Pentagon Continues To Up-Arm Local Police As 4,000 More Assault Rifles Shipped Since Ferguson

Military Hardware Still Flowing To Local Police After Ferguson

 

 

 

” The federal government shipped nearly 4,000 more assault rifles to local law enforcement agencies in the three months following the Ferguson riots, marking a huge surge in the amount of lethal firearms being doled out to police and sheriff’s offices.

  The Ferguson riots drew attention and criticism to the massive firepower state and local police are now able to bring to bear on their citizens, and earned scrutiny for the Pentagon project, known as the 1033 program, that helps arm many of those agencies by making surplus military equipment available to them.

  President Obama called for a review of the program, civil rights advocates said the local police had become indistinguishable from the military, and even some police departments questioned their own policies.

  But a Washington Times analysis of the first three months after the riots shows the program remains popular with law enforcement agencies throughout the country, though there have been some changes in the types of equipment that are now being offered.

  The 3,879 rifles the Pentagon shipped was an astronomical increase over the dozen rifles shipped during the same three-month period in 2013, with several police agencies taking delivery of hundreds of rifles soon after the Ferguson riots.

  Armored vehicles, which drew particular scrutiny in the riots in Ferguson and other cities, were less popular in the aftermath. The Pentagon shipped just 11 mine-resistant vehicles, or MRAPs, from Aug. 15 through Nov. 14, compared to nearly 180 in the same time period a year earlier.”

 

Read more

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Marshall Project Provides A County By County Accounting Of Militarization Of Police Weaponry From DoD

The Pentagon Finally Details Its Weapons-For-Cops Giveaway

 

 

 

 

Click image and scroll down for an interactive , state by state and 
county by county accounting of the DoD weapons giveaway

 

 

 

” You may have heard that the image-conscious Los Angeles Unified School District chose to return the grenade launchers it received from the Defense Department’s surplus equipment program. You probably have not heard about some of the more obscure beneficiaries of the Pentagon giveaway:

• Police in Johnston, R.I., with a population less than 29,000, acquired two bomb disposal robots, 10 tactical trucks, 35 assault rifles, more than 100 infrared gun sights and two pairs of footwear designed to protect against explosive mines. The Johnson police department has 67 sworn officers.
• The parks division of Delaware’s Department of Natural Resources was given 20 M-16 rifles, while the fish and wildlife enforcement division obtained another 20 M-16s, plus eight M-14 rifles and ten .45-caliber automatic pistols.
• Campus police at the University of Louisiana, Monroe, received 12 M-16s to help protect the 8,811 students there (or perhaps to keep them in line).
• The warden service of Maine’s Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife received a small aircraft, 96 night vision goggles, 67 gun sights and seven M-14 rifles.

  For more than 20 years, the Pentagon program that distributes surplus weapons, aircraft and vehicles to police departments nationwide received little attention or scrutiny. Defense Department officials closely guarded the details of which agencies across the country received which items.

  Then, events in Ferguson propelled the 1033 program, as the surplus distribution is called, into the public eye.”

 

Total Value of Tactical Items Distributed by Department of Defense 1033 Program

 

 

    Readers should take note of when this program really took off … 2010 . It comes as no surprise that this disastrous policy truly came into it’s own during the current administration .

 

 

 

” Flooded with calls for greater transparency, in late November, the Pentagon quietly released data that details all tactical equipment distributed through the program, and for the first time identified the agencies that received items. The data is a national gift list of high-caliber weapons, armored vehicles, aircraft and similar military equipment, all delivered for the price of shipping and often with little civilian oversight.

  The program has doled out $5 billion in equipment since 1990. Most of it was general office and maintenance equipment – shovels, copiers, computers – but the Pentagon largesse included tactical military equipment worth more than $1.4 billion, disseminated in 203,000 transfers to about 7,500 agencies. Even after Ferguson, the program continues to chug along, transferring $28 million in tactical equipment in the past three months.”

 

 

     Read the entire accounting and be sure to click the interactive link to see exactly what type of military firepower that your local authorities have received from the Feds .

   See also , The Marshall Project’s companion piece, A Department Of Defense 2014 Gift Guide : 

 

 

” Shopping for holiday gifts for your local police department, park ranger or campus security team? How about an “interim fast attack vehicle”? Or a nice grenade launcher? These are just a few of the $5 billion dollars worth of surplus items that the Defense Department has distributed to law enforcement agencies and others in its Excess Property Program, also called the 1033 program. Below is a list of gifts culled from records that the department quietly made public last month. The values are based on what the Pentagon paid when it acquired the equipment. The recipients paid only shipping.”

 

 

 

 

 

God save us from our own government …

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Obama Is Creating The American Police State With Billions In Free Weapons To Local PDs

How The Obama Administration Gives Away Military-Grade Weapons To Local Police

 

 

 

 

 

” In the weeks after the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., images of officers training rifles on crowds of protesters from the turrets of armored vehicles became a potent symbol of the distrust between law enforcement and citizens in Ferguson — and elsewhere.

  Now, civil rights and civil liberties advocates are calling on the Obama administration to respond to the events in Ferguson by discouraging police from relying so heavily on military equipment and tactics.

  Several federal programs are helping local law enforcement to acquire heavy weapons, either by making funds available or by providing the equipment directly. One program at the Pentagon transferred surplus military equipment worth nearly half a billion dollars to local police last year. Grants provided by the Department of Homeland Security total another $1 billion, and Holder’s department provides hundreds of millions more.

” We do not condition that money on requiring real change in policing,” said Sherrilynn Ifill of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in a press conference on Tuesday. “Taxpayer money to local police departments should come with the condition that the police take responsibility for improving.” “

 

 

Washington Post has more on the burgeoning American Police State . Read it all .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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An Interactive Map Of The Distribution Of War Fighting Gear To Local Police Departments

Mapping The Spread Of The Military’s Surplus Gear

 

 

Click on the pic to go to interactive page and view your county’s arsenal

 

 

 

” State and local police departments obtain some of their military-style equipment through a free Defense Department program created in the early 1990s. While the portion of their gear that comes from the program is relatively small (most of it is paid for by the departments or through federal grants), detailed data from the Pentagon illustrates how ubiquitous such equipment has become. Highlighted counties have received guns, grenade launchers, vehicles, night vision or body armor through the program since 2006.”

 

NY Times

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Feds Arming Cops At Alarming Rate

Ferguson Shooting: US Police Armed With 93,763 New Machine Guns

 

 

 

” If Ferguson, Missouri, looks like a war zone, that may be because its police force is armed to the teeth with military equipment. In photographs from this week’s protests, officers can be seen toting assault rifles, wearing gas masks and body armour loaded with extra ammunition magazines, and riding around in mine-resistant armoured personnel carriers.

  The militarisation of US police departments has escalated exponentially in the years since 9/11, with many local forces increasingly resembling US troops fighting overseas.

  And with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan wound down, much of the military’s surplus equipment has been handed to domestic law enforcement agencies.

  According to a recent report by the New York Times, since 2006 US police departments have collectively acquired 93,763 machine guns; 432 mine-resistant trucks; more than 500 aircraft; thousands of pieces of camouflage and night vision gear; and hundreds of thousands of ammunition magazines, all supplied via a Department of Defence programme.”

 

Independent

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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As Foreign Wars Wind Down PD’s Nationwide Arm For Domestic Ones … Thanks To The Feds

War Gear Flows To Police Departments

 

 

” As the nation’s wars abroad wind down, many of the military’s surplus tools of combat have ended up in the hands of state and local law enforcement. Totals below are the minimum number of pieces acquired since 2006 in a selection of categories.”

” Inside the municipal garage of this small lakefront city, parked next to the hefty orange snowplow, sits an even larger truck, this one painted in desert khaki. Weighing 30 tons and built to withstand land mines, the armored combat vehicle is one of hundreds showing up across the country, in police departments big and small.

  The 9-foot-tall armored truck was intended for an overseas battlefield. But as President Obama ushers in the end of what he called America’s “long season of war,” the former tools of combat — M-16 rifles, grenade launchers, silencers and more — are ending up in local police departments, often with little public notice.

