"Homeland Security Agents" handcuff teacher for directing school traffic

A local school employee said a rough run-in with a couple of Homeland Security officers has left him with a strong sense of insecurity.

Leander Pickett, a teacher's assistant at Englewood Elementary, said he was manhandled and handcuffed by two plain clothed Homeland Security officers in front of the school Tuesday for no reason at all.
"I would like to treat people the way I would want to be treated, and yesterday I wasn't treated that way," Pickett said.
Pickett has been working at Englewood for two years, and his principal and colleagues told Channel 4 they have never met a harder worker or nicer guy.
"He's well loved by everyone because he's willing to do anything to help children," said the Englewood Elementary Principal Gail Brinson.

However, Tuesday afternoon Pickett's niceness turned to anger, disappointment, and betrayal when, as Pickett was directing bus traffic, he said he was handcuffed and roughed up and humiliated by the very people that were supposed to protect him.

"I walked up to him and said, 'Sir, you need to move.' That's when he said 'I'm a police officer. I'm with Homeland Security ... I'll move it when I want to.' That's when he started grabbing me on my arm," Pickett said.

However, Homeland Security tells a different story.
The department said the only reason the officers were at the school was because they pulled over to look at a map.
The department also said it's looking into what happened, and that Pickett's version is wrong. It claims he was antagonizing the officers.
Several people were outside of the school, watching the incident take place, and those witnesses agree with Pickett's story.

"Mr. Pickett asked the guy blocking the bus loading zone to move, and the guy told him he would move his car when he got ready to move it," said Englewood coach Alton Jackson.
"At that point I intervened and I went up to the gentleman and said, 'Mr. Pickett is an employee here,' and they said that didn't matter," said Englewood media specialist, Terri Dreisonstok.

"'We're with Homeland Security,' and on and on they went, and pretty soon, before you know it, he's handcuffed and slammed against a car," Brinson said. "All the children are watching, they're all upset."

After about 30 minutes, the men released Pickett.>>>>snip

http://news.yahoo.com/s/wjxt/20060406/lo_wjxt/3379371

MODS I know this from late afternoon yesterday but is still within the 24hour rule to stay here

THIS IS AN OUTRAGE WE HAVE CREATED A GESTAPO TYPE AGENCY

even though that was not homeland security.

I find this very alarming to be an HOMELAND Security agent requires no background in criminal justice
they are appointed my hacks

If so, we have the perfect making of a gestapo here

No DHS agency I know of, identifies its agents/officers merely as "DHS." They are Border Patrol, CBP Officer, Immigration & Customs Enforcement, or whatever. I think there is a fair amount of impersonation going on, maybe by right-wing criminal gangs.

SS it's frightening, it's so reminiscent of Germany under Hitler. "Be afraid, be very afraid"

Department of Human Services

you can imagine the sort.

those 'officers' need to be running the new Department of Homeland Security Sled Dog Winter Rest Area in Nome by Monday.

i doubt it! they'll most likely be PROMOTED, that's how it works.

Then congress should shut down the Department of Homeland Security, investigate it, and turn over for criminal prosecution every miscreant they find within it.

This has got to stop now.

seeing as they've already gotten their lying side of the story.

the guys probably got lost looking for the pedophelia society meeting.

was because they pulled over to look at a map......?????????


Wonder why they felt the need to explain this?

with them just hanging around outside an elementary school and acting so defensive about it.

"It's getting to the point where I'm no fun anymore..."

Things are going haywire and the only solutions open to us will get us killed...

the local police and FBI.

I am sure there are quite a few pedophiles working for Chertoff, and I wonder about him myself.

You may be on to something.

I only heard about 2, one caught on MSNBC's show, the other in the news yest.

Figueroa exposing himself in the shopping mall, and the guy on MSNBC.

TPM: 2nd HS Official Sex Offender (warning- obscene)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=852579

Ok. DHS is pervert central for sure. Here is a 3rd official.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=2553843

Normally, I'd dismiss that, but I agree, this is very suspicious.

in a matter of days here on DU, that was one of the first things that occurred to me when I got to the words "elementary school" in the OP. I hate it that my mind went there, but that's what happened.

