Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Knock at the Door

The government maintains a list of citizens it views as a threat. These individuals are slated for roundup and detention at the onset of Marshall Law or a national emergency. What would you do if your partner or child was on this list? How would you warn them not to come home if the police came by to pick them up? How would the detainment of this family member impact your ability to survive?

About a month and a half ago I went home to walk the boys at lunch. At around 12:30 there was a loud knock on the door. Now being your average freedom loving anti-social paranoid Libertarian dog lover I decided to ignore it assuming it was someone pedaling candy bars or Jesus. The dogs were of course going crazy. I walked into the living room and peeked out the curtains to see who the offending intruder was. Thinking Jehovah Witnesses I was surprised to see two men in black tactical gear with Sheriffs Department embossed on there back leaving my building.

Instantly a knot formed in the pit of my stomach and I broke out in goose bumps. As the two walked to their unmarked car parked halfway up the block I tried to come up with a reason for them to be here. No tickets, no lawsuits...nothing. There was no reason for the sheriff's department to come knocking at my door. My bodies response to this visit was way out of line for someone who had committed no crime...or anything.

As I calmed down and shook off my desire to bug out to the cabin the reason settled in.

The idea that I could be captured and disappear without any trace really upset me. Under normal circumstances I would get a jail house call and could request a lawyer. But today's police state is not normal. My blog entries and comments I have posted could easily label me an enemy combatant if not a terrorist. For that matter anyone who expresses political or social views in public forums could be a target.

I shook it off and went back to work. But for the next few day I kept the curtains and windows closed worried that the black shirts would be back for me. I forgot about it.

About two weeks later Ryan and I walked down to get ice cream. It was around 9 pm, just after dark. A half a block from the house we saw two sheriff's deputies get out of there car and walk towards our place. Ryan spotted them first and nudged me about the time I saw them. We casually turned up the side street and walked a block to the park. Why we did this I do not know, again neither of us had done anything wrong but we both are very vocal about our political views.

We sat in the park for about 10 minutes and Ryan decided to go confront the officers. "I have done nothing wrong I don't have anything to worry about" he said. I on the other hand was trying to figure out how to get the dogs and fifteen buckets of food out of the back of the house and into the truck without being seen. Plus I was cussing myself for not having everything I needed already packed in the truck and ready to go.

We decided that he would go confront the officers and I would wait ten minutes then follow. If it was all clear he would turn off the back porch light. If the light was still on I would assume he was detained and get hold of a lawyer. Granted it sounds extreme and paranoid but we do live in a police state where it is legal to remove and indefinitely detain citizens...their rights being stripped at the whim of an out of control executive. Plus this is Colorado Springs, a city with a brutal police force which does not tolerate political dissent.

Anyway, the storm troopers were gone, the light was off, all was well and they have not been back since.

When the ICE agents pick up your spouse or child what plans do you have in place to deal with the loss. ICE is running full scale practice drills right now on illegal immigrants and drug dealers. They coordinate with local and state authorities creating a quickly deployed dragnet capturing the target people and anyone else who happens to be nearby.

There is an assumption that entire families will be detained but I suggest that this will not be the case. The mass arrests currently preformed by ICE seize and detain the targeted individual leaving the family and many times just the children remaining to fend for themselves. What happens when your spouse or children come home to an empty house not even realizing you have been incarcerated?

What plans have you made for this very likely capture and detainment scenario.


***I picked this up over at Survivalist News this morning...it makes my point

According to a senior government official…”There exists a database of Americans, who, often for the slightest and most trivial reason, are considered unfriendly, and who, in a time of panic, might be incarcerated. The database can identify and locate perceived ‘enemies of the state’ almost instantaneously.” … One knowledgeable source claims that 8 million Americans are now listed in Main Core as potentially suspect. In the event of a national emergency, these people could be subject to everything from heightened surveillance and tracking to direct questioning and possibly even detention.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

what did they want?

BigBear said...

Not sure what they wanted but we have gotten court notices for someone who used to live in our place in the mail. So hopefully they were looking for that person.

BUT that opens the door to no knock raids where they have the wrong house.

I will not interact willing with member of the corporate/police industry. Yes I believe policing is a money making venture serving the cash strapped city.

Patricia said...

I think you are wise to be very cautious. So we should all be. I'd still be curious as to what they wanted...

Anonymous said...

Yes, you can bet there will be a large roundup at some point during a large scale national emergency. Chances are anyone connected to the survivalist movement is considered a potential threat to the powers that be since we are free thinking and, of course, prepared to defend our freedoms.

Mayberry said...

I've been in that exact same position myself. I pulled up to the house after work to find a pair of constables at my door.... Constables serve warrants and cart those with warrants off to jail. I wondered "what the hell did I do?" Fortunately it was your same scenario, they were looking for a former resident. Whew! But on that note, you need to devise a plan to deal with this situation. What will family members/ friends do if you're not home when you're supposed to be? In the boating world, you're supposed to file a "float plan" every time you go out. Not a bad idea to do that when you leave home. Times they are a-changin' (for the worse), and we gotta have contingency plans for when the JBTs show up at our door.....

BigBear said...

Mayberry,

The deputies serve the same purpose here, they server warrants. If it would have been city cops no big deal. I am working on that type of plan.

Anonymous said...

If that secret database didn't include the entire readership of RADAR magazine, Survivalist News, Bear Ridge Project and now Third Party Animal BEFORE, I'm guessing it does NOW.

Anonymous said...

My loved ones have devised a plan to turn on the outside light on the porch when opening the door to strangers, since the person will be looking at the door opening they never notice the light coming on in the daytime. If the light is on when driving to the house there are plans in place to determine the threat. This has caused a few worried minutes in the past when someone left it on accedently. Just food for thought.

Ryan said...

I know few people who would react in a friendly manner to the Brown Shirts coming to get their family member, consequences be damned. At the same time if there is a simple mistake (they do happen) and a couple of local cops show up it would be quite unwise to ruin the lives of everyone involved when that mistake could be fixed in 2 hours downtown. I think Claire Wolfe's "awkward time" is a good analogy.

Anonymous said...

You might want to contact the department and let them know the person they are looking for no longer resides at your residence. Unless of course you want to explain it to the swat nazis at 4:00am, handcuffed face down in a pool of blood next to your dead dogs and screaming wife and children. Ignoring the gestapo does not make them go away, it makes them more likely to chuck a flashbang into your bedroom and terrorize your family.

Anonymous said...

I tought of this post when I read this.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/aug/21/aclu-objects-police-memo-dnc/

p

Anonymous said...

Dude, don't write a post like this and then leave us hanging.

BigBear said...

Texan,

I am fine just super busy. Hope to get back to posting this weekend.

Take care

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the reply.

Patricia said...

I'm glad the Texan asked and you replied Big Bear. I've been thinking about this too...take care.
HM

Unknown said...

So I take it if we stock up and provide for our families we become focus to law enforcement, by being labeled survivalists?

Well my fellow Americans, what is wrong with this picture?

Maybe it is time for me to put up a blog for my art of full time RV'ing with a the
Survivalist Way in mind.
Don't see much of that out here.
Rock on Big Bear and all of your out here. For we are the true America.

Mayberry said...

Roadscribe, do it man! I'd love to get some insight on that mode! I am an RV fan myself, and would kill to do what yer doin'...

Unknown said...

My rig is a Jazz 25.5 fifth wheel RV I found in an a dealer's bankruptcy consignment sale, and out of desperation to get out of the home I could no longer physically and financially take care of after my husband passed away leaving me in big debt, dumb me financed it. This is now my last bill to pay off, but still cheaper than an apartment. I tow it with hubby's old 1/2 ton truck now modified into a 3/4 ton, that no one would give me much for and paid for that by putting what I could in the RV and had one big estate sale.

Glad I did, because just before I sold the house, Citigroup silently went under and was bought up by Arab Emirates.

Banks that are now foreign owned, don't have to abide by the same rules that American finance companies do. So if they think you are going to be a month late, you will be getting screamed at by someone that speaks 2 words of English.

Please remember I got this rig when I didn't know much about RV'ing. I have met some Canadians that snowbird in this model and on their advise and other have made some mod's to make this rig a four season full timer.

The best 4-season 5'er today,that is my dream rig, is the Americana.
AmericanaRV.com. And you will not find this one on a dealer lot, you have to order it off the website.

When I get enough saved to pay cash for a bigger truck and my dream RV then I'll upgrade and not get another loan.