Posted on 04/28/2013 11:02:26 AM PDT by Deadeye Division
Thomas Lucente: American liberty died in Boston where it was born
By THOMAS J. LUCENTE Jr. tlucente@limanews.com 419-993-2095
The American liberty movement, with little argument, was pretty much born and nurtured in the environs of Boston. And that is apparently where it died.
In what can only be called the Siege of Watertown, the government essentially declared martial law in the Massachusetts town, put thousands of law-abiding Americans under house arrest and went from house to house frisking and searching homes while pointing automatic weapons at Americans. All to arrest a single teenager.
In the end, the terrorists won. America lost.
True, the dastardly crime of which the teenager is accused was vicious. Also true, the capture of the perpetrators was an important goal.
Still, in the end, it was just a crime. It certainly did not warrant the behavior of the police and military in the conduct of its “manhunt.”
A house-to-house search to hunt down a criminal is an egregious abuse of power. Your constitutional rights are more important than the capture of a criminal, even a terrorist.
Yes, the lockdown was, on its face, voluntary. But tell that to the men in black body armor wielding machine guns and tanks as they treated the public as suspects, sources of interference or targets for displays of governmental authority. Can you really give informed consent with an M16 in your face? Having had the business end of an M16 pointed at me by a government agent before, I know the answer.
The police narrative is the residents were fully cooperating with the lockdown and house-to-house search. Yet, videos taken by residents show this was not the case.
While the video of soldiers with tanks, attack helicopters and machine guns patrolling an American town and searching door-to-door was disturbing enough, the lack of an outcry from those outside the area of operations is even more disturbing.
Where, for example, is the outrage of the tea party? I am pretty sure the Sons of Liberty, the Boston group who, in 1773, destroyed 342 chests of tea by dumping them in Boston Harbor during the original Tea Party, would not have stood idly by and let government troops conduct a house-to-house search while placing the town under a form of house arrest.
Does anyone doubt Samuel Adams, if alive today, would be vehemently protesting the government’s actions?
When British soldiers murdered five innocent Americans and injured others three years before the Tea Party, did Bostonians run and cower in their homes? No, they stood their ground and only dispersed after being assured there would be a legitimate investigation into what we call today the Boston Massacre.
Then, a leading patriot and lawyer, who was deeply involved in the liberty movement, agreed to defend the soldiers to ensure a fair trial.
That lawyer, John Adams, wrote three years later: “The Part I took in Defence of … the Soldiers, procured me Anxiety. … It was, however, one of the most gallant, generous, manly and disinterested Actions of my whole Life, and one of the best Pieces of Service I ever rendered my Country. Judgment of Death against those Soldiers would have been as foul a Stain upon this Country as the Executions of the Quakers or Witches, anciently.”
Adams’ defense of those soldiers is the epitome of what it means to live in a free country. Despite being the enemy and despite the heinousness of the crime, they still deserved a fair trial that complied with all the rules.
Compare that with the government’s actions after Tsarnaev was arrested. The FBI was upset that he was read his rights and allowed to consult with an attorney.
Those defending the tyrannical actions of the government during the occupation of Watertown argue the government should be able to do whatever is necessary to protect the people, even suspending civil rights.
There is a thin line between that kind of thinking and concentration camps, as I’m sure thousands of Japanese-Americans from the 1940s could attest.
However, and this there can be no denying, there is no “public safety” exception to the Constitution.
Do constitutional protections make it harder for law enforcement officials to do their jobs? Certainly.
Civil rights are easy to protect when things are fine; however, they are most important during times of peril and should never be pushed aside, especially not at the point of a government gun.
Thomas J. Lucente Jr. is a veteran of the Iraq war, has a bachelor’s degree in history and a law degree from the University of Toledo. He has been published in newspapers, magazines and websites across the country. He can be heard on “Talk with Ron Williams” on WCIT-AM at 3 p.m. Thursdays (listen at http://940wcit.com). Readers may write to him at The Lima News, 3515 Elida Road, Lima, Ohio 45807-1538, or e-mail him at tlucente@limanews.com. His telephone number is 800-686-9924, ext. 2095, or 419-993-2095. Visit his blog at http://www.lucente.org. Follow him on Twitter at http://tho.lu/twitter, Google Plus at http://tho.lu/google, and Facebook at http://tho.lu/facebook.
Police Say The Naked Man Arrested In Boston Was Not Tamerlan Tsarnaev
On Thursday night while police were hunting in Watertown, Mass. for bombing suspects Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, at one point they arrested a naked man who looks a lot like Tamerlan.
