Farm Raided...really sir it's tomatoes

Discussion in 'Smokers Lounge' started by nippie, Aug 14, 2013.

  1. nippie

    nippie preachin' and pimpin'

    http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/08/14/texas-cops-raid-farm-commune-when-mistaking-tomato-plants-for-marijuana/


    Police in Arlington, Texas are being criticized for their tactics during a drug raid on a local farm that came up empty while allegedly damaging both the property and the crops.


    “They can’t even tell the difference between tomato plants and a marijuana drug cartel,” farm resident Quinn Eaker told KXAS-TV. “That’s just really bad intel.”


    Eaker said to KXAS that he and several residents at the “Garden of Eden” sustainability garden were handcuffed at gunpoint by officers during the Aug. 2 raid, which also involved a SWAT team, after an undercover officer and helicopter surveillance allegedly gave authorities probable cause to believe there was marijuana being grown on the premises.


    “They came here under the guise that we were doing a drug trafficking, marijuana-growing operation,” owner Shellie Smith told WFAA-TV. “They destroyed everything.”


    The Dallas Morning News reported that the farm’s account of the raid, which accuses police of destroying plants and removing needed materials from the farm, has spread online, while police counter that they conducted themselves professionally during the action.


    “Yes, they were initially handcuffed,” police spokesperson Christopher Cook told the Morning News. “However, once it was determined it was secure they were taken out of handcuffs. Typically we wouldn’t do that, but they were compliant.”
     
  2. nippie

    nippie preachin' and pimpin'

    more info video link


    http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Arlington-Farm-Owners-Demand-Apology-From-Police-After-Drug-Raid-Comes-Up-Empty-219520531.html


    The owners of a small organic farm in south Arlington are demanding an apology from police who raided the property in early August in search of marijuana and found no drugs.


    Arlington police and city codes enforcement officers raided the Garden of Eden, a 3.5 acre farm in the 7300 block of Mansfield Cardinal Road on the morning of Aug. 2. Police were searching for marijuana in the gardens, according to search warrants obtained by NBC 5.


    Despite finding several reported codes violations, no drugs were found, according to police.


    "We live a very peaceful life here,” said 30-year-old Quinn Eaker, a resident of the farm, who was arrested during the raid for an unrelated, outstanding warrant over unpaid parking tickets. “We've never hurt anybody. This is our land. We have the right to be secure in our person and our property. Period. That's undebatable."


    Eaker told NBC 5 him and the other five adults who live at the farm - what they describe as a community that has come together with the common values of freedom, sustainability and consciousness - were handcuffed when SWAT officers from the Arlington Police Department came to their home with weapons drawn.


    The handcuffs are standard procedure during the search of suspected narcotics operations, according to Sgt. Christopher Cook of the Arlington Police Department. Tactical officers assisted in the execution of the search warrants to secure the location so narcotics detectives could safely enter the property, police noted in a statement to NBC 5.


    Cook added that police removed the handcuffs from the residents of the farm within 30 minutes. Cook said the residents were allowed to go about their daily business while the investigation continued.


    Narcotics detectives and members of the tactical unit left the farm within 45 minutes of their arrival, Cook said.


    According to a statement posted on the Garden of Eden's website, the raid of the farm lasted for an estimated ten hours.


    Officers mowed the grass on the property, and removed wild, cultivated plants including blackberries and okra, as well as other items including pallets, tires and cardboard that the members said they used for their sustainability projects.


    "We had mass amounts of materials taken,” Eaker said. “If you saw the list it's pages and pages and pages of materials taken. That wasn't junk. That wasn't trash."


    According to a search warrant, undercover narcotics officers with Arlington PD visited the Garden of Eden to investigate possible criminal activity prior to the raid.


    The property owner, Shellie Smith, gave the officers a tour of the property and Eaker spoke with them about gardening techniques and workshops that he conducts on the property, according to the warrant.


    In June, an anonymous source provided police with information that Quinn Eaker was growing marijuana in a garden on the property that is surrounded by bamboo, the warrant states.


    On July 30, a Texas Department of Public Safety aircraft conducted aerial surveillance of the Garden of Eden property, according to the warrant. Based on the investigating officer's experience, and upon review of photographs taken of a garden surrounded by bamboo, the plants inside appeared to be consistent with marijuana, police state in the warrant.


    When asked directly if members of their community were growing marijuana, Eaker said, "No."


