Feds STEAL (seize) Camp Zoe (music festival grounds)

[Bennyboy]

Mike Johnston's first hint that something unusual was happening at Camp Zoe was the presence of four police officers at Tiffany Hall, the campground's dining area.

"I wondered if the police might be looking for someone's missing kid," Mike recalled to Pro Libertate. "But as I walked through the camp I saw a couple more, and then a couple more -- and then I saw a bunch of guys in SWAT fatigues with assault rifles. One of them had a German Shepherd on a leash. All of them were doing their best to look intimidating."



The armed visitors who materialized at about 7:30 a.m. on November 1 were part of a multi-jurisdictional task force that invaded Camp Zoe, a popular outdoor music venue and campground in Missouri's Shannon County. The previous evening had brought the 2010 concert season to an end with the final night of the fall "Spookstock" festival.

"Every letter of the alphabet was represented" in the raid, Mike's wife Joni wryly observes. "There were people from the DEA, the IRS, the Highway Patrol, from Homeland Security, the local police and country Sheriff's Office. There was a group from the Rolla Police Department, which is two counties away from here."


Mike and Joni were among those who had stayed overnight to help with custodial work and other housekeeping matters. Mike had slept in later than he had planned, so he may have still been a little groggy as he absorbed the shock of seeing SWAT operators prowling the grounds. While he tried to make sense of the spectacle, one of Mike's friends commented: "You haven't seen what's going on behind the bus."

In the open field behind the bus "there were three huge RVs surrounded by more than a dozen other vehicles from every local police department and several federal agencies," Mike recounted. "One of the RVs was a State Police SWAT command center, and another one was a communications center for the federal agencies. And there were dozens of cops and SWAT guys swarming everywhere."

READ MORE> http://freedominourtime.blogspot.com/2010/11/stealing-camp-zoe-federal-forfeiture.html

[Bennyboy]

1. More:

The Feds "just siphoned away all of his money, and then filed a civil asset forfeiture lawsuit seeking to seize his property," protests attorney Dan Viets, who has volunteered to represent Tebeau. "This would mean that he wouldn't have the money needed to fight the seizure in court."

[Greyhound]

2. Terrible abuse of power, but this has been SOP since the 80's. K&R.

But don't forget that this is the "Land of the Free" and we have our "Rights", and most especially that everything is just as it always was and all is well...

[Donald Ian Rankin]

8. Terrible power, but this doesn't appear to be an abuse of it by the police.

As far as I can tell from some links from the OP, this is a case of democratically-elected lawmakers passing a law specifically intended to result in law-enforcement officials doing things like this, rather than of the police abusing a power that was intended to be used for other things.

I think in this case the issue is the power/duty itself, not abuse of it.

[Canuckistanian]

3. I haven't seen a mention of any charges filed

Nor of any arrests. They can really walk in, armed with nothing but a warrant and proceed to seize property like that?

[notesdev]

4. Yep it's called felony armed robbery

when anyone without a badge does it

[truedelphi]

17. + 1. n/t

[melm00se]

9. it depends

(as it usually does when laws and lawyers are involved).

A warrant usually details what the target of the seizure is and anything seized that is either not specified in the warrant or in plain view (ie: the warrant says "looking for a knife" and there is 5 pounds of cocaine sitting on a table = in plain view) can not be used as evidence in a criminal case.

A duly signed and executed warrant allows for government officials (usually law enforcement) to enter (peacefully or forcibly) the property detailed in the warrant.

The complaint (http://keepstlouisfree.blogspot.com/2010/11/complaint-against-camp-zoe-and-jimmy.html) claims that the owner and staff of Camp Zoe witnessed the "extensive sale and usage of drugs" there and did nothing to prevent it. This could make them accessories to the crime and thus fall under the civil forfeiture statute.

[Bennyboy]

10. They have to prove a negative

Prove you didn't see anyone using or selling drugs.

This is horrible for my world. I live at places like Zoe. Bonnaroo? private property, no police. Same situations, and that property is enourmous. Rothbury site, Same thing. There is a place in Oregon that put on jamband festivals. Everyone gets high. The band gets high, The crowd gets high. It is like the ACID Tests there all the time. Never a problem, but never cops around. Oddly, ABC is around though, but no real police. Some CA people built and moved into a McMansion nearby (We are talking a forest away) and they started fussing over these events since they built their home. Now here we have the tool to stop the owner of the camp from holding festivals (even though, he was failing in other venture on the property).

The police do not like to be out of the loop and these promoters did not use the number of cops that the coops needed to keep the peace and bust people, so they are taking it way from them.

[Radical Activist]

13. Holy shit.

I hate to think how that could ruin Bonnaroo next year.

