American Gestapo: A primer

People "want the government to be their friend," Aaron Zelman and L. Neil Smith once wrote, "and despite the evidence, they've tried to convince themselves it is." Many rational defenders of capitalism view bureaucrats as little more than threats to "capitalist ideology." But ideology matters, and bad ideology means that some innocent person faces the wrong end of a loaded firearm.


In America, that firearm is often an MP5, and the person holding it is a bureaucrat.


Intellectuals might do well to consider that not all thugs are from the Nation of Islam. Over the course of several decades, the U.S. federal government has been steadily amassing two separate militaries. The obvious military includes the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines. Its soldiers stand poised on America's metaphorical front yard, guns facing outward, scanning neighboring territories for threats to individual liberty and U.S. sovereignty. These heroic figures are what citizens think of when they hear the word, "military."


But there is another federal "military" in America, and it is much less glamorous. Its activities are not nearly as well advertised, and its mission not nearly as clear. Soldiers in this "military" stand poised not in America's front yard, but at America's front door. Instead of scanning neighboring territories for threats to American sovereignty, these soldiers scan each room of America's house for threats to government authority, and opportunities to harass its residents. These soldiers do not aim their guns outward; they aim them inward at American citizens. And they've got a lot more guns than one might think. Not surprisingly, soldiers in this quiet "military" often wear facemasks. After all, they are not just soldiers; they are thugs.


The federal government's jihad army is divided into smaller factions, each with its own agenda: The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), the Department of Immigration and Naturalization (INS), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the National Park Service (NPS), and dozens of others. Employees of these agencies are the "harmless bureaucrats." They are, as one intellectual recently put it, "fellow citizens" who cannot be held responsible for any atrocities committed by the U.S. government. Let's look at some examples of what these "fellow citizens" have been up to.


The DEA
The DEA's alleged job is to fight the "War on Drugs." Most people--even those in Hollywood--expect that agencies like the DEA have small armies of guys running around with guns, breaking into people's houses, and stealing people's stuff. And they do. For example, in February of 2002, a Pueblo, Colorado, family filed a lawsuit against the DEA for a raid it conducted in August of 2000. The suit alleges that, "black-masked, black-helmeted men brandishing automatic weapons and wearing all-black uniforms with no insignias suddenly burst into the house unannounced, kicked the family's dog across the floor, ordered the entire family to 'get on the f***ing floor,' held them at gunpoint, searched the house, found no drugs or contraband, but nevertheless carted off the family's two sons, Dave and Marcos, and imprisoned them illegally and without charges." [1]


In 1999 alone, the DEA made over 40,000 such "arrests." Despite these efforts, drugs still appear to be winning the "war."


The IRS
The DEA is not alone. "Tax agencies" are also notorious for their Gestapo-style tactics. In 1994, Virginia Beach restaurant owner John Colaprete found himself besieged by the IRS. "Armed agents, accompanied by drug-sniffing dogs, stormed my restaurant during breakfast -- ordered patrons out of the restaurant, and began interrogating my employees," he told the United States Senate. "The IRS impounded my records, my cash registers and my computers." Colaprete was never charged with any crimes, although the IRS was nice enough to return most of his property: "A rental truck pulled up in front of my business one day, and the items that were returned were basically dumped in a pile for us to sort through. I never received an apology." [2]


In 2001, the IRS had an estimated firearms inventory of about 5,500. Its stated mission is to "provide America's taxpayers top quality service." Perhaps that is why, in 2002 alone, the IRS sent another 1,225 "representatives" to the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC)--an intensive weapons and tactics school. All the better to serve you with, comrade.


The ATF
One of the most infamous gangs of government thugs can be found working for another tax agency: The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF). The ATF describes itself as a "tax-collecting, enforcement, and regulatory arm of the U.S. department of the Treasury." And so it is. In 2001 alone, the ATF garnished $14.1 billion in excise taxes. That kind of money doesn't come easy, and the ATF routinely uses horrifyingly "creative" tactics to extract it from innocent citizens. In August of 1991, for example, an FBI agent working with the ATF shot Randy Weaver's 14-year-old son in the back, killing him. The next day, an agent shot his unarmed wife, Vicki, in the back of the head while she held their 10-month-old baby in her arms. His wife was killed instantly.


