-Caveat Lector- This is just the tip of the iceburg it seems its a regular occurance. In 1999 1800+ homes where broken into in this manner and to date none were charged with a crime. Those are just those not charged with a crime. How many more are charged on trumped up stuff like Randy Weaver etc.? We are under assualt It's easy to ignore if it hasn't happened to us individually, and I am sure these good folks never gave it much thought till it happened to them, but think about this. What world will our children and grandchildren grow up in if we let this go unchecked? -------- Original Message -------- Subject: BATF transgressions - Please read Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2001 07:25:50 -0600 To: "Undisclosed-Recipient" <""@mailer.cia-g.com> Those of you that have read "Unintended Consequences" will think of Henry Bowman as soon as you read this. This has got to stop but when will the people have the backbone to stand up to it? http://homestead.juno.com/vikingwarrior2/StormTroopers.html ATF Gets Military Firepower Never known for its delicate style, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in July 1995 received 22 OV-10D aircraft from the Department of Defense. Each OV-10D, capable of speeds up to 300 mph, is outfitted with two 7.62mm M-60C machine guns, each posessing 500 rounds, and carries one Sidewinder missle under each wing, along with Snakeye bombs, rocket packages, cluster bombs and fire bombs. The ATF says nine of the aircraft will be unarmed and used only for surveillance, and that the others will be used for spare parts. Uh huh. BATF Shoots Collector On June 7, 1971, ski-mask wearing BATF agents used a battering ram to break into the home of Kenyon Ballew. Based on an incorrect tip from a burglar, they were looking for grenades, which turned out to be legal empty grenade hulls. Responding to his wife's screams, Ballew grabbed an antique blackpowder pistol, and was shot by BATF agents. He remains confined to a wheelchair. BATF Wrecks Tulsa Home On December 16, 1991, a joint task force of some sixty BATF agents and local law enforcement personnel, accompanied by two television crews, broke into the Tulsa, Oklahoma home of John Lawmaster. Acting on a tip that Lawmaster had illegally converted a semi-automatic to full automatic, the BATF worked with Lawmaster's ex-wife to lure Lawmaster away from his home before the raid. With Lawmaster absent, BATF knocked down his front door with a battering ram. While some agents stood guard with weapons drawn, other agents broke open his gun safe, scattered his personal papers, spilled boxes of ammunition onto the floor, and broke into a small, locked box that contained precious coins. To look through some ceiling tiles, one agent stood on a table, breaking the table in the process. Neighbors who asked what BATF was doing were threatened with arrest. The BATF left doors, tables, and safes broken and guns and ammunition unsecured on the floor, and a note: "Nothing found -- ATF." No charges were filed. The affadavit supporting the search warrant was sealed by the US Attorney's office. When Lawmaster returned, utility company representatives arrived, and told him that they had been told to shut off all his utilities. BATF Leaves Baby in Bathtub On April 1, 1992, Malisa Knudson was bathing her 21-month-old daughter Kalee when she heard the sound of traffic coming up their remote mile-long road. As she came to the front door she saw several vehicles accompanying a Ryder moving van and an ambulance. About 30 agents piled out of the van and swarmed over her property. BATF handcuffs Malisa, and leaves the baby alone in the bath. For three hours the Knudson home was searched and Malisa was interrogated about the family's religious and political views. FBI Assault At Ruby Ridge In 1992, the FBI conducted a military siege of a rural Idaho family, ultimately killing Randy Weaver's dog, son and wife. The federal government's behavior in the incident can only be described as sickening. Federal agents set Randy Weaver up on weapons charges. Attempting to infiltrate a white supremacist group, the BATF entrapped Weaver into selling them two shotguns. When he refused to cooperate with them, federal agents lied in order to get support for their retaliation. The U.S. government murdered Randy Weaver's son and wife during a military siege of Ruby Ridge. Four hundred armed federal agents conducted a siege of the Weavers' mountain home, first killing Randy Weaver's dog, then his son, then his wife. Weaver was found innocent of all serious charges. In a 1993 trial, Randy Weaver and his friend were found innocent of weapons and murder charges. Weaver was found guilty of not appearing in court on the original charges. Later investigations criticized the federal agents. The Justice Department's