thewashingtonstandard--2020-09-12--Houston, Texas:  4 Cops Fired After Video Showed Them Executing Man On His Knees – Dumping 21 Rounds

Houston, Texas:  4 Cops Fired After Video Showed Them Executing Man On His Knees – Dumping 21 Rounds Into Him

Houston , TX — Suicide by cop — in the land of the free — is an unfortunate , and oft-used option for those in mental distress .
All too often , police officers respond to incidents in which mentally ill people need help , and then kill those people , so it makes it a rather easy option .
As a case out of Houston , Texas illustrates , sometimes the details of these stories that the public is told by authorities , do not match up with what actually unfolded .
Last April , police officers in Houston @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Nicolas Chavez , who they claimed charged at them and was suicidal .
However , a video was submitted to the Free Thought Project which painted a completely different picture at the time , and now , five months later , police are finally admitting that as well .
The four cops who dumped 21 rounds into a kneeling unarmed man have now all been fired .
According to the Houston Chronicle , the officers involved in the April 21 death — identified as Sgt .
Benjamin LeBlanc , officers Patrick Rubio , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fired Thursday for what police Chief Art Acevedo said was their decision to fire a combined 21 rounds at Chavez , who was suffering from an apparent mental break and who died following their 15-minute encounter in east Houston .
Acevedo determined the fatal shots were “ not objectively reasonable.
” According to police , they responded to a call around the 800 block of Gazin Street about a man who had been reported jumping in and out of traffic and was reportedly suicidal and had a “ weapon.
” That weapon was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of rebar .
Though police claim the man threatened people , no one , including the officers who killed him received so much as a scratch .
When police confronted the 27-year-old , they claimed he did not comply and threatened them .
According to the body camera footage just released by the HPD , Chavez walked up to a constable holding the piece of rebar and one officer shot him three times .
This did not kill him and when officers approached him to place him in handcuffs , Chavez yelled profanities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ditch .
Another officer replied , “ You ’ re bleeding out , so let me help you.
” The officer who originally fired the taser into Chavez knew it was empty and dropped it because he didn ’ t want fellow cops to trip over it .
This left the taser wire , attached to an empty taser , connected to Chavez — a fatal mistake .
Officer Adovasio , whose body camera catches most of the interaction , appears to be the only rational cop on the scene .
The entire @ @ @ @ @ @ @ situation , telling officers to turn off the sirens and put their guns down .
Unfortunately , none of the other officers listened .
Chavez then comes out of the ditch , taser wires still stuck in his body — from a non functional , entirely spent taser — before he throws his “ weapon ” away .
He is hit with more bean bag rounds and at this point is completely unarmed except for the wires in his body and a spent plastic taser that could not fire .
The next round @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the taser by the wire , which police admit was missing both cartridges .
LeBlanc , an 11-year veteran of the agency , fired twice , while Tapio and Ruio — both with HPD for a year — each fired six times .
Alvarado fired seven shots .
Though police originally claimed Chavez charged officers , the video shows he was on his knees when multiple officers opened fire .
The first cop to fire claimed he had no other choice after Chavez reached for the taser .
“ He never looks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shoot himself .
He looks directly at me , ” LeBlanc said , according to Houston police records .
“ At that moment , I make the decision to fire my duty weapon — my pistol at him two more times to end that threat.
” The threat that was non-existent .
An internal review found that even if the taser would have been functional , all the officers were out of range when they killed him .
“ It ’ s tough for everybody but it ’ s most tough for a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” Acevedo said during a news briefing on the scene back in April , adding the officers opened fire when he started “ charging ” at them .
“ All I could tell her was that whatever demons he was dealing with , as a person of faith , he ’ s in a perfect state in God ’ s hands.
” Acevedo went on to note that suicide by cop is an unfortunate reality in America , stopping short of claiming cops are always there to oblige .
“ Mental health @ @ @ @ @ @ @ term , suicide by cop .
I know that ’ s a term used frequently around the country , but this was a person who was not compliant .
I think the facts speak for themselves , and I will let people draw their own conclusions , ” Acevedo said as he pushed the false narrative that Chavez charged the officers .
The “ fact ” that this man “ charged ” the officers is certainly not true and now , Acevedo is reversing course .
“ You don ’ t get to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said Thursday .
“ Because , at the time , Mr. Chavez was at his greatest level of incapacitation.
” Though police originally claimed Chavez charged them , TFTP received exclusive cellphone footage at the time of the shooting which destroyed that narrative from the start .
Now police are finally catching up .
As the video below shows , the man is on his knees .
While he appears to be crawling toward the cops , they shoot him with a bean bag .
This does not stop him but he is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ then deploy tasers and the man is seen throwing something at them .
This was likely the tiny piece of rebar as we can hear it clink when it hits the pavement on the video — hitting no one .
As the man grabs the taser wires and starts reeling them in , cops dump over 20 rounds into him .
The fired cops have all since appealed their termination and with the help of the union , will likely be rehired .
The notoriously unscrupulous Houston Police Officers Union President Joe Gamaldi @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they did everything they could to preserve life .
“ It was clear when viewing the video that these officers did not want to shoot Mr. Chavez and did everything in their power not to , ” Gamaldi said .
When you watch the video below , you will see that only one officer was actually concerned with preserving life and the other four were hell bent on executing Chavez .

Houston, TX — Suicide by cop — in the land of the free — is an unfortunate, and oft-used option for those in mental distress. All too often, police officers respond to incidents in which mentally ill people need help, and then kill those people, so it makes it a rather easy option. As a case out of Houston, Texas illustrates, sometimes the details of these stories that the public is told by authorities, do not match up with what actually unfolded.
Last April, police officers in Houston shot and killed a 27-year-old man, Nicolas Chavez, who they claimed charged at them and was suicidal. However, a video was submitted to the Free Thought Project which painted a completely different picture at the time, and now, five months later, police are finally admitting that as well. The four cops who dumped 21 rounds into a kneeling unarmed man have now all been fired.
According to the Houston Chronicle, the officers involved in the April 21 death — identified as Sgt. Benjamin LeBlanc, officers Patrick Rubio, Omar Tapia and Luis Alvarado — were fired Thursday for what police Chief Art Acevedo said was their decision to fire a combined 21 rounds at Chavez, who was suffering from an apparent mental break and who died following their 15-minute encounter in east Houston. Acevedo determined the fatal shots were “not objectively reasonable.”
According to police, they responded to a call around the 800 block of Gazin Street about a man who had been reported jumping in and out of traffic and was reportedly suicidal and had a “weapon.”
That weapon was later found to be a short piece of rebar. Though police claim the man threatened people, no one, including the officers who killed him received so much as a scratch. When police confronted the 27-year-old, they claimed he did not comply and threatened them.
According to the body camera footage just released by the HPD, Chavez walked up to a constable holding the piece of rebar and one officer shot him three times. This did not kill him and when officers approached him to place him in handcuffs, Chavez yelled profanities at them and took refuge in a ditch.
“Kill me,” Chavez pleaded.
Another officer replied, “You’re bleeding out, so let me help you.”
The officer who originally fired the taser into Chavez knew it was empty and dropped it because he didn’t want fellow cops to trip over it. This left the taser wire, attached to an empty taser, connected to Chavez — a fatal mistake.
Officer Adovasio, whose body camera catches most of the interaction, appears to be the only rational cop on the scene. The entire time he is trying to de-escalate the situation, telling officers to turn off the sirens and put their guns down. Unfortunately, none of the other officers listened.
Chavez then comes out of the ditch, taser wires still stuck in his body — from a non functional, entirely spent taser — before he throws his “weapon” away. He is hit with more bean bag rounds and at this point is completely unarmed except for the wires in his body and a spent plastic taser that could not fire.
The next round of gunfire erupted as Chavez began reeling in the taser by the wire, which police admit was missing both cartridges. LeBlanc, an 11-year veteran of the agency, fired twice, while Tapio and Ruio — both with HPD for a year — each fired six times. Alvarado fired seven shots.
Though police originally claimed Chavez charged officers, the video shows he was on his knees when multiple officers opened fire. The first cop to fire claimed he had no other choice after Chavez reached for the taser.
“He never looks at it (the taser) to shoot himself. He looks directly at me,” LeBlanc said, according to Houston police records. “At that moment, I make the decision to fire my duty weapon — my pistol at him two more times to end that threat.”
The threat that was non-existent.
An internal review found that even if the taser would have been functional, all the officers were out of range when they killed him.
“It’s tough for everybody but it’s most tough for a mother that gave birth to a son,” Acevedo said during a news briefing on the scene back in April, adding the officers opened fire when he started “charging” at them. “All I could tell her was that whatever demons he was dealing with, as a person of faith, he’s in a perfect state in God’s hands.”
Acevedo went on to note that suicide by cop is an unfortunate reality in America, stopping short of claiming cops are always there to oblige.
“Mental health experts don’t like using that term, suicide by cop. I know that’s a term used frequently around the country, but this was a person who was not compliant. I think the facts speak for themselves, and I will let people draw their own conclusions,” Acevedo said as he pushed the false narrative that Chavez charged the officers.
The “fact” that this man “charged” the officers is certainly not true and now, Acevedo is reversing course.
“You don’t get to shoot somebody 21 times,” Acevedo said Thursday. “Because, at the time, Mr. Chavez was at his greatest level of incapacitation.”
Though police originally claimed Chavez charged them, TFTP received exclusive cellphone footage at the time of the shooting which destroyed that narrative from the start. Now police are finally catching up.
As the video below shows, the man is on his knees. While he appears to be crawling toward the cops, they shoot him with a bean bag. This does not stop him but he is still on his knees.
The cops then deploy tasers and the man is seen throwing something at them. This was likely the tiny piece of rebar as we can hear it clink when it hits the pavement on the video — hitting no one. As the man grabs the taser wires and starts reeling them in, cops dump over 20 rounds into him.
The fired cops have all since appealed their termination and with the help of the union, will likely be rehired. The notoriously unscrupulous Houston Police Officers Union President Joe Gamaldi, defended the officers involved and claimed they did everything they could to preserve life.
“It was clear when viewing the video that these officers did not want to shoot Mr. Chavez and did everything in their power not to,” Gamaldi said.
When you watch the video below, you will see that only one officer was actually concerned with preserving life and the other four were hell bent on executing Chavez.
Original cellphone video.
Article posted with permission from Matt Agorist


thewashingtonstandard--2020-09-13--COVID-911: From Homeland Security to Biosecurity

