In April of this year, two liberty activists went on an armed walk in Detroit, as they have done dozens of times previously, to protest the unlawful arrest of legally armed black men, as well as the encroaching violations of civil rights by the State and their law enforcement actors. What was unusual for them, on this walk, was being aggressed upon by Department of Homeland Security at gunpoint.
As seen on dozens of videos on YouTube, this copblocking and liberty outreach organization, Liberty Is For Everyone, has a long history of being welcomed and cheered on by the communities in Detroit that they visit. Thanks to repeated lawlessness from Detroit Police Department, these armed protestors are a wonderful shock for these people to see. In the video below, after two activists from Liberty Is For Everyone were illegally removed from a local bus station in downtown Detroit, they walked near the Patrick McNamara Federal Building just a few blocks away, as thousands of people do every day.
When these activists passed by a security checkpoints at the federal building while on their way to the riverfront, the private security there took offense to normal armed citizens. Even when the first security guard was educated on the fact that a public sidewalk is publicly accessible to anyone, the security guard instead called for Department of Homeland Security backup as these men continued past the Federal Building on their walk.
Not more than a block later on their travels, these two activists were confronted by Department of Homeland Security police officers, three of which were armed with AR-15s. One of the two activists with Liberty Is For Everyone, a black man with a rifle, was unlawfully detained and identified by Department of Homeland Security. His white partner, after being muzzle swept at point-blank range, continued across the street. Not only is it safer legally for the cameraman to continue on while his partner is being detained, but it also provides a wider angle for the camera to document the happenings. Both men continued on their way within a few minutes, but not before top brass commanders in Detroit Police Department made the scene.
A few months later, two men returned to the Patrick McNamara Federal Building for an additional audit, partially to see if the private security and the Department of Homeland Security police had changed the protocol regarding civil rights audits yet. The video of their second visit, quite different in nature, is below.
While some may say that the activists from Liberty Is For Everyone are merely baiting law enforcement officers who are going about their jobs, it is equally true that police bait normal citizens into taxable and arrestable offenses everyday, from the benign speeding tickets to the entrapments on a felony charge. As well, because police are a government monopoly, with no legal competition, they have no natural incentive to provide a quality service. There is no accountability in a monopoly, because there is no choice for the consumer to patronize an alternative. In a service that is not a monopoly, competition keeps costs and prices down while ensuring a quality product or service. If law enforcement were not a monopoly, Not only would civil rights audits like these be impractical, they would be unnecessary.
DHS Draws AR-15s on Cop Blockers in Detroit is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights