Lousiana Sheriff Arming Citizens (Forming a Posse)?

[my2sense]

(March 6) --Terrorist attacks and natural disasters often happen without warning. For one Louisiana sheriff, that's reason enough to start training a 200-member paramilitary force -- just don't call it a militia.

Larry Deen, the sheriff of Bossier Parish, told the Shreveport Times he came up with the idea for "Operation Exodus," a volunteer corps made up of parish residents, shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

It was in the tense hours after planes flown by terrorists felled the World Trade Center and slammed into the Pentagon that Deen and his men guarded then-President George W. Bush at Bossier City's Barksdale Air Force Base, roughly 340 miles northwest of New Orleans.

Nearly nine years later, Deen put out a call to prospective volunteers, and "Operation Exodus" finally became a reality. Some 300 of Bossier Parish's 110,000 residents responded, and of those, 200 have been chosen for training. The first classes began this week. Just five of those approved for combat roles are black and there are no women.

When asked by the Times whether the newly formed group could be described as a militia, Deen bristled. "We run from that word," Deen said. "We're just the opposite of that word."

"The main thing that we're trying to do," Chief Deputy Doyle Dempsey said in a video posted on the department's Web site, is "set up a prevention mode to implement during Operation Exodus. And what the means is, if we can show an overwhelming show of force prior to any major incident taking place, we can hopefully prevent it from starting before it ever happens."

more: http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/lousiana-sheriff-larry-deen-forms-operation-exodus-paramilitary-group/19385750

[AnOhioan]

1. well alrighty then....Sounds like Sheriff Deen has a bit too.....

much time on his hands

[Fumesucker]

2. The Bossier Parish Hoveround Patrol !!

[jwirr]

3. A friend of mine and I were talking about the future and possible

anarchy. We both hoped that if it comes to that the Native American tribal police and our local county police would still maintain control. Reading this article makes me wonder if that idea is feasible. This "army" sounds more scary than any anarchy. We have the fire department organized to do disaster work - apparently they do not have one in this town?

[terrell9584]

4. And?

Most counties and parish's in the south have posse's, especially in rural areas.


See, Southerners aren't scared of civilians owning guns because we would rather be able to protect ourselves from criminals rather than dial 911 and hope that the police show up before the person attacking us kills us and our families.

[Emit]

9. According to this video, the intent of this militia is 'fighting Islamic extremism'

http://theklaxon.com/louisiana-sheriffs-operation-exodus-needs-its-own-emergency-plan/5522

[piratefish08]

12. Right. Except it sounds to me like they are gearing up for a religious war,

not a battle against someone intent on stealing a flat screen tv.

"Indeed, Deen said in a press release that the name for Operation Exodus came from the Old Testament, and later told the Shreveport Times that its realization is a "calling."
"In the Book of Exodus, the Israelites were totally on their own," the press release reads, "learning to be self-sufficient and handle everything along, just as the plan provides."

"Weapons such as .50-caliber machine guns purchased by the sheriff's department are at the group's disposal so that it can protect resources such as grocery stores and gas stations against the dual threats posed by "homegrown terrorists" and natural disasters.


Do "southern posses" generally need to be armed with 50 cal. machine guns? Just curious.

I read the article and it sounds to me like more religious wackos ready to kill for Jesus.

[jody]

5. On the other hand Deen could claim he is doing Congress' job required by our Constitution

"To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia" particularly since in Lousiana the unorganized militia is quite large and could have been used in Katrina by either the governor or sheriffs.

RS 29:3

§3. Militia

A. All able-bodied persons between the ages of seventeen and sixty-four residing in this state and who are not exempt by the laws of the United States of America or of this state constitute the militia of Louisiana and are subject to military duty.

B. The militia is divided into two classes, the organized militia and the unorganized militia.

(1) The organized militia consists of the national guard, the Louisiana State Guard and other organized military forces which may be authorized by law.

(2) The unorganized militia consists of all other persons subject to military duty.

[my2sense]

6. A Sign of things to come?

I find these actions to be frightning. Do we all need to go out and stockpile weapons? Is this the road we are now on? Are we to prepare for anarchy? Is this an isolated event or is this going on in other cities around the nation?

Sorry, I just feel like we are reverting back to the wild wild west and it's jarring. Folks packing in Starbucks, etc.....it's simply unreal. I'm not anti-gun by any means, I'm just uncomfortable with so much talk of guns/anti-gov't/socialism/ etc.....it's a slippery slope and it only take a few nuts to open the floodgates as some of these folks (right wing nuts) seem to be itching for a full on revolution.

[SteveM]

10. What you are seeing is how the Far Right becoming Mainstream...

Long time in coming, but inevitable. You have one true political party (GOP) which represents the right, including a large highly activist far-right component, and you have a centrist conglomeration which sometimes manages to win elections, but has (since the 70s) made peace with corporate power and runs away from the hard, sustained and well-constructed attacks by the Far Right. This conglomeration (called the Democratic Party) is singularly hostile to the "left," has sought to purge that viewpoint from the "party," and has virtually succeeded with Obama, et al. In this atmosphere, you will have the extreme Far Right elements claiming their "rightful" place to be heard on an equal footing with ANY other viewpoint.

For some years the voter has been faced with these choices:
(1) the Center-right (mainly Democrats and a few old LBJ-type liberals)
(2) the right
(3) the Far Right
(4) the shit-in-you-pants-and-go-to-heaven Right.

(3) and (4) control the GOP.

One thing that puzzles me is how some of my "progressive" or "liberal" friends decry the advances of the Far Right; the mashing of the Constitution, PermaWar, roll-backs of environmental gains, corporate give-aways, and the promotion of the "unitary presidency" and all the authoritarianism implied therein, and end their discourse with something like this: "And we need gun control." Are these "progs" really serious about what the Far Right means, or do they go home and turn the channel on reality?

Kinda takes the sheen off many a coffeehouse rant.

[dmr]

7. I would like to know how they are paying for all this. He was asked,

and I heard him say on TV last week "we had the money."

WTF is that suppose to mean?

Will this be a beginning of a trend, where other locals around the country do the same?

Is this really a R/W fringe group legitimizing itself under the guise of the sheriff's office?

I'm hoping they are watched carefully. Imagine Sheriff Arpaio doing this. On second thought, I don't want to imagine that.

[Emit]

8. On Randi Rhode's show, it was inferred that the monies came from stimulus funds

whether that was in jest or backed up by fact, I have no idea

[dmr]

15. I wondered about that, if so, then that's abuse of the funds.

I wondered too, if it was Homeland Security money, or maybe drug forfeiture money (where cops stop you, take your money claiming it was drug money).

I would like to see their books.

[sixmile]

11. The irony is that recent 'terrorist' acts in the U.S. are perpetrated by white men

who look, act and dress just like this posse.
So they should have an easier time infiltrating their cells!

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

13. Will they be issued uniforms, or have to supply their own traditional white robes?

[my2sense]

14. I imagine they will have some Made In America

white robes and hoods to match.

Who says we don't make anything anymore. I imagine that industry is experiencing some growth.