It looks like you're using an Ad Blocker.

Please white-list or disable AboveTopSecret.com in your ad-blocking tool.

Thank you.

 

Some features of ATS will be disabled while you continue to use an ad-blocker.

 

Did You Know That Even The Weather Forecasters Have SWAT Teams?

page: 1
2
<<   2 >>

log in

join
share:

posted on Aug, 15 2014 @ 10:24 AM
link   
Did You Know That Even The Weather Forecasters Have SWAT Teams?

The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration raided a woman's home with a SWAT team for failing to complete paperwork on a piece of coral she owned.


Over the weekend the Wall Street Journal ran an interesting piece about the growth in federal law enforcement officers working for non-traditional civilian agencies like the Department of Education and the Social Security Administration. Even the weather forecasters at NOAA have their own SWAT team:

Agents from NOAA, in fact, along with the Fish and Wildlife Service, raided the Miami business of Morgan Mok in 2008, seeking evidence she had broken the Endangered Species Act trading in coral.

The agents had assault rifles with them, and the case documents indicated her house and business records had been under surveillance over a six-month period, says Ms. Mok. Under the 1973 law, the departments of Interior and Commerce (home to NOAA) must write regulations to define what is endangered and how it must be protected. One of those regulations specifies coral.


In The Federal Government, Even The Weather Forecasters Have SWAT Teams


edit on 15-8-2014 by _BoneZ_ because: MOD NOTE: Starting a New Thread ?... Look Here First.



posted on Aug, 15 2014 @ 10:30 AM
link   
If only the weather men got raided for producing incorrect forecasts, thered be no one left



posted on Aug, 15 2014 @ 10:30 AM
link   
That enough to make a guy stutter! be interesting to witness a fire fight between two alphabet agencies! the permutations must be staggering!



posted on Aug, 15 2014 @ 10:39 AM
link   
She is lucky that theey didn't kill her.
Imagine the nerve of that woman.... owning coral... without the proper government papers.



posted on Aug, 15 2014 @ 10:49 AM
link   
a reply to: LrdRedhawk

I think that the title of the article is somewhat misleading.

The individuals who perform meteorological analyses of weather patterns and predict weather based on mapping and computer modeling, do NOT have SWAT teams. People who are part of the same government organisation, but employed for different reasons may be able to call down a SWAT team, but you have to understand that the sort of people who would smuggle significant amounts of coral, and other rare ocean bounty, are often prepared to do violence to escape justice, and to carry out their plots.

That said, this incident does seem to be one in which the authorities were over zealous in their deployment of SWAT.



posted on Aug, 15 2014 @ 10:57 AM
link   
Evil coral dealing kingpins today ..... dastardly climate change deniers tomorrow!

I am sure the enforcement wing of NOAA has grand plans!

...Okay.. Seriously.. lol.. I heard they HAD one of these from earlier 'they are arming everyone!' stories. I hadn't seen a case where they had used it. This is what they have armed agents for? Really?? To chase people selling legal pieces of coral???

I think back to an Indian Head Dress my Dad had and finally donated to a Native Tribe in Southern California. It came from a long time ago, and passed to him from his scouting days. It was legal, and legit by it's history and it was ALL real Eagle Feathers. All the way down the wearers back, too. I can only think a team like this would have come with gunships and tanks to see about THAT item.

What have we become in so short a time, America?


Ms. Mok says she showed that her coral had been properly obtained. She paid a $500 fine and served one year of probation for failing to complete paperwork for an otherwise legal transaction.
(op link)

She hadn't even done anything wrong, in the end.



posted on Aug, 15 2014 @ 11:09 AM
link   
a reply to: LrdRedhawk

Any particular reason for bringing up a story from 2011?

Anyway, you should have just linked to the Wall Street Journal article, much better reading..

online.wsj.com...



posted on Aug, 15 2014 @ 11:37 AM
link   
If she didn't do anything wrong, why was she responsible to pay the fine?

We really need connect the dots, this is why our prisons are over crowded.



posted on Aug, 15 2014 @ 12:11 PM
link   
a reply to: Wrabbit2000

Um...

She DID do something wrong. She did not submit the correct paperwork for the item, with the consequences which eventually came about. This is no different than purchasing a car legally in this country, but failing to register your purchase with the DVLA, and failing to insure the vehicle, but driving it anyway.



posted on Aug, 15 2014 @ 12:57 PM
link   
Here in the UK, the Met Office is owned (in an arms length sort of way) by the MOD so maybe the same over there?



posted on Aug, 15 2014 @ 01:35 PM
link   
This is old news. It has been circulating since at least August 2012. At the time, they tried to pass it off as a typo, but it's been out there.