I thought about this more after I made my first post, and I do think that a lot of sex perverts deliberately seek out roles of benign authority such a priests, teachers, law enforcement, etc. Occupations like these give them an assumption of positive motives that shield them from suspicion and in many cases increase their contact with children. One of the DHS guys headed up a sex predator unit. What a perfect job for someone who gets off on child porn! You could look at it all the time under the guise of doing your job.

There's that "lack of oversight" in full force again. But I also have a creepy feeling that there are more out there.

And I have no confidence that they will A) be found or B) be punished.

Something doesn't sound right here.

men don't pull over to look at maps!!!

We'd have a few corpses to add to the story.

They didn't feel the need to explain anything to Mr. Pickett yet they feel the need to tell the world they were stopped to look at a map. Meanwhile, their department is revealed to be festering with pedophiles.

This smells to high heaven.




Cher

...they stopped teachers from doing that!!!

"You now you hear these stories everyday and say, 'This will never happen to me,' but yesterday it happened to me," Pickett said.

"If this is Homeland Security, I think we ought to be a little afraid," Brinson said.

It's time every person in this country stands up for our Constitution and our Country.

First They Came for the Jews

First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me.

Pastor Martin Niemöller

If it doesn't affect them, then they don't fucking budge or say a word. But when it finally happens to them, oh well, then we should call the police, (No they are corrupted), call the mayor (No he is corrupted), call the Governor (No he is corrupted), call my congressman (No he is corrupted), call the Vice President (No he is corrupted), damn can't call the President, because he to is a corrupted dumbass. Well who too call. Should have thought about that while you we busy watching Sienfield or Darha & Greg.

now that DHS has "trained" them. Have you noticed this?

The ends justify the means.

We live under a dictatorship - and these types of things are just gong to get worse. And still you'll hear Democrats say, "Don't compare Republicans to Nazis." "Don't compare Bush to Hitler." "Don't compare the FBI and DHS to the gestapo and the SS." What will it take to make people wake up? Concentration camps? Summary executions? Martial law? BY then it may be too late - it may already be too late...

Does this sound too familiar to feel comfortable??????


http://www.thirdreich.net/Thought_They_Were_Free.html

But Then It Was Too Late

"What no one seemed to notice," said a colleague of mine, a philologist, "was the ever widening gap, after1933,between the government and the people. Just think how very wide this gap was to begin with, here in Germany. And it became always wider. You know it doesn't make people close to their government to be told that this is a people's government, a true democracy, or to be enrolled in civilian defense, or even to vote. All this has little, really nothing to do with knowing one is governing.

What happened here was the gradual habituation of the people, little by little, to being governed by surprise; to receiving decisions deliberated in secret; to believing that the situation was so complicated that the government had to act on information which the people could not understand, or so dangerous that, even if he people could understand it, it could not be released because of national security. And their sense of identification with Hitler, their trust in him, made it easier to widen this gap and reassured those who would otherwise have worried about it.
<snip>
"Uncertainty is a very important factor, and, instead of decreasing as time goes on, it grows. Outside, in the streets, in the general community, "everyone is happy. One hears no protest, and certainly sees none. You know, in France or Italy there will be slogans against the government painted on walls and fences; in Germany, outside the great cities, perhaps, there is not even this. In the university community, in your own community, you speak privately to you colleagues, some of whom certainly feel as you do; but what do they say? They say, "It's not so bad" or "You're seeing things" or "You're an alarmist."

"And you are an alarmist. You are saying that this must lead to this, and you can't prove it. These are the beginnings, yes; but how do you know for sure when you don't know the end, and how do you know, or even surmise, the end? On the one hand, your enemies, the law, the regime, the Party, intimidate you. On the other, your colleagues pooh-pooh you as pessimistic or even neurotic. You are left with your close friends, who are, naturally, people who have always thought as you have.
<snip>

x

is raising his own private army of brownshirt thugs.
How soon to the American Krystalnacht?
Death's head anyone?

They were just doing their jobs

Was the teacher wearing his 'school teachers' pin'? Did the teacher clearly identify himself?

Now let's not jump to any conclusions, before we get all the evidence.


Peace

Acting all high and haughty like teachers do...

to their race...er...profession...

:rofl:

Good thing I allowed my more mellow self to emerge.

and there would be FOOLs defending the DHS stormtroopers for the murder.

