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Deleted photo sparks fears DEA hiring mercenaries
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Muriel Kane
Raw Story
August 4, 2008
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When a California medical marijuana dispensary, Organica Collective, was raided last Thursday by agents of the Federal Drug Enforcement Agency and local police, the Los Angeles Times ran a dramatic story on the incident, accompanied by a set of photographs showing the raid and its aftermath.
According to the Times, witnesses described the DEA agents as “removing computers, medicine and money, and using a steel cylinder battering ram to get into the upstairs bedrooms.” When they left four hours later, all that remained was “trash, counters strewn with open and empty glass jars, piles of receipts thrown on the ground, upturned couch cushions, bits of marijuana on the edges of counters and an ATM with its doors torn open and emptied. … An outdoor vegetable garden had plants uprooted, along with marijuana plants removed by the agents.”
However, one particular photograph from the Times story has drawn more attention than anything else. That picture, which has now been widely reproduced at blogs, shows a long-haired man, wearing a Blackwater tshirt and with a pistol at his belt, passing a box marked “DEA Evidence” to other agents participating in the raid.
Blackwater, a private mercenary army often employed by the US government for security services and by local police forces for training, has drawn widespread criticism for its shoot-em-up tactics in Iraq and has recently aroused suspicion by its establishment of a private intelligence service and its growing role in global drug enforcement.
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A medical marijuana website may have been the first to draw attention to the picture, noting, “We’re used to the DEA calling in help from various federal agencies and local law enforcement. But I guess none of their usual buddies were available yesterday because from the picture below, which appeared in the LA Times today, it looks like they had to resort to calling in Blackwater.”
The next day, Tim King of Salem-News.com gave wider distribution to the story, writing, “Are members of a disputed mercenary killer group now working with the DEA? A photo from the LA Times shows proof of one of two things; either Blackwater members are now working for the Bush White House’s Drug Enforcement Agency, or this semi-illegitimate band of rogue federal cops have worse discipline than any of us ever imagined.”
The photo has since been taken down by the Times, but it has continued to circulate online. Although there has been no previous suggestion of a Blackwater role in domestic drug enforcement, the single picture was sufficient enough to set off furious discussion at both left-wing and libertarian message boards and blogs.
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August 5th, 2008 at 8:48 pm
This is scary.
August 5th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
Of course they are helping. These are the praetorian guard. These are the people who we will be dealing with. How else are they going to get in any practice than to help destroy the lives of innocents trying to help sick people… What better way to train them that they are above the law than to allow them to take part in victimless crime crack downs.
August 5th, 2008 at 9:14 pm
#2– absolutly right on the money, you are.
August 5th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Let’s hope they wear Blackwter in big yellow letters like the FBI and the CIA . It will make them easier to see.
August 5th, 2008 at 11:06 pm
Yeah DavidPK….you’re right it will make them easier to see……THROUGH A SCOPE!!!
August 6th, 2008 at 8:21 am
http://www.documentarywire.com to watch 100’s of free documentaries!
August 6th, 2008 at 9:53 am
I dunno. All I see is a guy wearing a Blackwater T-shirt. That doesn’t prove he’s on the Blackwater payroll. He could have bought that in a second-hand store. Does a DEA agent wearing a New York Yankees cap mean Derek Jeter is an undercover Fed, or that the Yankees organization is involved in covert drug enforcement?
August 6th, 2008 at 10:03 am
This does not surprise me after seeing footage of Blackwater personnel patrolling the streets of New Orleans during the aftermath of Katrina.
August 6th, 2008 at 11:30 am
I understand your concerns, it bothers me as well but, you can also buy that shirt on the website for $13.00
August 6th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
#7, yeah, I guess you are right. Keep thinking that as they kick your door down and drag you to a fema camp…or hey, they just decide to eradicate you right there.
What an idiot you are, go ahead, get back to fox news and drinking the water.
Geeezzzzz!
August 6th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
I don’t know which is worse…..
***A Blackwater mercenary working with the Feds…
*****Or a Fed who is stupid enough to wear a Blackwater T-Shirt on a drug raid….
God Help Us!
August 6th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
Also…Yes, the Federal Government has used Blackwater mercenaries to act as law enforcement in the past.
Have we already forgotten hurricane Katrina???
Not only were there 100 or more Blackwater mercenaries there, they also called in Mexican marines to patrol American streets.
Katrina aftermath also gave us door to door unwarranted gun seizures, forced relocation, forced disarming……FEMA even set up radio jammers (Which is their standard SOP as I hear) on location. Now ask yourself this…
If you did not draw the line at all of that, when will you draw the line? If ever?????
