US Army Special Forces now training with local police in secret joint effort

[rangerrebew]

US Army Special Forces Now Training with Local Police in Secret Joint Effort

Posted By Joshua Cook on Jan 21, 2014


Unwarranted NSA surveillance, the passage of NDAA, stop and frisk programs, and the rise of warrior cops, have essentially turned America into a centralized police state.

Blurring the lines between the U.S. military and local sheriff departments sets a dangerous precedent that erodes freedom and civil liberties.

Those lines are being blurred right now in South Carolina.

According to The State, the Richland County Sheriff’s Department will participate in secretive joint exercise Monday and Tuesday with unnamed units from Ft. Bragg.

The drills are scheduled to run up to midnight on both days and occur primarily in Lower Richland, around Hopkins and Eastover. Exercises will also take place around the Screaming Eagle Road near Elgin and North Richland County near outbound Monticello Road.

According to The State, a sheriff’s department spokesman refused to provide which units from Ft. Bragg are involved. Ft. Bragg is home to the U.S. Army’s elite groups, including the Special Forces and Delta Force.
 
 


The spokesman also said the drills would be noisy at times.

“Citizens may see military and departmental vehicles traveling in and around rural and metropolitan areas and may hear ordnance being set off or fired which will be simulated/ blanks and controlled by trained personnel,” a sheriff’s department press release said.

The secretive exercises are off limits to the media, reports The Activist Post.

The implications are serious.

Locally elected Sheriffs take an oath to uphold, preserve, and defend the Constitution. They are not an extension of the centralized federal government. They have the ultimate say in their county as the top law enforcement officer.

If sheriff deputies engage an enemy in conjunction with the U.S. military who do they take orders from? The ARMY commander? Or their Sheriff?

This violates the separation of local authorities and the federal government. If the separation of powers are eliminated, who will protect the Constitutional rights of citizens?

Contact the Richland County Sheriff’s Department and feel free to express disapproval with local police working with the US military like this. Here’s their contact information:

Sheriff Leon Lott
 5623 Two Notch Road
 Columbia, South Carolina 29223
 (803) 576-3000 phone (803) 576-3195 fax
 sheriff@rcsd.net

Read more at http://freedomoutpost.com/2014/01/us-army-special-forces-now-training-local-police-secret-joint-effort/#yRLxxcEwDu9FIpeL.99

[olde north church]

Ya have to wonder where all those "Oathkeepers" and "3 Percenters" and "Sheep Dogs" are.

[EC]

Why the fuss over a perfectly normal occurrence? Cross training happens all the time.

It is more likely for the benefit of the special forces than the police.

[rangerrebew]

Why the fuss over a perfectly normal occurrence? Cross training happens all the time.

It is more likely for the benefit of the special forces than the police.

Maybe so.  But with Ali Bama in office it could be training for martial law, too.

[EC]

Maybe so.  But with Ali Bama in office it could be training for martial law, too.

Nah - not with SF and sheriffs. Too much of a chance for push-back. Now if you see Obama's civilian army running exercises, it's time to build a bunker or head for the hills.

In terms of training for Martial Law though - it's a standard part of Army and National Guard training. They are frequently the first ones into a disaster area and need to know police procedures and have experience of actual policing. Two different skill sets which are, sadly, mostly mutually exclusive.

[Gazoo]

The release said that, “Due to Sheriff Leon Lott's longstanding commitment to making sure that deputies are trained and prepared for every event and potential threat and his desire to assist the military to ensure their preparations;” the joint exercise is being held.

COLUMBIA, SC: Richland deputies, U.S. military carry out secretive – and noisy – joint exercise Monday and Tuesday | Crime | The State
http://www.thestate.com/2014/01/19/3216402/richland-deputies-us-military.html

[Chieftain]

Why the fuss over a perfectly normal occurrence? Cross training happens all the time.

It is more likely for the benefit of the special forces than the police.

Because we have something called the Posse Comitatus Act....

Per Wiki....

The Posse Comitatus Act is the United States federal law (18 U.S.C. § 1385, original at 20 Stat. 152) that was passed on June 18, 1878, after the end of Reconstruction and was updated in 1981. Its intent (in concert with the Insurrection Act of 1807) was to limit the powers of Federal government in using federal military personnel to enforce the state laws.

The Act, as modified in 1981, refers to the Armed Forces of the United States. It does not apply to the National Guard under state authority from acting in a law enforcement capacity within its home state or in an adjacent state if invited by that state's governor. The United States Coast Guard, which operates under the Department of Homeland Security, is also not covered by the Posse Comitatus Act, primarily because the Coast Guard has both a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency mission.

Read more at the link.  Essentially, Federal troops are prohibited from acting as local law enforcement officers.  This goes hand in hand with our Constitutional guarantee that troops will not be berthed in civilian housing too.  The secrecy is what bothers me, given the propensity for this Administration to act outside of the Constitution on a regular basis.  I have absolutely no trust in DOD with Hagel and Obama at the helm, and with Eric Holder still the Chief Law Enforcement Officer,  I have no reason to believe this "exercise" is legal in any respect.

[rangerrebew]

Nah - not with SF and sheriffs. Too much of a chance for push-back. Now if you see Obama's civilian army running exercises, it's time to build a bunker or head for the hills.

In terms of training for Martial Law though - it's a standard part of Army and National Guard training. They are frequently the first ones into a disaster area and need to know police procedures and have experience of actual policing. Two different skill sets which are, sadly, mostly mutually exclusive.

Don't forget we have the DHS "police" which officially don't exist even if their vehicles say police.  There is this cross training.  DHS has been distributing light armor to certain police agencies.  Obama's civilian army, which he said would be as big as the military is something the media just doesn't talk about though they are known to be training people.  All in all the direction doesn't look good.

[240B]

I was arrested a couple of days ago, for sitting in my car in a parking lot. Can't really figure out how the cops showed up. Don't know if someone called them or if the guy just came over on his own.
 
When I asked why he was doing this he said, "Someone said you were taking pictures." I had no phone or camera with me at the time. I am still without a clue how 'taking pictures' would be illegal enough for the cops to show up even if I was doing it. When he ran my license, he said I had a warrant for a speeding ticket from 2 years ago for doing 30 in a 20. This is a ticket that was dismissed at the time, but somehow, very recently, got revived somehow. I just renewed my license and plates less than a year ago, so either this warrant was issued never, or it was issued on the spot.
 
During the booking process, they wanted to know every tiny detail about my life. Aside from the standard questions, there were question like, 'Where do you work?', 'How much money do you make?' It was weird. How does that have anything to do with 'taking pictures' or a dismissed outdated speeding ticket. I later learned from some teenagers that 'taking pictures' is a common standard thing cops say when they want to harrass someone who isn't really doing anything.
 
Anyway, they definitely put me 'on the grid', as they say. Spent the night in jail, for nothing, saw the judge and the judge said, "This may be a mistake. All requirements for dismissal have been met." That is what he wrote. But I still have to go to court to full dismissal and no matter what they say, this will cost me money, and of course that is the whole point.
 
Just like in Chicago, I can hear the judge saying, "Hey, you know, you slip me $500 and foe-getabooutit, it will be like it never happened."
 
It has nothing to do with 'public safety' or the 'law'. It is always all about the money, and getting everyone registered with the police and 'on the grid'. They got me this time, but what happens when it goes to the next level. Then we are all in trouble.
 
If everything and nothing is deemed 'illegal', then we are all criminals. The judge says, "The 'Law' is whatever I say it is."
 
You know that famous saying, "If you're not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to worry about." Well, that is bullshit. You do have something to worry about. We all do. I do not think this is over for me. I'm not sure it can be. I no longer have any faith in 'law' or any judge.
 
Looking forward to meeting all of you in the reeducation camp.

[Gazoo]

240B,

Wow that is wild. Your story inspired me to tell something that happened to me. I think I will start a new thread about it.