DHS had no way of recognizing said crossing guard because he had a diffrent color safety vest on.

and they have the blessings of the party in power. We MUST stop this now before it becomes "normal".

Sturm abteilung
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

German for "Storm Division", usually translated as stormtroops or stormtroopers) functioned as a paramilitary organization of the NSDAP – the German Nazi party. It played a key role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1930s.

SA men were often known as brownshirts from the color of their uniform and to distinguish them from the SS who were known as blackshirts. Brown coloured shirts were chosen as the SA uniform because a large batch of them were cheaply available after World War I, having originally been ordered for German troops in Africa.

The SA was also the first Nazi paramilitary group to develop pseudo-military titles for bestowal upon its members. The SA ranks would be adopted by several other Nazi Party groups, chief among them the SS.

after the Anschluss

Very, very ominous. I am not big on inapt comparisons, but there was one once known as the Schutzstaffel.

Schutzstaffel or the SS was paramilitary and wore uniforms.


Geheime Staatspolizei had jurisdiction over the local police just like Homeland Security

Gestapo to those know the acroynism

That's odd.

and don't let the "plain clothes" people take anybody anywhere.

all the adults present should have intervened, disarmed, and freed that guy.

This is unacceptable behavior that will escalate if we let it.

:hide:

Mr. Pickett was impeding their trip to investigate terrorist hamburgers at McDonalds.

DHS status? Or, should that be DH'SS status? (Dept. of Homeland SS)

Sounds more like: We don't care what happened, we are blaming the victim before we bother to look into it.

The 'look into it' part is where all the DHS guys get their story straight and have some time to intimidate any witnesses to what actually occurred.

asking them to move their illegally parked vehicle from a school bus loading zone.

DHS agents so clueless they had to consult a map, OK, that's accptable if they aren't from the area... but the didn't notice they were parking in a bus loading zone?!!? :wtf:

Yeah, they are the ones we need to keep the Homeland safe :eyes:

When are these teachers gonna learn? If they would grow up and become rich, white men, we'd all live in peace.

"MODS I know this from late afternoon yesterday but is still within the 24hour rule to stay here"

The rule is 12 hours, but if it's interesting...well we usually look the other way :-)

2. Do not post news that is more than 12 hours old.

:-) :toast: :thumbsup: :loveya: :yourock:


it is one those pieces of news that gets buried by the news agencies when it should be on

TV this morning on the

The Today Show with Katie Couric.

Now that we know it is staffed with CRIMINALS, THIEVES and CHILD SEX OFFENDORS!

Wow.

the Top.

Also this was also a racist, facist attack no doubt in my mind

Where did they hold him for half an hour?
What is the agents side of the story?

Even the spokesman for HLS name is absent. Typical bullshit from this renagade govt.

Officals say, a spokesman says, etc---you sound like an apologist for fascism.

Where did they hold him for half an hour?______by the car
What is the agents side of the story?-------he was uppity they said



The agent's side of the story is in the story however
the witnesses are all named and collaborate the story

Maybe you should ask Katie Couric, I know she is on top of this story.

is not enough information in the story?

...I think. I had to re-read Iching's post again to make sure I understood it correctly - it does at first appear it's an argument against you - but on closer examination I think that was commentary on some "hypothetical" conversation he was creating about the reporter.

Plus, you never said anything that could even remotely be categorized as "apologism for fascism". I understood your posts as AGAINST this bullshit fascism. This is probably just a misunderstanding stemming from Iching's ambiguous writing style in that particular post you responded to. :rofl:

but there is no other way for so many people to come together so quickly to discuss what is going on.

...is this kind of attitude shared by the U.S. Capitol Police against black Congresswomen as well? :shrug:

Aren't I SURPRISED.

But to be fair the agents could have beenm assholes and power abusers to white people too.

God, I WANT MY COUNTRY BACK!!!!!!!!! I am ashamed to be an American where these sort of gestapo tactics are going on.

He was committing the crime of BWB--Breathing While Black.

jersies?

Lost in amerika looking at a map?

about DHS people being pedophiles/sexual predators, more of the same?

Makes you wonder what kind of psychological "requirements" DHS is looking for in their officers.

They were probably at the elementary school to pick up their date.