    And when asked why he believes police thought they were growing marijuana, Eaker answered, "I think that they were hoping that that was true. I think they were hoping that was true. And I think that they made a mistake and I think that they know they made a mistake."


    Eaker said that the plants police mistook to be marijuana were likely tomatoes.


    "They can't even tell the difference between tomato plants and a marijuana drug cartel; that's just really bad intel," Eaker said.


    The Garden of Eden farm first came to the attention of city codes inspectors in 2011, according to an affidavit for inspection and abatement. At that time two codes officers met with the owner, Shellie Smith, about reported violations at the farm, including bagged trash, and various pallets, boards and debris on the property. Smith stated the violations would not be corrected, according to the affidavit.


    In 2012, code compliance officers reported, at various times, seeing plastic barrels collecting rain water, broken pianos and other violations on the Garden of Eden property, according to the affidavit.


    In early February 2013, a code compliance officer issued a notice to Smith itemizing several reported violations. The affidavit states that during the course of their investigation, officers discovered the farm's website which indicates that a food business is run from the home. And according to investigators, there are no food handler permits on file for the property or its residents.


    Following two other documented investigations of the property in May and July, on Aug. 1 inspectors reported seeing several outstanding violations at the property, including high weeds and grass, standing water and structural hazards. Those reported violations prompted the codes search warrant and their presence at the raid Aug. 2.


    Eaker told NBC 5 he and the members of his community demand an apology from police.


    The community wants police to admit they were wrong and to compensate them for the damage caused to their property during the raid.
     
  3. nippie

    nippie preachin' and pimpin'

    can't find a youtube video so you lazy stoners have to read or go to second post and watch the video on the link
     
  4. MrAstro

    MrAstro R.I.P

    The police stand behind their actions :lmao:
     
  5. TheApprentice

    TheApprentice Retired.

     
  6. friendlyfarmer

    friendlyfarmer Rollin' Coal

    This is why people hate cops. I'm sure they were very respectful, finger on the trigger guard.


    Protect and serve? These idiots aren't fit to shine my shoes.
     
  7. Midnight Garden

    Midnight Garden Excommunicated

    Yes, that pretty much sums it up.
     
  8. TheApprentice

    TheApprentice Retired.

    Why are people not allowed to collect rain water:ponder:
     
  9. Midnight Garden

    Midnight Garden Excommunicated

    All counties/cities etc have codes or ordinances about what you can have on your property. What it really boils down to is how it looks to the average person. If you have shit just piled everywhere then that is a problem, especially if you are not in a rural area. In rural area then someone had a hard on for them, Probably some redneck complained and they were good until that happened. Around here you cannot plant a vegetable garden in your front yard. In the county you can have chickens, but not in the city. Same with weed, you can grow it outside here in the county but the city makes you jump through so many hoops that it's a waste of time trying if your not growing a lot of plants.
     
  10. TheApprentice

    TheApprentice Retired.

    2-1 for Scotland.:eusa_dance:
     
  11. Midnight Garden

    Midnight Garden Excommunicated

    Got a little excited and posted in the wrong thread. :rofl:
     
  12. TheApprentice

    TheApprentice Retired.

    :rofl6: Guilty as charged. Its 2-2 now though.Bastards
     
  13. ResinRubber

    ResinRubber Civilly disobedient/Mod

    Rain barrels and outdoor storage all depends on municipal guidelines/statutes and how heavily they are enforced. Some are lax, some are strict. Usually some asshat neighbor takes a dislike to somebody then starts reporting every minor infraction which local investigators then have to follow up on to close a file.


    My guess is the asshat neighbor wasn't getting the desired outcome from minor infractions so made a false report of weed growing since they sound like a hippie commune type thing.


    What I'm hoping happened is the hippies caught a break and somehow figured out they were going to be raided so cleared shit out. You ever hear of a commune where LEO couldn't even find a baggie in somebodies drawer?
     
  14. friendlyfarmer

    friendlyfarmer Rollin' Coal

    cleaned out


    Res I was wondering the same thing, only I thought jeez the modern brand of back-to-the-lander doesn't smoke weed? Makes the whole thing less appealing LOL
     
  15. Bje4201

    Bje4201 Vegetating

    It is Arlington guys, the pigs there prob wouldnt know a plant if it had a sign hung on it. To close for.comfort though, im only an hour and a half from there. Word on the street is the feds are about. Fortunately im in a place no routine flyovers happen. In fact no air traffic ever. No sherrif patrols either, still on guard though
     

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