  During the Obama administration, according to Pentagon data, police departments have received tens of thousands of machine guns; nearly 200,000 ammunition magazines; thousands of pieces of camouflage and night-vision equipment; and hundreds of silencers, armored cars and aircraft.

  The equipment has been added to the armories of police departments that already look and act like military units. Police SWAT teams are now deployed tens of thousands of times each year, increasingly for routine jobs. Masked, heavily armed police officers in Louisiana raided a nightclub in 2006 as part of a liquor inspection. In Florida in 2010, officers in SWAT gear and with guns drawn carried out raids on barbershops that mostly led only to charges of “barbering without a license.” “

 

 

 

     For all the police talk of the dangers they face and the armament of the criminal element , there is little proof of such assertions . As a matter of fact 2013 saw the fewest law enforcement deaths in over 125 years and that is not because of armored cars .

 

 

” The ubiquity of SWAT teams has changed not only the way officers look, but also the way departments view themselves. Recruiting videos feature clips of officers storming into homes with smoke grenades and firing  automatic weapons . In Springdale, Ark., a police recruiting video is dominated by SWAT clips, including officers throwing a flash grenade into a house and creeping through a field in camouflage.

  In South Carolina, the Richland County Sheriff’s Department’s website features its SWAT team, dressed in black with guns drawn, flanking an armored vehicle that looks like a tank and has a mounted .50-caliber gun. Capt. Chris Cowan, a department spokesman, said the vehicle “allows the department to stay in step with the criminals who are arming themselves more heavily every day.” He said police officers had taken it to schools and community events, where it was a conversation starter.”

 

 

 

Katherine Mangu-Ward cuts to the heart of the hypocrisy …

 

 

 

” The Times quotes a “more in sorrow than in anger” line from a local police chief:

“I don’t like it. I wish it were the way it was when I was a kid,” he said. But he said the possibility of violence, however remote, required taking precautions. “We’re not going to go out there as Officer Friendly with no body armor and just a handgun and say ‘Good enough.’ “

 

 

 

    In order to get a better understanding of the risks involved in policing take a look at the statistics provided below regarding work-related fatalities . Keep in mind that the statistics below are for the calendar year 2008 when 147 officers died in the line of duty while during the year 2013 only 100+/- died . 

 

 

 

” OCCUPATIONS MORE DANGEROUS THAN BEING A POLICE OFFICER:

  Number of deaths per 100,000 employed Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics-Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries – 2008

Fishermen: 112.0

Logging workers: 87.0

Aircraft pilots: 67.0

Iron and steelworkers: 45.0

Farmers and ranchers: 38.0

Garbage collectors: 36.8

Roofers: 34.4

Electrical power line installation/repair: 29.8

Truck drivers: 22.8

Oil and gas extraction: 21.9

Police officers and Deputies: 21.4*

Taxi drivers: 19.3

Drinking establishment employees: 17.0

Construction workers: 16.0

Grounds maintenance: 11.9

Welders: 10.5

Electricians: 8.3

Gas station attendant: 7.5

Firefighters: 6.9

Auto mechanics: 5.0

Newspaper publishers: 4.8

Carpenters: 4.7

Janitors: 3.1

Retail sales: 1.5

 

* A high percentage of police officers deaths involve traffic accidents and not wearing a “seat belt.”

 

 

 As a for instance to the above quoted police fatality rate bear in mind that in 2013 105 officers were killed in the line of duty and of those 105 only 30 were shot to death . The balance were killed in traffic accidents and other causes as categorized below by the  Officer Down Memorial Page . Put forth in such stark , simple terms it is obvious that the people have a lot more to fear of the police than the reverse .