Just as we were scammed about 9-11 to impose the biggest tyrannical power grab the US has ever seen via the PATRIOT Act for alleged “ homeland security , ” we have been scammed concerning the biggest power grab concerning the alleged safety of our own bodies .
James Corbett of the Corbett Report breaks down how this has taken place and what the implications are for us .
9/11 , as we were told repeatedly in the days , weeks , and months after the attack , was the day that changed everything .
And now a new event @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the world into chaos .
But whereas the post-9/11 era introduced America to the concept of homeland security , the COVID-19 era is introducing the world to an altogether more abstract concept : biosecurity .
This is the story of the COVID-911 security state .
Watch on Archive / BitChute / LBRY / Minds / YouTube or Download the mp4 For those with limited bandwidth , CLICK HERE to download a smaller , lower file size version of this episode .
For those interested in audio quality , CLICK HERE for the highest-quality @ @ @ @ @ @ @ very large download ) .
9/11 , as we were told repeatedly in the days , weeks , and months after the attack , was the day that changed everything .
These were no empty words .
They were plain statements of fact .
The world did change on that day .
9/11 was the carte blanche for a Great Reset , the institution of a new normal in international relations and domestic affairs .
From the creation of the Department of Homeland Security and the militarization of the police to the multi-trillion @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Middle East , our lives today are drastically different than they were before that fateful Tuesday in September 2001 .
But , nearly two decades later , 9/11 has gone from a touchstone event shaping all of the Western world ’ s national security decisions to a fading cultural memory of a trauma that took place before the newest generation of high school graduates were even born .
But , as if on cue , a new event has come along to throw the world into chaos .
Once again we are being @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
And , once again , this is no empty rhetoric .
Governments , businesses and NGOs are now coordinating at the international level on a “ Great Reset ” to once again completely reshape the world we are living in .
Those paying attention will have already noted the parallels between the “ War on Terror ” declared after 9/11 and the “ War on the Invisible Enemy ” that has been declared on COVID-19 .
In fact , the security imperatives imposed by this pandemic crisis are so similar to those @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in many cases , the “ new ” security screening tools that are being put into place to combat COVID-19 are openly acknowledged to be mere upgrades of screening tools deployed after 9/11 .
Yes , in some ways the coronavirus security state is merely an extension of the 9/11 security state .
But even more disturbing parallels between 9/11 and COVID-19 are to be found at a deeper level of analysis .
It is true that , just like the response to the 9/11 attacks , the response to the COVID-19 “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of “ security.
” But whereas the post-9/11 era introduced America to the concept of “ Homeland Security ” —security from “ terrorists , ” individuals with identifiable intentions belonging to groups with stated political goals—the COVID-19 era is introducing the world to an altogether more abstract concept : biosecurity .
Originally employed to describe threats to the environment—the introduction of invasive species to a habitat , for instance , or the transmission of infectious diseases among crops and livestock—the term “ biosecurity ” was injected into mainstream political discourse when the 2001 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ war on terror .
Suddenly , “ biosecurity ” was a pressing national security threat , and an entire architecture of national and international legislation was introduced to institute procedures for implementing medical martial law .
In the US , the Model State Emergency Health Powers Act was passed in multiple state legislatures , giving governors the power to forcibly quarantine and even force vaccinate their populations in the event of a declared public health emergency .
On the international level , the World Health Organization adopted the International Health Regulations in 2005 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to recognize declared “ Public Health Emergencies of International Concern ” like pandemic disease outbreaks as a global threat requiring international cooperation .
Some have even argued that the legislation is broad enough to allow organizations like NATO leeway to enter countries in the interest of “ controlling the outbreak.
” Once again , the tie between this biosecurity paradigm and the war on terror paradigm is openly acknowledged .
In a 2002 paper on the emerging biosecurity field , two US environmental researchers noted the way that 9/11 had opened the door @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The events of September 11 and subsequent anthrax assaults have made US policymakers and the public more aware of our vulnerability to organisms released with the intent to cause significant harm , ” they wrote .
In 2010 , the World Health Organization issued its own information note on biosecurity , stating that “ The overarching goal of biosecurity is to prevent , control and/or manage risks to life and health , ” and—echoing post-9/11 declarations about the need for global cooperation in the War on Terror—that this goal can only be reached @ @ @ @ @ @ @ approach ” based on “ international standards.
” What this predictably bland language obscures is the way that “ biosecurity ” is used to invoke emergency powers and install new security procedures .
Just as the Homeland Security paradigm used the presumed threat of terrorism as an excuse to curtail civil liberties , so , too , does the biosecurity paradigm use presumed threats to public health as an excuse to curtail civil liberties .
The nightmarish police state that is coming into view on the back of this pandemic panic is not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is it a haphazard set of measures thrown together on an ad hoc basis ; it is the creation of a new form of governance .
This new form of governance relies on the perceived sense of crisis—in this case , a public health crisis—to justify constant surveillance of the public and new powers to inhibit the travel of anyone deemed a health risk .
Famed Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben has documented how this biosecurity state is being erected on the back of the panic that 9/11 and the war on terror helped @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nature of 9/11 and COVID-19 as catalyzing events ushering in states of collective panic and , ultimately , new forms of governance , is seen most clearly in the area where these two paradigms overlap : bioterrorism .
The molten steel on the Ground Zero pile had not even cooled before the American public and the people of the world were confronted with the specter of bioterrorism .
Beginning a week after 9/11 and continuing for weeks thereafter , a series of letters containing anthrax spores were mailed to media personalities and government @ @ @ @ @ @ @ terrorist attack on the US .
The letters were quickly tied to both Al Qaeda and Iraq in the mainstream media : The 24/7 coverage of the event in the media ceased abruptly , however , when it was discovered that the strain of anthrax used in the attacks sourced not to Iraq but to the US military ’ s own bioweapons laboratory at Fort Detrick , Maryland .
But this convergence of terrorism and biosecurity did not start with the anthrax attacks .
It began in June of 2001 , a full @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the war on terror itself .
That was when a number of ranking US military and intelligence officials took part in “ Dark Winter , ” a high-level exercise that simulated the US ’ response to a smallpox attack on the homeland by bioterrorists .
The drill , co-hosted by the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security , took place at Andrews Air Force Base on the 22nd and 23rd of June , 2001 , and even involved fake news reports that were broadcast to the participants as the simulation unfolded .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security that co-hosted Dark Winter also co-hosted “ Event 201 , ” a simulation of a globally spreading novel coronavirus pandemic that was held in New York just months before the declaration of the globally spreading novel coronavirus pandemic that hailed the advent of the era of biosecurity .
This exercise similarly involved fake news broadcasts : Unsurprisingly , many of the same characters that were involved in the promotion of the bioterror scare under the old “ homeland security ” paradigm have been influential in promoting the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” paradigm .
The phrase “ homeland security ” itself was popularized in Washington in the late 1990s and capitalized on by the ANSER Institute , which formed an Institute for Homeland Security in 1999 led by Randall Larsen , a professor and department chair at the National War College .
The Institute prepared a course on “ Homeland Security ” which was to be co-taught by Larsen and his National War College colleague , Robert Kadlec .
Coincidentally , the course was slated to begin on September 11 , 2001 .
Part @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the Dark Winter exercise , which the Institute for Homeland Security co-created .
The name “ Dark Winter ” derives from a statement made by Larsen ’ s colleague , Robert Kadlec , credited as a “ Bio-Warfare Defense Expert ” during the exercise ’ s fake news broadcast .
A career officer and physician in the United States Air Force , Kadlec would go on to contribute to the FBI ’ s investigation of the 2001 anthrax attacks , and then serve in several key biosecurity-related roles in the George W. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Kadlec helped draft the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act .
Passed by Congress in 2006 , the act greatly expanded federal power during public health emergencies and consolidated many of these powers in a new office , the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response ( ASPR ) .
Then , in what Kadlec has called “ just a coincidence , ” Trump appointed Kadlec himself to that position in 2017 .
In his role as ASPR , Kadlec oversaw a joint exercise in 2019 named “ Crimson Contagion.
” The drill included @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the Department of Homeland Security and a raft of other government agencies and simulated the US government ’ s response to a viral pandemic originating in China and spreading around the globe .
Like Dark Winter , the “ Crimson Contagion ” exercise took place just months before the events it was simulating began to play out in real life .
And , like Dark Winter , it gave participants like Kadlec the chance to argue that biosecurity was a pressing national security challenge that the country was ill-prepared to meet—an argument @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Anthony Fauci by his side just one week before the first reports of the novel coronavirus spreading in China .
Then there ’ s Donald Rumsfeld .
As Secretary of Defense in the first term of the George W. Bush administration , there are few people more closely associated with the “ War on Terror.
” Rumsfeld , too , has been intimately associated with the emerging biosecurity state for decades .
In the 1980s he personally participated in secret meetings with Saddam Hussein that resulted in anthrax , botulism , and other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Iraq .
In the 1990s he was named chairman of Gilead Sciences , a California biotech company that profited handsomely from the scramble for Tamiflu during the bird flu scare of 2005 and which is currently profiting handsomely from Remdesivir as a result of the COVID-19 scare .
There are many others whose careers blaze the same trail , transitioning seamlessly from the homeland security state to the biosecurity state .
People like Dr. Richard Hatchett , who served as Director for Biodefense Policy under George W. Bush , then as acting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Development Authority ( BARDA ) , and acting Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response within HHS before becoming the CEO of CEPI , the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation co-founded Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations .
In his position as “ global health expert , ” Hatchett made waves back in March for his alarmist pronouncements about the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic .
That so many of the people who were there at the birth of the war on terror are currently acting as midwives to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
After all , the biosecurity paradigm is not a replacement for the terror paradigm ; it is its fulfillment .
The war on terror imagined a covert army of foreign invaders slipping through the defenses of the Homeland and commandeering the resources of the body politic to wreak internal havoc .
The biosecurity state posits largely the same scenario , but now those foreign invaders are not “ terrorists ” possessed with a “ hatred of freedom , ” they are “ asymptomatic carriers ” possessed by a pathogen .
Just as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ agents were entrusted to protect us from the terrorists , now the “ front line heroes , ” doctors and nurses armed with the tools of the technocratic priest class , can protect us from the invisible enemy .
This speaks to an important aspect of the biosecurity state : ultimately , it is not about health .
It is about politics .
Once again we find insight on this turn of events from Giorgio Agamben , who has noted that viral epidemics are Governments are banning gatherings and events .
Instituting new @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people against their will .
Tracking and surveilling every individual .
Controlling their movements .
Monitoring their transactions .
Make no mistake : the “ War on Terror ” is not over .
It has just greatly expanded .
The proponents of 9/11 truth have warned for 19 years that the “ War on Terror ” was always a war on the public .
Long pushed to the margins of the political debate , that viewpoint has been vindicated as the “ terrorist ” label is replaced by the “ asymptomatic carrier ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ police state is wielded against everyone who opposes the biosecurity takeover .
Given that those once derided as “ conspiracy theorists ” have turned out to be the most prescient political observers of all , perhaps it is time to learn the real lessons from 9/11 that mainstream discourse has always excluded : • That 9/11 and the “ War on Terror ” was not a war at all , but a power grab ; • That the “ temporary ” measures brought in to deal with an alleged “ emergency ” will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ most importantly , that unless everyone who cares about this—the most blatant power grab in history—rises up , refuses to cower in fear of the invisible enemy , and reclaims their inalienable rights to freedom of movement , freedom of association and freedom of assembly , then those freedoms will be gone for good .
This is the message of 9/11 truth : that the world was tricked into giving up their rights in the name of an endless parade of bogeymen .
In reality , it was the very politicians and officials @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ones donning the mantle of “ homeland security ” —who were the greatest threat to the public .
And now they are claiming we are the bogeymen , “ asymptomatic carriers ” of an invisible enemy , ” walking and talking weapons of mass destruction who must be caged in fear forever lest the virus kills us all .
This is a lie , and it exposes what the fearmogers are themselves afraid of : free humanity .
Gathering .
Talking .
Working .
Playing .
Living .
It is no small irony @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have been disrupted by the COVID scare .
The torch has well and truly passed , and the annual injunctions to “ Never Forget ” have been replaced by a litany of “ Always Remembers.
” Remember to wear your mask .
Remember to stay 6 feet apart .
Remember to avoid large groups .
Remember to stay home .
After 19 years , perhaps it is time to admit that 9/11 truth failed to expose the “ War on Terror ” lie in time to derail the homeland security agenda .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and we have a new chance to wake from this nightmare .
Knowing this , the only question is : Will we reject the “ War on the Invisible Enemy ” before it ’ s too late ?
Whatever our choice , we better make it quickly .
A Great Reset is coming .
Yep , tyranny smiles as it takes away your liberties while promising you safety and security .
Article posted with permission from Sons of Liberty Media

Just as we were scammed about 9-11 to impose the biggest tyrannical power grab the US has ever seen via the PATRIOT Act for alleged “homeland security,” we have been scammed concerning the biggest power grab concerning the alleged safety of our own bodies.
James Corbett of the Corbett Report breaks down how this has taken place and what the implications are for us.
9/11, as we were told repeatedly in the days, weeks, and months after the attack, was the day that changed everything. And now a new event has come along to once again throw the world into chaos.
But whereas the post-9/11 era introduced America to the concept of homeland security, the COVID-19 era is introducing the world to an altogether more abstract concept: biosecurity.
This is the story of the COVID-911 security state.
Watch on Archive / BitChute / LBRY / Minds / YouTube or Download the mp4
For those with limited bandwidth, CLICK HERE to download a smaller, lower file size version of this episode.
For those interested in audio quality, CLICK HERE for the highest-quality version of this episode (WARNING: very large download).
TRANSCRIPT
9/11, as we were told repeatedly in the days, weeks, and months after the attack, was the day that changed everything.
NARRATOR: In the span of one devastating morning, America changed forever. SOURCE: Remembering 9/11: Never Quit
KATIE COURIC: Good morning. America may never be the same and this is why. SOURCE: Today Show – September 12, 2001
LOU WATERS: American life will change forever as a result of this attack. SOURCE: CNN on September 12, 2001
REPORTER: Nothing will ever be the same again. SOURCE: Inside Edition – A Look Back at 9/11
JAMES ROBBINS: Nothing will ever be quite the same again. SOURCE: 9/11 the day after – BBC1 Nightly News
TOM BROKAW: Life will never be quite the same. SOURCE: Dateline NBC – Sept. 18, 2001
These were no empty words. They were plain statements of fact. The world did change on that day.
9/11 was the carte blanche for a Great Reset, the institution of a new normal in international relations and domestic affairs. From the creation of the Department of Homeland Security and the militarization of the police to the multi-trillion dollar wars of aggression to reshape the Middle East, our lives today are drastically different than they were before that fateful Tuesday in September 2001.
GEORGE W. BUSH: On September the 11th, enemies of freedom committed an act of war against our country. [. . .] All of this was brought upon us in a single day — and night fell on a different world, a world where freedom itself is under attack. SOURCE: Sept. 20, 2001 – Bush Declares War on Terror
TONY BLAIR: If September the 11th hadn’t happened, our assessment of the risk of allowing Saddam—any possibility of him reconstituting his programs—would not have been the same. SOURCE: IRAQ INQUIRY / TONY BLAIR / 9 11 CHANGED EVERYTHING
BUSH: For the first time, airport security will become a direct federal responsibility. SOURCE: Bush signs aviation security legislation
JOHN TYNER: I don’t understand how a sexual assault can be made a condition of my flying. TSA AGENT: This is not considered a sexual assault TYNER: It would be if you were not the government. SOURCE: Airport Body Scans Debated
CENK UYGUR: The old fact sheet said the primary function of the FBI is law enforcement. That makes sense. That’s what we grew up with. The new fact sheet says the primary function of the FBI is national security. SOURCE: Think The FBI Is About ‘Law Enforcement’? Guess Again
JANET NAPOLITANO: If you see something suspicious in the parking lot or in the store, say something immediately. Report suspicious activity to your local police or sheriff. If you need help, ask a Wal-mart manager for assistance. SOURCE: Walmart Public Service Announcement
BUSH: All of this was brought upon us in a single day — and night fell on a different world, a world where freedom itself is under attack. SOURCE: Sept. 20, 2001 – Bush Declares War on Terror
NERMEEN SHAIKH: The Obama administration’s internal legal justification for assassinating US citizens without charge has been revealed for the first time. SOURCE: Kill List Exposed: Leaked Obama Memo Shows Assassination of U.S. Citizens “Has No Geographic Limit”
RAND PAUL: I don’t know. If the president’s going to kill these people, he needs to let them know. Some of the people [who] might be terrorists are people who are missing fingers. Some people have stains on their clothing. Some people have changed the color of their hair. [. . .] People who might like to pay in cash or people who have seven days of food on hand. SOURCE: Senator Rand Paul exposes scary definition of ‘possible terrorist’
DEIRDRE BOLTON: NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton is warning that terrorists are using cellphone encryption and literally getting away with murder. SOURCE: Social media, encryption and the spread of terrorism
BUSH: Every nation in every region now has a decision to make: either you are with us or you are with the terrorists. SOURCE: Either With Us Or With The Terrorists – Bush
But, nearly two decades later, 9/11 has gone from a touchstone event shaping all of the Western world’s national security decisions to a fading cultural memory of a trauma that took place before the newest generation of high school graduates were even born.
9/11 is no longer a driving political issue.
But, as if on cue, a new event has come along to throw the world into chaos.
Once again we are being told that the world has changed forever.
REPORTER: This is not normal. At least it wasn’t until a few weeks ago when everything we take for granted, everything moved just beyond our grasp. SOURCE: Coronavirus outbreak: Can we ever return to normal during or after the COVID-19 pandemic?
REPORTER: As a global community we’ve experienced a once-in-a-lifetime event that will shift and reshape our behaviors and perceptions for quite some time. SOURCE: Say Hello to The New Normal Consumer
JUSTIN TRUDEAU: This will be the new normal until a vaccine is developed. REPORTER: . . . Meaning the new normal could last for months, even years. SOURCE: The National: COVID-19 ‘new normal’ to last over 1M, jobs lost
NICOLA STURGEON: So return to normal as we knew it is not on the cards in the near future. SOURCE: Scotland publishes framework for coping with ‘new normal’ of Covid-19
And, once again, this is no empty rhetoric. Governments, businesses and NGOs are now coordinating at the international level on a “Great Reset” to once again completely reshape the world we are living in.
KRISTALINA GEORGIEVA: History would look at this crisis as the great opportunity for reset. ANTÓNIO GUTERRES: The great reset is a welcome recognition that this human tragedy must be a wake-up call. It is imperative that we re-imagine, rebuild, redesign, reinvigorate and rebalance our world.
JOHN KERRY: Reset cannot mean—we can’t think of it in terms of sort of “pushing a button” and going back to the way things were. [. . . ] And the normal was a crisis. The normal was itself not working. SOURCE: The Great Reset Initiative | 24.06.2020
CHRYSTIA FREELAND: I think all Canadians understand that the restart of our economy needs to be green. It also needs to be equitable. It needs to be inclusive. SOURCE: “It’s about time”: Freeland speaks on being Canada’s first female finance minister
MARIA VAN KERKHOVE: What we’re going to have to figure out, and I think what we’re all going to have to figure out together, is what our new normal looks like. Our new normal includes physical distancing from others. Our new normal includes wearing masks where appropriate. Our new normal includes us knowing where this virus is each and every day, where we live, where we work, where we want to travel. SOURCE: What the New Normal Looks Like After Covid-19
ALLEY WILSON: In parts of Europe, immunity passports are being considered for people who are believed to be immune to the coronavirus. While in China, some cities have already implemented QR codes that generate a color in order for officials to enable how freely an individual may move around outdoors. SOURCE: Coronavirus outbreak: Could immunity passports become the new normal?
Those paying attention will have already noted the parallels between the “War on Terror” declared after 9/11 and the “War on the Invisible Enemy” that has been declared on COVID-19. In fact, the security imperatives imposed by this pandemic crisis are so similar to those imposed by the terror crisis that, in many cases, the “new” security screening tools that are being put into place to combat COVID-19 are openly acknowledged to be mere upgrades of screening tools deployed after 9/11.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: Most people know CLEAR by going to the airport. It was born after 9/11. This is another crisis with a new component that’s being born. Explain what this product is in terms of how it’s going to work relating to COVID. CARYN SEIDMAN BECKER: So, you’re right: CLEAR was born out of 9/11 and it was about a public-private partnership leveraging innovation to enhance homeland security and delight customers. And that was really the beginning of screening 1.0. And just like screening was forever changed post-9/11, in a post-COVID environment you’re going to see screening and public safety significantly shift. But this time it’s beyond airports, right? It’s sports stadiums. It’s retail, as Dana talked about.
It’s office buildings. It’s restaurants. And so, while we started with travel, at our core we’re a biometric-secure identity platform, where it’s always been about attaching your identity to your boarding pass at the airport, or your ticket to get into a sports stadium, or your credit card to buy a beer. And so now with the launch of CLEAR Health Pass, it’s about attaching your identity to your COVID-related health insights for employers, for employees, for customers. Everybody wants to know that each other is safe to start to reopen businesses and get America moving. SOURCE: CLEAR’s new Health Pass service to help screen for coronavirus: CEO
Yes, in some ways the coronavirus security state is merely an extension of the 9/11 security state. But even more disturbing parallels between 9/11 and COVID-19 are to be found at a deeper level of analysis.
It is true that, just like the response to the 9/11 attacks, the response to the COVID-19 “crisis” is being framed in terms of “security.” But whereas the post-9/11 era introduced America to the concept of “Homeland Security”—security from “terrorists,” individuals with identifiable intentions belonging to groups with stated political goals—the COVID-19 era is introducing the world to an altogether more abstract concept: biosecurity.
Originally employed to describe threats to the environment—the introduction of invasive species to a habitat, for instance, or the transmission of infectious diseases among crops and livestock—the term “biosecurity” was injected into mainstream political discourse when the 2001 anthrax attacks linked bioterrorism to the global war on terror. Suddenly, “biosecurity” was a pressing national security threat, and an entire architecture of national and international legislation was introduced to institute procedures for implementing medical martial law.
In the US, the Model State Emergency Health Powers Act was passed in multiple state legislatures, giving governors the power to forcibly quarantine and even force vaccinate their populations in the event of a declared public health emergency.
On the international level, the World Health Organization adopted the International Health Regulations in 2005, obligating all 196 WHO member nations to recognize declared “Public Health Emergencies of International Concern” like pandemic disease outbreaks as a global threat requiring international cooperation. Some have even argued that the legislation is broad enough to allow organizations like NATO leeway to enter countries in the interest of “controlling the outbreak.”
Once again, the tie between this biosecurity paradigm and the war on terror paradigm is openly acknowledged. In a 2002 paper on the emerging biosecurity field, two US environmental researchers noted the way that 9/11 had opened the door for biosecurity research and legislation.
“The events of September 11 and subsequent anthrax assaults have made US policymakers and the public more aware of our vulnerability to organisms released with the intent to cause significant harm,” they wrote.
In 2010, the World Health Organization issued its own information note on biosecurity, stating that “The overarching goal of biosecurity is to prevent, control and/or manage risks to life and health,” and—echoing post-9/11 declarations about the need for global cooperation in the War on Terror—that this goal can only be reached through “a harmonized and integrated biosecurity approach” based on “international standards.”
What this predictably bland language obscures is the way that “biosecurity” is used to invoke emergency powers and install new security procedures. Just as the Homeland Security paradigm used the presumed threat of terrorism as an excuse to curtail civil liberties, so, too, does the biosecurity paradigm use presumed threats to public health as an excuse to curtail civil liberties.
NARRATOR: Chinese police officers are also seen in another disturbing video nailing in wooden planks to block the front door of an apartment with people inside who had just returned home from Wuhan. Afterwards, officials are seen staking a red sign beside the front door which reads: “The people in this house have just returned from Wuhan. Don’t be in contact with them. The poor people inside are heard desperately screaming, “Open the door!” SOURCE: China is sealing people in their homes – TomoNews
MIKE AMOR: Melbourne is in full lockdown tonight as historic stage four restrictions take effect, forcing entire industries and shopping precincts to close. Health officials say it’s the only option to stop the second wave and we’d be looking at twenty thousand cases if we hadn’t shut down. SOURCE: Coronavirus: Melbourne left desolate as stage 4 lockdown begins | 7NEWS
WOMAN: Can you, like, record this? I’m in my pajamas. I have an ultrasound in an hour. MAN: Yeah, she’s pregnant, so . . . POLICE OFFICER: Take it easy. MAN: What’s this about? WOMAN: But I have an ultrasound in an hour. POLICE OFFICER: Let me finish and I’ll explain. It’s in relation to a facebook post, in relation to lockdown protests you put on for Saturday. WOMAN: Yeah, and I wasn’t breaking any laws by doing that. POLICE OFFICER: You are, actually. You are breaking the law. That’s why I’m arresting you. WOMAN: In front of my children? MAN: How can you arrest her? That’s— SOURCE: Andrews ‘must go tonight’ after horrible example of ‘inexcusable powers’: Jones
PETER MITCHELL: Police are preparing to launch their aerial arsenal as part of a crackdown on covert rule breakers. High-powered drones will be used to find people not wearing masks and cars too far from home. SOURCE: CLIP
CAMERON CHELL: Dragonfly’s public health and safety system uses standard 4k cameras to provide anonymized data on social distancing, heart rate, respiratory rate and fever detection. SOURCE: ‘Pandemic Drone’ Conducts Initial Flights Near NYC to Detect COVID-19 Symptoms
RODRIGO DUTERTE: My orders are for the police, the military and the villages: Shoot them dead! SOURCE: ‘Shoot them dead’: extreme Covid-19 lockdown policing around the world MAN: Why are you surrounding my children? Please step away from my children. Please. Step away. From my children. POLICE OFFICER: I’m just gonna take care of them, alright? Calming down, yeah? MAN: My children are fine. CHILD: Can we just go home? MAN: But I’ve got cuffs that are too tight on my arms. All I was doing was shopping. I explained to you that I don’t have to have a mask on for health reasons and then three people come up to me and start twisting my arms up. For what? Can you tell me why I’m under arrest. POLICE OFFICER: You’re not under arrest. You’re detained. MAN: You can’t just detain me. Under what law? SOURCE: Detained and Handcuffed for no MASK! White Rose Shopping Centre CRESSIDA DICK: Well at the moment we don’t have specific powers, but they will come very shortly, I’m sure. But in the British policing model, we always start by talking to people. We always start by advising people. We can talk even more firmly to people. SOURCE: Met Police’s Cressida Dick promises to crackdown on people ignoring coronavirus lockdown rules
MAN: Who the f*** do you think you’re grabbing? Hey, who you grabbing? POLICE OFFICER: Off the train now! MAN: Who the f*** are you grabbing? Get off me! I told you no! POLICE OFFICER: Get off the train or I’ll get you off. MAN: Now get off me. Now you’ve been told. Get the f*** off me. Oi. Who the f*** are you grabbing, mate? POLICE OFFICER: I’ll spray you, mate. MAN: What? You’re not spraying me for nothing. PASSENGER: He hasn’t done nothing wrong. SOURCE: This is tyranny. It’s so f*cking depressing
