Posted on 05/20/2015 12:11:32 PM PDT by Forgotten Amendments
Earlier this year, Aaron Heuser of Eugene, Oregon, had to travel to Washington, D.C. The trip had two purposes: The 37-year-old mathematician was officially leaving his job at National Institutes of Health and starting a new position at a private firm. Since he is terrified of flying he booked himself a sleeper car on Amtrak. Upon reaching Reno, Nevada, there was an unexpected knock at his door. “There was a DEA badge on the window,” he said. “Having a good reason to be making this trip and being a law abiding citizen, I opened the door and politely asked if there was a problem. The officer asked if I was Aaron Heuser, and then asked to see my ticket. He then told me that there were many red flags on my trip, mainly that I had a sleeper car, was traveling alone, and did not check my luggage.”
A sleeper car is a main Amtrak product! Plenty of people travel alone! Why would anyone with a whole sleeper-car compartment to themselves go through the hassle of checking luggage?
Yet the harassment isn’t surprising.
(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...
The EXACT SAME THING happened to me while traveling on Amtrak.....in 1991. As a railroad enthusiest, I booked a round trip to the west coast on Amtrak. Sleeping cars and all. On my way back to Chicago, we had a service stop in Albuquerque, I was approached by a US Marshal on the train. He showed me is badge and has me some questions. Laid out on my seat was my camera and several railroad magazines. After seeing that and realizing that I was not a threat, the Marshall explained that because of the effective use for drug sniffing dogs at airports, drug smugglers were traveling by bus and train to get their drugs inland from the southwest. They typically traveled alone and booked sleeping cars. Hence, I was profiled but I understood what he was doing. Apparently this is still going and likely for the same reasons.
Personally, I don’t have problem with it.
We live in a fascist dictatorship. But I knew that.
The FedGov is out of control... we see endless abuses of citizens. Whereas if you are illegal, you are left alone. The borders are wide open. That alone tells you they are lying about security.
This monster uses our patriotism against us. We are still thinking the FedGov is on our side - they aren’t. Haven’t been for a long time. The entire structure of the FedGov is leftist.
Really, we are played for fools. They just use the word patriotism and security etc. as a ploy, they wear flags on their lapels, and we fall like suckers. I used to buy this game - but I refuse to be fooled anymore. They have nothing but contempt for patriotic Americans.
You’re either or for the constitution and rule of law - or you aren’t.
As a kid in the 1970s, I went with my dad to East Berlin from Munich. There were no problems, but I thought it was interesting that they had 1st 2nd and 3rd class compartments in the East German utopia.
Then, when we visited East Berlin and came back to West Berlin via the metro, we never passed through any checkpoints entering or exiting the subway- weird.
We are definitively entering a police state with unconceivable surveillance capabilities. It’s too bad that at this point opting out is very difficult. Perhaps as the economy declines, the new gestapo agents will be open to bribery as is common in Latin American countries. However, we will need a cultural shift because these agents are brainwashed to support tyranny and they are into the power trip.
The corruption of a totalitarian state is one way to reduce tyranny.
What you said in 15.
Thanks for your comment.
He should probably just consider himself lucky that the ticked off DEA agent(s) didn’t plant, then “find” a ziploc baggie of hash in the compartment.
You would have been OK with having $60 stolen from you?
So true, never let them "search" out of your sight. Though if you complain and resist orders to leave, they will arrest you for interfering with a police officer. A no-win situation with these types.
No. But I was respectful and treated the US Marshall like I would a police office if he was merely asking questions. In the article, the person involved was uncooperative from the beginning and that only made matters worse.
We should all campaign to remove these drug laws and fire 2/3's of the police now working.
You can always tell them to get a warrant.
Of course then the baggie of hash would certainly appear.
The lesson learned is to humble yourself before his excellency, and do not interfere by asserting your constitutional rights.
How was he uncooperative? Refusing to let an officer search your belongings (politely) is not being uncooperative.
We don't expect warriors of the United States of America to steal loot, nor to "confiscate" funds from persons who are innocent until proven guilty. We expect the rights of due process to be respected.
Instead he whines to a reporter at a liberal rag. I seriously doubt if his ‘story’ is accurate.
So now the article is inaccurate or he’s lying? Maybe, but I still see nothing in his story that says he’s doing anything wrong. I guess he really was “uncooperative,” but within the bounds of the law as far as I could tell.
What makes you think the courts would care? All the tactics & laws used by the DEA in this situation have been approved by courts in past cases (almost no expectation of privacy while using public transportation, use of dogs to establish probable cause, civil forfeiture, etc).
The courts are part of the problem, not a defender of rights. They have shredded the Fourth Amendment so badly in the name of the failed War On Drugs there is barely anything left.
Exactly. And then do a series of cavity searches including a colonoscopy, like what happened to that guy out west after their dog "alerted" on an odor in an innocent man's car who had supposedly not stopped long enough at a stop sign.
Man Seeks Millions After N.M. Police Force Colonoscopy in Drug Search
Civil rights attorney says Hispanic officers may have targeted 'white boy' because they 'don't like him living in their community.'
That's the saddest part. A lot of "conservative" outlets, FNC, and talk radio will NEVER report anything "anti-authority". We've devolved a long way since G. Gordon Liddy would rant and rave about the ATF, US Marshalls, etc.
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