you might be woken up by a SWAT raid by the Dept of Education
June 5, 2020 12:46 PM Subscribe
My God. Jaw-dropping is right!
posted by Dhertiiboi at 1:01 PM on June 5, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by Dhertiiboi at 1:01 PM on June 5, 2020 [4 favorites]
I honestly don't even know how to respond to this. Everything is just so, so, fucked. I am really, really worried about this November. It would be all too easy to imagine Trump on TV, braying about how there will be riots and looting on election day and so to "keep America safe" he'll be deploying all these faceless, nameless federal agents to polling places nationwide while instituting a strict curfew. Ugh, I hope I'm wrong.
posted by Godspeed.You!Black.Emperor.Penguin at 1:46 PM on June 5, 2020 [15 favorites]
posted by Godspeed.You!Black.Emperor.Penguin at 1:46 PM on June 5, 2020 [15 favorites]
Nearly all of these agencies are headquartered in and around the capital, making it easy for Attorney General William Barr to enlist them as part of his vast effort to “flood the zone”
the use of the term 'flood the zone' by barr is incomplete.
another trump lackey used the full term to great effect.
posted by lalochezia at 1:55 PM on June 5, 2020 [4 favorites]
the use of the term 'flood the zone' by barr is incomplete.
another trump lackey used the full term to great effect.
posted by lalochezia at 1:55 PM on June 5, 2020 [4 favorites]
also i wish the fucking epa and noaa shock troops were actually kicking down the right doors in line with their agencies' stated (rather than actual) mission
posted by lalochezia at 1:56 PM on June 5, 2020 [13 favorites]
posted by lalochezia at 1:56 PM on June 5, 2020 [13 favorites]
we all knew that the DHS was going to come back to bite us all in the ass and why am I not surprised to see those CBP fucks front and center in this?
ffffffffuck
posted by sciatrix at 2:21 PM on June 5, 2020 [12 favorites]
ffffffffuck
posted by sciatrix at 2:21 PM on June 5, 2020 [12 favorites]
Let's assume that the Second Amendment's interpreted right to personal firearms is indeed a sacred and desirable thing. What value is self-defense if the person you are defending yourself from is Schrödinger's Cop, someone who does not wear a badge but who claims to have legal jurisdiction to use force against you? How should a well-meaning gun-toting American respond to such an ambiguous threat? How should they respond if the threat appears in their bedroom at 3am?
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 2:22 PM on June 5, 2020 [25 favorites]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 2:22 PM on June 5, 2020 [25 favorites]
"Pro-government militias"
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 2:28 PM on June 5, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 2:28 PM on June 5, 2020 [4 favorites]
> "Pro-government-boot-licking militias"
posted by Godspeed.You!Black.Emperor.Penguin at 2:34 PM on June 5, 2020 [5 favorites]
posted by Godspeed.You!Black.Emperor.Penguin at 2:34 PM on June 5, 2020 [5 favorites]
The National Gallery has its own police force. I just can't.
posted by The Ardship of Cambry at 2:37 PM on June 5, 2020 [8 favorites]
posted by The Ardship of Cambry at 2:37 PM on June 5, 2020 [8 favorites]
One of those previously-incomprehensible things about coming to America was realizing that every university and college tends to have its own police force. Even the private ones. Even the religious private ones.
There isn't a major Islamic college in America yet, but when they apply for their own police force, that should be an interesting conversation.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 2:41 PM on June 5, 2020 [27 favorites]
There isn't a major Islamic college in America yet, but when they apply for their own police force, that should be an interesting conversation.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 2:41 PM on June 5, 2020 [27 favorites]
A morning run around the National Mall and Capitol Hill might see you cross through the jurisdictions of the federal U.S. Capitol Police, the Park Police, the National Gallery of Art police, the Smithsonian Office of Protective Services, the Postal police, Amtrak police, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing police, the Supreme Court police, the Uniformed Division of the Secret Service, the Government Publishing Office police, and the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Protective Service. (Only recently did the Library of Congress police merge with the Capitol Police across the street into one unit.) Run a bit farther and you might encounter the FBI Police or the U.S. Mint police. And that’s not even counting the multistate Metro Transit police and the local D.C. Metropolitan Police.
