New York National Guard Units Scan Vehicles For Gun Confiscations

New “war on drugs” program another alarming sign that America is under martial law

Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
Wednesday, July 7, 2010

The New York National Guard is working with local law enforcement authorities to perform sophisticated scans of vehicles entering the New York area looking for guns and drugs in the latest alarming example of how America is under a state of de facto martial law.

Under the umbrella of the “war on drugs” and in complete violation of Posse Comitatus, National Guard units in New York are engaged in a “domestic fight” targeting American citizens with new ionization swabbing technology that enables them to “find drugs or weapons” via undervehicle inspections of cars based on the flimsiest of pretexts.

“The New York National Guard’s counter-drug task force (is) providing not only the people but the equipment law enforcement may need to make drug arrests and seizures,” reports Fox News 23. Such “seizures” includes the seizure of “weapons,” as Guard units, who are now working with foreign troops in exercises targeting American “terrorists,” are primed to engage in gun confiscation programs.

A video demonstration filmed by Fox 23 shows a typical checkpoint-style set up with a sign that states “slow – under vehicle inspection” as a swab of a car is performed. Although the report states that a warrant is needed to perform an inspection, an example cited of where the technology was used was apparently prompted by a police officer claiming to smell marijuana coming from a vehicle. The vehicle was swabbed but no drugs were found.

National Guard helicopters are also aiding the police “with observation, tracking, and finding illegal growing operations,” another complete violation of the Posse Comitatus Act and the Insurrection Act, which substantially limit the powers of the federal government to use the military for law enforcement unless under precise and extreme circumstances.

Under the John Warner Defense Authorization Act, signed by President Bush on October 17, 2006, the law was changed to state, “The President may employ the armed forces to restore public order in any State of the United States the President determines hinders the execution of laws or deprives people of a right, privilege, immunity, or protection named in the Constitution and secured by law or opposes or obstructs the execution of the laws of the United States or impedes the course of justice under those laws.”

However, these changes were repealed in their entirety by HR 4986: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008, reverting back to the original state of the Insurrection Act of 1807.

The original text of the Insurrection Act severely limits the power of the President to deploy troops within the United States.

For troops to be deployed, a condition has to exist that, “(1) So hinders the execution of the laws of that State, and of the United States within the State, that any part or class of its people is deprived of a right, privilege, immunity, or protection named in the Constitution and secured by law, and the constituted authorities of that State are unable, fail, or refuse to protect that right, privilege, or immunity, or to give that protection; or (2) opposes or obstructs the execution of the laws of the United States or impedes the course of justice under those laws. In any situation covered by clause (1), the State shall be considered to have denied the equal protection of the laws secured by the Constitution.”

As one respondent to the story points out, while cops and National Guard are busy harassing citizens and subjecting them to vehicle scans if an officer smells pot, real criminals and killers are still on the loose.

“Don’t the Schenectady police have better things to do than investing a year investigating someone who’s a cop claimed smelled like pot? There was shooting on Hamilton Hill where an 11 year old boy was shot in the head along with his brother. Well, that shooter is still on the loose while the SPD is preoccupied with borrowing gadgets from the national guards to track down drug users. The scarce resources of police departments should be devoted to catching criminals who harm the public by murdering, mugging and stealing. The police shouldn’t wasting their resources on people who are committing consensual crimes. And the war on drugs is really a war on people,” writes the respondent.

Under the pretext of “helping” local communities short of police in difficult economic times, U.S. troops are now occupying America as the country sinks into a state of de facto martial law.

The military are now being called upon to undertake roles normally designated to police as Americans are incrementally acclimated to accept the presence of troops on the streets as an everyday occurrence. National Guard units are now being deployed for things like traffic control in places like Kingman Arizona, and providing security at sports events like the Kentucky Derby.

As we reported in 2008, U.S. troops returning from Iraq are now occupying America, running checkpoints and training to deal with “civil unrest and crowd control” under the auspices of a Northcom program that by 2011 will have no less than 20,000 active duty troops deployed inside America to “help” state and local officials during times of emergency.

We have documented numerous instances of troops and National Guard personnel being used to perform law enforcement duties which are transparently outside the purview of the Guard’s supposed role to respond to national emergencies and therefore completely illegal.

In January 2009, soldiers from the Lynchburg-based 1st Battalion, 116th Brigade Combat Team, were used to conduct personal searches at checkpoints in Washington DC for the inauguration of Barack Obama.

In March of that same year, we reported on U.S. Army troops dispatched to patrol the streets of Samson, Alabama, after a murder spree.

On April 6, we reported on a DHS, federal, state, Air Force, and local law enforcement checkpoint in Tennessee. On April 3, Infowars was instrumental in the cancellation of a seatbelt checkpoint that was to be conducted in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security and the 251st Military Police in Bolivar, Tennessee.

In December 2008, we reported on the Marine Corps Air and Ground Combat Center dispatching troops to work with police on checkpoints in in San Bernardino County, California.

On April 22 2009, we reported the deployment of 400 National Guard Combat Support Battalion troops to “maintain public order” at the Boston Marathon.

In June 2008, Infowars posted an article by D. H. Williams of the Daily Newscaster reporting the deployment of 2,300 Marines in the city of Indianapolis under the direction of FBI and the Department of Homeland Security.

We also reported a story on April 22 2009 covering the assault of a local television news team by an irate police officer in El Paso, Texas. A video taken by the news videographer shows uniformed soldiers working with police officers at the scene of a car accident.

The routine use of military and Guard units in dealing with mundane law enforcement duties is part of an acclimation program to make Americans accept the sight of armed men in military fatigues patrolling the streets as America sinks further into a Communist-style police state and a state of de facto martial law.