There are lots of federal agencies who shouldn't have armed response teams that do now.



This comes with the militarized police and the naming of protest groups as domestic terrorists in the federal law enforcement and military ranks.
edit on 15-8-2014 by ketsuko because: (no reason given)



posted on Aug, 15 2014 @ 03:58 PM
link   

originally posted by: TrueBrit
a reply to: Wrabbit2000

Um...

She DID do something wrong. She did not submit the correct paperwork for the item, with the consequences which eventually came about. This is no different than purchasing a car legally in this country, but failing to register your purchase with the DVLA, and failing to insure the vehicle, but driving it anyway.


I'll never understand your type....

The difference, OBVIOUSLY, is that you don't get your house raided by a SWAT team for failing to register a car, or driving uninsured. Most reasonable people think you shouldn't get SWATed for failing to fill out some stupid paperwork, either. OBVIOUSLY.

Seriously, what was the point of your post?



posted on Aug, 15 2014 @ 04:03 PM
link   
a reply to: TrueBrit

So, at what point does it become unreasonable for law enforcement to send a SWAT team after you for failing to comply with some bureaucratic detail or other because, make no mistake, there are, truthfully, so many laws on the books in our country and in yours that they can brand any and all of us lawbreakers for a many different things if they are determined to do so.

So, at what point should we start getting SWAT teams sent to rectify those legal transgressions of ours that we are almost certainly not even aware of?



posted on Aug, 15 2014 @ 04:27 PM
link   
Not many are aware of this, but NOAA has long had a “uniform service” similar to the Navy or Coast Guard. These are the guys who man their research ships for example. Its been around since 1970...
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps, and known informally as the NOAA Corps, is one of seven federal uniformed services of the United States[note 1] and operates under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a scientific agency within the Department of Commerce. The NOAA Corps is one of two uniformed services – the other is the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps – that consist only of commissioned officers, with no enlisted or warrant officer ranks.

Established in 1970, the NOAA Corps is the successor to the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps (1917–1965) and the Environmental Science Services Administration Corps (ESSA Corps) (1965–1970).


US Uniformed Service branches:
Uniform Services of the United States

The seven uniformed services are, in order of precedence by ceremonial formation:[5]
1.United States Army
2.United States Marine Corps
3.United States Navy
4.United States Air Force
5.United States Coast Guard
6.United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps
7.National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps

Each of the uniformed services is administratively headed by a federal executive department and its corresponding civilian Cabinet leader.


edit on 8/15/2014 by defcon5 because: (no reason given)



posted on Aug, 15 2014 @ 04:30 PM
link   
the use of such tactics in such instances is ridiculous overkill.



posted on Aug, 15 2014 @ 05:57 PM
link   
The weather part of NOAA does not have armed agents. The National Marine Fisheries Service which falls under NOAA does.

NMFS has the primary responsibility to conserve and manage marine fisheries in the U.S. exclusive economic zone beyond state waters.
This takes about 1 min to look up.



posted on Aug, 15 2014 @ 06:12 PM
link   
a reply to: MrSpad

How is the NMFS, as a division of NOAA....not qualify as NOAA?

BTW, for reference I looked one of the orders up from 2012. As for destination? I guess they ordered a variety to different offices.


8,000 rounds to: Ross Lane DOC, NOAA, NMFS, OLE, NED 130 Oak Street, Suite 5, Ellsworth, ME, 04605

8,000 rounds to: Troy Audyatis, DOC, NOAA, NMFS, OLE, NED 53 North 6th Street, Room 214 New Bedford, MA, 02740.,
16, Cases;

LI 002, 24,000 rounds of ammunition for semiautomatic pistols to be factory-loaded .40 S&W caliber, 180-grain jacketed hollow point (JHP). No reloads may be used with these weapons. All service furnished ammunition for issued firearms will be U.S. factory production.
?Inside Delivery? to locations below:

24,000 rounds to: Jeff Radonski, A/DSAC DOC, NOAA, NMFS, OLE, SED 263 13th Avenue South, Suite 109, St. Petersburg, FL, 33701., 24, Cases;

