SWAT team raids organic farm (for 10 hours), confiscates blueberries

[EC]

Abaraxis - nice bit of digging, thanks!

You show me a farm that doesn't have some rusted, ancient bit of machinery in the yard and I'll show you a hobby farm, not a working farm.

[DCPatriot]

Abaraxis - nice bit of digging, thanks!

You show me a farm that doesn't have some rusted, ancient bit of machinery in the yard and I'll show you a hobby farm, not a working farm.

Okay....so let's 'dig' a little more.

And thanks to Ab for the research....

The junkyard being across the street, would probably partially explain the tendency to throw things like a piano in the FRONT YARD.  Yeah....not even having the cognitive ability to think perhaps the BACK YARD would be better.

What we have here are people that are evidently covering up their dirty habits and laziness....and the public is supposed to 'trust' that their product is just as sterile and safe to eat as the corner Organic market.   

So....it's like what comes first, the chicken or the egg?   

The junkyard breeds apathy toward tidiness and cleanliness and order.

Some of the loudest people claiming encroachment of property rights would also be the loudest if these trailer park trash were renting next door to 'you'. 

[ABX]

Okay....so let's 'dig' a little more.

And thanks to Ab for the research....

The junkyard being across the street, would probably partially explain the tendency to throw things like a piano in the FRONT YARD.  Yeah....not even having the cognitive ability to think perhaps the BACK YARD would be better.

What we have here are people that are evidently covering up their dirty habits and laziness....and the public is supposed to 'trust' that their product is just as sterile and safe to eat as the corner Organic market.   

So....it's like what comes first, the chicken or the egg?   

The junkyard breeds apathy toward tidiness and cleanliness and order.

Some of the loudest people claiming encroachment of property rights would also be the loudest if these trailer park trash were renting next door to 'you'.

Although I agree it is tacky and wouldn't do it to my piano, we may consider that it may have not been 'junk' thrown out in the yard. Based on their website, they host a lot of events. Maybe they rolled it outside along with extra seats for hosting  a party- have some music outside. We assume it was out there like junk. We may be wrong.

[Gazoo]

Your 'property rights be damned' comment is pretty disturbing coming from a Conservative community, but to put this in perspective.

1. This isn't a farm in a private, HOA community where they would have signed an agreement for specific property maintenance. This is a farm, on many acres in what was, until recently*, the middle of nowhere.

2. Based on how long they've been around, they may have even owned the farm prior to Kennedale incorporating that area.

3. I doubt the neighbors complained. They are across the street from an auto-junkyard and scrap metal yard and most of the neighbors have run-down trailers. http://goo.gl/maps/aI0dG 

4. *According to a comment on a news article, this may actually have something to do with the Terra Verde golf course & country club wanting to expand into that area for housing developments. They are about a mile east of all of this.  They are trying to buy up/push out a lot of small farms and businesses in that area. http://constructiondatacompany.com/construction-projects/28199/tierra-verde-golf-club-house-expansion-pavilions-arlington-tx/

And we have a winner.

[DCPatriot]

Yeah.....heaven forbid a free market capitalist that invest perhaps MILLIONS of $$$ for a golf course or country club has to put up with having the members and guests have to drive by....see....this level of 'civilization', before they fork over money for tee times.

The point here is that if they had ketp the exterior of the place tidy, nobody would have gotten into their business.

Was the SWAT team extreme?  Of course.

'We're not in Kansas anymore......'

[Gazoo]

I just did a BING image search of the garden of eden in TX and I don't see any pianos



http://patdollard.com/2013/08/texas-swat-storms-house-for-poorly-mowed-lawn-bushes-too-close-to-sidewalk/

[Gazoo]

Yeah.....heaven forbid a free market capitalist that invest perhaps MILLIONS of $$$ for a golf course or country club has to put up with having the members and guests have to drive by....see....this level of 'civilization', before they fork over money for tee times.

The point here is that if they had ketp the exterior of the place tidy, nobody would have gotten into their business.

Was the SWAT team extreme?  Of course.

'We're not in Kansas anymore......'

So you live near DC and you don't like hippies, duly noted. Take a chill pill sheesh.

[DCPatriot]

He looks exactly like the co-star in the movie "SAVAGES".

An excellent movie about two guys and a girl they share.  One was a SEAL...the other a botanist from Berkley.

They created the most powerful strain of marijuana in the world, and the movie deals with how a Mexican cartel headed by Salma Hayek tries to take them over.

