Posted on 09/22/2005 2:42:37 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Two of the Moss Landing Harbor residents who were the subjects of random boat searches during Labor Day Weekend say their experiences were closer to armed invasions than the friendly "safety inspections" characterized by U.S. Coast Guard officials.
Both residents said search crews entered the harbor in inflatable boats with machine guns mounted on their bows. Then, carrying M-16 rifles, they approached residents and boarded and searched their boats in the name of safety and "homeland security."
One resident, who asked not to be identified for fear or retribution, said his experience was "very intimidating, very frightening."
"To me it reeks of Nazi Germany and the death squads in Argentina," he said. "I don't want my name on their list."
Scott Jones, a live-aboard resident who was searched, said there has been talk in the harbor about contacting the American Civil Liberties Union, but he first wants to hear further from the Coast Guard about its future intentions.
Lt. Mark Warren of the Monterey Coast Guard Station said he has heard mostly positive response to the operation, but may rethink future actions given current criticisms.
"We take lessons and learn from these types of operations. If the public is genuinely distasteful of it, we might not do it," he said. "I'm not saying we won't, but I'm not saying we will."
In addition to trying to ensure the safety of boats on the bay during the holiday weekend, Warren said, the operation was part of an effort to increase the public's awareness of the Coast Guard's role as a law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security. He said the public might have been surprised to see weaponry that is now standard issue to all Homeland Security forces.
"I, as a U.S. citizen, am highly offended by that," said Jones, who is accustomed to Coast Guard boardings when he sails. "When a sheriff's deputy drives down the road or a CHP officer drives down the road and I see them, I'm aware of his job, and not because he's pulled me over and put a gun to my head.
"The Coast Guard's needs would be better served by an advertising campaign," he said, "rather than bullying people in their bedrooms at 10:30 at night."
Jones said he and his wife were sleeping when they were awakened by knocking on the side of the boat.
He went to the deck and was confronted by two armed officers asking if they could come aboard. Thinking something had happened in the harbor that the officers needed to talk to him about, Jones acquiesced.
"It seemed a little unreasonable at 10:30 at night," he said, "but it was the middle of the night and I was half asleep, so I said 'OK.' At this point, I looked out and saw six to eight officers (on the dock) and all appeared armed."
The officers boarded his boat and quickly spread out beyond the immediate deck without invitation, saying they were conducting a safety inspection.
"I can say with all certainly that what they did was not a safety inspection or in any way related to a safety inspection," he said. The officers demanded access to the bilge, saying they wanted to make sure the boat wasn't taking on water.
"This was highly suspect," Jones said. "If you're on board, you'd know if you were taking on water."
When Jones showed them the bilge, the officers repeatedly, and with increasing forcefulness, demanded to know if there were other accesses to the bilge. They also "demanded" the driver's licenses of everyone on board.
Increasingly upset by the nature of the search, Jones asked for the officers' authority and justification. One officer read to him from a federal code authorizing the search.
"It was either the Patriot Act or homeland security,"Jones said.
Warren said the officers would not have cited the Patriot Act because it affords the Coast Guard no additional authority.
Jones conceded he may have heard "homeland security" and registered "Patriot Act," but still feels the search was unwarranted and in a gray area of the law at best.
"I wouldn't question their professionalism, but I do question their motive and their authority," he said. "To me, it sounds like something that an ACLU lawyer would just tear apart."
Coast Guard officials say they are authorized by maritime law to board and search vessels on U.S. waters, including waters that lead to U.S. waters, to enforce federal laws.
Warren said the officers were attempting to ensure the safety and compliance of docked boats by checking for oily water in their bilges and that their sanitation devices were in locked position. Some searches were conducted at night in an effort to catch boats before they went onto the bay for the weekend.
The second boat owner who spoke to The Herald said his boat was searched after he challenged officers who were searching other boats, at 10:30 p.m. Sept. 2, and during the morning on following days. Told they were acting as Homeland Security officers, he asked what they were protecting the harbor from.
"Terrorists," he said he was told by the officers, who exhorted him to "remember the Cole," referring to the October 2000 attack by terrorists on the USS Cole that killed 17 sailors.
"The only terrorists down here are you guys," he told them. "You're scaring the hell out of me with that machine gun."
While Warren was noncommittal about future searches, he said it is important for the public to know the Coast Guard's presence will be increased.
"The Coast Guard's focus on homeland security has increased our presence on the water and will continue to increase our presence simply because that's what Congress is wanting us to do right now," he said. "The concern at the congressional level about the security of ports is pretty high."
All laws repugnant to the Constitution are null and void. Yes, that very much includes the 4th Amendment.
There are two and only two distinct possibilies:
1. This boat was within the bounderies of US coastal waters, in which a warrant is required.
2. This boat was not within the bounderies of US coastal waters, in which case this was a simple act of piracy.
Today's reality? SCOTUS is "constitutionally challenged", wrote a sickening opinion, and now most of the difference of boating off the US and boating off some third world pisshole is the uniform of the guy pointing a gun at you while his palls ransack your property.
Screw them, and their mexifornia attitudes.
I don't. Is there one that holds water?
not pleasing.
not at all surprising, but not something I'm pleased by.
I'm sure they have. Courts in this country haven't done their job from day one.
If smugglers come in at midnite they should not be harassed?
I was going to blame the Amish.
I think we may not know the whole story. These guys may have earned a spot on sombody's watch list. Maybe the guy is a smart A and this is payback.
Also, if the CG is suspicious about a place in the bilge, they have the right to enter any enclosed space on a boat, regardless.
They have been doing it since prohibition
Yes, I knew that. My question stands.
Its probably different now, but it used to be they had to ask you if they could do a safety inspection. You didn't have to allow them.
More than once I told 'em I didn't have time and that was it. No problem. But that was about 15 yrs ago.
Wonder if they had any hotties on board? Sometimes that explains it.
The courts have held that the Revenue Cutter Service (established by Alexander Hamilton) has this authority ever since the first smuggler whined that his rights were violated, which was right after the first board and search, which was right after Hamilton established the Revenue Cutter Service.
In other words, the Founding Fathers very much disagreed with you on this one.
Too much power for the pea brains. This is exactly the reason why our right to bear the same firearms as the military should not be infringed. This is the crap that Mr. Jefferson and friends were thinking about when they penned the Second Amendment...I feel like I've been ripped off. I voted for Bush twice thinking he was the lesser of two evils but??? Homeland Security protecting the Fatherland... The Patriot Act giving jack booted thugs rights to rape, pilage and plunder...Campaign Finance reform protecting the incumbants from the free speech of the citizenry...what's next???? Should I be expecting a visit for not complying with thought control. What the hell is wrong with this country? Bring back Reagan!!!
However,for the sake of historical accuracy, this sort of thing has been going on since Alexander Hamilton who wanted it that way.
Yep! Admiralty law allows them on board, but:
"and that their sanitation devices were in locked position."
I don't believe there's any regs that allow federal officers to enforce a state or local law regarding human waste discharge.
They leave me alone now because I took it to the public and they started getting heat.
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