>>The central office of Homeland Security contacted Channel 4 about the incident and stated that it considers all allegations seriously and the matter has been referred to a neutral investigative entity<<

That part is encouraging.

DHS is obviously serving us a nice big steamy load of crap with that claim. Notice how they never NAME the "entity" nor does the reporter follow up on to confirm DHS's (the guilty party's) claim?

I call bullshit on DHS.

We're going down the slippery slope faster that I thought. Nothinig to break it. No effective opposition. The law is what the executive branch says it is.

"Mr. Pickett asked the guy blocking the bus loading zone to move, and the guy told him he would move his car when he got ready to move it," said Englewood coach Alton Jackson.
"At that point I intervened and I went up to the gentleman and said, 'Mr. Pickett is an employee here,' and they said that didn't matter," said Englewood media specialist, Terri Dreisonstok.

What were they doing in a school bus loading zone to begin with? I thing with the recent arrest of one of their own for sexual misconduct with a minor, they'd do well to stay well away from schools. Their story doesn't make any sense. If you are lost, of course pull over to the side of the road and look at a map. But that doesn't mean you get to pull over in front of a fire hydrant, into a loading zone, or any other area that is marked "no parking." And then they arrest the guy directing traffic?

Another black eye for this stupid agency. I hope it gets a lot of attention in the media. The more bad news about how useless Homeland Security is, the better our chances of dismantling this ridiculous waste of money.

there is no reason they couldn't have moved the car down 20 feet to get it out of the loading zone.

Englewood Elementary School: 904-739-5280
4359 Spring Park Rd
Jacksonville, FL 32207, US

I realize I'm making a HUGE jump in conclusions with this - but this is certainly a very strange situation.

Someone in an earlier thread mentioned that several recent news stories as of late reported DHS officers getting busted for pedophilia and sexual assault on a minor at a mall. So, if these 2 DHS officers were up to some similar behavior, it wouldn't surprise me. Let me explain:

You can see that one of the roads in the upper right corner is a dirt road - so it's a poor community. Also notice that the school yard is not in very good condition.

Poor neighborhoods are a perfect stomping ground for potential DHS pedophiles to steal kids from because they know that poor people have no "clout" nor the resources to fight back. And it's easier for the DHS officers to discredit poor black people than middle class white people. (This latest news story can attest to that.)

These DHS guys know that the "loading zone" where they were parked is the easiest place to intercept/converse/observe the children. Kind of like the easiest place for a predator to kill is in the middle of a herd of its prey. Being "lost" and looking at a "map" is just their cover story. (Think about it - if there were TWO officers, why couldn't one have kept driving while the other man navigated?)

The timing is a key factor in this story as well - notice how the DHS officers were parked there at the SAME TIME that children were being let out of school?

Plus, as we can see from this latest news story that these DHS officers in question certainly don't have any respect for the locals. They are obviously using their position of authority to intimidate the local people - and their over reaction to this school employee is a natural reaction for authorities that are up to NO GOOD.

It's a theory - I don't claim that it's true - but it is certainly suspicious. God am I cynical. I hate what our government has become that I feel justified in suspecting them of this kind of sick behavior. :cry:

Looking at the picture, what is referred to in the story as the bus loading zone is what I would call the parking lot on the school grounds. THe story makes it sound like a section of the main road next to the school and I can see how two stranger could inadvertently pull up into a loading zone at the wrong time. But if they pulled into the school parking lot and then refused to move?!?! I don't know about Florida, but in New York, you can get arrested for doing that, no ifs ands or buts!

is a turn out with a covering area for people to stand under - that MUST be the area where kids get on the buses. The only thing I can say, is what in the fuck were those DHS guys thinking?

Whether they were DHS pedophiles or just 2 dumbshit DHS officers that can't drive and navigate at the same time doesn't matter. That is a SMALL turnout - if they were asked to clear the loading zone why didn't they just pull forward 50 yards ahead into the parking lot?

No matter which way you slice it - these DHS officers were in the wrong.

Makes it harder to understand the govt. official explanation, other than being
"an on going investigation"

They wanted to get the point across that they're Homeland Security and they can do whatever the hell they want. They deliberately harassed Mr Pickett. Maybe it was his race. Maybe it was his hair. Or maybe it was just because he was an average guy, and they want to let average America know that they've got the power.