Great cast throughout....and something to watch on a snowday.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1615065/

[ABX]

Yeah.....heaven forbid a free market capitalist that invest perhaps MILLIONS of $$$ for a golf course or country club has to put up with having the members and guests have to drive by....see....this level of 'civilization', before they fork over money for tee times.

The point here is that if they had ketp the exterior of the place tidy, nobody would have gotten into their business.

Was the SWAT team extreme?  Of course.

'We're not in Kansas anymore......'

They are completely free to expand and invest legally. We are talking about potential corrupt cronyism here using the weight of law enforcement to push out property owners or even collapse the value of property due to 'police raids'.

I disagree with the 'if they have just kept their place neat and tidy'. We don't know how 'neat and tidy' it is in relation to the neighborhood and farms. Considering it is across from a junk yard, it may be zoned commercial or mixed use in anticipation of industrial or farming and they were completely fine for that role.

Another thing that puts a wrinkle in this, one of the owners Quinn Eaker is running for Texas House of Representatives District 96 on the Libertarian ticket. Not saying there is any possible relation to his running against establishment candidates but you never know who may be putting pressure on a challenger.

[Gazoo]

Funny. But don't forget the TX guy is better looking no dreds and looks more like Jesus and he was not growing pot.  ^-^


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KC2zbOwbeEs

[alicewonders]

Although I agree it is tacky and wouldn't do it to my piano, we may consider that it may have not been 'junk' thrown out in the yard. Based on their website, they host a lot of events. Maybe they rolled it outside along with extra seats for hosting  a party- have some music outside. We assume it was out there like junk. We may be wrong.

I'll put something else out there, especially since it is a garden farm.  Does anyone see these magazines and books all over about "flea market decorating and gardening"?  As an ex-antique shop owner, I always had people coming in looking for "junker" items that they could use in their gardens and yards to landscape with.  Lots of people I know buy old wood chairs with the seat busted out and fill the cavity with planted flowers.  I've even seen people do this with old toilets as a joke.  It is known to all antique dealers that old pianos are impossible to sell, but everyone hates to just throw them away.  A lot of people cannibalize them, for their ivory keys and pretty wood - but I could see where an old piano could be utilized as a quirky planter for flowers or vegetables. 

Even if their neighbor junk car and scrap yarders, and trailer inhabitants DID complain (which I doubt) - the SWAT team response is way over the top!  No, I believe the more logical explanation is cronyism.  A municipality would prefer a higher tax based entity to use the property - such as a country club. 

[ABX]

I'll put something else out there, especially since it is a garden farm.  Does anyone see these magazines and books all over about "flea market decorating and gardening"?  As an ex-antique shop owner, I always had people coming in looking for "junker" items that they could use in their gardens and yards to landscape with.  Lots of people I know buy old wood chairs with the seat busted out and fill the cavity with planted flowers.  I've even seen people do this with old toilets as a joke.  It is known to all antique dealers that old pianos are impossible to sell, but everyone hates to just throw them away.  A lot of people cannibalize them, for their ivory keys and pretty wood - but I could see where an old piano could be utilized as a quirky planter for flowers or vegetables. 

Even if their neighbor junk car and scrap yarders, and trailer inhabitants DID complain (which I doubt) - the SWAT team response is way over the top!  No, I believe the more logical explanation is cronyism.  A municipality would prefer a higher tax based entity to use the property - such as a country club.

The SWAT Team raid for a non-presented Warrant (presented 2 hours after the raid instead of on initiation of the raid) and the seizure of $4k worth of non controlled plants (last time I checked, blueberries weren't on a controlled substance list) screams of some sort of FUBAR or corruption. The trial Friday, the judge didn't take any of this into account and apparently didn't listen to their defense, just said guilty and upheld the fine (doubt they had a lawyer based on Quinn's facebook page).

The funny thing I find is, in a commune of Libertarian Hippies, they didn't even find a single joint on someone and the only 'crime' they discovered (code violations are not crimes) was someone with an outstanding traffic ticket.

They may be damn, dirty hippies but they aren't the type who seem to want the government to give them everything. They are Libertarian Hippies who just want to be left alone. They should have that right in this country and we should support that.

[aligncare]

Government is the ultimate anal-retentive. Liberty is messy. But I'll take messy any day.

[mountaineer]

What we have here are people that are evidently covering up their dirty habits and laziness....and the public is supposed to 'trust' that their product is just as sterile and safe to eat as the corner Organic market.   

Nobody's asking you to eat their food products, just respect their Constitutional rights.