In a testament to how militarized police have become nationwide, a video from Gainesville, Florida shows a 23-year old veteran being pulled over last month by camouflaged cops driving and armored vehicle after he ‘flipped them the bird’. The cops stated that they pulled him over for making an ‘improper hand signal’ and accused him of engaging in a sexual act with his female passenger.
Gainesville is a college town filled with students attending the University of Florida – the cops were heavily outfitted in gear one would expect to see in Afghanistan so they could keep these ‘dangerous’ students in line while attending a three-day celebration of festivities highlighted by a Florida Gator scrimmage football game.
“I’m really getting pulled over by a tank right now?” Jewell, a Navy veteran, states, to which an Alachua County Sheriff’s Deputy responds “yes sir”.
Jewell refers to a U.S. Court of Appeals ruling which found that a “gesture of insult is not the basis for a reasonable suspicion of a traffic violation or impending criminal activity.”
However, the cop is not interested and instead demands to see the Jewell’s license before making him step out of the vehicle.
The officer then starts to get angry and threatens to arrest Jewell for “resisting” because he is not obeying orders quickly enough.
The cop claims that Jewell performed an “improper hand signal”. Jewell responds by expressing his shock that a “safe community” would need tanks patrolling the streets, stating, “I didn’t know we were in Iraq”.
Another cop then objects to being filmed, claiming that the phone camera could be a firearm, before Jewell is eventually allowed to leave.
“Deputies felt the need to dress up like soldiers because it was Orange and Blue Weekend, a three-day celebration of festivities highlighted by a scrimmage football game between Florida Gator teammates that was free and open to all ages,” reports Carlos Miller.
Concerns about the militarization of U.S. law enforcement have heightened since last year’s unrest in Ferguson, Missouri.
In December, we reported on comments made by a Spokane Sheriff’s Deputy defending the use of an MRAP armored vehicle by saying it was needed to deal with the threat posed by “constitutionalists”.
“I mean, we’ve got a lot of constitutionalists and a lot of people that stockpile weapons, lots of ammunition, they have weapons here locally,” the officer said.
During a New Hampshire city council meeting in 2013, former Marine Corps Colonel Peter Martino, who was stationed in Fallujah and trained Iraqi soldiers, asserted that the Department of Homeland Security was working with law enforcement to build a “domestic army,” because the federal government is afraid of its own citizens. Martino was responding to the city’s Police Chief, who justified the necessity for the acquisition of an armored ‘Bearcat’ vehicle by citing the “threat” posed by libertarians, sovereign citizen adherents, and Occupy activists in the region.
As we have exhaustively documented, the use of armored vehicles is just one sign of how law enforcement authorities are gearing up to deal with civil unrest in America.
Did I say kombat vets? No. And I’m 3 year into my 1st 6
Where can I get said rocket launchers and “heavy weapons” whatever those are…?
Beginning or Iraq war like 2002 I believe
I’m not stopping for anyone dressed in camo. Especially if they are “driving” an APC. That’s bull$#%&!@*. And good luck catching up to me in an APC you morons…
THIS IS MILITARZATION, I SAY SEND THEM TO THE FRONT LINES IN IRAN AND AFGANISTAN !!!!!!!!
hopefully he set em straight
Wake up folks, the next thing you will know in the next year, Obama will manufacture a reason to declare martial law, cancel elections, and declare himself interim ruler. We all know-how long that is going to last for. He now has his own paramilitary force armed by the DHS.
The Gainsville incident shown here is an example of things to come.
There are camps that have been built all over the country…..they will be put into use as dissidents are rounded up – we will be asked to drink more Kool Aide, and told they are terrorists, traitors, ill with Ebola or other infectious diseases. Don’t believe anything you are told, and stay quiet about it. Keep your family together and try to stay under the radar.
You need whatever the military has, an armed society is a polite society. If the Patriots of the American Revolution had bows and arrows and knives instead of the same or better muskets as the British the war probably would have ended differently.
An improper hand signal? Really ? how ridiculous is that one? Police are losing respect for being asses like they are.They stopped him because he flipped them off.And driving a BIG Armoured Personel Carrier.Then his girlfriend was asleep and they are trying to say she was performing a sex act on him.He couldn’t win that one no matter what.They can say anything they want,lies work for them just like they do for The commander-in-chief.
The Democrat party leaders want the people flowing over the border so that their voter base increases. I doubt they are militarizing our police to deal with their voter base.