Posted on 11/23/2014 9:39:53 AM PST by blam
Claire Ward, VICE News
November 22, 2014
Business owners in the St. Louis, Missouri area have hired private military contractors to transport guns and gold, fearing their shops will be targeted by looters if a grand jury does not indict Darren Wilson, the police officer who shot and killed Michael Brown in the St. Louis County suburb of Ferguson.
"There's a lot of people that brought in a lot of money to have people secure their assets," said Stephen King, owner of Metro Shooting Supplies gun shop, a 15-minute drive from Ferguson. "Some of those people spent $10 an hour on security guards and some people have $1,000 a day private contractors."
King confirmed that gun shops in the area are hiring private military contractors to escort the transport of their guns to secure locations. A private military contractor who spoke to VICE News on condition of anonymity said that more than 300 private military contractors, or PMCs, have been contracted for work in direct response to Ferguson security concerns.
Jared Ogden, director of operations for Asymmetric Solutions, a private military contractor staffed by former special operations forces told VICE News his company was hired by businesses to transport "St. Louis-based company assets."
"We've got our hands in a bunch things" related to security in the Ferguson area, said Ogden, a former Navy SEAL who was featured on the National Geographic reality program, Survival Alaska.
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(Excerpt) Read more at news.vice.com ...
If I needed to hire a military contractor to move my assets it would be done by now. This probably is after the fact as far as the moving out phase goes.
Mostly because they put you in jail if you don’t.
They overpaid. I could arrange some fed-up Southern rednecks to go up there and effectively handle security for free. I could have a caravan of pickups heading north on I-55 in no time. They wouldn’t need tanks or other military equipment either. Whatever they keep under the front seat or edge of the bed. Rugers or Remingtons, Marlins or Mossbergs, Smiths or Louisville Sluggers, good solid American weapons, would work just fine.
Yeah - it’s like having a sign on the door that says the manager does NOT have a key to the safe...
Why don’t they just request assistance from the militia? The help would be free of charge, and more effective than $10 an hour rent-a-cops.
MOLON LABE!
“Yeah - it’s like having a sign on the door that says the manager does NOT have a key to the safe...”
Only effective when the attackers can read . . . .
It seems that the best that can come of this is that several looters lose their lives. It might be a lesson to future wannabe looters.
But that's just me.
obama/holder are apparently heating Ferguson up to erupt SOON!??
(I don’t get it, though. Maybe I’m just stupid but what’s their end game in stoking racial riots and violence? Every other President and AG.. whether we’ve liked them or not... they’ve always carried out their offices with at least the semblance of serving ALL the people, the nation as a whole... and certainly I can’t recall any who actively encouraged the eruption of mass violence...???)
Property taxes mean that you don't own the property, you're just renting it from the government. In my perfect world there would be no such thing as property taxes and owned property would be unseizable.
It would not be surprising if some of the "looters" are thieves who plan to use looting as a cover for well planned heists.
Question is whether any of it will be moved back after the riots.
:-)
I don’t even know who to root for in this fight.
On the other you have business owners that are simply trying to make a living.
It’s a hard choice?
If you are a small business owner that is a big expense and an unproductive one.
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Excellent points...
Also think of it as in home care.
If a person needs in home care 24/7 one may think they are getting a ‘bargain’ at 10 bucks per hour but that works out to about 88 thou a year.
And at 10 bucks you will probably have to feed and house them - then hope someone doesn’t come after you for OT..
Looking at it more ‘broadly’ just (at least in your mind) what kind of ‘medical/patient care’ one could get for 10 bucks an hour....and figure if the person works for an agency, they are getting far less
That goes without saying. I’m talking about the police community and the thug community however. Neither group is on my Christmas card list.
Maybe the cost to protect these properties is when no one is on site, which would reduce the costs. This assumes the business owner would be protecting themselves the rest of the time.
Moved portable assets and added additional insurance to the building.
Wilson will be indicted.
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