
>simply contacted the local authorities, who examined the situation. If the
>local sheriff felt the matter was sufficiently serious, he would obtain a
>warrant and execute the search or initiate the arrest. Increasingly,
>however, local authorities have resisted federal orders which they feel are
>unjust. So the federal government has decided to build its own domestic
>army to override local authorities. In many cases these federal agents
>operate on their own initiative, without obtaining proper warrants. 
>
>In short, we are on our way to building the sort of internal police force
>which the Communist authorities were noted for. As many of the internal
>police forces in former Communist nations are being disbanded and laws are
>being passed to prevent such forces from ever being assembled again, our
>internal police force is just beginning to gain momentum. Indeed, many of
>these different agencies are coordinating their efforts so they can plan
>and execute raids together. The number of trained armed federal agents has
>increased by 12,000 over the past decade, but in 1996 alone 2,436 were added.
>
>Where is the constitutional authority for all of this? When has Congress
>specifically authorized such a national police force? Who is providing the
>constitutional guidelines for these armed agents? Who is training them on
>what is and is not permissible? Are we not at the point where Ruby Ridge
>cases will become routine in America?
>
>Whatever the facts of the matter, the tragic death of an American goat
>herder, killed by Marine snipers last May on the Texas-Mexico border, shows
>the need for better training and better control.
>
>The improper exercise of force by federal agents is a matter which cries
>out for examination. As Lisa Dean pointed out on a recent edition of our
>program "Endangered Liberties" (which airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. Eastern, 6
>p.m. Pacific), each of these incidents is looked at as a disconnected
>matter, when collectively such abuses of power constitute a gross violation
>of constitutional authority. We join her in calling for Congressional field
>hearings to examine this issue. Let those who have been victimized by
>federal agents come forth to testify. I believe the American people would
>be shocked to learn the truth. 
>
>For most of our life as an independent nation, the United States managed to
>enforce federal laws perfectly well without a domestic army. Even the FBI,
>which built an excellent reputation for doing federal law enforcement work,
>was very, very careful -- until just recently -- to avoid any situation
>where local law enforcement officials were overridden. In fact, much of
>what the FBI accomplished was with the cooperation of local and state
>officials. Now the agency operates more and more independently. Combined
>with the drastic increase in other federal agents, this new method of
>operating around and outside of the local law enforcement structure
>constitutes a grave danger to our constitutional form of government.
>Congressman Bill McCollum of Florida has asked the GAO for a series of
>reports on the increased use of federal agents for federal law enforcement.
>The next logical step for McCollum would be to take his Committee on the
>road to conduct field hearings on exactly what is happening in the real
>world. Never mind what Louis Freeh and all of the others in charge of these
>domestic troops claim is happening. We must hear from the citizens who know
>the truth. Field hearings should begin as soon as it is possible to
>organize them, and you can assist by demanding of the Congress that this be
>done. 
>
>   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>     	     Liberty's Educational Advocacy Forum, 
>             Indiana's Fully Informed Jury Association, Inc. 
>                            http://www.drtavel.com/ 
>                       *************************
>                    Not a high-tech law firm brochure. 
>       Dr. Tavel's Self Help Clinic and Sovereign Law Library 
>        promotes "action that raises the cost of state violence 
>             for its perpetrators (and) that lays the basis for 
>                 institutional change " -- Noam Chomsky
>
>              "The law should surely be accessible at all times
>                      and to everyone"  --  Franz Kafka
>
>              For Liberty in Our Lifetime, R.J. Tavel, J.D.
>                      **************************
>                                Updated Daily by 
>      The OtherOne Computer Consulting International, Ltd. 
>	     http://www.drtavel.com/TOOCCI.html
>                            mailto:rj@drtavel.com
>    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>

========================================================================
Paul Andrew Mitchell                 : Counselor at Law, federal witness
B.A., Political Science, UCLA;  M.S., Public Administration, U.C. Irvine

tel:     (520) 320-1514: machine; fax: (520) 320-1256: 24-hour/day-night
email:   [address in tool bar]       : using Eudora Pro 3.0.3 on 586 CPU
website: http://www.supremelaw.com   : visit the Supreme Law Library now
ship to: c/o 2509 N. Campbell, #1776 : this is free speech,  at its best
             Tucson, Arizona state   : state zone,  not the federal zone
             Postal Zone 85719/tdc   : USPS delays first class  w/o this

As agents of the Most High, we came here to establish justice.  We shall
not leave, until our mission is accomplished and justice reigns eternal.
========================================================================
[This text formatted on-screen in Courier 11, non-proportional spacing.]

      


Return to Table of Contents for

Supreme Law School:   E-mail