Police say the naked man is not Tamerlan, despite various conspiracy theories going around the Internet.
According to the official account, Tamerlan died after a shootout with cops, riddled with bullets and shrapnel before being run over by his brother who was fleeing the scene in an SUV.
Take a look: I dare you!
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-naked-man-mystery-role-in-boston-2013-4#ixzz2RnIPaCad
FBI
The Watertown police department got back to us via email just to say that the naked man was not Tamerlan Tsarnaev (pictured on right and in high-res here).
The shootout with the Tsarnaev brothers occurred on Laurel Street. The journalist interviewed in this video describes naked man’s capture near Nichols and Dexter, literally down the street from the shootout.
Naked man was apparently stripped, questioned, clothed, questioned some more, and reportedly let go. It’s likely police stripped him because they were under citywide bomb threat and wanted to make sure he didn’t have a suicide vest, but the police did not comment on that.
Needless to say, Business Insider is interested to hear Naked Man’s personal story — send any tips to tips@businessinsider.com.
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-naked-man-mystery-role-in-boston-2013-4#ixzz2RnIPaCad
“Those societies were gone - already under tyrants. We still have SOME civil rights & guilty people have gone free when their rights were violated.” Your statements reinforce what I wrote. How do you think those societies arrived at the condition they were in? No one “manned up” so to speak to resist. They relied on the other guy to do the “heavy lifting” and make the sacrifices. They probably hoped the courts would rule in their favor and put a bloodless stop to the predation. As far as an actionable case you only meet that criterion for “standing” in a court after whatever occurs comes to pass. No help to you after your body falls to the bottom of the ditch and your survivors only method of salvation becomes a neverending quest for freedom by participating in the blood sports in the arena. The black-robbed wonders might to decline hearing the case. What then? Justice denied? As if a judge is the sole arbiter of when your rights are violated and what actions are available to you to guarantee their continued relevance to your life.
The key statement is “The police had no authority to do what they did.” If not why did they do it? They supposedly know and abide by the laws of the land. Why were they allowed to violate the law by their supervisors and the political hacks who appointed them? If they had no authority to do what they did citizens had the right and the duty to refuse to comply and resist by whatever means necessary. Would they survive the encounter? Probably not. But their resistance would have demonstrated they were not going to be relegated to the level of slaves and may well have aroused the response of fellow citizens. Imagine the Youtube video of the thugs actions, the reactions depicting the violations and subsequent use of unauthorized force hitting the internet web. Tahrir Square American style anyone?
All I see taking place indicates the authorities have taken the high ground overseeing the field and no resistance of a meaningful nature is being offered. In fact what I see are sniveling cowards allowing their freedoms to evaporate before their eyes while at the same instant bemoaning the loss. This will not end well. There are far too many who truly see what is happening; although I will admit their numbers are diminshing. Eventually those remaining few will resist.
Cheers.
Yes, I see that also. The will to fight is fading, & I don’t know what would light a fire under people these days.
Stand your ground. Have a firm basis for doing so gained from the understanding of your natural rights as a human being and never waver. If a fight on a frontline in a war against an enslaving enemy is justification, a fight in your front yard with an enemy having the same intent, uniform or no, is as well. There is no difference between the two. You know right from wrong and so do they. Hold them to their oath and duty.
Good luck.
That was my exact thought, watching the videos the other day. Voluntary at the end of a gun is not my idea of voluntary. Watching how they treated each one coming out of their houses...as if a terrorist...was just mind-boggling! They were yelled at, made to hold their hands over their heads, patted down, etc. Outrageous!
“Taking away our second amendment rights is a much bigger deal ... than what happened in Boston”
What happened in Boston was de facto Martial law. What if when the SWAT showed up to search and take you out of the house they had just confiscated all your weapons at the same time? Its a big deal.
They’re all juiced up on roids.
That usually works.
But they don't force you to go. I'll bet if some of the people in Boston had refused to allow their home to be checked they wouldn't have been checked.. It would have been a stupid choice, but cops would have respected it. I still feel gun grabbers are more dangerous to our rights.
Boston Terror, CIA’s Graham Fuller & CIA Operation-the Caucasus
Saturday, 27. April 2013 by Sibel Edmonds
Graham Fuller: Edmonds’ State Secrets Privilege, FBI Gladio-B Target, Handler-Sponsor of Turkey’s Imam Gulen
A major break in the Boston Terror CIA Connection took place last night when I came across a post outing CIA Operative Graham Fuller as the father of the woman married to Boston terror suspect’s infamous uncle Ruslan Tsarni.