ELIAS CLURE: There’s a significant police presence there. A number of these protesters chanting “freedom.” PROTESTERS: Freedom! Freedom! Freedom! CLURE: We can also see that crowd. Just the size of that crowd and the number of police that have gathered. There’s public order response, there’s mounted police as well. Also riot police have mobilized to try and manage this crowd. SOURCE: Anti-lockdown protests met with heavy police presence in Melbourne | ABC News
The nightmarish police state that is coming into view on the back of this pandemic panic is not a temporary state of affairs, nor is it a haphazard set of measures thrown together on an ad hoc basis; it is the creation of a new form of governance. This new form of governance relies on the perceived sense of crisis—in this case, a public health crisis—to justify constant surveillance of the public and new powers to inhibit the travel of anyone deemed a health risk.
Famed Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben has documented how this biosecurity state is being erected on the back of the panic that 9/11 and the war on terror helped induce in the public.
“We might say that once terrorism was exhausted as a justification for exceptional measures, the invention of an epidemic could offer the ideal pretext for broadening such measures beyond any limitation. “The other factor, no less disquieting, is the state of fear, which in recent years has diffused into individual consciousnesses and which translates into a real need for states of collective panic, for which the epidemic once again offers the ideal pretext. “Therefore, in a perverse vicious circle, the limitation of freedom imposed by governments is accepted in the name of a desire for safety, which has been created by the same governments who now intervene to satisfy it.”
The parallel nature of 9/11 and COVID-19 as catalyzing events ushering in states of collective panic and, ultimately, new forms of governance, is seen most clearly in the area where these two paradigms overlap: bioterrorism.
The molten steel on the Ground Zero pile had not even cooled before the American public and the people of the world were confronted with the specter of bioterrorism. Beginning a week after 9/11 and continuing for weeks thereafter, a series of letters containing anthrax spores were mailed to media personalities and government officials in an apparent continuation of the terrorist attack on the US. The letters were quickly tied to both Al Qaeda and Iraq in the mainstream media:
BRIAN ROSS: Peter, from three well-placed but separate sources tonight ABC News has been told that initial tests on the anthrax sent to Senator Daschle have found a tell-tale chemical additive whose name means a lot to weapons experts. It is called bentonite. It’s possible other countries may be using it, too, but it is a trademark of Saddam Hussein’s biological weapons program. TIM TREVAN: It does mean for me that Iraq becomes the prime suspect as the source for the anthrax used in these letters. SOURCE: ABC Evening News for Friday, Oct 26, 2001
The 24/7 coverage of the event in the media ceased abruptly, however, when it was discovered that the strain of anthrax used in the attacks sourced not to Iraq but to the US military’s own bioweapons laboratory at Fort Detrick, Maryland.
But this convergence of terrorism and biosecurity did not start with the anthrax attacks. It began in June of 2001, a full three months before 9/11 and the declaration of the war on terror itself. That was when a number of ranking US military and intelligence officials took part in “Dark Winter,” a high-level exercise that simulated the US’ response to a smallpox attack on the homeland by bioterrorists. The drill, co-hosted by the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, took place at Andrews Air Force Base on the 22nd and 23rd of June, 2001, and even involved fake news reports that were broadcast to the participants as the simulation unfolded.
ANGIE MILES: On day six of the smallpox epidemic, the White House confirmed that federal government officials and military personnel are being vaccinated 300 people have died at least 2,000 are infected with smallpox. Still no group claims responsibility for unleashing the deadly smallpox virus, but ncn has learned that Iraq may have provided the technology behind the attack to terrorist groups based in Afghanistan. SOURCE: ‘operation dark winter’ 3
In an incredible parallel, the same Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security that co-hosted Dark Winter also co-hosted “Event 201,” a simulation of a globally spreading novel coronavirus pandemic that was held in New York just months before the declaration of the globally spreading novel coronavirus pandemic that hailed the advent of the era of biosecurity. This exercise similarly involved fake news broadcasts:
FAKE NEWS REPORTER: It began in healthy looking pigs months, perhaps years ago. A new coronavirus spread silently within herds. Gradually, farmers started getting sick. Infected people got a respiratory illness with symptoms ranging from mild, flu-like signs to severe pneumonia. The sickest required intensive care. Many died. SOURCE: Event 201 Pandemic Exercise: Highlights Reel
Unsurprisingly, many of the same characters that were involved in the promotion of the bioterror scare under the old “homeland security” paradigm have been influential in promoting the COVID-19 scare under the new “biosecurity” paradigm.
The phrase “homeland security” itself was popularized in Washington in the late 1990s and capitalized on by the ANSER Institute, which formed an Institute for Homeland Security in 1999 led by Randall Larsen, a professor and department chair at the National War College. The Institute prepared a course on “Homeland Security” which was to be co-taught by Larsen and his National War College colleague, Robert Kadlec. Coincidentally, the course was slated to begin on September 11, 2001. Part of the course syllabus included a review of the Dark Winter exercise, which the Institute for Homeland Security co-created.
The name “Dark Winter” derives from a statement made by Larsen’s colleague, Robert Kadlec, credited as a “Bio-Warfare Defense Expert” during the exercise’s fake news broadcast.
ROBERT KADLEC: . . . and the problem is we don’t have enough vaccine to go around. MILES: Meaning we don’t have enough vaccine for the United States? KADLEC: Well, I would like to think that. But we don’t have sufficient stockpiles for the people in Oklahoma, Georgia or Pennsylvania, much less for the entire United States population. MILES: Well, that certainly doesn’t sound encouraging. What do you mean, exactly? KADLEC: Angie, it means it could be a very dark winter for America. MILES: Sobering. Thank you very much for joining us, Dr. Kadlec. SOURCE: operation dark winter’ 2
A career officer and physician in the United States Air Force, Kadlec would go on to contribute to the FBI’s investigation of the 2001 anthrax attacks, and then serve in several key biosecurity-related roles in the George W. Bush White House. During this time, Kadlec helped draft the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act. Passed by Congress in 2006, the act greatly expanded federal power during public health emergencies and consolidated many of these powers in a new office, the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR). Then, in what Kadlec has called “just a coincidence,” Trump appointed Kadlec himself to that position in 2017.
In his role as ASPR, Kadlec oversaw a joint exercise in 2019 named “Crimson Contagion.” The drill included the National Security Council, the Pentagon, the Department of Homeland Security and a raft of other government agencies and simulated the US government’s response to a viral pandemic originating in China and spreading around the globe. Like Dark Winter, the “Crimson Contagion” exercise took place just months before the events it was simulating began to play out in real life. And, like Dark Winter, it gave participants like Kadlec the chance to argue that biosecurity was a pressing national security challenge that the country was ill-prepared to meet—an argument that he made to Congress with Dr. Anthony Fauci by his side just one week before the first reports of the novel coronavirus spreading in China.
DIANA DEGETTE: Dr. Kadlec, what keeps you up at night when you think about preparedness for the next big flu outbreak. KADLEC: I mean, thank you, ma’am, I appreciate the question. I mean, I sleep like a baby: I wake up every two hours screaming. DEGETTE: Much like me. KADLEC: Yeah. But I think the key thing here is a pandemic. Quite frankly I have a unique background on this committee or this dais. I have served two years on the Senate Intelligence Committee and looked at the many threats that face the United States, but there is no singular threat that could devastate our country through our health and our economy and our social institutions then pandemic influenza. DEGETTE: Yeah. KADLEC: And we had four during the last century. And even though we’ve had a mild one in this first century, I think the risk is that we’ll have another severe one and that would devastate our country. SOURCE: Pandemic Preparedness – testimony of ASPR’s Robert Kadlec – December 4, 2019
Then there’s Donald Rumsfeld. As Secretary of Defense in the first term of the George W. Bush administration, there are few people more closely associated with the “War on Terror.” Rumsfeld, too, has been intimately associated with the emerging biosecurity state for decades. In the 1980s he personally participated in secret meetings with Saddam Hussein that resulted in anthrax, botulism, and other chemical weapons being sent from the US to Iraq. In the 1990s he was named chairman of Gilead Sciences, a California biotech company that profited handsomely from the scramble for Tamiflu during the bird flu scare of 2005 and which is currently profiting handsomely from Remdesivir as a result of the COVID-19 scare.
ANTHONY FAUCI: The data shows that Remdesivir has a clear-cut, significant, positive effect in diminishing the time to recovery. SOURCE: Fauci announces good news about coronavirus drug
There are many others whose careers blaze the same trail, transitioning seamlessly from the homeland security state to the biosecurity state. People like Dr. Richard Hatchett, who served as Director for Biodefense Policy under George W. Bush, then as acting Director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), and acting Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response within HHS before becoming the CEO of CEPI, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation co-founded Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations. In his position as “global health expert,” Hatchett made waves back in March for his alarmist pronouncements about the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.
RICHARD HATCHETT: It’s the most frightening disease I’ve ever encountered in my career, and that includes Ebola, it includes MERS, it includes SARS. And it’s frightening because of the combination of infectiousness and a lethality that appears to be manyfold higher than flu. SOURCE: Coronavirus researcher accused of scaremongering for calling it ‘most frightening disease I’ve ever encountered’
That so many of the people who were there at the birth of the war on terror are currently acting as midwives to the biosecurity state should come as no surprise. After all, the biosecurity paradigm is not a replacement for the terror paradigm; it is its fulfillment.
The war on terror imagined a covert army of foreign invaders slipping through the defenses of the Homeland and commandeering the resources of the body politic to wreak internal havoc. The biosecurity state posits largely the same scenario, but now those foreign invaders are not “terrorists” possessed with a “hatred of freedom,” they are “asymptomatic carriers” possessed by a pathogen.
Just as the Homeland Security forces and border security agents were entrusted to protect us from the terrorists, now the “front line heroes,” doctors and nurses armed with the tools of the technocratic priest class, can protect us from the invisible enemy.
This speaks to an important aspect of the biosecurity state: ultimately, it is not about health. It is about politics.
Once again we find insight on this turn of events from Giorgio Agamben, who has noted that viral epidemics are
“above all a political concept, which is preparing to become the new terrain of world politics—or non-politics. It is possible, however, that the epidemic that we are living through will be the actualization of the global civil war that, according to the most attentive political theorists, has taken the place of traditional world wars. All nations and all peoples are now in an enduring war with themselves, because the invisible and elusive enemy with which they are struggling is within us.”
Governments are banning gatherings and events. Instituting new screening procedures. Quarantining healthy, functioning people against their will. Tracking and surveilling every individual. Controlling their movements. Monitoring their transactions. Make no mistake: the “War on Terror” is not over. It has just greatly expanded.
The proponents of 9/11 truth have warned for 19 years that the “War on Terror” was always a war on the public. Long pushed to the margins of the political debate, that viewpoint has been vindicated as the “terrorist” label is replaced by the “asymptomatic carrier” label and all the machinery of the police state is wielded against everyone who opposes the biosecurity takeover.
Given that those once derided as “conspiracy theorists” have turned out to be the most prescient political observers of all, perhaps it is time to learn the real lessons from 9/11 that mainstream discourse has always excluded:
That 9/11 and the “War on Terror” was not a war at all, but a power grab;
That the “temporary” measures brought in to deal with an alleged “emergency” will never be relinquished;
And, most importantly, that unless everyone who cares about this—the most blatant power grab in history—rises up, refuses to cower in fear of the invisible enemy, and reclaims their inalienable rights to freedom of movement, freedom of association and freedom of assembly, then those freedoms will be gone for good.
This is the message of 9/11 truth: that the world was tricked into giving up their rights in the name of an endless parade of bogeymen. In reality, it was the very politicians and officials claiming to protect us from these bogeymen—the ones donning the mantle of “homeland security”—who were the greatest threat to the public. And now they are claiming we are the bogeymen, “asymptomatic carriers” of an invisible enemy,” walking and talking weapons of mass destruction who must be caged in fear forever lest the virus kills us all.
This is a lie, and it exposes what the fearmogers are themselves afraid of: free humanity. Gathering. Talking. Working. Playing. Living.
It is no small irony that this year’s 9/11 memorials have been disrupted by the COVID scare. The torch has well and truly passed, and the annual injunctions to “Never Forget” have been replaced by a litany of “Always Remembers.” Remember to wear your mask. Remember to stay 6 feet apart. Remember to avoid large groups. Remember to stay home.
After 19 years, perhaps it is time to admit that 9/11 truth failed to expose the “War on Terror” lie in time to derail the homeland security agenda. But we are entering a new era, and we have a new chance to wake from this nightmare.
Knowing this, the only question is: Will we reject the “War on the Invisible Enemy” before it’s too late?
Whatever our choice, we better make it quickly. A Great Reset is coming.
BUSH: Great harm has been done to us. We have suffered great loss. And in our grief and anger we have found our mission and our moment. Freedom and fear are at war. The advance of human freedom, the great achievement of our time and the great hope of every time, now depends on us. SOURCE: George W. Bush: Address to Congress, September 20, 2001
DONALD TRUMP: I want to assure the American people that we’re doing everything we can each day to confront and ultimately defeat this horrible, invisible enemy. We’re at war. In a true sense, we’re at war and we’re fighting an invisible enemy. Think of that. SOURCE: President Trump says he is a ‘wartime president’ battling an ‘invisible enemy’ over coronavirus
Yep, tyranny smiles as it takes away your liberties while promising you safety and security.
While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. -2 Peter 2:19
Article posted with permission from Sons of Liberty Media