August 6th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Knowing a former Blackwater employee personally, I know for a fact they drive into their men a IMMENSE hatred for the word “Mercenary” and claim that they are not b/c they won’t work for just anyone…just whomever the US approves, that they do “security only” etc. Same old lines we’ve heard.
I asked, you’re a soldier for hire aren’t you? Doesn’t that make you a Mercenary?
He had no response. Thankfully, he has since moved on from the company.
August 6th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
It Just Goes To Show You Where This Country Is Headed . And George , Your Right About Katrina Bro . Ya Know We’re In Deep Shit When Our GESTAPO GOVERNMENT Brings In Foreign Troops To ILLEGALLY Disarm Americans During A Disaster . No Telling What Is Coming Next. I Can Imagine Tho. I Suggest Everybody Get Ready For Whatever Bad Is Coming Our Way Because It Ain’t Gonna Be Pretty .
August 6th, 2008 at 9:05 pm
Target rich environment real soon………………………
Ya’ll stocked,loaded,locked and cocked????????
Molon Labe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
August 6th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
They say they need Blackwater to help with the problems. How is that throughout the entire
history of this country, our government agencies were able to deal with wars and national
emergencies without private securtiy forces? Throughout every war in our country’s history, the
military guarded our political leaders when they came to the battlefields, and the national guard
was able to deal with the floods, fires, and riots. Now that’s not good enough anymore.
August 7th, 2008 at 4:55 am
Private mercaniries are inferior to any federal agency or military force, they get paid more, but are incompetant, Blackwater needs to have is corporate charter torn up already
August 7th, 2008 at 8:37 am
I like how the article describes the “shoot-em” attitude towards people in Iraq. Apparently they know nothing about the 1000’s of people they murdered in cold blood following Katrina. These mercenaries ran out of bullets from shooting so many people and pets that they had to have them brought in from surrounding states. Keep in mind the head of FEMA during 911 was President of Blackwater during Katrina. This same man did the deal for the “trailers” that wasted 500 million dollars and is being blamed for actually poisoning the occupants. Need we say more?
The number of people “missing” following Katrina is twice the number of all the people who died on 9-11. The mass murder ordered by the Bush regime of US military, on US soil, to kill and destroy US citizens and property has never been mentioned by the main stream media. They say it’s a “localized event” and that you should mind your own business. The crimes of Blackwater after the detonations of the levee systems 2 days AFTER Katrina left have never been exposed. It makes 9-11 look like childs play. It was also the first big test of murdering US civilians following martial law combined with a media blackout. It was a stunning success.
August 7th, 2008 at 8:53 am
A standard procedure of the Deception Execution Cycle as performed by the Bush regime is to kill the person who released the photo. Exposure, losing support, and organized resistance are the greatest fears of fascism and its criminal leaders. A photo like this certainly gives exposure. Blackwater has certainly received “ less support” though not by the Bush. The problem has been that there has been NO organized resistance. Not even Congress has jurisdiction over Blackwater. They are above the law in every Country on the planet because they are warriors in the “global” war on terror. They have no laws on this globe. Organized resistance is futile? They are Hitler’s greatest wet-dream!
August 7th, 2008 at 11:41 am
Last year a well known Atlanta DJs studio was SWATTED, paramilitary (blue yellow) clad RIAA (recording industry association of america) a private organization (cartel) of the five major record labels. RIAA agents were videod boxing up mixed cds and carting them off.
from http://www.econoculture.com/m/.....p;Itemid=1
RIAA chairman and CEO Mitch Bainwol, a former member of President Ronald Reagan’s cabinet and Republican National Committee chief of staff, brought on Bradley Buckles, former director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, to head this effort. A 2005 news release characterizes as a mission to “protect hit records – which are critical to the long-term health of the music industry and enable investment in new artists and new music [and] have suffered most dramatically.”
RIAA officials sometimes accompany police on the busts as was the case in several recent Chinatown investigations. However, for the biggest jobs, the RIAA goes in alone. According to Virelli, “they have lawyers whose whole job it is to get them search warrants. They can go in there are do the bust themselves.” A series of legal loopholes and careful legal maneuvering allows RIAA investigators to circumvent state laws regarding search and seizure. “Remember,” Cohn points out, “a private individual (or entity) can go on your land and take your stuff and it can still be presented as evidence. And some states have provisions for private search warrants as well.”
New York attorney Niki Warin calls attention to the added difficulty of challenging private entity searches: “Whether or not that entity has exercised its authority appropriately depends upon the specific facts, but they are quite often allowed to conduct them without law enforcement. Indeed, when law enforcement is not involved, there are often less challenges available to the search—the 4th Amendment protects us from unlawful search and seizure by the government, not by private entities, so often the argument is made that the private entity search was in fact instigated or related to the police.”