own report recommended criminal prosecution of federal agents; the surviving Weavers won $3.1 million in civil damages. The U.S. Senate criticized federal law enforcement for their roles. In September 1995, the Senate held hearings on the Ruby Ridge incident, and in December, released its report criticizing the FBI and other federal law enforcement agencies. BATF Terrorizes Wrong Victim On February 5, 1993, the BATF destroyed the home of Portland, Oregon resident Janice Hart and terrorized her children for several hours in a case of mistaken identity. Acting on an informant's tip that Janice Hart was Janice Harrell, a wanted person, BATF agents broke down Hart's door (later nailing it shut), shoved dishes to the floor, ripped clothes from hangers, emptyed drawers. When Hart returned home from grocery shopping, she found the agents ransacking her house. They told her to shut up and forced her two children and a neighborhood friend to remain in the car (Hart's parents later picked them up). BATF agents interrogated Hart in her basement for over an hour. "There's about eight of them down there and they're asking me over and over my name, my Social Security number, by birthdate. On and on, over and over. And I kept answering over and over. And I'm saying, What did I do? I don't have anything to hide." Hart looked nothing like the BATF's picture of Harrell, and did not have the scars Harrell was known to have. When the BATF finally brought Hart to a Portland police station, the Portland police recognized from fingerprints that the BATF had the wrong person. It took Hart and her ex-husband two days to clean the BATF's mess. Many damaged items had to be thrown out. Remember Waco? The federal government's military assault of a religious residence near Waco, Texas, was one of the most egregious abuses of power witnessed in the U.S. in this century. On February 28, 1993, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) conducted a military assault of the living quarters of the Branch Davidians, a small Christian church once associated with the Seventh-Day Adventists. After a fifty-one-day siege, the Davidians' home burned, killing over eighty men, women and children. BATF Attacks Ohio Man A national commission is too late to help Louie Katona from Bucyrus, Ohio. The Katona family is a poster family for Middle America. Louie's wife is a devoted mother. Louie himself owns a real estate agency. He was a part-time police officer and a full-time community contributor. But he is also a gun collector. Based on a trumped-up charge that he falsified certain BATF forms, BATF entered his home January 5, 1995. During the raid, his wife, Kimberly, became understandably agitated and upset. An overzealous agent pushed his wife against a wall. Within hours, Kimberly, then several months pregnant, began bleeding. She soon miscarried. Did BATF apologize to this family? No. Instead, BATF pressed criminal charges against Katona. This past April, a judge threw the charges out of court. The Katona family has civil action pending against ATF. BATF Lamplugh Incident BATF Thugs Strike Again! The lives of Harry and Theresa Lamplugh were turned upside down on the morning of May 25, 1994. Early that day, 15-to-20 armed men and women burst into their rural Pennsylvania home. Under the threat of violence, the Lamplughs cooperated completely with the intruders as they opened safes, locks and cabinets. In spite of their compliance, however, Harry and Theresa were treated with contempt. Throughout the ordeal, a fully automatic machine gun was intermittently thrust in both their faces. The Lamplughs watched in horror as the thugs literally trashed their home. Furniture was overturned or smashed and papers were scattered everywhere. Three pet cats were ruthlessly killed--one literally stomped to death. The gang ransacked their home for more than six hours. When they finally left, Harry and Theresa stood confused and angry in the midst of their demolished home. The brutal and inhumane events that you have just read about are not fiction. They were taken from the testimony of Harry and Theresa Lamplugh. Only the intruders were not some violent street gang members or foreign terrorists; they were agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Why would two federal agencies send a small battalion of agents to terrorize this couple in the supposed safety of their home? What terrible crime did Harry and Theresa Lamplugh commit that prompted this brutal six-and-a half hour ordeal? Shockingly, there are no good answers to these questions. Harry Lamplugh, however, is in the politically incorrect business of promoting gun shows. His organization, Borderline Gun Collectors Association, happens to be the largest gun show promoter in the Northeast. As anyone who has ever attended