LI 003, 6,000 rounds of frangible, 125-grain CFRHT .40 caliber. No reloads may be used with these weapons. All service furnished ammunition for issued firearms will be U.S. factory production.
?Inside Delivery? to locations below:

6,000 rounds to: James Cassin DOC, NOAA, NMFS, OLE, NED 3350 Highway 138, Suite 218, Wall, NJ, 07719, 6, Cases;
LI 004, 500 Transtar II blue 24" x 40" paper targets
?Inside Delivery? to locations below:

200 paper targets to: Ross Lane DOC, NOAA, NMFS, OLE, NED 130 Oak Street, Suite 5 Ellsworth, ME, 04605

200 paper targets to: Troy Audyatis DOC, NOAA, NMFS, OLE, NED 53 North 6th Street, Room 214 New Bedford, MA, 02740.

100 paper targets to: James Cassin DOC, NOAA, NMFS, OLE, NED 3350 Highway 138, Suite 218, Wall, NJ, 07719, 500, Items;
Source: fbo.gov

Looks like the NMFS division gets a regular supply to maintain a working enforcement arm. I can see the reasoning...except when they are out busting people in a proper raid for a regulatory violation with paperwork.



posted on Aug, 15 2014 @ 08:30 PM
link   

originally posted by: Wrabbit2000
a reply to: MrSpad

How is the NMFS, as a division of NOAA....not qualify as NOAA?

BTW, for reference I looked one of the orders up from 2012. As for destination? I guess they ordered a variety to different offices.


8,000 rounds to: Ross Lane DOC, NOAA, NMFS, OLE, NED 130 Oak Street, Suite 5, Ellsworth, ME, 04605

8,000 rounds to: Troy Audyatis, DOC, NOAA, NMFS, OLE, NED 53 North 6th Street, Room 214 New Bedford, MA, 02740.,
16, Cases;

LI 002, 24,000 rounds of ammunition for semiautomatic pistols to be factory-loaded .40 S&W caliber, 180-grain jacketed hollow point (JHP). No reloads may be used with these weapons. All service furnished ammunition for issued firearms will be U.S. factory production.
?Inside Delivery? to locations below:

24,000 rounds to: Jeff Radonski, A/DSAC DOC, NOAA, NMFS, OLE, SED 263 13th Avenue South, Suite 109, St. Petersburg, FL, 33701., 24, Cases;

LI 003, 6,000 rounds of frangible, 125-grain CFRHT .40 caliber. No reloads may be used with these weapons. All service furnished ammunition for issued firearms will be U.S. factory production.
?Inside Delivery? to locations below:

6,000 rounds to: James Cassin DOC, NOAA, NMFS, OLE, NED 3350 Highway 138, Suite 218, Wall, NJ, 07719, 6, Cases;
LI 004, 500 Transtar II blue 24" x 40" paper targets
?Inside Delivery? to locations below:

200 paper targets to: Ross Lane DOC, NOAA, NMFS, OLE, NED 130 Oak Street, Suite 5 Ellsworth, ME, 04605

200 paper targets to: Troy Audyatis DOC, NOAA, NMFS, OLE, NED 53 North 6th Street, Room 214 New Bedford, MA, 02740.

100 paper targets to: James Cassin DOC, NOAA, NMFS, OLE, NED 3350 Highway 138, Suite 218, Wall, NJ, 07719, 500, Items;
Source: fbo.gov

Looks like the NMFS division gets a regular supply to maintain a working enforcement arm. I can see the reasoning...except when they are out busting people in a proper raid for a regulatory violation with paperwork.


They are a part of NOAA but not one of the weather branches of NOAA like the National Weather Service. Just like you would not say TSA has armed coastal patrol ships because they are both branches under DHS.



posted on Aug, 15 2014 @ 08:55 PM
link   
a reply to: MrSpad

I see a difference there. You WOULD say DHS has armed agents in airports because TSA is subordinate to the DHS as a division within it.

NMFS would seem to be similarly subordinate as a division within NOAA. Hence...Armed agents of NOAA, or as you note more properly, a division of the agency and ordering it's supplies under the NOAA letterhead.

Government is fun to decipher, isn't it?



posted on Aug, 15 2014 @ 09:18 PM
link   
a reply to: ketsuko

I am not saying that sending a SWAT team was justified, but at the same time, it is not accurate to say that the woman had not done something wrong. She had. It just so happens however, that hers was not a crime for which SWAT ought to be called out. There is a fairly large difference.




top topics



 
2
<<   2 >>

log in

join