Tag: police state

SWAT Team Wakes Up Couple, Shoots Unarmed Disabled Husband, Attempts to Cover It Up

If you read the original headlines in December 2022 after police filled Jason Harley Kloepfer, 41, with bullet holes, you would have thought that police acted heroically and saved the day. Headlines, however, especially when they involve “official” statements from police, are often very wrong.

“Kloepfer confronted officers, forcing them to shoot the suspect,” the police initially told reporters, who unquestioningly printed it. The official statement from the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office read as follows:

On Monday December 12th, 2022 at approximately 11pm Cherokee County E911 Communications received a 911 call indicating a disturbance with several gun shots fired at 1790 Upper Bear Paw Road. Cherokee County Deputies were immediately dispatched and arrived on the scene at approximately 11:17pm. Deputies attempted to make contact with the alleged shooter but was unsuccessful. Recognizing there was an armed suspect present and the potential for a hostage situation, Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office obtained a search warrant and requested assistance from the Cherokee Indian Police Department SWAT Team. The suspected shooter engaged in a verbal altercation with officers and emerged from a camper trailer and confronted officers. Members of the Cherokee Indian Police SWAT Team fired upon the suspect and wounded him. The suspect was transported to Erlanger in Chattanooga Tennessee where he was last reported in stable condition.

However, video footage was released over the weekend, showing this description was a lie. Kloepfer never “confronted” anyone, complied with officers’ orders, was unarmed and had his hands up when officers filled him with bullet holes, sending him to the hospital fighting for his life.

According to police, they arrived at the scene that night over reports of shots fired. They wrongly accused Kloepfer of holding a hostage inside his home and deployed a robot camera inside his home.

As the video below shows, the robot camera wakes the sleeping couple who then get up to see what was going on. As Kloepfer and his wife walk out the front door, both unarmed, they put their hands in the air before officers open fire.

Kloepfer collapses. “What the hell!” his wife screamed at the officers while helping Kloepfer. “He’s shot – what the hell did you do!”

Despite shooting an unarmed man and knowing that he is bleeding out inside, officers yell for Kloepfer to come outside. He could not.

As cops finally enter the trailer, Kloepfer is faintly heard telling them, “I don’t have a gun. I didn’t have a gun.”

After the SWAT officer drags Koepfer’s body from the trailer, they realize they are on camera and quickly acknowledge it.

“F**k, cameras,” an officer says after seeing the video recording device. Police then turn the lights back on as they appear to put on night vision in a futile attempt to cover their actions — apparently unaware that the camera had night vision as well.

Kloepfer, who was disabled before the shooting, has been in recovery ever since, having undergone multiple surgeries. He has been sharing his recovery on Facebook and says he and his wife are staying out of state, claiming they fear for their lives with the Cherokee county SWAT team giving them ample reason to do so.

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TSA Seizes Passport of Journalist Who Was Critical of Davos…

Journalist Morgonn McMichael detained upon return from Davos.

She shares her story below.

AP Editor’s Note: Any harassment of a journalist traveling to or from Davos is a pretty good indication that you should be listening to this journalist.

Getting a “random search” through 2 airports and 3 security checkpoints and again at my gate for a 4th search & pat down.

My name was on a list with only 5 other names I saw.

When I asked why they said I had been flagged by TSA/ Homeland Security

This isn’t a coincidence…

— MORGONN (@morgonnm) January 20, 2023

UPDATE – Landed in the USA from Davos just went through border security and now my passport is detained and I have to be SEARCHED AGAIN with all of my luggage #WEF23 pic.twitter.com/7Nu1NO7BcK

— MORGONN (@morgonnm) January 20, 2023

Flagged with her name on a list…

Today I was explicitly told I was flagged and had my name on a list. This is what happens when Americans travel working to expose the evil. #FormerDetainee #WEF23 US Citizens searched 5 times in one day

— MORGONN (@morgonnm) January 20, 2023

An excellent example of her reporting from WEF…

Day 4 #WEF23 Live in Davos recap @tpusa

– Climate Change will only be solved by spending billions
– fighting “disinformation” through the mainstream
– Alternative meat options yes this means Bugs
– 2 year prediction of having global cyber attacks
– Covid… pic.twitter.com/G73lLmP29C

— MORGONN (@morgonnm) January 19, 2023

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A top Border Patrol official resigned after allegedly pressuring female employees for sex, officials say

A top official at the U.S. Border Patrol abruptly resigned in October after allegations came to light that he pressured a subordinate employee to perform sexual favors, and other women have since made similar allegations that they were victimized by him, say three Department of Homeland Security officials. 

Tony Barker, who served as the acting chief of the law enforcement operations directorate for the Border Patrol, is now under investigation for his behavior by Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Professional Responsibility, the three officials say. 

According to the sources, one woman said she had a consensual relationship with Barker that she tried to end, prompting Barker to retaliate. Barker allegedly threatened to tell others that she had illegally issued contracts if she did not perform sexual favors.

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When the CIA Spied on American Citizens—Using Pigeons

FLYING ABOVE THE WASHINGTON NAVY Yard, a spy was taking a series of pictures that revealed more than even the most advanced satellites, while the workers below went about their day-to-day lives, not knowing they were the subject of an espionage mission. Looking to gain an edge in the Cold War, in 1977 the Central Intelligence Agency had recruited a new, nearly invisible agent: a pigeon.

It may sound unusual, but the idea of using pigeons for espionage wasn’t without merit. The place of pigeons in an army was first recorded by the Roman historian Pliny, who described their role in communication, and the German army in World War I were the first to explore the use of pigeons for reconnaissance. The United States military had itself been using pigeons since the late 1800s for communication, but “I could not document any instance of them being used for reconnaissance,” says Elizabeth Macalaster, author of War Pigeons: Winged Couriers in the U.S. Military, 1878-1957.

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Mississippi Bill Would Mandate Surveillance Cameras in Schools and Colleges

A bill introduced last week in the Mississippi Legislature would require public schools and postsecondary institutions to install video surveillance cameras all over their campuses. The bill would require that the cameras also record audio and that they be installed in classrooms, auditoriums, cafeterias, gyms, hallways, recreational areas, and along each facility’s perimeter. Further, it would permit students’ parents to view live feeds of classroom instruction, according to the bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Stacey Hobgood-Wilkes (R–Picayune). 

“We have so much critical race theory being taught in our schools and different issues,” Wilkes said before introducing the bill. “It holds teachers accountable. It also helps them with discipline. Parents can’t come in there and say, ‘my child didn’t do that.'” The bill lists “monitoring classroom instruction” as an authorized use of surveillance footage. 

Wilkes did not respond to a request from Reason for further comment.

The bill would also authorize parents to request access to footage of an “incident” in which their child was involved. Schools must notify parents before classes begin each semester that cameras will be in use at their child’s school. Campus signage will notify students, teachers, and visitors of where cameras are in use.

Although the bill provides that cameras “shall only be installed in areas where there is no reasonable expectation of privacy,” the areas in which cameras would be statutorily required—specifically, the school cafeteria, recreational areas, and “interior corridors”—are precisely the types of places where students often carry on conversations they perceive to be relatively private. 

Schools would be required to back up footage to a cloud-based system and scrub it after 90 days of storage, unless it becomes relevant to a qualifying school or legal investigation. However, school data troves are notoriously leaky and susceptible to hacking attacks. According to the K12 Security Information Exchange’s 2022 annual report, there have been “a total of 1,331 publicly disclosed school cyber incidents affecting U.S. school districts (and other public educational organizations)” since 2016. 

The bill does not raise any obvious constitutional questions, assuming, of course, that cameras in college classrooms are not used to abridge the academic freedom of professors or students. But its cultural implications are massive. Primary school is mandatory. Many schools are already staffed by “resource officers.” Add numerous cameras or metal detectors, and schools might start to feel more like holding centers than places of learning.

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Area 51 expert slams US government for raiding his home: I’ve lost faith in the justice system

The home of an Area 51 website owner was violently raided by more than a dozen armed FBI agents in November, and since then, Joerg Arnu has received minimal explanation for the bombardment that caused $25,000 in damages to his property.

Area 51 expert Joerg Arnu explained on “Tucker Carlson Tonight” that the search was related to images he posted on his website.

“I can’t get ahold of anyone. Three doors were kicked in. A country gate was busted. My girlfriend was dragged out of the house in Las Vegas. I was dragged out of the house in Rachel. And nobody can give us any answers,” Arnu explained Friday.

Arnu has pleaded for an explanation from the U.S. Justice Department for months, but has largely remained in the dark. 

“I published photos of Area 51 on my website, which is something I have done for 20 years without anyone really taking issue with it. And all of a sudden, this thing comes out of the blue crashing down on my homes. I really still don’t have an explanation,” the expert continued. 

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Cannibalism, Aliens, and Cartels: The Trial of Mexico’s ‘Supercop’ Just Got Weird

In the months leading up to the trial of Genaro García Luna, the highest-ranking Mexican law enforcement official ever to face charges of narco-corruption in the United States, federal prosecutors made it sound like they had a mountain of evidence. Court filings described more than 1.2 million pages of documents, thousands of recordings, and a roster of cooperating witnesses who could potentially testify about delivering multi-million dollar bribes.

But now, with opening arguments in the trial set to start Monday, the high-stakes case hardly seems like a slam dunk. In a ruling handed down Thursday evening, Judge Brian Cogan—who also presided over the trial of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán—delivered a blow the prosecution, restricting some types of evidence from being heard by the jury and revealing the names of several likely cooperating witnesses, some of whom appear to have major credibility issues.

Cogan’s ruling, first reported by VICE News, referenced cooperators (former high-ranking cartel members who cut deals with U.S. prosecutors to testify in exchange for reduced sentences) who were allegedly involved in acts of cannibalism, along with another who has expressed beliefs in aliens, witchcraft, and the Illuminati. 

The judge also granted a request by the defense to block evidence of García Luna’s “expensive lifestyle” after he left the Mexican government in 2012 and moved to Miami, where he worked as a private security consultant, lived in a waterfront mansion, had access to a yacht, and enjoyed other trappings of luxury. Cogan ruled that prosecutors had so far failed to present any proof that García Luna’s lifestyle was “financed with cartel money.”

García Luna’s attorneys, Cogan said, will be allowed to show the jury photographs of the defendant meeting with high-level U.S. officials during his time leading the Mexican equivalent of the FBI from 2000 to 2006, and later during his tenure as Mexico’s secretary of public security, which ended when he left office in 2012. The defense has said García Luna interacted with former President Barack Obama, ex-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and the late Sen. John McCain, along with former directors of the CIA, FBI, and DEA, among others.

On the flipside, Cogan ruled that the defense will not be allowed to tell the jury about all the ways top U.S. officials have publicly praised García Luna over the years. To present that evidence, Cogan said, García Luna would have to call the officials—who are now presumably less effusive in their praise now that he’s under indictment—to “testify as character witnesses,” which would then make them subject to cross-examination by the government.

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360-Degree Surveillance: How Police Use Public-Private Partnerships To Spy On Americans

“We live in a surveillance state founded on a partnership between government and the technology industry.”

– Law Professor Avidan Y. Cover

In this age of ubiquitous surveillance, there are no private lives: everything is public.

Surveillance cameras mounted on utility poles, traffic lights, businesses, and homes. License plate readers. Ring doorbells. GPS devices. Dash cameras. Drones. Store security cameras. Geofencing and geotracking. FitBits. Alexa. Internet-connected devices.  

There are roughly one billion surveillance cameras worldwide and that number continues to grow, thanks to their wholehearted adoption by governments (especially law enforcement and military agencies), businesses, and individual consumers.

With every new surveillance device we welcome into our lives, the government gains yet another toehold into our private worlds.

Indeed, empowered by advances in surveillance technology and emboldened by rapidly expanding public-private partnerships between law enforcement, the Intelligence Community, and the private sector, police have become particularly adept at sidestepping the Fourth Amendment.

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