Haha.
Posted on 08/14/2013 11:23:23 AM PDT by Responsibility2nd
Several residents at the “Garden of Eden” sustainability garden in Arlington, Texas, claim that local police raided their farm because they thought tomato plants were marijuana plants.
The police reportedly damaged the garden's property and the crops during the Aug. 2 raid, which included a SWAT team (video below).
“They came here under the guise that we were doing a drug trafficking, marijuana-growing operation. They destroyed everything,” said garden owner Shellie Smith to WFAA-TV.
Apparently, an undercover officer and a helicopter surveillance crew believed there was probable cause that the wrong kind of plant was being grown in the garden and an armed raid was planned.
“They can’t even tell the difference between tomato plants and a marijuana drug cartel," said farm resident Quinn Eaker to NBC Dallas-Fort Worth. "That’s just really bad intel.”
According to the Garden of Eden's website, the raid lasted for an estimated 10 hours.
However, the City of Arlington stated: “No cultivated marijuana plants were located on the premises. Narcotics detectives and members of the tactical unit cleared the scene within 45 minutes.”
According to reports, police officers removed legally cultivated plants such as blackberries and okra. Police also removed pallets, tires and cardboard that were used for sustainability projects.
Instead of the damage done to the farm, police spokesman Christopher Cook seemed more concerned about the reaction on Facebook against the police.
“That’s what concerns me about their social media allegations," Cook told the Dallas Morning News. "Yes, they were initially handcuffed, however once it was determined it was secure they were taken out of handcuffs. Typically we wouldn’t do that, but they were compliant."
Sources: Dallas Morning News, WFAA-TV, NBC Dallas-Fort Worth, IntoTheGardenofEden.com
But we are NOT beyond the classic television show Car 54 with the stupidest cop force in America.
Seriously?
It is also a common word used by gardeners, particularly those of us who choose to limit the amount of chemicals we use and for "sustaining" the viability of our gardens.
My neighbor is growing tomatoes in his back yard. Should I report him to the police? He has a pit bull as well, at least I think it is. He has it cleverly disguised as a black lab.
If they went against the local government on an issue, this could very well be the result. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. It’s a typical swatting.
Pretty much says it all.
/johnny
Because the rule of law is unimportant, right?
/johnny
” My neighbor is growing tomatoes in his back yard. Should I report him to the police?”
Yes, but call the Arlington Texas police first. I just wanna see if they fall for it again.
Why is it illegal to grow okra?
Nothing to do with probably cause.
It’s just that SWAT teams have two speeds.
Sleep and attack.
Once the adrenaline starts, and the fun part begins, and they push and shout their way in, nothing will spoil the fun. Doesn’t matter if it’s the wrong house, the remote looks like a gun, the 75 year old guy looks like he’s bolting, the talcum powder looks like drugs, and the tomato plants suddenly are exactly like pot.
The mind is incapable of pushing “stop” and saying “Sorry, sir, we were badly informed.”
Haha.
Because the rule of law is unimportant, right?
The embarrassment of this article makes the “Law” look like fools. I think the law suit to follow will make more profit for the gardeners than the plants would. I expect there would be new procedures and training for the law also.
I have never seen such a disrespect for the law Federal, State or Local in my lifetime.
I would suggest that the authorities involved were all stoned from sampling the Mary Jane tucked away in the evidence lockers.
“Armed. Ignorant. Dangerous”
AID?
Ma’am, respectfully, I don’t think they’re stupid at all.
They’re following orders. Without question, it would appear.
“Stupid” would imply that this kind of crap only happens once in a blue moon; but when you look at all of the “we got the wrong house” no-knock 4am flashbang boogie-woogie episodes that have been going on, and incidents where cops use lethal force where it’s clearly NOT necessary (like with the 96 year old man shot by cops in the nursing home for refusing his medicine - they tazed him, then shot him with a bean bag round, with caused massive internal injury and he bled to death)... and other incidents involving cops and excessive force that we read about every couple of days out here...
when you add up these things it paints a grim picture of a militarized state-sanctioned paramilitary force with little restraint and no hesitation to exercise that force on people.
You have legitimate criminals in society that need to be taken down. You have folks who do something stupid and get caught up in the system; then you have ordinary folks who are doing nothing wrong, but somehow draw the attention of “The Eye in the Sky” and have the system come down on them.
These used to be a time when LEOs knew the difference between criminals and the rest of society. Now, they SEEM to view all of us as potential criminals.
And we PAY them.
Revenge of the killer tomatoes
Plant is called hibiscus, but it won't get you high
Now these hippies just need to do a crossbreed like when the Simpsons created Tomacco. I'll call it Tomijuana: All the vitamins of a tomato and the THC of a dime bag.
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