Further confirmation of this bombshell was received via mainstream reporter Laura Rozen here. Let me first provide a few excerpts from the original reporting site (a real alternative media):
Boston Bombers’ Uncle Married Daughter of Top CIA Official
The uncle of the two suspected Boston bombers in last week’s attack, Ruslan Tsarni, was married to the daughter of former top CIA official Graham Fuller . Ruslan Tsarni married the daughter of former top CIA official Graham Fuller, who spent 20 years as operations officer in Turkey, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Afghanistan, and Hong Kong.
In 1982 Fuller was appointed the National Intelligence Officer for Near East and South Asia at the CIA, and in 1986, under Ronald Reagan, he became the Vice-Chairman of the National Intelligence Council, with overall responsibility for national level strategic forecasting. …
Now, take a look at the most explosive aspect of this original report on Graham Fuller’s outing in the CIA Boston Terror Connection [All Emphasis Mine]:
On a more ominous note, Graham Fuller was listed as one of the American Deep State rogues on Sibel Edmonds’ State SecretsPrivilege Gallery,. Edmonds explained it featured subjects of FBI investigations she became aware of during her time as an FBI translator.
Criminal activities were being protected by claims of State Secrets, she asserted. After Attorney General John Ashcroft went all the way to the Supreme Court to muzzle her under a little-used doctrine of State Secrets, she put up twenty-one photos, with no names. One of them was Graham Fuller. …
I presented CIA’s Graham Fuller as one of the top culprits in my State Secrets Privilege Case when the government invoked the State Secrets Privilege and several additional gag orders to cover up the FBI’s investigations and files pertaining to CIA-NATO terror operations in Central Asia & the Caucasus since the mid-1990s.
Guess what? I provided this information to the US media long before it became public in 2008 via my website Not a single media outlet (including quasi and pseudo ones) was willing to touch this. And this, despite of all the gag orders, state secrets privilege invocations, congressional gag orders … you name it. I could name more than a dozen publications that said: ‘no way.’
Not only that. I have been covering one of the main CIA operation figures in Central Asia & the Caucasus-Imam Fethullah Gulen, and this Turkish Imam’s relationship and official Connections to CIA’s Graham Fuller. I’ve been doing this since 2009. Let me provide you with a few explosive examples and excerpts.
Graham Fuller, Crisis Actor Filmed Twice By CNN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbqVqI1cWXc Perhaps budgetary restraints brought on by the Sequester forced CIA Ops Director Graham Fuller to utilize this Crisis Actor at the Boston Bombing and in Watertown where the alleged bomber, Tamerlan Tsarnaev Attempted to Surrender.
Watch these two videos and make up your mind before the MSM and the Regime closes the historical record forever.
Boston Terror, CIA’s Graham Fuller & CIA Operation-the Caucasus
Saturday, 27. April 2013 by Sibel Edmonds
Graham Fuller: Edmonds’ State Secrets Privilege, FBI Gladio-B Target, Handler-Sponsor of Turkey’s Imam Gulen
A major break in the Boston Terror CIA Connection took place last night when I came across a post outing CIA Operative Graham Fuller as the father of the woman married to Boston terror suspect’s infamous uncle Ruslan Tsarni.
Further confirmation of this bombshell was received via mainstream reporter Laura Rozen here. Let me first provide a few excerpts from the original reporting site (a real alternative media):
Boston Bombers’ Uncle Married Daughter of Top CIA Official
The uncle of the two suspected Boston bombers in last week’s attack, Ruslan Tsarni, was married to the daughter of former top CIA official Graham Fuller . Ruslan Tsarni married the daughter of former top CIA official Graham Fuller, who spent 20 years as operations officer in Turkey, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Afghanistan, and Hong Kong.
In 1982 Fuller was appointed the National Intelligence Officer for Near East and South Asia at the CIA, and in 1986, under Ronald Reagan, he became the Vice-Chairman of the National Intelligence Council, with overall responsibility for national level strategic forecasting. …
Now, take a look at the most explosive aspect of this original report on Graham Fuller’s outing in the CIA Boston Terror Connection [All Emphasis Mine]:
On a more ominous note, Graham Fuller was listed as one of the American Deep State rogues on Sibel Edmonds’ State SecretsPrivilege Gallery,. Edmonds explained it featured subjects of FBI investigations she became aware of during her time as an FBI translator.
