This makes me sad for my country. The only good thing about it is that the goons picked on a bunch of lawyers. In the long run, that should prove to be a huge mistake.

Why do they call them fingers? I've never seen them fing.

Oh wait, there they go.

Stay classy, GOP.

Unchecked government power is always exciting.

We are going to have to do the '60s all over again.

This cannot possibly be true. If it is, why isn't it the lead story on news channels?

submitter: Minn. police conduct warrantless 'paramilitary raids'

From one of the links in TFA Residents of the houses where the warrants were served denied having any unlawful or dangerous materials.

That being said...What the fark?

Another article:

Link (new window)

There were warrants and a bag of onions was one of the items seized.

Once again, the neoconservatives prove how much of a "small government" they want.

/GOBama!

ExJerseyGirl: There were warrants and a bag of onions was one of the items seized.

They can be weaponized to make a crude but effective form of tear gas.

aimtastic: They can be weaponized

Weapons of halitosis destruction?

I filled my entire house with small plastic balls modeled on the cool kids' ride at Chuck E. Cheese.

If they break in, it will take them 30 minutes to get anywhere.

Muahahahahaha!

ExJerseyGirl: This cannot possibly be true. If it is, why isn't it the lead story on news channels?

Curse you liberal media!

God I wish Thomas Jefferson could see this crap. He'd go all zombie on their ass!

Back off, pigs. I've got a weapons grade onion here. I'm wearing it on my belt. It's the style these days.

eddyatwork: God I wish Thomas Jefferson could see this crap. He'd go all zombie on their ass!

Just one Constitutional Zombie against all those cops in riot gear?

He would lose.

Now zombify the entire Continental Congress and you may have yourself a decent undead battle for personal freedoms, but remember that zombies are the ultimate socialists.

mr_bunny: Just one Constitutional Zombie against all those cops in riot gear?

Oh hell no. It'd be Zombie Jefferson and of course...RON PAUL!

They raided the Food Not Bombs guys? wtf. Quakers are more violent and offensive.

soze: Quakers are more violent and offensive.

William Shatner was a Quaker and nobody messes with William Shatner.

They can be weaponized to make a crude but effective form of tear gas.

America must not ignore the threat gathering against us. Facing clear evidence of peril, we cannot wait for the final proof, the smoking gun that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud.

And a good morning to you, Citizen. Papers, please.

Mordant: They can be weaponized to make a crude but effective form of tear gas.

America must not ignore the threat gathering against us. Facing clear evidence of peril, we cannot wait for the final proof, the smoking gun that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud.

Onions and mushrooms. I like the path this thread is taking.

mr_bunny: I filled my entire house with small plastic balls modeled on the cool kids' ride at Chuck E. Cheese.

If they break in, it will take them 30 minutes to get anywhere.

Muahahahahaha!

Haha, the mental image of cops in SWAT gear wading through 3 feet of balls is hilarious.

And in the end guess who winds up paying for the inevitable lawsuits: Taxpayers.

Cops won't be held accountable.
City or County government won't be held acountable.
If any private mercenaries are involved, they definitely won't be held accountable.

The Republican National Committee wont' be held accountable.

No, once this is all done, the happy taxpayer of Minnesota will be left picking up the check, just like Seattle got to pay for the numerous WTO riot arrests later found to be unjustified.

And if things are really changed now, there will even be found to have been no "chilling effect" to the arrests. If Scalia, Thomas and the rest of them have their say.

ExJerseyGirl: nions and mushrooms. I like the path this thread is taking.

Quick, raid someone with a cast iron skillet and a stick of butter.

The Chinese government approves.

Remember all the Republicans decrying the police abuse of power in Denever? Good times.

Reggaenomics: Stay classy, GOP.

Don't forget that the cops at the DNC are pushing reporters out into traffic, then arresting them. Filling their cars at the city depot to avoid gas taxes.

Both are guilty of shenanigans, both suck.

Here's to hoping for a slow, painful, violent death for each of these officers family members while the pigs get to watch on, then get executed last. fark you MPD, go suck on the business end of a shotgun barrel.

gruelurks: Here's to hoping for a slow, painful, violent death for each of these officers family members while the pigs get to watch on, then get executed last. fark you MPD, go suck on the business end of a shotgun barrel.

You might want to take a deep breath and relax a bit. Oh, and unbunch those panties.