:grr:

...I've seen story after story of this type of incident in the past year or so. This is disgusting.

10 bucks says both the DHS vermin were white. They parked in a one-way bus loading zone! WHAT A COUPLE OF FUCKING STUPID, WORTHLESS JACKHOLES! Why get out the map? Not like they can read simple fucking SIGNS that say DO NOT ENTER!


Ohhhh I'm pissed off! Need to go outside and work in the yard.

firing spree and clear these thugs out.

Schools have bus loading zones for safety reasons. To violate them in the name of "security" is ludicrous and outrageous.

What kind of police authority do these guys have, anyways?

All I gotta say.

I agree, it's like the gestapo...even the name invokes images of the Third Reich.

Land of fear and terror! Those two DHS agents suck ass and should lose their jobs over this. Of course they won't because we live in a Banana Republic.

I wonder if they were checking the children out.

Because the Children intuitivly know what the Dept of Homeland Security is really about. Keep your kids away from DHS, they just may end up being raped.

I hope Homeland Security is sued for their outrageous misbehavior.

http://www.news4jax.com/news/8490280/detail.html

The officers stated in front of several witnesses they are above the law.

Yes, I know it sounds crazy, but who gave these guys a badge?

the whole story is strange, but that part had me scratching my head a little?

Also like someone else posted in the thread earlier and I thought was funny, men looking at maps hahahahahahaha.

d

While riding my bike through a shopping center parking lot which FEMA was using during cleanup after a hurricane, I was stopped by two FEMA agents and told that I was not allowed to ride my bike in the parking lot (although cars were fine) and I'd be arrested if they "ever saw me again". I tried to ask them why and was told, "Get the fuck out of here before we arrest you right now." At the time I didn't know how totally fucked up an agency FEMA was - I just thought they were here to help with hurricane relief and was shocked at the way I was treated. Seems some of these government agents feel and act like they are above the law. Scary shit. :scared:

...and got myself arrested. That's my style.

:hide:(waits for eventual "Badges? They don't have to show you any stinkin' badges!!")
LOL

L

I think we ought all begin referring to events in which police harrass black Americans as "McKinney Moments" in Cynthia's honor. JMHO...

:mad:

in fact I often give police officers the benifit of the doubt...but I gotta say it really is starting to sound like Homeland security is falling pray to the same problem America as a nation is...unchecked power causing us to act like a-holes.

Not only that but it sounds like they are Not hiring the right people for this job or perhaps just not training them properly...are these jokers mostly ex-FBI or ex-local cops? Something tells me they are not experienced police officers who should know how to deal with the public (yes, I know there are exceptions but by an large police officers who deal with the public every day do it without causing a newworthy event)

Once you get a look at where these guys were parked your jaw is going to hit the ground.

Homeland Security

Enough said

...you have every right to fear DHS and this corrupt government...but keep this in mind. I work for DHS, I'm not a pervert, and there are people like me in this agency that are with you. We are working from the inside to rectify this horse-shit and we are with you...nuf said. (Can't risk my job at this stage.) :hippie:

of the new gestapo, you won't HAVE a job for very much longer. Mark my words.

Trying to change anything about this administration from the inside could get you suicided, IMHO.

I'm getting real tired of reading all these pedophila remarks. There's a sicko or two in any organization of that size. It's a lousy arguement and it's insult to the people that are there fighting the good fight.

Are you an undercover agent for DHS, some sort of super duper spy, is there a job description like that in the DHS?

First I haven't accused DHS of being made up entirely of perverts or pedophiles. In fact my post doesn't even mention those perversions. The fact that 3 top level DHS members have been charged with those crimes is IMO just indicative of what a sick society we live in today.

Second, nothing is more insulting to me than to say....uhhh, your right - you have every right to "fear" DHS, but I'm a good guy and there's a bunch of us and we have your back so don't worry little lady. I just can't tell you what's up cuz I'm afraid of risking my job.

I've got a news flash for you. You work for me/us and I'm not impressed with people who purport to have the inside scoop but won't take any risks in order to save their own skins.

I'd risk my job and even my life to tell the truth. Why won't you?