thewashingtonstandard--2020-09-13--Australia:  Full Scale Pilot Test For The New World Order

Several journalists and content creators have noticed that Australia looks like the most totalitarian police state that has existed in recent history .
It has become a full-scale pilot test for the elitists to see how well they can implement the New World Order .
Australians have been subjected to some of the most horrendous basic human rights and dignity violations during this entire scamdemic .
The elitists are using Australia to test out these authoritarian measures , such as getting the public used to a police state in which the military and police both patrol the streets ready to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to quarantine when not sick or not wearing their New World Order issued muzzle…I mean , face mask .
“ These guys know full well what they are doing .
They are psychopaths , but they aren ’ t stupid , ” says Brian in the above video .
The politicians are redistributing both wealth and power away from the public and consolidating it into their own hands .
We are in big trouble if we can not get the military and the police who are committing violence on behalf of the tyrants @ @ @ @ @ @ @ humanity .
David Icke To LEOs & Military : “ Look Your Children In The Eye ” & Tell Them YOU Enforced Tyranny All of this is over 17 new cases of COVID-19 .
This absolutely horrifying that people continue to buy this scam .
“ Heavy-handed tyranny and oppression is happening everywhere , ” Brian adds .
If you don ’ t think this is coming back to the United States in the form of a second lockdown , think again .
The media has been preparing us for a “ dark @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” since the first false wave happened .
This Is How We Beat This Beast System : What Unity Looks Like Wake up .
Time is now extremely short .
If you don ’ t have food or water , now is the time to get what you can .
If you don ’ t have emergency plans , now is the time to make some with your family .
If you are already well prepared for any disaster , the best thing you can do is to stay alert and fearless .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ they enslave you with your fear ) , but make sure you know what ’ s going on .
The best preparedness plan includes one of awareness of this situation we ’ ve found ourselves in today .