ExJerseyGirl: gruelurks: Here's to hoping for a slow, painful, violent death for each of these officers family members while the pigs get to watch on, then get executed last. fark you MPD, go suck on the business end of a shotgun barrel.

You might want to take a deep breath and relax a bit. Oh, and unbunch those panties.

What, are you married to a retarded cop or something? Or did you get stuck with the donut eating pig from the cop bar in your drunken stupor last night?

...and anyone want to argue that we aren't seeing an erosion of civil liberties?

The thing is, you hand anyone a weapon, they'll use it. Republicans and Conservatives feared an expansion of powers of the Executive by Clinton. And they were right to do so. They should have been worried about an expansion of the powers of the Executive, as well as political appointees in DoJ the same way--because it only sets dangerous precedent, and WILL be used by the next President, whoever he is.

To be honest, what saddens me, are the Conservatives who have gone along with this crap. Who have actively supported a subversion of the roots of the party. Nixon shamed us, and should have been a warning. LBJ set the stage for his shennanigans, but the increasing use of local police forces to perform the bidding for political party apparatuses is more than troubling. It was troubling when Reagan did it. It was troubling when Bush did it. It was only troubling to some when Clinton did it, but GW and crew have taken it to a new level, and it needs to farking stop.

The sad thing? It will stop if we get a Democrat into office, because no one who put together the PATRIOT Act wants and some of the other surveillance and so-called "emergency powers" that have been put into place, wants to see them used by a Democrat. The hue and cry will go out and there will be a call to repeal these stinkers, because it gives the Executive branch, and their agents too much damn power to snoop--or actually pull crap like this.

And for that reason, I hope these kids sue. And sue hard. This is exactly the kind of thing that chills Democracy, and if we heard of the French or Iraqi police pulling this, the same folks who approve of this sort of thing here would be pulling their hair out and pointing fingers at how horrible they are.

And that's the problem. We cannot take any moral high ground, while we pull this shiat ourselves. Dissent is a key part of our democracy. The Freedom of Speech means the freedom to be pissed off that someone doesn't agree with you. It isn't just about the freedom to say what you want, but the responsibility for others to disagree and the state to see it through.

gruelurks: Here's to hoping for a slow, painful, violent death for each of these officers family members while the pigs get to watch on, then get executed last. fark you MPD, go suck on the business end of a shotgun barrel.

gruelurks: Here's to hoping for a slow, painful, violent death for each of these officers family members while the pigs get to watch on, then get executed last. fark you MPD, go suck on the business end of a shotgun barrel.

Tell us how you really feel.

Hagbardr: ExJerseyGirl: nions and mushrooms. I like the path this thread is taking.

Quick, raid someone with a cast iron skillet and a stick of butter.

dammit. now i'm hungry

Sounds like these little angels of free speech were planning a bit more than just "civil discourse.."

"At least five suspected leaders of the RNC Welcoming Committee, a self-described anarchist group, were taken to the Hennepin County jail, and another was being sought, said Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher.

On Saturday afternoon, he displayed a number of the confiscated items: a gun, throwing knives, a bow and arrows, flammable liquids, paint, slingshots, rocks and buckets of urine."

SOURCE

Yeah, that's right. Buckets of URINE. Sure don't want the evil government squashing their Constitutional right to use that, do we?

I've never been high and stared at my hands.

Usually I talk about what farking crooks the Republicans are, in between saying stuff like "HA. Dumbass, told you that wouldn't happen. No, pick this play. Yeah, pick that one. INTERCEPTIONNNNN! Touchdown Ronde Barber!! God, you're so stupid Scott."

BravadoGT

On Saturday afternoon, he displayed a number of the confiscated items: a gun, throwing knives, a bow and arrows, flammable liquids, paint, slingshots, rocks and buckets of urine."

Any of that illegal?

BravadoGT
Sounds like these little angels of free speech were planning a bit more than just "civil discourse.."

"At least five suspected leaders of the RNC Welcoming Committee, a self-described anarchist group, were taken to the Hennepin County jail, and another was being sought, said Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher.

On Saturday afternoon, he displayed a number of the confiscated items: a gun, throwing knives, a bow and arrows, flammable liquids, paint, slingshots, rocks and buckets of urine."

