Valentine's Day Meeting on Property Forfeiture
On the way to the gun show (mentioned below), I stopped by a town meeting held by Accountability Utah discussing property forfeiture, specifically Citizens Initiative B which passed overwhelmingly four years ago and is now (once again) being attacked by our state legislature, this time via SB 175.
The room was, almost predictably, full of cops in uniform. They lined the back wall and had a guy filming the event with a video camera as well.
Intimidation tactics?
You bet.
You see, cops love asset forfeiture. On the federal level, it can be used to seize just about anything at any time. Many times lawsuits are filed by the government against an address, a car with a particular VIN number, etc. Yep, that's right, the defendent in the case is an inanimate object! They can take your house, car, guns, or whatever and the rightful owner has the burden of proof to prove that the item is innocent in order to get it back. This reverses the role of our courts, in which normally the accuser (prosecutor) must prove guilt beyond a shadow of a doubt.
They want to be able to do this kind of thing on the local level. Obstensibly, it's to "fight drugs," but in reality it's to allow them to take whatever they want whenever they want it. It also allows police to be independent of the governing body as they will have less dependence on that elected body for their funding.
So...a room full of cops, citizens concerned about their rights, and a representative from the Attorney General's office and a representative from Senator Buttar's office (who's sponsoring SB 175).
What happens? It turns into a shouting match. At first, the interruptions were polite as someone tried to "clarify" or refute whatever had been said. Then they got meaner. Someone asked if we would "hear the other side of it too," and someone else asked if "they would be given equal time," and so forth.
The jackass from the Attorney General's office said that they should have say "in the interest of democracy." I yelled at him that he needs to read the Constitution, we don't live in a democracy!
The fact that they've held numerous "public meetings" of their own and rarely, if ever, have given US any input on things seems to matter little to them. They were there to quell the dissent. They failed. Most of us just got more pissed off at them.
As they finally stormed out of the room in "protest" of their not receiving "equal time" to talk, I shouted that I wanted to know how many of those cops were currently on the payroll and on the clock. How many of them were being paid by me to be there that day?
I stormed out with the cops, since I was due at the gun show. Inside, I think I was hoping to get harassed by a big man in uniform. I'm silly like that.
I did speak with a very nice gentleman from St. George, dressed in full uniform, who is a Lieutenant there. He told me he was not on the clock and was there on his own time. I can respect that, but he also said he couldn't vouch for the other cops in the room as they were all local.
This is how, on a local level, we see the jackboots exerting their control. They want the ability to treat us like sheep and cattle, taking what they want from us without a peep of protest. Well, I've got news for them. I'm red-headed and Scots by lineage. People like me don't bend over and take it. People like me don't kick you and punch you (unless we have to) either.
People like me burn your house down as you're sleeping at night. People like me cut the break lines on your car. People like me "accidentally" report unusual activity to your bank and get your accounts frozen. People like me will find all kinds of backdoor ways to fuck with you...and we don't forget what you've done...ever. People like me exact our revenge quietly and completely.
So go ahead with your little plans, go ahead and keep raping us of our rights. Eventually, someone like me will get fed up and will begin to exact revenge. Maybe not today, maybe not next week, maybe not even this year...but it's going to happen eventually. There are millions of people like me in this country. And all of us are getting sick and tired of tyranny...
All people like me...
-----
Got comments? Email me, dammit!
The room was, almost predictably, full of cops in uniform. They lined the back wall and had a guy filming the event with a video camera as well.
Intimidation tactics?
You bet.
You see, cops love asset forfeiture. On the federal level, it can be used to seize just about anything at any time. Many times lawsuits are filed by the government against an address, a car with a particular VIN number, etc. Yep, that's right, the defendent in the case is an inanimate object! They can take your house, car, guns, or whatever and the rightful owner has the burden of proof to prove that the item is innocent in order to get it back. This reverses the role of our courts, in which normally the accuser (prosecutor) must prove guilt beyond a shadow of a doubt.
They want to be able to do this kind of thing on the local level. Obstensibly, it's to "fight drugs," but in reality it's to allow them to take whatever they want whenever they want it. It also allows police to be independent of the governing body as they will have less dependence on that elected body for their funding.
So...a room full of cops, citizens concerned about their rights, and a representative from the Attorney General's office and a representative from Senator Buttar's office (who's sponsoring SB 175).
What happens? It turns into a shouting match. At first, the interruptions were polite as someone tried to "clarify" or refute whatever had been said. Then they got meaner. Someone asked if we would "hear the other side of it too," and someone else asked if "they would be given equal time," and so forth.
The jackass from the Attorney General's office said that they should have say "in the interest of democracy." I yelled at him that he needs to read the Constitution, we don't live in a democracy!
The fact that they've held numerous "public meetings" of their own and rarely, if ever, have given US any input on things seems to matter little to them. They were there to quell the dissent. They failed. Most of us just got more pissed off at them.
As they finally stormed out of the room in "protest" of their not receiving "equal time" to talk, I shouted that I wanted to know how many of those cops were currently on the payroll and on the clock. How many of them were being paid by me to be there that day?
I stormed out with the cops, since I was due at the gun show. Inside, I think I was hoping to get harassed by a big man in uniform. I'm silly like that.
I did speak with a very nice gentleman from St. George, dressed in full uniform, who is a Lieutenant there. He told me he was not on the clock and was there on his own time. I can respect that, but he also said he couldn't vouch for the other cops in the room as they were all local.
This is how, on a local level, we see the jackboots exerting their control. They want the ability to treat us like sheep and cattle, taking what they want from us without a peep of protest. Well, I've got news for them. I'm red-headed and Scots by lineage. People like me don't bend over and take it. People like me don't kick you and punch you (unless we have to) either.
People like me burn your house down as you're sleeping at night. People like me cut the break lines on your car. People like me "accidentally" report unusual activity to your bank and get your accounts frozen. People like me will find all kinds of backdoor ways to fuck with you...and we don't forget what you've done...ever. People like me exact our revenge quietly and completely.
So go ahead with your little plans, go ahead and keep raping us of our rights. Eventually, someone like me will get fed up and will begin to exact revenge. Maybe not today, maybe not next week, maybe not even this year...but it's going to happen eventually. There are millions of people like me in this country. And all of us are getting sick and tired of tyranny...
All people like me...
-----
Got comments? Email me, dammit!
posted by Aaron Turpen @ 8:39 PM
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