Feds defend Department of Education SWAT team raid

Source: Politico






Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0611/56530.html

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Perhaps, after the "Weiner was hacked" fiasco, people should wait an hour or two before offering the "fascist state" analogy to any police story?

covering their tracks. there are also violent and non-violent crimes; i can't see the rationale for bringing in the SWAT team for any but a violent or potentially violent scenario. here was a man asleep in bed with his 3 children in the house. the story i read began by explaining that he was not wanted for any crime.

department's statement is posted at Daily Kos: here

does the department of education even have a SWAT team? Or the capacity to order one into action, if it isn't theirs.

There are too many damned people with badges and guns running around this country and it is time to get rid of most of them.

We need three, and only three federal law enforcement agencies:

The FBI
The Federal Marshall Service
The Secret Service

Everyone else (DEA, ATF, ICE, etc) should be a sub-department of one of those agencies.

Now there is a big savings in redundant expenditure.

The militarization of the police is the issue here. Why do you go kicking in doors and detaining random people? Why not find the lady and pull her over on the street. The issue here is still the fascist police state.

Yesterday, the Department of Education's Office of Inspector General executed a search warrant at a Stockton, Calif., residence with the presence of local law enforcement authorities.
While it was reported in local media that the search was related to a defaulted student loan, that is incorrect. This is related to a criminal investigation. The Inspector General's Office does not execute search warrants for late loan payments.

Because this is an ongoing criminal investigation, we can't comment on the specifics of the case. We can say that the OIG's office conducts about 30-35 search warrants a year on issues such as bribery, fraud, and embezzlement of federal student aid funds.

All further questions on this issue should be directed to the Department of Education's Inspector General's Office.

Sara Gast
U.S. Department of Education Press Office

in any given week? Kick and unrec!

This is a tactic used On Cannabis Patients all the time..
The Due Process of Law which is one of our rights has been bypassed..
I call it creative re interpretation of Law to gain an advantage...
Now this tactics use is growing..
LEOs love to brag of their fine Jobs and how they do it to the press when they do it by the Rules..
When these Raids are used. The Media gets nothing except maybe a statement saying no answered to question as its an ongoing investigation...
BY DESIGN FOLKS....

:hi:

Police forces in particular lie all the time so there's no reason to believe them here. But even if all they have said is true, there is still zero excuse for these kinds of tactics, especially the deployment of deadly force when no threat was present, and the illegal detention of innocent residents.

I want to see the warrant before taking anything they say as the truth.

The force used was disproportionate to the threat posed. That and the "SWAT" Team failed basic recon.

Also, why the hell does the Dept. of Education have a SWAT team?

What next? Black Ops teams from the Consumer Product Safety Commission assassinating people for pulling "Do not remove this tag" tags off their mattresses? Predator drones from the Library of Congress launching hellfire missiles at people with overdue library books?

The most telling part of this "clarification" is that the government spokesman still refuses to say what the woman was wanted for that warranted lethal levels of force. And yes, I consider the response a literal trigger finger twitch away from innocent dead people. The fact that no one was killed or injured in this fiasco is a wonder, and barring some VERY compelling justifying evidence, I hope to see the parties responsible punished severely.

Based on the original (now removed) story, the reason for the bust seemed to come from the local police, which means that is what these idiots told the locals.

The story will out, eventually.

Maat, J.D.
Retired social worker who did go on raids - in violence WAS likely.

There is absolutely no excuse for this unconstitutional violation of a citizen's civil rights. No matter how they spin, Education Dept officials CANNOT justify this fascist action.

Bureau of Weights and Measure!!!

We know you have an inaccurate scale in there!!!

Well, look at the raw milk raid in Pennsylvania! "Drop that glass of milk, Grandma - you're goin' down!"

federal police agencies, of which the OIG of the DOE is one.

Take a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_federal_law_enforcement_agencies for the full list.

Move along folks. There is nothing to see here.

If these were professional frauds, the LEO's may have been trying to move in fast enough to prevent evidence destruction, as computers can get wiped away in seconds to minutes while a warrant is being served.

in something like this is so frickin scary it's hard to describe.

We ARE a Police State. And the Police do not even care to follow the law.

REC.

why a SWAT team was required when no one was in any imminent danger.

It smells like total bullshit to me. I hope this homeowner files a massive lawsuit on behalf of himself and his 3 children and gets a massive award.

The statement is a lie.

If there was such a "criminal investigation" going on, why isn't the guy in jail and his kids under state care?

And why is the DOE doing this?

...the statement is a lie and they are trying to cover their asses.

a cover up. Good to know Dem administrations have no more attachment to transparency than do Repuke admins.

crime? I thought we had the FBI and the Justice Department to do that?

that does audits, investigates fraud and waste

http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oig/index.html

investigations into fraud and embezzlement ...
Raid on House in Stockton, Calif., Prompts Questions of Education Dept.
June 8, 2011, 2:36 pm
http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/raid-on-house-in-stockton-calif-prompts-questions-at-education-dept/33661

A criminal investigation could involve something fairly insignificant - even jaywalking. It does NOT justify bashing in a door and terrifying a family. A government that engages in these types of practices IS a police state, or, more accurately a prison state.

After seeing the warrant..
It appears that the The Education Department is playing code speech with the Public and press on this story..
It absolutely does look like they raided these Folks to obtain any evidence the The Education Department would need to prosecute...

The "anonymous" version of the warrant omitted a sheet of names (so many that that there was a whole attached *sheet*, mind you) of people whose identities were being searched for. The items specified as being targets in the warrants were any papers and electronic items used for college applications and financing.

Here's how the game usually works:
1. Make/steal multiple identities.
2. Apply for Pell grants, student loans, financial aid (usually to multiple locations) with those names.
3. Collect and cash it in.
4. Students (real or fake) wind up being responsible for money they never saw.

In the 90's, this was the top form of computer fraud, it may still be that way.