Not the main takeaway, but George Washington University is a few blocks off the National Mall and owns the Corcoran so you can add university campus police to that list, too.
posted by everybody had matching towels at 3:33 PM on June 5, 2020 [8 favorites]
Not the main takeaway, but George Washington University is a few blocks off the National Mall and owns the Corcoran so you can add university campus police to that list, too.
posted by everybody had matching towels at 3:33 PM on June 5, 2020 [8 favorites]
I honestly don't even know how to respond to this. Everything is just so, so, fucked. I am really, really worried about this November. It would be all too easy to imagine Trump on TV, braying about how there will be riots and looting on election day and so to "keep America safe" he'll be deploying all these faceless, nameless federal agents to polling places nationwide while instituting a strict curfew. Ugh, I hope I'm wrong.
I also worry about this, but the one bright spot is that the real, actual military seems to be worried about this too and many military figures have been speaking out against Trump's attempt to politicize their forces. If Trump did try to pull something like this with his various LEO thugs, I don't think the military would stand idly by.
posted by star gentle uterus at 3:45 PM on June 5, 2020 [6 favorites]
I also worry about this, but the one bright spot is that the real, actual military seems to be worried about this too and many military figures have been speaking out against Trump's attempt to politicize their forces. If Trump did try to pull something like this with his various LEO thugs, I don't think the military would stand idly by.
posted by star gentle uterus at 3:45 PM on June 5, 2020 [6 favorites]
I am hoping that former Marine General and Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis' comments about Trump that were published this week become our generation's "Have You No Sense of Decency?" moment.
posted by PhineasGage at 3:54 PM on June 5, 2020 [6 favorites]
posted by PhineasGage at 3:54 PM on June 5, 2020 [6 favorites]
I'll repeat here my own fear that even if he resigns, he won't shut up and go away, and the media will echo his every criticism of President Pence's (hopefully very brief) administration.
Those of you with election fear, read Trump Can’t Just Refuse to Leave Office. I don't believe he'd be able to cancel or postpone the elections -- there's too much at stake at the State and Local level. But we'll see.
The National Gallery has its own police force. I just can't.
Well, who should be guarding America's treasures? I believe the security at the Smithsonian is provided by the same uniformed organization.
posted by Rash at 3:59 PM on June 5, 2020 [1 favorite]
Those of you with election fear, read Trump Can’t Just Refuse to Leave Office. I don't believe he'd be able to cancel or postpone the elections -- there's too much at stake at the State and Local level. But we'll see.
The National Gallery has its own police force. I just can't.
Well, who should be guarding America's treasures? I believe the security at the Smithsonian is provided by the same uniformed organization.
posted by Rash at 3:59 PM on June 5, 2020 [1 favorite]
Well, who should be guarding America's treasures?
Ordinary unarmed security agents seconded by the RCMP in some cases? Works for Canada.
posted by Monday, stony Monday at 4:09 PM on June 5, 2020 [8 favorites]
Ordinary unarmed security agents seconded by the RCMP in some cases? Works for Canada.
posted by Monday, stony Monday at 4:09 PM on June 5, 2020 [8 favorites]
The National Gallery has its own police force. I just can't.
I'm frankly more upset about the shooting range in the building.
For one thing, shooting ranges are notorious problems for employee safety. Everyone working in that building should be tested for lead poisoning on a regular basis.
posted by suelac at 4:24 PM on June 5, 2020 [15 favorites]
I'm frankly more upset about the shooting range in the building.
For one thing, shooting ranges are notorious problems for employee safety. Everyone working in that building should be tested for lead poisoning on a regular basis.
posted by suelac at 4:24 PM on June 5, 2020 [15 favorites]
Well, who should be guarding America's treasures? I believe the security at the Smithsonian is provided by the same uniformed organization.