Several journalists and content creators have noticed that Australia looks like the most totalitarian police state that has existed in recent history. It has become a full-scale pilot test for the elitists to see how well they can implement the New World Order.
Australians have been subjected to some of the most horrendous basic human rights and dignity violations during this entire scamdemic. The elitists are using Australia to test out these authoritarian measures, such as getting the public used to a police state in which the military and police both patrol the streets ready to commit violence against other humans for refusing to quarantine when not sick or not wearing their New World Order issued muzzle…I mean, face mask.
“These guys know full well what they are doing. They are psychopaths, but they aren’t stupid,” says Brian in the above video. The politicians are redistributing both wealth and power away from the public and consolidating it into their own hands. We are in big trouble if we cannot get the military and the police who are committing violence on behalf of the tyrants to realize what they are doing to humanity.
David Icke To LEOs & Military: “Look Your Children In The Eye” & Tell Them YOU Enforced Tyranny
All of this is over 17 new cases of COVID-19. This absolutely horrifying that people continue to buy this scam. “Heavy-handed tyranny and oppression is happening everywhere,” Brian adds. If you don’t think this is coming back to the United States in the form of a second lockdown, think again. The media has been preparing us for a “dark winter” and a “second wave” since the first false wave happened.
This Is How We Beat This Beast System: What Unity Looks Like
Wake up. Time is now extremely short. If you don’t have food or water, now is the time to get what you can. If you don’t have emergency plans, now is the time to make some with your family. If you are already well prepared for any disaster, the best thing you can do is to stay alert and fearless. Dont’ live a life terrified (they enslave you with your fear), but make sure you know what’s going on. The best preparedness plan includes one of awareness of this situation we’ve found ourselves in today.
Article posted with permission from Mac Slavo


thewashingtonstandard--2020-09-12--While Pedophile Faces Death By Firing Squad For Molesting Children In Indonesia, California Passes B

