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.
They look Russian and from the UN. Hey wake up! It has already happened.
And?
Yeah be very afraid. Those who oppose the cons$#%&!@*ution your days are numbered. Because America is for Americans not traitors and communists. That is why we have the second amendment because of the enemy within. Just remember you have families living here too. Just saying
A shaved head, a pair of cheap fishing gl$#%&!@*es, camo, and now you’re a bad-$#%&!@*.
Gainesville can be a very dangerous place. Check the crime rate.
I wonder if they held him at cannon point .
they are the new improved police and they are here to protect you from yourself…now comply or die
oh, we don’t live in a police state.
No probable cause nor reasonable su$#%&!@*ion to pull him over. He needs to talk to a lawyer and see what legal recourse he has against the city and those so-called “cops” !!!!!! Oh, and if they can’t tell a phone camera/regular camers from a “firearm”, they need to find another line of work… like trash collector!!!!!
I am in the military but I do t understand why a cop needs an up armored vehicle and is outfitted like a grunt or spec ops member, to me it makes the ego to damn big an I have friends ds that are cops