This is the heart of the defund police movement. What the heck is so valuable at any of these places that it warrants an immediate deadly force response? There are probably a thousand armed cops within a 15 block radius of these locations. Response time to a life threatening altercation is essentially zero. Unarmed watchpersons armed with a radio and cell phone is all they need to provide manned security.
posted by Mitheral at 4:25 PM on June 5, 2020 [13 favorites]
This is the heart of the defund police movement. What the heck is so valuable at any of these places that it warrants an immediate deadly force response? There are probably a thousand armed cops within a 15 block radius of these locations. Response time to a life threatening altercation is essentially zero. Unarmed watchpersons armed with a radio and cell phone is all they need to provide manned security.
posted by Mitheral at 4:25 PM on June 5, 2020 [13 favorites]
Another side effect of 9-11 and the War on Terror.
posted by doctornemo at 6:51 PM on June 5, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by doctornemo at 6:51 PM on June 5, 2020 [3 favorites]
I know that in CA at least, every state agency has their own law enforcment arm with peace officer status. Everything from the DMV to the State Lottery Board. The Federal government has long been this way as well. It was a conservative talking point for many years to question the firearms and ammunition purchased by various 3 letter agencies like the EPA.
Like so many other things, this seems like an example of people discovering an issue once the other team is the one at the controls pulling the levers.
posted by ericales at 11:42 PM on June 5, 2020 [1 favorite]
Like so many other things, this seems like an example of people discovering an issue once the other team is the one at the controls pulling the levers.
posted by ericales at 11:42 PM on June 5, 2020 [1 favorite]
I assume the State Lottery Board cops fire at random.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 1:27 AM on June 6, 2020 [17 favorites]
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 1:27 AM on June 6, 2020 [17 favorites]
Everything from the DMV to the State Lottery Board.
I'm not a US citizen. I've been sitting here at my keyboard for 5 minutes trying to come up with something coherent expressing how flabbergasted I am that 1) a gambling organization needs/has it's own police force, 2) that this has been going on for a long time and 3) that this is apparently "normal". Apparently normal too is that a museum has it's own firing range.
But I give up. I cannot find the words. Carry on with the thread.
posted by DreamerFi at 3:46 AM on June 6, 2020 [7 favorites]
I'm not a US citizen. I've been sitting here at my keyboard for 5 minutes trying to come up with something coherent expressing how flabbergasted I am that 1) a gambling organization needs/has it's own police force, 2) that this has been going on for a long time and 3) that this is apparently "normal". Apparently normal too is that a museum has it's own firing range.
But I give up. I cannot find the words. Carry on with the thread.
posted by DreamerFi at 3:46 AM on June 6, 2020 [7 favorites]
Well if you find that shocking, my old Grammar School in England has its own firing range, and I used to use it as a member of the gun and rifle club. There is also one attached to my local Pub - as there are to many old Pubs in England.
posted by Burn_IT at 4:22 AM on June 6, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by Burn_IT at 4:22 AM on June 6, 2020 [1 favorite]
I assume the State Lottery Board cops fire at random.
Like Imperial stormtroopers, your chances of getting hit are astronomically low.
posted by Halloween Jack at 6:35 AM on June 6, 2020 [7 favorites]
Like Imperial stormtroopers, your chances of getting hit are astronomically low.
posted by Halloween Jack at 6:35 AM on June 6, 2020 [7 favorites]
> I assume the State Lottery Board cops fire at random.
>> Like Imperial stormtroopers, your chances of getting hit are astronomically low.
And yet, that system would probably still deliver more justice than the current one.
posted by Godspeed.You!Black.Emperor.Penguin at 12:24 PM on June 6, 2020
>> Like Imperial stormtroopers, your chances of getting hit are astronomically low.
And yet, that system would probably still deliver more justice than the current one.
posted by Godspeed.You!Black.Emperor.Penguin at 12:24 PM on June 6, 2020
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posted by Monochrome at 12:48 PM on June 5, 2020 [7 favorites]