 

2013 Line of Duty Deaths: 105

9/11 related illness: 1
Aircraft accident: 1
Automobile accident: 25
Boating accident: 1
Bomb: 1
Drowned: 2
Duty related illness: 1
Electrocuted: 1
Fall: 4
Fire: 1
Gunfire: 30
Gunfire (Accidental): 2
Heart attack: 10
Motorcycle accident: 4
Stabbed: 2
Struck by vehicle: 8
Training accident: 2
Vehicle pursuit: 4
Vehicular assault: 5

 

 

 

FBI

  In many cases of police brutality that the FBI investigates, only a small fraction ever receive indictments, and even fewer result in a conviction. In 1996, the FBI reviewed 10,129 civil rights cases, and only 0.2% were filed for prosecution. The prosecution rate for police abuse cases is less than 1% of those investigated. So even if a complaint makes it to the FBI, it is very unlikely to lead to a conviction. This is a classic scenario of ‘the wolf guarding the fox that’s guarding the hen house.’

  Is it dangerous to be a cop? FBI reports show that in 2000, 51 police officers were killed in the United States. Out of the hundreds of thousands of law enforcement personnel, this means less than 1/10 of 1% are at risk, thereby making law enforcement personnel one of the safest class of citizens in the United States. On the other hand, nearly one in two civilian women in the United States has either been raped, assaulted, or beaten during domestic violence during their lives. Court records show police officers are four (4) times more likely to commit acts of domestic violence, than any other group — however, they rarely are arrested because their friends respond to the scene of the crime.

  According to the Department of Labor, the on-the-job fatality rate for police is lower than that for gardeners, electricians, truck drivers, garbage collectors, construction workers, airline pilots, timber cutters, and commercial fisherman. In fact, fishermen have an occupational fatality rate that is fifteen times higher than that for cops, but rarely do we hear those who provide us with an endless supply of mahi-mahi described as heroes. (See Selling the Police: Reflections on Heroism and Hype in America,Tim Wise “

 

 

   The notion that the police officer’s exposure to danger and life-threatening situations has exploded along with the arming of the criminals and terrorists is to deny the facts .

 

 

 

 

Mangu-Ward continues:

 

 

” And then calls him out on his historical illiteracy:

   Congress created the military-transfer program in the early 1990s, when violent crime plagued America’s cities and the police felt outgunned by drug gangs. Today, crime has fallen to its lowest levels in a generation, the wars have wound down, and despite current fears, the number of domestic terrorist attacks has declined sharply from the 1960s and 1970s.”

 

 

 

 

   The threat of domestic terrorism is another Statist strawman used to justify the militarization of our “peace officers” , remember when the were called that , and again does not stand up to even the most simple scrutiny …

 

 

 

 

 

 

    Here is a link to the Global Terrorism Database where the reader can find the most complete data on both foreign and domestic terrorism with very user-friendly interactive charts and graphics such as the one below that shows beyond doubt that we are safer now than at anytime in the past 50 years from criminals and terrorists at least .

 

 

 

 

 

 

   On the other hand the body count of American citizens dead at the hands of law enforcement continues to grow exponentially …

 

” Almost all police involved shootings, while investigated by special units, prosecutor’s offices, or an outside police agency, were investigated by governmental law enforcement personnel. It is perhaps not surprising that more than 95 percent of all police involved shootings were ruled administratively and legally justified. A handful of cases led to wrongful death lawsuits. Even fewer will result in the criminal prosecution of officers. Critics of the system have called for the establishment of completely independent investigative agencies in cases of police involved shootings.

 

Where People Were Shot

 
     Most Deadly States

     California 183 total (102 fatal)
     Florida 96 (49)
     Illinois 64 (26)
     Texas 58 (26)
     New York 49 (23)
     Pennsylvania 49 (23)
     Ohio 45 (28)
     Arizona 45 (27)
     Maryland 41 (16)
     Washington 39 (29)

 
     Least Deadly States

     Delaware 0
     Vermont 0
     North Dakota 1
     Wyoming 2 (1)
     Alaska 2 (2)
     Montana 3 (2)
     South Dakota 3 (3)
     Hawaii 4 (3)
     Connecticut 6 (1)
     West Virginia 6 (5)
     New Hampshire 6 (5)
     Idaho 7 (2)
     Kansas 7 (5)

 