Criminal activities were being protected by claims of State Secrets, she asserted. After Attorney General John Ashcroft went all the way to the Supreme Court to muzzle her under a little-used doctrine of State Secrets, she put up twenty-one photos, with no names. One of them was Graham Fuller. …
I presented CIA’s Graham Fuller as one of the top culprits in my State Secrets Privilege Case when the government invoked the State Secrets Privilege and several additional gag orders to cover up the FBI’s investigations and files pertaining to CIA-NATO terror operations in Central Asia & the Caucasus since the mid-1990s.
Guess what? I provided this information to the US media long before it became public in 2008 via my website Not a single media outlet (including quasi and pseudo ones) was willing to touch this. And this, despite of all the gag orders, state secrets privilege invocations, congressional gag orders … you name it. I could name more than a dozen publications that said: ‘no way.’
Not only that. I have been covering one of the main CIA operation figures in Central Asia & the Caucasus-Imam Fethullah Gulen, and this Turkish Imam’s relationship and official Connections to CIA’s Graham Fuller. I’ve been doing this since 2009. Let me provide you with a few explosive examples and excerpts.
Graham Fuller, Crisis Actor Filmed Twice By CNN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbqVqI1cWXc Perhaps budgetary restraints brought on by the Sequester forced CIA Ops Director Graham Fuller to utilize this Crisis Actor at the Boston Bombing and in Watertown where the alleged bomber, Tamerlan Tsarnaev Attempted to Surrender.
Watch these two videos and make up your mind before the MSM and the Regime closes the historical record forever.
The other thing he is missing is that they did not declare martial law. This was police work by local cops. A governor or President is required to declare martial law, and then, the military is in charge with the rules of war applying.
While I appreciate everybody's concern about serious constitutional questions with the way that the Watertown police handled the alleged bomber, I'm also concerned that delays necessary to comply with procedures may have resulted in even more deaths. After all, if I understand the following article correctly, I'm not sure of the condition of one Watertown law-enforcement officer who was seriously injured in confrontation with the alleged bomber.
Lone officer confronted marathon bombing suspects in firefight, chief says
Also, note the last part of Clause 3 of Section 10 of Article I of the Constitution.
Clause 3: No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay (emphasis added).
Although the clause emphasized above is not directely applicable to the Watertown situation, it reflects that the Founders understood that authorities may sometimes be forced to act because of time restraints.
I was getting ready to post but had an interesting insight. Note that the Founding States had decided that government prohibitions / limitations of power in the Bill of Rights did not apply to the states, only to feds. (14A changed that.) So 4A's privacy protection without warrant originally did not apply to states.
IIRC, by the time they tried to rob the curb store, they had pics and names. And certainly they had a good idea after the shoot-out in the street.
Same as all the other Lov Information Citizens (LIC) who have pontificated here on this issue. Just do some reading: http://www.law.cornell.edu/anncon/html/amdt4frag3_user.html especially the part that says:
The exceptions are said to be "jealously and carefully drawn,"
Next think about the fact that the police lost the suspect so the only applicable exception, hot pursuit, no longer applied. If in your reading you find another exception to the 4th from case law, please post. What you cannot do is pretend that undeclared martial law is ok unless you show some case law that it is.
The 4th was incorporated in the 60's. All the cases were specific individuals (e.g. Terry stop) or cars or houses. Houses have the most protection. Any unrelated criminal case arising from Watertown (e.g. if the cops had found drugs after busting into someone's house) would be laughed out of court. There is simply no case law supporting home searches with the few exceptions that only apply to specific houses. The cop must pursue a suspect into a specific house. A cop may have a hunch about a specific house and that is legal grounds (has to be explicit). A cop might see something in the yard or through a window which would make the search legal. Or the cops can get permission from a homeowner or any representative (essentially anyone from a teenager on up can legally let them in). But that is it.
Whether the cops knew who they were looking for or not is completely irrelevant. It is illegal to go house to house looking for anyone or anything, known or unknown.
Understood: I agree it was a horrible act by the cops.
What stunned me more was the ease with which it was done...nary a recorded peep from what I saw...
Is that video of the thug in the humvee still up? I haven’t been able to find it for a while...
I was able to save the image. But not sure how to post to Freerepublic.
There were large bombs that killed lots of people in the anarchist and communist violence in the 1920s. I don't think the people who were dealing with that decided that the solution was to violate the rights of the law abiding citizens. This is not unique, only the response of law enforcement is new.
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