a gun show knows, there are more than firearms and accessories on display. A gun show is also a place where people of common interests meet to express their political views and share opinions. Not surprisingly, criticism of the BATF runs deep at such a forum. And it is no secret that the BATF spends considerable time and effort infiltrating these shows. Since gun show infiltration is a massive undertaking that yields relatively small returns, the BATF has now honed in on a primary source, Harry Lamplugh. On May 23, 1994, the agencies obtained a search warrant authorizing both the BATF and the IRS to "search" the Lamplugh home. Included in the list of items to be seized were any firearms, ammunition, holsters, cleaning kits, gun cases and firearms accessories. The Lamplughs' attorney points out that the warrant failed to name even one specific item. "Such warrants are vague, overbroad and therefore unconstitutional," he said. The agents also seized complete financial and business records of the Borderline Gun Collectors Association from 1988 to the present. This included all computer records and any other documents related to the sale and purchase of firearms. Obviously, the BATF was on some sort of "fishing expedition." But the most amazing aspect of the warrant is what was not on it. There was no reference to any crime by any person. The BATF appears to hold not only the Second Amendment in disdain, but the Fourth as well. On Wednesday, May 25, 1994, the search warrant was executed. At about eight in the morning, Harry answered a knock on the front door and was instantly surrounded by agents. His wife was in the bathroom at the time. He had been sitting at the kitchen table in a pair of pajama bottoms, having his morning coffee. "Unto this day I don't know exactly how many there were, but they had my house secured in seconds," Harry said. According to Lamplugh, there were a total of six cars full of agents. They were not dressed in any uniform, and only two had the identifying ATF vests on. All firearms were drawn. An M-P5 machine gun was stuck in Harry's face. They did not announce who they were or why they were there, and no search warrants were displayed. "When I asked if they had a search warrant, their first reply was 'shut the fuck up mother fucker; do you want more trouble than you already have?', with the machine gun stuck in my face." Harry said. "They then proceeded to tear my house apart." The Lamplughs were not permitted to dress all day. "We couldn't even go to the bathroom without an armed guard, as if we were prisoners in our own home," says Mrs. Lamplugh. Then, like a slap in the face, the agents stopped everything to eat lunch. "They gave no thought to what we were going through. Some agents went out for pizza, and they had a little party. It was like a room full of kindergartners with no chaperon. They threw half-emptied soda cans, pizza and pizza boxes everywhere. To some people, maybe it sounds like we're complaining about a small thing, but this is our home and they trashed it." The agents' reckless conduct at the "pizza party" characterized their behavior throughout the raid. "Because I have cancer, I usually have about 20 bottles of prescription drugs on top of my bureau. For some unknown reason, they thought it necessary to open the bottles and scatter the contents all over the floor. Consequently, two of our cats got into the medication and died horrible deaths." The agents continued their aimless search. "Where's the machine gun" one of the agents asked. Finally, an indication they were looking for something in particular. "At first I didn't know what he meant," Harry said. "Then I recalled that I once owned a Vietnam commemorative Thompson, inlaid in 22 karat gold, but that was a semi-automatic. One of the agents then responded, 'That must be what they're talking about.'" The agents were apparently looking for something that wasn't even there, or illegal to possess." However, they were very thorough in sifting through what was there. But for what reason did the agents take marriage and birth certificates, school records, insurance information, vehicle registrations and titles? Harry points out that "they were so thorough that for about two weeks we would have had a hard time proving who we were. They took all of our contacts with newspapers (Over 600), all friends and family phone numbers, and even my medical records." There were 61 firearms and assorted ammo seized in the raid, valued at over $15,000. The agents took about 70,000 names and addresses of exhibitors and also gun show contracts through the year 2000. A stack of mail was opened, read and also confiscated. Finally, at about three o'clock, the wrecking crew finished their destruction. In one final unconscionable act, female agent Donna Slusser deliberately