No Weed, Just Weeds. A SWAT Raid in Texas.

[AnotherDreamWeaver]

A site search didn't show this had been posted:
http://intothegardenofeden.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=140&Itemid=382

No Weed, Just Weeds

City of Arlington SWAT Raid on Peaceful Organic Farmers is a Big Budget Bust

Click here for updates and progress in this matter


Arlington, TX August 5, 2013

At around seven thirty last Friday morning, inhabitants of The Garden of Eden, a small Intentional Community based on Sustainability, were awakened by a SWAT raid conducted by the City of Arlington for suspicion of being a full fledged marijuana growth and trafficking operation. Ultimately only a single arrest was made based on unrelated outstanding traffic violations, a handful of citations were given for city code violations, and zero drug related violations were found.


The entire operation lasted about 10 hours and involved many dozens of city officials, SWAT team, police officers and code compliance employees, and numerous official vehicles including dozens of police cars and several specialized vehicular equipment that was involved in the “abatement” operation. Witnesses say that there were helicopters and unmanned flying drones circling the property in the days prior to the raid that are presumed to have been a part of the intelligence gathering. The combined expenses for the raid itself and the collection of information leading up to the fruitless raid are estimated in the tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars.


All 8 adults present in the house were initially handcuffed at the gunpoint of heavily armed SWAT officers, including the mother of a 22 month old and a two week old baby who was separated from her children during the raid. The police enforced activity on the day of the raid included mowing the grass, the forcible destruction of both wild and cultivated plants like blackberries, lamb’s quarters and okra, and the removal of other varied materials from around the premises such as pallets, tires and cardboard that the Community members say they had collected for use in sustainability projects. No marijuana or other drugs were found on site and the inhabitants of the premises were all unarmed.


After several hours and many requests from the community members, the City Police Officers finally produced two warrants. The first was a Search Warrant for a suspected marijuana growth and distribution operation purportedly being concealed on the premises. There was also an Inspection & Abatement Warrant for code compliance violations such as tall grass and storage in the yard, an issue that the City of Arlington and The Garden of Eden have been disputing since February of this year. The marijuana warrant was issued based on an unsubstantiated claim by an Arlington City Police Officer of possession of marijuana by one of the community members for which there is no police record. Garden of Eden community members also say they have a series of documents showing that their dispute with the City of Arlington over the code compliance violations had already been addressed and settled.

(That's the first 4 paragraphs, more at link.)

[silverweb]

1. Absolutely shameful.

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]"We have been targeted by the system because we are showing people how to live without it."

I hope they sue the city and get enough money to buy more land for their community... in a much friendlier place!

[AnotherDreamWeaver]

2. Arlington may need them, after reading this:

About the Earth heating up:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023459674

[silverweb]

10. Yes, I've bookmarked that one.

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]Arlington may need them, but will they need Arlington?

They might as well go someplace where they're given a little appreciation, and not persecuted until they're needed, you know what I mean?

[Heather MC]

16. Arlington VA would totally appreciate them

[silverweb]

25. As would plenty of other places.

[Waiting For Everyman]

3. Woops! The nasty guys really screwed it up that time!

Those people were way ahead of them. I hope they make lots of money off of the court case. They deserve to, and clearly it would be put to good use.

Thanks for sharing this.

[avaistheone1]

6. I certainly hope so too.

I am tired of peaceful people minding their own business being treated like hardened criminals by cops and SWAT teams. I am having a hard time realizing our country has come to this. It is pure abuse and harassment on the part of the police. It has to be costing the taxpayers a fortune for all this nonsense.

[tblue37]

24. This raid sure did:

"The combined expenses for the raid itself and the collection of information leading up to the fruitless raid are estimated in the tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars <emphasis added>."

[JDPriestly]

11. My reaction too, Waiting for Everyman.

[TexasTowelie]

4. You were scooped on this story.

Here is another version of the story in the Texas Group.

Arlington SWAT Team Raids Commune Looking for Weed, Finds Only Hippies and Tall Grass
http://www.democraticunderground.com/107811161

[AnotherDreamWeaver]

5. I thought it shoud be here, but the search I did said it wasn't.

Hope the Community at Garden of Eden is blessed with a little more help and less trouble.

[TexasTowelie]

7. Yes, I don't post many articles in GD,

but if you check out the Texas Group it's apparent that I'm a troll!

[AnotherDreamWeaver]

9. I thought the "Site Search" function was all of DU...

And I put in the link to the article, not the headline I posted or you posted. And you got a different link. I got the information in an email, not reading news links. Anyhow hope all works out well for the folks.
ADW

[RandiFan1290]

19. Please don't worry about it

Thank you for posting it here. I wouldn't read the Texas group if you paid me by the letter.

[avaistheone1]

8. These Garden of Eden folks are scary.

The Garden of Eden is a small intentional community in southwest Arlington dedicated to Freedom, Sustainability and Responsibility. Since 2009 they have been providing food, shelter and sustainability education classes and workshops to the public for free. Their 3.5 acre land contains chickens, bees, composting stations, a large vegetable garden and many wildcrafted trees and plants that are used for foods, medicines, and household and beauty products. Their vision is to be a fully self-sustaining center for education on sustainable living. To learn more about the Garden of Eden, or be in support, visit intothegardenfeden.com or contact them at [e-mail].

[Spitfire of ATJ]

12. I wonder if they were having sex,....in TENTS....

You know how that scares the authorities.

[nilram]

13. Thanks. "Permaculture, intentional community, too radical for Arlington"

[Enthusiast]

14. Sustainability projects are fundamentally un-American.

Try to be a regular Merican while you're here.

[Enthusiast]

15. Sounds like a bunch a goldurned hippies!

Sumbich!

[B Calm]

17. The tax payers should have something to say about this

[Berlum]

18. RepubliFacists (R) stomping on America & Americans

I'd bet a sack of doughnuts the fascist assclowns behind this "raid" are all RepuliWankers who think of themselves as 'christians.'

[Sivafae]

20. They should have just said they were doing it for religious reasons and

put the women in funny clothes that are modest. Then they would totally be left alone.

[TransitJohn]

21. The property owner sounds like a freemen whackjob

Attempts at Resolution:



Garden of Eden representative Shellie Smith has since sent more than 20 letters of correspondence in hopes of resolving the matter lawfully and peacefully. Lawful notifications on record have been sent certified mail to Curtis Jones, the code compliance officer who made the initial complaint, Code Compliance employees Mike Bass, Neal Lucas, Lisa Duncan, City Manager Trey Yelverton, Mayor Robert Cluck and Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson. Not a single one of these individuals replied or responded to Smith with a phone call or written response of any kind.


In her lawful notification on record, Smith has requested to be shown what law grants the city government jurisdiction over her and her land, as jurisdiction must first be established. She very simply communicated in a lawful on reccord corrispondance "Show me the law and I will be happy to honor it" As a free woman inhabiting the land, she is entitled to inalienable rights, granted by her creator, as all men and women are. Unless she has made a contract by a signed written agreement with another party, be it a man, a company or a government agency, or unless she has caused damage to a person or their property, no one shall have power over her.

In her lawful notifications on record to the County Sheriff, Dee Anderson, Smith declared that her safety and property were being threatened unlawfully by the City and individuals in their official and individual capacity and that her family was in danger. She requested that the Sheriff intervene on her behalf to see that due process of law was followed. However the Sheriff did not respond nor did anyone from the Sheriff's office.


http://intothegardenofeden.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=141&Itemid=381

[burnodo]

22. kick

[derby378]

23. The real tragedy was that so many cops couldn't tell the difference between tomatoes and marijuana

This, my friends, is why we Texas DUers harp so loudly about our suck-ass educational system in the Lone Star State today.

[beevul]

26. WTF. N/T