The excuse that the ATF used for these "tactics" was that Mr. Weaver failed to show up for a February court date, in which he was to be charged with owning a shotgun that was too short for the agency's liking. Weaver did not appear in court because he assumed that the court date was in March, since that is what the government "mistakenly" told him. Oops. Widowed and deprived of a son, Weaver was later acquitted of all felony charges except failure to appear in court. No ATF or FBI agents were punished significantly for killing Randy Weaver's family. [3]


Four years later, the ATF added twenty-two OV-10D "Bronco" counter insurgency aircraft to its arsenal. At the time, each plane carried two 7.62mm M-60C machine guns, a Sidewinder missile under each wing, Snakeye bombs, rocket packages, cluster bombs, and firebombs. "More than ever," ATF Director Bradley Buckles said in 1999, "the success or failure of a Federal agency will be determined by the value it brings to the American public. If we continue to become a better, faster, and more effective organization, ATF will thrive and the American public will benefit." Right--just like the Weavers.


The INS
Tax agencies do not have a monopoly on the oppressive use of force. Many Americans remember seeing photographs of INS agents, clad in combat gear, rip a terrified Elian Gonzales from the helpless arms of his Miami relative. At 5:00 on a Saturday morning, agents armed with MP5 submachine guns forced their way into the house, assaulted an NBC photographer and bashed the head of Ramon Sanchez with the butt of a gun. The government then proceeded to hand over Elian to communist dictator Fidel Castro, who has recently been slaughtering citizens as they--like Elian's mother--attempt to flee his tyrannical regime. FLETC trained 5,239 more INS/Border Patrol thugs in 2002 alone. Castro would be proud.


National Park Service
Even benign-sounding departments like the "National Park Service" are an effective government Gestapo. With help from NASA (yes, NASA), the INS, and the DEA, agents from the National Park Service executed millionaire Donald Scott at his home in Malibu just one month after the Randy Weaver fiasco. Scott was suspected of growing marijuana, although none was found. [4]


In January of 1997, armed National Park Service agents piled out of a Blackhawk Helicopter to storm the quarters of 40 people on Santa Cruz island. They wore ski masks, carried machine guns, and handcuffed a fifteen-year-old girl for two hours while they "investigated." Three arrests were made: one for operating a stove without a license (a misdemeanor), one for conducting tours without a license (a misdemeanor), and a third for allegedly disturbing the gravesites of Chumash Indians (a felony). It's fortunate they brought a Blackhawk helicopter and machine guns for such a life-threatening operation. [5]


Others
These are by no means isolated incidents; this behavior is typical. These examples represent just a handful of "highlights" of recent agency activity. Cataloguing each rampage of every three-letter federal agency would take volumes, and it would include several other organizations.


While the Second Amendment rights of U.S. citizens are continuously under assault, there is a whole host of government agents walking around with guns. U.S. Fish and Wildlife, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Bureau of Land Management, the Department of Agriculture, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, the Department of Education, the Smithsonian Institute, and several other government organizations all have agents that are authorized to carry (and use) firearms--even on airplanes.


Not to mention the newly created Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Based on documentation from the General Accounting Office, Sarah Foster of WorldNetDaily estimated that there were over 80,000 armed federal agents in 1997. Since then, the federal government has further expanded its domestic "military." FLETC trained more than 32,000 bureaucrats in 2002 alone, including 4,997 TSA zombies. [6] Officials expect to train another 57,000 at FLETC in 2003. [7] Feel safer?


As the U.S. government tightens its grip on der homeland, citizens are constantly reminded of terrorist threats from religious zealots in the Middle East. While these threats are real and should be eliminated, it is vital that Americans--especially rational intellectuals--denounce and combat the ever-growing network of thugs hatched from Washington itself. It is probably a good idea to do this sometime before all "unpopular" Americans find themselves staring down the muzzle of a machine gun.


After all, if the ATF, IRS, DEA, INS, and other paramilitary agencies are allowed to operate freely from within America's borders, then what good are the U.S. Marines?



Footnotes:


[1] ACLU v. DEA


[2] Statement of John Colaprete


[3] FBI sharpshooter can be tried


[4] Power grab at Interior Department?


[5] Santa Cruz Island -- Just Compensation from the National Park Service


[6] FLETC 2002 Annual Report


[7] Advisory Committee to the National Center for State and Local Law Enforcement Training