Free Thought Project – by Matt Agorist
Arlington, TX — In an effort to protect the citizens of Texas, a massive military-style raid was conducted on the Garden of Eden organic farm and commune.
On August 2, 2013, nearly two dozen heavily armed SWAT officers stormed this peaceful farm in search of a plant. They found lots of plants, but much to their dismay, they did not find the plant they were looking for.
Countless tax dollars and months of half-cocked planning went down the drain that day after it was discovered that police incompetence had led these troops into a battle to which there can be no victor.
In the days leading up to this asinine military assault on a peaceful commune, the ineptitude of the Arlington police department was oozing from the seams.
Arlington Detective Magdalena Perez, through a series of poor decisions, frivolously came to the conclusion that the peaceful hippies at the Garden of Eden were up to no good and were cultivating marijuana. The horror! However, Perez was terribly wrong.
Prior to the raid, these heroes even conducted a flyover of the farm and wrongly determined that the Garden of Eden was an evil pot farm. But they were mistaken. After their 20 soldiers had stormed the garden, the Arlington police found not one single gram of marijuana.
What they did find, however, was a myriad of fruits and vegetables; and they seized them. After seemingly disgusted in themselves for such an ignorant and ill-conceived plan, the officers heroically proceeded to confiscate, “17 blackberry bushes, 15 okra plants, 14 tomatillo plants … native grasses and sunflowers.”
Since they couldn’t arrest anyone for growing pot, these public servants decided that they didn’t want to go home empty-handed, so they began writing citations for code violations, like untrimmed bushes and tires laying around. Then they arrested a member of the commune, Quinn Eaker, for an outstanding traffic ticket.
Now, just over two years later, the Garden of Eden farm is seeking damages, and rightfully so. This peaceful group was held at gunpoint and terrorized for hours because of the incompetence of the Arlington PD and the immoral nature of the war on drugs.
The lawsuit, filed by Garden of Eden residents last month, claims police violated their rights to be free from unreasonable search and seizure.
They are seeking compensation for the property and emotional damage caused by the raid, along with the legal expenses they have incurred. They are also asking for punitive damages, “because the City of Arlington and Detective Perez showed a reckless and callous indifference” to their constitutional rights, according to Reason Magazine.
The residents of the farm will undoubtedly win this lawsuit, and the monetary settlement will come from the taxpayers. The 20 armed men who raided the farm along with the inept detective and the rest of the department who initiated the raid will remain on the job. They will receive their regularly scheduled promotions, and nothing will change.
Until officers are held individually liable for their irresponsible actions, this blank check of negligence will continue to grow, and continue to be passed on to the backs of those who do not deserve to carry its weight, the US taxpayer.
For information on how you can take part and force individual police accountability in your town visit this link.
Read more at http://thefreethoughtproject.com/farmers-suing-cops-mistook-organic-tomatoes-weed-raided/#rKHDp3ctrOQkw0IK.99
“Detective Magdalena Perez, through a series of poor decisions, frivolously came to the conclusion that the peaceful hippies….were cultivating marijuana.”
It’s not just a matter of a few bad decisions. There are a few crimes involved, too. What kind of evidence was provided that justified giving these idiots a warrant? Who is the crooked judge that allowed it?
Detective Perez does not have the authority to raid someone’s home (or farm) on a whim.
But it’s nice to know that there are 20 cops standing around with their thumbs up their asses waiting to descend upon a veggie garden. How much does their salary, pension, and health insurance cost?
And for anyone dumb enough to be following the presidential campaigns, didn’t Trump say we need more of these morons? There obviously isn’t any crime to speak of, or these pigs wouldn’t have time for this nonsense, so I guess the billionaires figure it’s time to increase the occupation forces.
That’s really all it is JR. Hire more pigs to protect the gig they got goin’. No “little piggies” seem willing to jump off of their perpetual gravy train. The laws are in place, the fox is in charge of the hen house.
What if
What if we had communication with like minded people , and when the swat team shows up to violate your rights
That a heavily armed militia came and flanked the swat team and ordered them to stand down “or else”
It’s a whole different party when they think they have the monopoly of power , to find out 150 yards behind them is a team of patriots hell bent on stopping swat from violating anyone’s due process , or basic human rights
I wonder how often they would try to pull this crap
“It’s a whole different party when they think they have a monopoly of power…..”. That was the whole idea behind the militia movement after Ruby Ridge and Waco. Officially sanctioned murder, mass murder and arson were no longer going to be freebies. We-the-people have power, if only we can place some steel in our spines and state very clearly, “No More”!
Amen to that
And it’s high time we all stand up when we see and smell shit within the forces against us and our rights ,and our fellow mans rights
Glad to know that raiding veggie gardens is more important than raiding illegal immigrant houses, especially that illegal immigrant named Barry who’s sitting in our White House. Doesn’t that THING he calls his wife also have a veggie garden, too?