[NashVegas]

18. This Doesn't Happen At Bonnaroo Because AC Knows What He's Doing

If you're going to bring in 90,000 people to camp for a weekend, some of whom will bring drugs, it's never a bad idea to use proceeds from the event to benefit the community.

How much does "Schwagfest" deliver to local businesses, tax base, and schools? How much does it benefit the local economy?

Manchester & Coffee County have no interest in screwing over Bonnaroo's promoters.

[melm00se]

15. actually

you have it backwards.

Prove you didn't see anyone using or selling drugs.

the burden of proof in a criminal case is upon the prosecution so the government has to prove you did, all the defense has to do is create reasonable doubt.

[Webster Green]

5. I'm not allowed to refer to them as "pigs" on the DU.

So, I won't call them fucking pigs, which was the first thing that came to mind.

Fucking swine! :mad:

[Donald Ian Rankin]

7. Blame the people who made the law, not the people enforcing it.

I've put a couple of links in post #6, below.

As far as I can tell, there is a relevant law specifically intended to lead to actions like this, passed by democratically elected lawmakers. I don't think you have any grounds for blaming the police for not refusing to enforce it; especially not if you're not directing similar invective at the people who told them to.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

6. A couple of links that make it slightly clearer what is going on:

http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2010/11/camp_zoe_schwagstock_drug_investigation_seizure.php explains in a bit more detail.

http://keepstlouisfree.blogspot.com/2010/11/complaint-against-camp-zoe-and-jimmy.html is the official legal form.

My immediate take based on a fairly cursory reading is that this is a bad thing (because it involves leveling a significant penalty against someone with a lower burden of proof required than in a proper criminal trial), but that both the letter and the spirit of the law appear to be being followed and so the blame rests entirely or almost entirely on the head of the lawmakers rather than the law enforcement officials.

[booley]

14. Can I blame both?

Maybe I'm just cynical but one part of the river front times article struck out at me..

"In other words, if someone's car, home, or other assets are used to commit a crime, the DEA and other law enforcement agencies have the power to confiscate that property. They can then auction those items off and use the proceeds to fund their budgets. The complaint filed earlier this week says the Camp Zoe property has an approximate value of $600,000."

The owner does not have to be proven guilty in a court of law, they just have to show the property was used to commit crimes. And then all those departments that did this raid get to split up over half a million dollars.

I find it hard to believe that played no part in the action. Again maybe I'm just cynical but I have known lots of local governments that used their police force as a means to obtain income.

[Bennyboy]

11. A local replied on another board..

"As a Missourian and a person who uses the outdoors of Shannon County frequently, I think what they're really pissed about is the underage drug use (heavy) and complete lack of discretion on the part of the property owners.

Before anyone jumps down my throat, let me say that I don't agree with the property seizure or the idea that the government is coming onto private property.

That said, the owners have practiced "in your face" antics with the law enforcement in that area, practically begging them to come on and raid. Staff members have been known to hand out hits and I ain't talkin' jelly beans.

One weekend recently, I was on my way to the Current River to float and camp on our Gorgeous Ozark National Scenic Riverways (federally protected land which Camp Zoe butts up against). As I headed south on Highway 19, a stereotypical curvy, dangerous country road, I came upon a roadblock set up by the State Highway Patrol. In 30 years of floating and camping I had not had this experience... after I spoke with law officers and drove off, it occurred to me... "ahhhhhh, this weekend is Schwagstock..."

You couldn't pay me to go to Schwagstock (a music festival featuring a local Dead cover band, The Schwag)...why you ask? Because the underage drunk/drug fest is well-known by EVERYONE. If you want to see 15-year-olds trippin' and pukin, THIS is the place to be. No Thanks.

Now, some may argue that is not the case and that it's nothing but peace-loving, music-loving folk, but my experience is that the reputation of Camp Zoe is that of a place to go party if you're underage. So, right or wrong, law enforcement agencies are required to follow up on those reports/calls/concerns. And, it doesn't help the owners that this part of our beautiful state is a God-fearin', conservative community who seriously frowns upon over-indulgence.

Does it mean they have to take the property? Of course not. But given that this has been Camp Zoe's reputation for several years now, it seems to me the owners should have wised up, cut the underage stuff out and worked WITH law enforcement, not against them. To that end, this cannot be a surprising scenario.

I'm not saying it's right, but I am saying it's not surprising and the owners absolutely know they were breaking the law so it was just a matter of time."

[Strelnikov_]

12. Yea, God Forbid, we don't want any underage drinkin and drug takin anywhere near the Current River

I mean, float trips down the Current in summer are known for their solice.

[KamaAina]

16. Underage drug use?

Is there a legal age for drug use in MO? :sarcasm: