Occupy Miami raided by SWAT teams (VIDEO)

Occupy Miami raided by SWAT teams (VIDEO)

rt.com

Dozens of cops equipped with shotguns and assault rifles stormed a Miami, Florida apartment building on Tuesday, drawing weapons at peaceful protesters and children with the local Occupy Wall Street campaign that were lawfully residing inside.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Related articles,
www.huffingtonpost.com...
blogs.miaminewtimes.com...

Apparently many OWS protesters were living inside an apartment building owned by a fellow OWS protester (owned? good lord!). The police say the got a tip that the protesters had "long guns" (what is a long gun?) and planned on using them at their next protest. So with that, the police brought in SWAT and their arsenal, pointed weapons at women and children and in the end found nothing. Several people were handcuffed and brought in for questioning but no one was charged with a crime.

rt.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

A "long gun" I would assume means a rifle, which can be bought by just about anyone at your local Walmart. They are not illegal to own, so why would a person (regardless of who they are) need to worry about SWAT raiding their home over a rifle or several rifles? That makes no sense to me at all. There has got to be more to this complaint, cause if there is not then the police have seriously over stepped their boundaries.

reply to post by MrWendal


Yeah I was thinking that too, maybe a rifle or shotgun, but as you've said, why the hell is SWAT raiding homes because of "long guns"? All their info is based on a "tip" they received. If they really thought these protesters were going to arm themselves for their next protest all they had to do was park outside their building and see if they come out with these "long guns". But instead they raided them.

According to Wikipedia,

en.wikipedia.org...

The term long gun is used to describe classes of firearm and cannon with longer barrels than other classes. In small arms, a long gun is designed to be fired braced against the shoulder, in contrast to a handgun, while in artillery a long gun would be contrasted with a howitzer or carronade.[1][2]

Yeah, I love this:

Mahmoud also says cops questioned him with inquiries which included “Are you a Muslim?” and “Do you love this country?”

"I said hell no, I don't love this country, and it's because of # like this,” Mahmoud tells the paper.

I hear ya, pal....

reply to post by Swills


As stated, that is not probable cause enough. There is obviously more to this story then what is told.

Originally posted by thehoneycomb
reply to post by Swills

 

As stated, that is not probable cause enough. There is obviously more to this story then what is told.

You would imagine but the story is the police raided based on a tip. I know it sounds weak and suspicious but hasn't law enforcement been given the green light to act on anything they deem to be a terrorist attack or what not?

From the Huffington Post article,

Miami Police have not yet responded to requests for comment, and the FBI would not confirm one eyewitness report that FBI agents were also present.

Miami is one of my stomping grounds in my youth. This is not a good hood in the least. And when I consider RT or RT overwriting a Youtube Video ...who knows maybe its more fake news.

reply to post by Swills


Maybe a tip that they had intent to use, or that said persons were in unlawful possession of said firearms. Either way I think we're missing part of the story here.

I'm confused, so the entire apartment complex was housing only Occupy Protesters? Who's funding the Occupy movement? Who let them use the entire apartment complex?


And why are the Police raiding an entire apartment complex? Did they actually go into each unit, or grab people as they left? Did they have a warrant?


There's about a hundred other questions that could be answered as well, but I don't see any clarification in the articles or the videos.....

Originally posted by thehoneycomb
reply to post by Swills

 

As stated, that is not probable cause enough. There is obviously more to this story then what is told.

Rifles as part of a Political Demonstration will bring Jonny Law right down on you. Get real.

reply to post by rebellender


Nope, not fake news. The Huffington Post also reporting it.

reply to post by boncho


I don't think the entire apartment housed only OWS protesters. Apparently an OWS protester owns the building and allowed his fellows to live there. Who knows if they lived rent free or not (none of our bizness) but it looks big enough so that other non OWS people rent there as well.

reply to post by rebellender


Those laws vary from state to state, I am not an expert by any means but do research on open carry demonstrations and that might give you a better idea where I am getting at. Not saying you are right or wrong here, but without a pretty specific tip a warrant would not be issued and without a warrant this would not happen.

But I am thinking that maybe it had something to do with the housing ordinance personally. How many protestors were living in one apartment?

reply to post by thehoneycomb


I think I'm gonna side with you on this one.
All I saw was a video of a courtyard, some sitting normal some in the assasination position.
Obviously they were not told to kneel in that position but were doing it for affect.
But to get a warrant for something that is legal would be career suicide.
I'm sure we will see the outcome of this.

Sheer harassment, nothing more!

Anonymous tip my arse. The "authorities" through their enforcers are doing everything they can to criminalise any and all dissent and protest.

Still, those OWS members should count themselves lucky they police didn't pull a "Waco" on them.

reply to post by thehoneycomb


I'm pretty sure there's no such thing as open carry in Miami . Now Arizona, sure. Also, a protester apparently owned the building so I would imagine all the protesters aren't crammed into someones 1 bedroom.

You'd be a fool to not carry a gun in a lot of parts of Miami. This story does not add up. No way they raided over a tip that someone had a rifle(long gun) which are legal to possess in Florida if you are a US citizen, of age, not a felon, mentally competent, or not a drug addict. We are not being told something.

Miami/Dade has multiple police organization that are notorious for corruption.

reply to post by g146541


Agreed.

There could have been illegal drug use or dealing for all we know.
There is just to little information to speculate at this point.
Other then some guy with a camera phone trying to promote a political cause.

OP when you come across more sources on this keep us posted.

reply to post by thehoneycomb


I'll try but I doubt this will receive much attention in the USA. Hopefully the HuffPost will update their article if the Miami PD decides to answer their questions. Drug bust? Doubtful since the protesters were already told why they were being raided, and to boot there were children present as well, so if drugs were discovered during this raid someone would have already gone to jail. No arrests were made.