     Most Deadly Cities

     Chicago 46 total (10 fatal)
     Los Angeles 22 (14)
     Philadelphia 17 (7)
     Las Vegas 17 (15)
     New York City 16 (6)
     Phoenix 15 (10)
     Baltimore 15 (5)
     Columbus, OH 14 (8)
     Atlanta 12 (4)
     St. Louis 11 (3)
     Cleveland 10 (7)
     Miami 10 (6)
     Houston 10 (3)

 
     Least Deadly Cities

     Boston 1
     New Orleans 1 (1)
     Portland, ME 1
     Buffalo 2
     Detroit 2 (1)
     Seattle 2 (1)
     Denver 2 (2)
     Pittsburgh 3 (1)

 

     Cities with High Per Capita Shooting Rates

     Fresno, CA 9 total (4 fatal)
     Tucson, AZ 8 (6)
     Aurora, CO 7 (6)
     Oakland, CA 7 (6)
     San Jose, CA 7 (3)
     Albuquerque, NM 6 (5)
     Mesa, AZ 6 (2)
     Jacksonville, FL 5 (4)
     Syracuse, NY 5 (3)
     Orlando, FL 5 (2)
     N. Miami Beach, FL 5 (2)
     Little Rock, Ark. 5 (1)
     Yakima, WA 4 (1)
     Bakersfield, CA 4 (3)
     Long Beach, CA 4 (2)
     Garden Grove, CA 4 (3)
     Redding, CA 4 (2)”

 

 

 

   It is readily apparent that the most serious risk to the life and limbs of the average citizen in America today comes not from domestic terrorists or even from the average criminal , but from those very “public servants” charged with our protection .

 

Read the entire article at the NY Times

 

 

 

For those interested in further reading on the SWATification of America try these links:

 

 

Local Police And Their SWAT Mentality Are Robbing Us Of Our Liberty

2013 Saw Fewest Law Enforcement Officer Deaths Since 1887 … But Still They Militarize

Some Little Explored Facts About Police Shootings From James Bovard

It Was Only A Matter Of Time … A Video Montage Of Police Abuse

Militarization Of Police: Peace Officers To Storm Troopers – Big Brother Watch

Unconstrained Government Power – As Evidenced By Police Militarization

John Stossel – Police Militarization

More Americans Killed By Police Than Iraqi Insurgents

Militarized Police Is A Concern To ACLU … About Time

John Fund On “The United States Of SWAT?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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John Fund On “The United States Of SWAT?”

Military-Style Units From Government Agencies Are Wreaking Havoc On Non-Violent Citizens

 

 

 

 

” Regardless of how people feel about Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy’s standoff with the federal Bureau of Land Management over his cattle’s grazing rights, a lot of Americans were surprised to see TV images of an armed-to-the-teeth paramilitary wing of the BLM deployed around Bundy’s ranch.

  They shouldn’t have been. Dozens of federal agencies now have Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams to further an expanding definition of their missions. It’s not controversial that the Secret Service and the Bureau of Prisons have them. But what about the Department of Agriculture, the Railroad Retirement Board, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Office of Personnel Management, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service? All of these have their own SWAT units and are part of a worrying trend towards the militarization of federal agencies — not to mention local police forces.

“ Law-enforcement agencies across the U.S., at every level of government, have been blurring the line between police officer and soldier,” journalist Radley Balko writes in his 2013 book Rise of the Warrior Cop. “The war on drugs and, more recently, post-9/11 antiterrorism efforts have created a new figure on the U.S. scene: the warrior cop — armed to the teeth, ready to deal harshly with targeted wrongdoers, and a growing threat to familiar American liberties.”

  The proliferation of paramilitary federal SWAT teams inevitably brings abuses that have nothing to do with either drugs or terrorism. Many of the raids they conduct are against harmless, often innocent, Americans who typically are accused of non-violent civil or administrative violations.

  Take the case of Kenneth Wright of Stockton, Calif., who was “visited” by a SWAT team from the U.S. Department of Education in June 2011. Agents battered down the door of his home at 6 a.m., dragged him outside in his boxer shorts, and handcuffed him as they put his three children (ages 3, 7, and 11) in a police car for two hours while they searched his home. The raid was allegedly intended to uncover information on Wright’s estranged wife, Michelle, who hadn’t been living with him and was suspected of college financial-aid fraud.”

The day’s other Must-Read

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It’s Time To Re-Evaluate … Past Time In Our Book

Police The Police

 

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Homeland Security Terrorizes Brooklyn Neighborhood In Pursuit Of A Few “Kilos Of Heroin”

Homeland Security’s Heavily Armed East Williamsburg Raid ‘Terrorized And Confused’ Residents

 

 

 

” A number of East Williamsburg and Bushwick residents were surprised by a combined federal and NYPD raid on Devoe Street early Sunday morning. Some were disturbed by a loud, low-flying helicopter, while others were simply stopped from going home because the street was blocked off.

  Witnesses spotted a big Department of Homeland Security truck as well as DHS agents toting machine guns as they raided 221 Devoe Street. The NYPD was also involved, and one officer told a resident that the bust turned up “kilos of heroin.” (Apparently the drugs may have been from out of the country, hence DHS.)

  A resident in a neighboring building told us that he and his partner “were utterly confused and frankly terrorized…I literally had a flashlight-gun pointed at me from a sniper on top of the black armored truck the first time I opened our window to see what was going on.” “

 

     Apparently every crime is now a matter of national security . The justification for Federal stormtroopers to come your way is anything that they say it is , like the “drugs came from outside the country” . There’s a surprise , last we knew  opium was not a domestic cash crop … Just another flimsy excuse for the Feds to usurp state and local authority . 

  According to the Homeland Security website their responsibilities include :

 

” HSI investigates immigration crime, human rights violations and human smuggling, smuggling of narcotics, weapons and other types of contraband, financial crimes, cybercrime and export enforcement issues.”

 

    We know that they are not doing anything to interfere with the flow of illegal immigration , human smuggling or drug smuggling , seeing as how the Border Patrol has been ordered to “run away” from those folks crossing the border and drug mules . Their sole purpose then , would seem to be to terrorize the legal populace and create a climate of submission .

The Gothamist has more 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Daily Video 3.13.14

Proposed Bill Would Curb Militarization Of US Police

 

 

 

Published on Mar 12, 2014

” The Pentagon’s 1033 program, which “provides or transfers surplus Department of Defense military equipment to state and local civilian law enforcement agencies without charge,” needs a major overhaul to prevent the further militarization of American police departments, Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) argues in a new USA Today op-ed. The program currently allows small-town police departments, like that in Roanoke Rapids, N.C., to receive Mine-Resistant, Ambush-Protected vehicles (or MRAPs), assault weapons, drones and other military-grade equipment – that they may never use – for free, instead of paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for them. And then those small towns can turn around and sell that equipment online. RT’s Gayane Chichakyan discusses the militarization of US police with Michael Shank from the Friends Committee on National Legislation, who co-wrote the Johnson op-ed.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Face Of American “Policing” – To Protect And Serve The STATE

Thanks To Police The Police For The Image

 

 

 

 

 

MRAPS for all … To protect and serve … The State

 

 

 

 

 

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Retired Senator Speaks On FEMA “Emergency” Plans

FEMA Region 3 Author Senator Songstad Goes Public

 

 

 

 

 

” Retired South Dakota Senator Sheldon Songstad, who represented  Sioux Falls from 1975-1988, has emerged from the shadows to discuss his memo about FEMA Region 3 .  According to Songstad the FEMA Region 3 memo was only intended for a select group of friends, but managed to make its way to numerous alternative and mainstream media outlets.

Songstad, calling in from a secure line to  the Rick Wiles Show claims he is out of the country traveling incognito, making his whereabouts unknown.  When asked where FEMA Region 3 was by host Rick Wiles , Songstad said “I think it’s the four states up around Washington DC, Virginia, up in that area. ” I don’t know about you but if i’m issuing an alert for a FEMA region I’m going to sound a little more convincing than “around Washington DC, Virginia up in that area.”  Perhaps we can dismiss Songstads lack of geographical expertise to old age. That statement wasn’t the only thing that sounded funny, when asked other questions about his FEMA alert Songstad gave a simple one word answer and refused to elaborate.”

 

 

The rest of the interview is here .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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