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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTexas Police Hit Organic Farm With Massive SWAT Raid
A small organic farm in Arlington, Texas, was the target of a massive police action last week that included aerial surveillance, a SWAT raid and a 10-hour search.
Members of the local police raiding party had a search warrant for marijuana plants, which they failed to find at the Garden of Eden farm. But farm owners and residents who live on the property told a Dallas-Ft. Worth NBC station that that the real reason for the law enforcement exercise appears to have been code enforcement. The police seized "17 blackberry bushes, 15 okra plants, 14 tomatillo plants ... native grasses and sunflowers," after holding residents inside at gunpoint for at least a half-hour, property owner Shellie Smith said in a statement. The raid lasted about 10 hours, she said.
Local authorities had cited the Garden of Eden in recent weeks for code violations, including "grass that was too tall, bushes growing too close to the street, a couch and piano in the yard, chopped wood that was not properly stacked, a piece of siding that was missing from the side of the house, and generally unclean premises," Smith's statement said. She said the police didn't produce a warrant until two hours after the raid began, and officers shielded their name tags so they couldn't be identified. According to ABC affiliate WFAA, resident Quinn Eaker was the only person arrested -- for outstanding traffic violations.
The city of Arlington said in a statement that the code citations were issued to the farm following complaints by neighbors, who were "concerned that the conditions" at the farm "interfere with the useful enjoyment of their properties and are detrimental to property values and community appearance." The police SWAT raid came after "the Arlington Police Department received a number of complaints that the same property owner was cultivating marijuana plants on the premises," the city's statement said. "No cultivated marijuana plants were located on the premises," the statement acknowledged.
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more at link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/15/texas-swat-team-conducts-_n_3764951.html
Mnpaul
(3,655 posts)a scene from Alice's Restaurant in real life.
NYC_SKP
(68,644 posts)cliffordu
(30,994 posts)Fucking Texas.
NYC_SKP
(68,644 posts).
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=3469694
I don't think our good friend swampg8r has covered them yet.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002257080
Beowulf42
(204 posts)It's the militarization of our police forces in every city and state. The fireman who waves at the police and is threatenend and cuffed. Our attitude toward police has to change from force to problem solving.
Tx4obama
(36,974 posts)I do not understand why --- police seized "17 blackberry bushes, 15 okra plants, 14 tomatillo plants ... native grasses and sunflowers," ...
DreamGypsy
(2,252 posts)...to make gumbo and smoothies for everyone, served on a table decorated beautifully with sunflowers and grasses.
Lots more information about the situation, the history, and the participants on the Garden of Eden Facebook page.
Check out the photos. See the famous outdoor couch being taken away.
The hippies and the pigs redux.
DallasNE
(7,403 posts)Looked like marijuana plants to the police, as near as I can tell. Maybe they thought okra was something that was mixed in to stretch out the marijuana -- who knows. They thought sweet potato plants were weeds so the took a weed whacker to them. It looks like idiots on parade.
Downwinder
(12,869 posts)It was not Eve's fault.
dickensknitter
(24 posts)It IS a scary heat-loving plant...
SwissTony
(2,560 posts)Welcome to DU, dickensknitter. Enjoy your time here.
Cha
(297,196 posts)Being held at gunpoint for 1/2 hour!
And, for what!
Was there no one in Charge with a lick of Common Sense?!!
mahalo silvershadow.
Don't mess with our Planet's organic farmers!
a2liberal
(1,524 posts)delrem
(9,688 posts)will be more mindful of their responsibility to keep up a minimum of decorum. After all, if these are organic farmers, you'd think they would have sufficient understanding of their neighborhood, of the virtue of enhancing value by taking basic care.
DallasNE
(7,403 posts)Of some development project so they want to take the land cheap and what better way to discourage the residents from staying than to destroy everything they had.
gtar100
(4,192 posts)NickB79
(19,236 posts)Than improperly stacked firewood and a piece of missing siding
7wo7rees
(5,128 posts)Yes, it is "f'ing Texas", coming to your neighborhood soon. Out of control police, DEA, neighbors, City Code officials, oh the list could go on and on. Don't forget this is Arlington, home of the monument to Jerry Jones (now named AT&T Stadium and HIS Cowboy team). Truly sad.
onethatcares
(16,168 posts)texass was the home of little government regulation and intrusion on personal freedom. Apparently someone should call Mr. Goodhair.
RandiFan1290
(6,232 posts)They must have been disappointed.
indepat
(20,899 posts)you GHWB, Bill, junior, and BHO for keeping such a swell idea alive: the heroic fruits of this endeavor are on display almost daily.