This
is one of the creepiest articles I have ever read. It reminds me of my
experience being SWATted — having armed police rush into my home in
what looked like retaliation for my speech. Yet in the case described
in the article, the SWATting is actually being carried out . . . by the
government.
In Wisconsin, citizens
had cops bust into their homes with battering rams. Property was taken
from their homes, in full view of the neighbors — and in some cases
officers mocked them. Then the citizens were told that they could tell
nobody about what had happened. If they did, they could go to jail.
All for exercising their First
Amendment rights. Essentially, for being conservatives.
And
on Twitter, some lefties — including allegedly reputable outfits like
the
Alliance
For Justice — are
celebrating it. Alliance for Justice? More like “Alliance for Just Us.”
Every
time a local grand jury investigating a police department comes to a
decision that some politicians don’t like, there is a call for a
federal civil-rights investigation. In Wisconsin, we have a clear and
obvious case of out-of-control authorities conducting a campaign,
possibly criminal, of police suppression targeting people for their
political beliefs, a gross violation of their civil rights.
Where’s the investigation?
Question
for the lawyers here: Isn’t this a case for the Civil Rights Act of
1871, a.k.a. the Klan Act? That act forbids any state or local
authority acting under color of law from depriving U.S. citizens of
their civil rights under federal law. This seems like an obvious remedy
to me.
Well,
the Klan was a bunch of Democrats concerned about the locals getting
uppity, too.
ANOTHER
UPDATE: In the comments, Prof. Stephen Clark observes:
Every
Democrat should repeatedly be asked whether they support the police
state tactics used by Democrats in Wisconsin. As with Rand Paul every
media interviewer should be asked by candidates to answer the same as
the price for continuing the interview.
Wisconsin
Democrats should be made into a public embarrassment for Democrats
generally. Behavior of this kind will cease only when it carries a
global political cost.
