There’s absolutely nothing about this story which makes the government look good. Not this picture:
Not the charge: Arielle apparently assaulted a federal officer causing bodily injury by forcefully striking the agent’s rifle with her neck.
Not the reason the DEA was there: to raid a legal small retail business.
Not the pretense for the raid: the owner’s internet search history.
Not the DEA agents turning the shop’s security cameras toward the walls so they couldn’t record the agents’ behavior during the raid.
Not the DEA’s successful request that Facebook remove photos of the raid taken by a citizen photojournalist. They were reposted once Facebook officials found nothing conflicting with their code.
Not the bond requirement that Arielle’s sister retract all statements from the press, claim Arielle was never assaulted and say that she lied. In other words, to get out of jail pending trial, the defendant must drop her defense. Wut?
Not the quote on the incident from Laila Rico with the Drug Enforcement Agency in El Paso, “If you don’t do what you’re asked to do, that’s what you’re going to run into.”
Not the fact that the search warrant was invalid, listing no address, name, or probable cause.
Not the fact that the DEA found zero controlled substances in the raid, but took the owners’ guns, computers, and products anyway.
This post originally appeared at Libertychat.com.
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