While Pedophile Faces Death By Firing Squad For Molesting Children In Indonesia , California Passes Bill To Reduce Penalties For Sex With “ Willing Children ” With all that is going on the world today , one might consider asking the question as to why our said representatives have so much time on their hands to take the time and decriminalize those who mean to prey upon children ( Luke 17:2 ) .
Then again , we live in a country that gives a pass to those who sanction their murder ( Proverbs 6:17 ) .
So , it should @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to how backwards Americans have become ( Isaiah 59 ) .
When the sodomites began to attack my ministry ( Matthew 5:10 ) when we were defending our children from them back in the early 2000s , that is when George Bush was pushing forth their agenda behind the backs of his supporters .
I remember being called every name in the book of the reprobates ( Romans 1:28 ) .
They called me such names as “ bigot ” and “ hater.
” I was also called a “ liar ” when @ @ @ @ @ @ @ end aim was children .
All anyone had to do was to go to the congressional record to find out if it were the truth or not .
The Daily Mail recently reported : “ French ‘ paedophile ’ faces death by firing squad in Indonesia ‘ for molesting 300 children and beating those who refused to have sex with him ’ .
” “ A French man could be executed by a firing squared in Indonesia after being accused of molesting more than 300 children and beating those who refused to have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ arrested pensioner Francois Abello Camille , 65 , last month at a hotel in Indonesia ’ s capital Jakarta , where they discovered two underaged girls in his room .
Camille faces death by firing squad or life in prison if convicted on the raft of charges – including accusations he filmed the illicit encounters – under Indonesia ’ s child protection laws.
” Only in America , where not only the representatives of special interest groups but also the accomplices that give these criminals a pass in daring the justice of God @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people want to normalize the unthinkable .
We have sodomite Scott Weiner advocating a criminal act .
It is interesting to note , as Hollywood paedophiles are beginning to be called out for their crimes against children , these feigned representatives of the people are calling forth the normalization of crimes against children ( Exodus 22:22-24 ) .
Pamela Geller , a contributor from The Sons of Liberty Media , writes : California lawmakers passed a bill Monday that would reduce penalties for adults who have oral or anal sex with a willing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ within ten years of the age of the victim .
According to SB 145 , the legislation “ would exempt from mandatory registration ” as a sex offender “ a person convicted of certain offenses involving minors if the person is not more than 10 years older than the minor and if that offense is the only one requiring the person to register.
” The measure would allow a judge to decide if an adult who engages in oral or anal sex with a child must register as a sex offender if that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ age of the victim .
Say what you will , friends , concerning the acts of these paedophiles , but you can rest assured that the God-fearing daddies and mommies in this country are not going to put up with it , and neither am I ( Proverbs 16:6 ) .
Article posted with permission from Sons of Liberty Media .
Article by Bradlee Dean .

While Pedophile Faces Death By Firing Squad For Molesting Children In Indonesia, California Passes Bill To Reduce Penalties For Sex With “Willing Children”
“Sex before eight before it’s too late.” -North American Man Boy Love Association
With all that is going on the world today, one might consider asking the question as to why our said representatives have so much time on their hands to take the time and decriminalize those who mean to prey upon children (Luke 17:2). Then again, we live in a country that gives a pass to those who sanction their murder (Proverbs 6:17). So, it should come as no surprise to anyone as to how backwards Americans have become (Isaiah 59).
When the sodomites began to attack my ministry (Matthew 5:10) when we were defending our children from them back in the early 2000s, that is when George Bush was pushing forth their agenda behind the backs of his supporters. I remember being called every name in the book of the reprobates (Romans 1:28).
They called me such names as “bigot” and “hater.” I was also called a “liar” when I brought up the fact that their end aim was children. All anyone had to do was to go to the congressional record to find out if it were the truth or not.
The Daily Mail recently reported: “French ‘paedophile’ faces death by firing squad in Indonesia ‘for molesting 300 children and beating those who refused to have sex with him’.”
“A French man could be executed by a firing squared in Indonesia after being accused of molesting more than 300 children and beating those who refused to have sex with him. Police said they arrested pensioner Francois Abello Camille, 65, last month at a hotel in Indonesia’s capital Jakarta, where they discovered two underaged girls in his room. Camille faces death by firing squad or life in prison if convicted on the raft of charges – including accusations he filmed the illicit encounters – under Indonesia’s child protection laws.”
Only in America, where not only the representatives of special interest groups but also the accomplices that give these criminals a pass in daring the justice of God (Jude 1:7), do these people want to normalize the unthinkable. We have sodomite Scott Weiner advocating a criminal act.
It is interesting to note, as Hollywood paedophiles are beginning to be called out for their crimes against children, these feigned representatives of the people are calling forth the normalization of crimes against children (Exodus 22:22-24).
Pamela Geller, a contributor from The Sons of Liberty Media, writes:
California lawmakers passed a bill Monday that would reduce penalties for adults who have oral or anal sex with a willing minor child if the sex offender is within ten years of the age of the victim. According to SB 145, the legislation “would exempt from mandatory registration” as a sex offender “a person convicted of certain offenses involving minors if the person is not more than 10 years older than the minor and if that offense is the only one requiring the person to register.” The measure would allow a judge to decide if an adult who engages in oral or anal sex with a child must register as a sex offender if that person is within ten years of the age of the victim.
Say what you will, friends, concerning the acts of these paedophiles, but you can rest assured that the God-fearing daddies and mommies in this country are not going to put up with it, and neither am I (Proverbs 16:6).
Article posted with permission from Sons of Liberty Media. Article by Bradlee Dean.


thewashingtonstandard--2020-09-13--The Problematic Science Defining Child Sexual Abuse & The Normalization Of Pedophilia

The normalization of pedophilia is being pushed to the forefront of the American consciousness .
Our schools are introducing children to sexually explicit education at earlier ages and television programming is taking the issue to new horizons with shows like the Netflix production of “ Cuties.
” People have argued for years that the normalization of homosexuality and the legalization of homosexual “ marriage ” would be the catalyst for such a movement .
The acceptance of these alternative lifestyles was introduced incrementally through subtle suggestions , and the portrayal of homosexuals as being righteous and upstanding while those opposed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tactics are being used concerning pedophilia .
The term , “ minor-attracted person ” is being used to take away the negative connotations of sexual abuse and pedophilia .
Disturbingly , the issue is being studied from a social science perspective , and academic journals are publishing findings which no doubt , are contributing to the movement ’ s claims that pedophilia is a normal sexual orientation .
One such article is entitled “ A Meta-Analytic Examination of Assumed Properties of Child Sexual Abuse Using College Samples.
” This article examines studies from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ exactly what the effects of child sexual abuse ( CSA ) are on children .
The common belief , which is undoubtedly true no matter what the studies claim , is that children suffer great trauma and long-lasting psychological problems from CSA .
Bruce Rind , Philip Tromovitch and Robert Bauserman are attempting to make the claim that the effects of CSA are not as traumatic as commonly believed and that in some cases , based on the studies cited in the article , other factors such as family environment and relationships with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ problems associated with CSA , than the act of sex itself .
They also suggest that many methods in which CSA has been examined may be faulty by assuming every case involving sex with an underage person is automatically considered abuse , which of course it should be .
They compare a 5-year-old girl being forcefully molested by her father to a fifteen-year-old boy who may consensually agree to have sex with an unrelated adult .
Of course , the five years is more likely to have long-lasting psychological harm than the fifteen-year-old @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it right .
The implication being made here is that sexual abuse through a coercive act is more likely to cause harm while a consensual agreement to engage in sex with an adult does not .
The article suggests that a fifteen-year-old boy agreeing to engage in sexual activity with an adult male is more of a violation of social norms than something that can be considered CSA .
In which case , the issue is not something that can be studied as a case of causality because violating social norms is not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ problem they are attempting to rectify lies in the moral and legal definitions of CSA .
They are claiming that there is a distinct difference between the two examples , and by classifying the fifteen-year-old boy as a case of CSA , the waters are being muddied on what actually constitutes CSA and how to determine what harm is caused .
The article argues that classifying all cases of sexual activity with children as CSA is scientifically problematic because there is a difference between forceful and consensual acts .
The term abuse itself @ @ @ @ @ @ @ because it does not differentiate between the violation of social norms and acts committed against a child ’ s will .
This is the biggest problem with science , there is no definite .
Sex with children is wrong no matter which way you look at it .
Unfortunately , social science journals are filled with bias .
This writer is making no claims pertaining to the author ’ s beliefs on child sexual abuse , only that there is a possibility of severe bias in any one of the studies used in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ article Bias in Research by Ana-Maria Simundic claims that many journals will not be published without positive findings .
This means that if a study finds results not consistent with the beliefs of those conducting the study , the results will not be made public .
If this is true , it is highly possible that the people publishing these findings are supportive of normalizing pedophilia .
Rind ’ s study concludes in a disturbing way .
Not only is the claim made that there is no substantive evidence that CSA causes long-lasting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to define and study it ̶ ̶ there is the subtle suggestion that meaningful results can only be obtained by examining the young person ’ s willingness to participate in the sexual activity .
If a young person perceives themselves as being a willing participant , then the encounter should only be labeled adult-child sex and not CSA .
The only way to end child sexual abuse is to have a definite method of identifying what it is and holding people accountable whether a minor may have perceived themselves as being willing or @ @