It seems like the executive branch officials one hears about are the ones who have resigned in protest, as there was little other way to register their dissenting views. Expression of alternative views these days seems to just win you a quick re-assignment to cleaning toilets.

Btw, which of the 27,000 agencies now housed in DHS do you work with?

I'll expect you to work long and hard doing so--remember that. Think about it. Can't risk your job?

What about 1620 "rock" and the people who risked their lives?

Translated = "We're with Schutzstaffel."
She's lucky she wasn't dispatched to the camps.

Yes, DHS is hiring, and given the dweebs and perverts they're putting to work it looks like they are not very picky as far as employees go. These are just some of the many areas at DHS that need employees. Hey, maybe this is how we keep US employment statistics looking good. Borrow money from China, then use the proceeds to hire massive numbers of un- and under-employed Americans.

http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/interapp/content_multi_image/content_multi_image_0014.xml

<snip>

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) employees prevent terrorists and terrorist weapons from entering the United States while facilitating the flow of legitimate trade and travel.

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) – employees prevent losses from disasters wherever possible, and assist when they do happen. you will be part of an intensely-focused team dedicated to helping our country prepare for, prevent, respond to, and recover from disasters.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) employees enforce immigration and customs laws, safeguard U.S. commercial aviation, and protect Federal facilities.

U.S. Secret Service – employees have the dual missions of protecting our nation’s leaders, and criminal investigation involving law enforcement, security, information technology, communications, administration, intelligence, forensics, and other specialized fields.

U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees help secure our transportation infrastructure from future terrorist acts in intelligence, regulation enforcement and inspection positions.

Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) employees develop the skills, knowledge, and professionalism of law enforcers from 80+ Federal agencies in this unique inter-agency training organization.

This is going to be a very long year.

And it doesn't just go for DHS type police but it goes for all police? Local sherriffs, city police... all flout the speed limit reguarly, and that's just for starters.

Perhaps I should state into their eyes, tell them that they look glazed and ask them whether they've been eating too many donuts.

Mark.

to a NAMBLA meeting?

about flying to Europe in June. This crap is making me even more nervous. It's not the flight that bothers me, it's the bullshit getting back into the US that I'm dreading.

It's too much to hope that Mr. Pickett is compensated in some manner for this outrage and the DHS thugs are fired, not reprimanded or wrist slapped, but FIRED!

Ain't it the truth.

When I flew back into the US last summer the first thing that struck me was that the airport terminal had been reconstucted in such a way that the people getting off the plane were kept in a single file, and then as we filed down one long ramp somebody in a uniform with an Abu Ghraib-looking dog on a leash came down the ramp with us to sniff at our feet and our crotches before we were to get to the various customs agents (or whatever it is they call themselves these days) for them to grill us about who we are, where we've been, for how long, giving them the chance look us over, eye us up and down before letting us back in our country, with that now perfunctory phrase on their lips: "Welcome Home."

Some welcome, huh?

Does this make people feel secure? I doubt it. It infuriates me and makes me loathe getting on a plane to come home.

This is basic. In the unlikely event anyone failed to notice it from the entire course of human history, the Zimbardo experiment should have left no doubt in anyone's mind. So what else would you expect? It's like being surprised when you drop an apple and it falls to the ground.

Very colorful, appealing ads, with people in various types of uniforms...smiling. Offering "good salaries," and "interesting work." No doubt went out mass mail to mid-America. Imagine how many unemployed "Patriots" enlisted to "meet the mortgage?"

I had to mark the email Spam, at least 5 times...before it finally quite arriving.

goodbye to your rights in this country. Slowly they are going away....

My impression was that DHS was just a conglomeration of lots of different agencies. So, someone could be a "FBI agent", "ICE agent", or a "Border Patrol agent". Since when do we have "DHS agents" running around? Does the DHS now have its own police force; or could it be that these were actually ICE/INS agents who didn't want to reveal who they worked for?

planned for a very long time. Read the CNN archives about the IRan-Contra Hearings and Ollie North's testimony and the emails he and Poindexter tried to delete.

These goons are granted the same authority as normal law enforcement or FBI?

Security personnel.

What gives with this fucked up organization?

A bullshit bureaucratic paradise! I get to do whatever I want!

I can even molest 14 year-olds if I choose to!