The RIAA’s ability to obtain its own search warrants might explain the 23 percent increase in anti-piracy investigation search warrants in the last two years, as reported by the RIAA website. Despite repeated calls, RIAA spokeswoman Amanda Hunter refused to comment on this.
August 7th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
COMING SOON TO YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD TO HELP RID YOU OF ANY TERRORISTS- I MEAN DISSENTERS,NO LEGAL GUN OWNERSHIP WILL BE ALLOWED BUT YOU CAN BUY RPG’S IN PATERSON NJ FOR 12 GRAND. pATERSON IS ALSO THE LEADING DISTRIBUTION POINT OF HEROIN IN THIS ARE BUT DOES THE DEA HAVE THE BALSS TO GO THERE?NO WAY MUST BUST UP POT SHOPS BUT HEROIN BROUGHT INTO THIS COUNTRY BY OUR OWN MILITARY FROM AFGANISTAN FOR THE CIA TO SELL FOR COVERT OPS MONEY!WAKE UP-POISONED FOOD-POISONED WATER-POISON AIR, TOXIC TOYS-VIRUSES-PHARMACEUTICALS FOR EVERYONE! CAREFUL CHRONIC MEDS AND YOU COULD LOSE YOUR RIGHT TO VOTE-WAKE UP! DEM AND REP. IN CONGRESS ARE IN ON THIS. WE PAY FOR ALL THEIR SINS WHILE WE DIE AND THEY LAUGH IN THEIR WELL STOCKED,WELL ARMED HOMES PROTECTED BY BLACKWELL….
August 7th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
my friend works for blackwater. This person is good and I have tried to inform his person on what the Company is really about. This person knows what they are all about! This particular individual also knows that something big is going to happen in the near future.
The threat is real people
August 7th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
I think they sent all our able body youth and anyone who can truely fight back to fight and die overseas.
You have 20,000,000 illegal immigrants in America
We all know what La Raza is.
I think the big event that is going to happen is an all out war with illegals (gangs and willing killers)running through the streets killing American’s at random. 20,000,000 illegals is a large army and you know as well as I do what they have been planning for years. Somehow the U.S. government is going to tie the Mexican illegal movement in with Al-Qaida.
It is going to be bigger than some DNC event in Denver.
They are planning something bigger and with much more blood
August 7th, 2008 at 9:09 pm
Wants the point of state laws being passed by the citizens of the state if the federal government is just going to overpower what we have choosen for ourselves? People in california need to wake up to this shit. Its so frustrating I gotta go smoke some bud that blackwater didnt get from me.
August 8th, 2008 at 12:51 am
time for me to move to jamaica mon!
August 8th, 2008 at 10:54 am
I am sure this will be said over and over again. In the end days of Rome, they hired Mercs to suppress the citizen while the armies fought abroud. The mental aditude of a MERC is nothing to do with right and wrong just money.
August 8th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
NOt to be the devils advocate, but I believe Blackwater does provide firearms training to various agencies so its entirely possible the guy is DEA and just sporting a tshirt from training.
August 9th, 2008 at 12:43 am
Does California have this
?
Washington State Constitution Article I Section 24 RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS. The right of the individual citizen to bear arms in defense of himself, or the state, shall not be impaired, but nothing in this SECION shall be construed as authorizing individuals or corporations to organize, maintain or employ an armed body of men.
August 9th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
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You should be on the front-line and preventing these raids on legitimate medical centers for cannabis in the USA… if demonstrators are seen at the edge of this imposed terror action run by paid mercenary forces it will at least show a united front.
August 14th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
Those mercenaries are not but glorified overpaid uneducated dumb shit head killers. They are some SICK INDIVIDUALS. They probally kept the drugs. You know there was a big drug bust of one of their trucks pulling out of Mexico with a load of pot and you hear the story and then its dead. fricken nice media we have here IS THIS OUR CHANGE?
August 31st, 2008 at 1:57 am
blackwater was created as a solution to our lack of troops in iraq now blackwater is being used on our sacred soil ,as i see it to intimidate those that are powerless to confront this future s.s of the fascist elite who control our goverment .remember a mercenary is only loyal to the highest bidder and this leaves out the majority of the american populace, me and you. people we must rise up to take back our rights gave by the constitution and the bill of rights and blessed by the blood of those who gave their lives for the freedoms that we have left.
March 24th, 2009 at 5:52 am
I really liked your blog with the Derek Jeter item. I think Jeter will be a hall of famer soon.
I try to follow as much Major League Baseball news as I can from Sao Paulo, Brazil.