The normalization of pedophilia is being pushed to the forefront of the American consciousness. Our schools are introducing children to sexually explicit education at earlier ages and television programming is taking the issue to new horizons with shows like the Netflix production of “Cuties.” People have argued for years that the normalization of homosexuality and the legalization of homosexual “marriage” would be the catalyst for such a movement. The acceptance of these alternative lifestyles was introduced incrementally through subtle suggestions, and the portrayal of homosexuals as being righteous and upstanding while those opposed, bigoted and hateful. The same tactics are being used concerning pedophilia. The term, “minor-attracted person” is being used to take away the negative connotations of sexual abuse and pedophilia. Disturbingly, the issue is being studied from a social science perspective, and academic journals are publishing findings which no doubt, are contributing to the movement’s claims that pedophilia is a normal sexual orientation. One such article is entitled “A Meta-Analytic Examination of Assumed Properties of Child Sexual Abuse Using College Samples.”
This article examines studies from all around the globe attempting to pinpoint exactly what the effects of child sexual abuse (CSA) are on children. The common belief, which is undoubtedly true no matter what the studies claim, is that children suffer great trauma and long-lasting psychological problems from CSA. Bruce Rind, Philip Tromovitch and Robert Bauserman are attempting to make the claim that the effects of CSA are not as traumatic as commonly believed and that in some cases, based on the studies cited in the article, other factors such as family environment and relationships with adults could contribute more to the psychological problems associated with CSA, than the act of sex itself. They also suggest that many methods in which CSA has been examined may be faulty by assuming every case involving sex with an underage person is automatically considered abuse, which of course it should be. They compare a 5-year-old girl being forcefully molested by her father to a fifteen-year-old boy who may consensually agree to have sex with an unrelated adult. Of course, the five years is more likely to have long-lasting psychological harm than the fifteen-year-old; however, that does not make it right. The implication being made here is that sexual abuse through a coercive act is more likely to cause harm while a consensual agreement to engage in sex with an adult does not. The article suggests that a fifteen-year-old boy agreeing to engage in sexual activity with an adult male is more of a violation of social norms than something that can be considered CSA. In which case, the issue is not something that can be studied as a case of causality because violating social norms is not known to cause psychological distress.
The problem they are attempting to rectify lies in the moral and legal definitions of CSA. They are claiming that there is a distinct difference between the two examples, and by classifying the fifteen-year-old boy as a case of CSA, the waters are being muddied on what actually constitutes CSA and how to determine what harm is caused. The article argues that classifying all cases of sexual activity with children as CSA is scientifically problematic because there is a difference between forceful and consensual acts. The term abuse itself, the article claims, is problematic because it does not differentiate between the violation of social norms and acts committed against a child’s will.
This is the biggest problem with science, there is no definite. Sex with children is wrong no matter which way you look at it. Unfortunately, social science journals are filled with bias. This writer is making no claims pertaining to the author’s beliefs on child sexual abuse, only that there is a possibility of severe bias in any one of the studies used in this article. In fact, the article Bias in Research by Ana-Maria Simundic claims that many journals will not be published without positive findings. This means that if a study finds results not consistent with the beliefs of those conducting the study, the results will not be made public. If this is true, it is highly possible that the people publishing these findings are supportive of normalizing pedophilia.
Rind’s study concludes in a disturbing way. Not only is the claim made that there is no substantive evidence that CSA causes long-lasting harm based on the methods traditionally used to define and study it ̶ ̶ there is the subtle suggestion that meaningful results can only be obtained by examining the young person’s willingness to participate in the sexual activity. If a young person perceives themselves as being a willing participant, then the encounter should only be labeled adult-child sex and not CSA. The only way to end child sexual abuse is to have a definite method of identifying what it is and holding people accountable whether a minor may have perceived themselves as being willing or not.
Article posted with permission from David Risselada


thewashingtonstandard--2020-09-13--Constitutional Attorney Challenges Police Authority to Use Low-Flying Helicopters for Aerial Surveil

Constitutional Attorney Challenges Police Authority to Use Low-Flying Helicopters for Aerial Surveillance

RICHMOND , Va. — Responding to numerous reports of low-flying aircraft harassing property owners throughout Central Virginia in August 2020 , The Rutherford Institute has filed a Freedom of Information Act ( FOIA ) request with the Virginia State Police ( VSP ) seeking information about its aerial surveillance program in order to determine whether the state is complying with Fourth Amendment restrictions on the use of aircraft to spy upon citizens .
As part of its FOIA request , Institute attorneys are asking the VSP to turn over records , documents and other information relating to its flyovers and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ counties , including specifying specific incidents of flyovers , the aircraft and on-board equipment used during these operations , and the laws and policies VSP acts under in conducting aerial surveillance .
While the Fourth Amendment allows law enforcement to conduct naked-eye observations of private property during ordinary flyovers , the Constitution forbids unusually low flyovers or the use of high-tech sight-enhancing equipment for aerial searches .
“ Incredibly , merely growing a vegetable garden on your own property , or in a greenhouse on your property , could get you flagged by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a drug raid by a SWAT team , ” said constitutional attorney John W. Whitehead , president of The Rutherford Institute and author of Battlefield America : The War on the American People .
“ These sweeps , which have become regular occurrences across the country , are part of a multi-million dollar government program that sends local police , state police and the Army National Guard along with expensive military helicopters—out on exploratory sorties in order to uncover marijuana growing operations , even in states where it ’ s legal to grow @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Institute came to the defense of a 54-year-old Virginia resident after a SWAT team-like raid , aided by military helicopter surveillance and acting without a search warrant , allegedly found two marijuana stalks growing among weeds on his 39-acre property .
In August 2020 , numerous reports began circulating on social media of unusual activity by aircraft in the skies over Albemarle , Greene and other Central Virginia counties .
Residents reported helicopters at unusually low altitudes over their property and hovering for extended periods of time for the apparent purpose of observing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ One property owner reported that not long after aircraft began buzzing her rural property for several minutes , a convoy of law enforcement vehicles rolled up to her house to examine the plants she was growing .
When the police found nothing illegal , they complimented her on the condition of her tomatoes and left .
In late August , a joint operation of the VSP and county sheriff ’ s office made a seizure of marijuana after a helicopter was used to spot marijuana plants growing on property in Greene County .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ that police may conduct warrantless aerial surveillance of private property and use observations as the basis for searching the property , it has also found surveillance aircraft may not fly lower than the altitude of normal commercial aircraft .
Additionally , police may not use sophisticated equipment that enhance the ability of airborne personnel to identify objects on the ground .
In its FOIA request to the VSP , The Rutherford Institute is seeking information about the VSP ’ s use of aerial surveillance in the Counties of Albemarle , Fluvanna , Greene @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to determine if the VSP is violating the Fourth Amendment .
The Rutherford Institute , a nonprofit civil liberties organization , defends individuals whose constitutional rights have been violated and educates the public about threats to their freedoms .
The Rutherford Institute ’ s FOIA request to the Virginia State Police

RICHMOND, Va. — Responding to numerous reports of low-flying aircraft harassing property owners throughout Central Virginia in August 2020, The Rutherford Institute has filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the Virginia State Police (VSP) seeking information about its aerial surveillance program in order to determine whether the state is complying with Fourth Amendment restrictions on the use of aircraft to spy upon citizens. As part of its FOIA request, Institute attorneys are asking the VSP to turn over records, documents and other information relating to its flyovers and aerial surveillance programs in six Central Virginia counties, including specifying specific incidents of flyovers, the aircraft and on-board equipment used during these operations, and the laws and policies VSP acts under in conducting aerial surveillance. While the Fourth Amendment allows law enforcement to conduct naked-eye observations of private property during ordinary flyovers, the Constitution forbids unusually low flyovers or the use of high-tech sight-enhancing equipment for aerial searches.
“Incredibly, merely growing a vegetable garden on your own property, or in a greenhouse on your property, could get you flagged by these aerial and ground surveillance teams for a drug raid by a SWAT team,” said constitutional attorney John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute and author of Battlefield America: The War on the American People . “These sweeps, which have become regular occurrences across the country, are part of a multi-million dollar government program that sends local police, state police and the Army National Guard along with expensive military helicopters—out on exploratory sorties in order to uncover marijuana growing operations, even in states where it’s legal to grow marijuana.”
In 2012, The Rutherford Institute came to the defense of a 54-year-old Virginia resident after a SWAT team-like raid, aided by military helicopter surveillance and acting without a search warrant, allegedly found two marijuana stalks growing among weeds on his 39-acre property.
In August 2020, numerous reports began circulating on social media of unusual activity by aircraft in the skies over Albemarle, Greene and other Central Virginia counties.
Residents reported helicopters at unusually low altitudes over their property and hovering for extended periods of time for the apparent purpose of observing conditions and activities on the ground.
One property owner reported that not long after aircraft began buzzing her rural property for several minutes, a convoy of law enforcement vehicles rolled up to her house to examine the plants she was growing.
When the police found nothing illegal, they complimented her on the condition of her tomatoes and left.
In late August, a joint operation of the VSP and county sheriff’s office made a seizure of marijuana after a helicopter was used to spot marijuana plants growing on property in Greene County.
Although the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that police may conduct warrantless aerial surveillance of private property and use observations as the basis for searching the property, it has also found surveillance aircraft may not fly lower than the altitude of normal commercial aircraft.
Additionally, police may not use sophisticated equipment that enhance the ability of airborne personnel to identify objects on the ground.
In its FOIA request to the VSP, The Rutherford Institute is seeking information about the VSP’s use of aerial surveillance in the Counties of Albemarle, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, Madison and Orange, to determine if the VSP is violating the Fourth Amendment.
The Rutherford Institute, a nonprofit civil liberties organization, defends individuals whose constitutional rights have been violated and educates the public about threats to their freedoms.
The Rutherford Institute’s FOIA request to the Virginia State Police
Article posted with permission from John Whitehead