SOURCE

Yeah, that's right. Buckets of URINE. Sure don't want the evil government squashing their Constitutional right to use that, do we?

Last time I checked. All these things are Legal to possess, especially if they are in your own residency, and you have yet to do something with it. Imagine if the police could arrest you because you had several legally obtained guns, knives, rifle scopes, crossbows, the complete set of RAMBO movies, chains, a leather S&M outfit, some slayer t-shirts, and gay pornography in your house. I mean this all constitutes the rights of the police to invade your house right?

This and "Free Speech Zones" just drive me crazy. And I'm even more pissed that the Democrats are doing the same damn thing.

Bush invented this crap, but the left should have had enough sense to let the peaceful demonstrations go off without a hitch instead of adopting the very things they are supposedly up in arms about.

BravadoGT
>On Saturday afternoon, he displayed a number of the confiscated items: a gun, throwing knives, a bow and arrows, flammable liquids, paint, slingshots, rocks and buckets of urine."

SOURCE

BULLshiat.

gruelurks: Here's to hoping for a slow, painful, violent death for each of these officers family members while the pigs get to watch on, then get executed last. fark you MPD, go suck on the business end of a shotgun barrel.

Yeah, wishing the death of family members because of their relation is a good thing.

Cue internet tough guy pic.

Shadowknight
Bush invented this crap

No, he didn't. They were around in the 90's at least.

Nice little country you've got here. It'd be a pity if something were to happen to it. An indefinate state of war perhaps, sure would be right nasty for business. Just remember which party keeps your taxes low and we won't have any "accidents" while we're doing a routine raid of your freedoms.

Isn't Patchouli considered a chemical WMD?

Do you know who else censored his people?

/well, all despots, but that's beside the point
//got nothin'

RanDomino: Shadowknight
Bush invented this crap

No, he didn't. They were around in the 90's at least.

In the 90's, they fenced the people off to keep them from blocking the path of whomever was being protested, but they were still in the area, able be be seen, heard, and ignored in person.

Bush, on the other hand, saw fit to actually have the audacity to call them "Free Speech Zones," implying of course that we don't have free speech everywhere. He also, and most importantly, saw to it that these zones are moved a couple miles away in order to just avoid the situation altogether.

And the Democrats did this in Denver this last week. Seeing that made me pretty upset. They're suppose to be the lesser evil, not the SLIGHTLY lesser evil.

Heard there's a bunch of anti-war, pro-civil liberties types who are keeping the directions to their rendezvous point secret. And they're going to show up in a convoy of RVs!

Didn't we learn anything from Oklahoma City?

/Sarcasm(?) aside, it would be interested if the police show the same, equal treatment of all protesters.

pvd021: BravadoGT
Sounds like these little angels of free speech were planning a bit more than just "civil discourse.."

"At least five suspected leaders of the RNC Welcoming Committee, a self-described anarchist group, were taken to the Hennepin County jail, and another was being sought, said Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher.

On Saturday afternoon, he displayed a number of the confiscated items: a gun, throwing knives, a bow and arrows, flammable liquids, paint, slingshots, rocks and buckets of urine."

SOURCE

Yeah, that's right. Buckets of URINE. Sure don't want the evil government squashing their Constitutional right to use that, do we?

Last time I checked. All these things are Legal to possess, especially if they are in your own residency, and you have yet to do something with it. Imagine if the police could arrest you because you had several legally obtained guns, knives, rifle scopes, crossbows, the complete set of RAMBO movies, chains, a leather S&M outfit, some slayer t-shirts, and gay pornography in your house. I mean this all constitutes the rights of the police to invade your house right?

If the police can satisfy a judge that I possess those items with the intent to use them illegally--then yes. It's called "Conspiracy to commit..."

Oh, and they weren't merely being stored in their personal residences. They were being stored in various locations used as organizational headquarters of the self-described anarchist organization known as "RNC Welcoming Committee".

You may convince the People Republic of Farkistan to look at these raids in a vacuum--but, in the real world, even the most naive person knows exactly what the plan was of the anarchists, gathered in St. Paul, (which just happens to be the home of the RNC,) who call themselves the "RNC Welcoming Committee," and who have armed themselves with slingshots, cans of paint and gasoline, and buckets of urine. That's why the judge(s) signed off on the warrants, and why they'll get nowhere trying to fight them.

Your argument is, simply put--intellectually dishonest...