stomped to death a cherished Manx kitten, and kicked it under a tree. The affidavit in support of the warrant was made by BATF special agent Scott Endy. For reasons unknown to the Lamplughs, the affidavits were sealed by a local federal judge. An Assistant United States Attorney was asked by the Lamplughs' attorney to unseal the document, but he has steadfastly refused to do so. The persecution Harry and Theresa have endured has been extremely harsh. At no time was this peaceful couple informed of any violation of the law, and to this day no charges have been brought against the Lamplughs. Yet, the BATF has refused to return any property, even medical records and other personal documents and possessions. The actions of the men and women who entered the Lamplughs' home must not be ignored or forgotten. The Lamplughs are victims, not suspects, in this matter, and this is but one of the many examples of the BATF's abuse of its power through the years. This government brutality must be stopped. BATF Attacks St. Louis Woman At four o'clock in the morning of July 13, 1994, dressed in their Ninja-style outfits, agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms stormed into the bedroom of Monique Montgomery, aged 21, at her St. Louis, Missouri home. The BATF says it was looking for drugs in the home of the St. Louis woman, but it found none. The BATF says it was looking for illegal guns, but it found none. Instead -- after a investigation that was six weeks in the making -- it found a woman -- alone and deep asleep -- in her bedroom. According to press accounts, two agents hit that bedroom with guns drawn, shields up and high intensity lights glaring. The agents claimed that they knocked and announced themselves ... before breaking down the woman's door. Hearing such a commotion and being startled as anyone would with such a bizarre scene at four in the morning, Miss Montgomery did what most reasonable Americans would do. She armed herself with a firearm she lawfully owned for personal protection. The agents claim to have, quote, repeatedly identified themselves and told her to drop her weapon, unquote. But this is the same BATF which set the time for the raid at four in the morning -- to maximize the victim's disorientation. So the victim had no choice but to be disorientated and confused. And, according to the BATF, the agent, quoting again, didn't have any other choice, unquote, -- but to shoot her. And shoot her he did. Four times. Long before Ms. Montgomery was released from the hospital after being shot in the chest and hip, the agent who shot her was back on the job. BATF Hypocrisy The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is quick to respond when private citizens don't follow myriad federal gun regulations to the letter, keeping track of extensive weapons collections. However, when the BATF came up short 152 firearms in one inventory, they simply erased the weapons from their computer records without investigation, as reported by Chris Collins of Gannett News Service. BATF Sieges Empty House Ragnar Danneskjold, in a message forwarded to Libernet, reported that the BATF mistakenly conducted a 12-hour siege of an empty house. Around 6pm Friday, June 23, 1995, the BATF attempted to serve a search warrant at a residence in Parma, Ohio (not far from Cleveland). The man who answered their knock, a 23-year-old who lived with his parents, slammed the door in their face. Of course, what else could the BATF do but call in the tanks. The ATF (now with the Parma SWAT teams) turned off all power in the area and made the television crews turn off their lights. Local commentators speculated that the young man was holding his parents hostage with a large stockpile of illegal weapons. Danneskjold reported that Ted Henry of ABC affiliate WEWS Channel 5 said, "well he must have quite a stockpile of weapons for the ATF to serve a search warrant." Over sixty officers from the BATF, Parma police and other local communities' police sieged the house all night. Bullhorns, a hostage negotiation phone, optics and such were all tried, to no avail. Unbeknownst to the BATF, the man had already slipped out the back door. Around 6:30am the next morning, a BATF "dynamic entry team" entered the house. The man's parents, who it seems were not even in the house much less being held hostage, gave the BATF the keys to the front door. The BATF found neither the man nor any "large stockpile of illegal weapons." The BATF is not commenting any further on the incident, although they did say that they were only executing a search warrant, not an arrest warrant. Further, the agents that had the door slammed in their face did not have the warrant with them. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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