Posted on 09/22/2005 2:42:37 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Two of the Moss Landing Harbor residents who were the subjects of random boat searches during Labor Day Weekend say their experiences were closer to armed invasions than the friendly "safety inspections" characterized by U.S. Coast Guard officials.
Both residents said search crews entered the harbor in inflatable boats with machine guns mounted on their bows. Then, carrying M-16 rifles, they approached residents and boarded and searched their boats in the name of safety and "homeland security."
One resident, who asked not to be identified for fear or retribution, said his experience was "very intimidating, very frightening."
"To me it reeks of Nazi Germany and the death squads in Argentina," he said. "I don't want my name on their list."
Scott Jones, a live-aboard resident who was searched, said there has been talk in the harbor about contacting the American Civil Liberties Union, but he first wants to hear further from the Coast Guard about its future intentions.
Lt. Mark Warren of the Monterey Coast Guard Station said he has heard mostly positive response to the operation, but may rethink future actions given current criticisms.
"We take lessons and learn from these types of operations. If the public is genuinely distasteful of it, we might not do it," he said. "I'm not saying we won't, but I'm not saying we will."
In addition to trying to ensure the safety of boats on the bay during the holiday weekend, Warren said, the operation was part of an effort to increase the public's awareness of the Coast Guard's role as a law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security. He said the public might have been surprised to see weaponry that is now standard issue to all Homeland Security forces.
"I, as a U.S. citizen, am highly offended by that," said Jones, who is accustomed to Coast Guard boardings when he sails. "When a sheriff's deputy drives down the road or a CHP officer drives down the road and I see them, I'm aware of his job, and not because he's pulled me over and put a gun to my head.
"The Coast Guard's needs would be better served by an advertising campaign," he said, "rather than bullying people in their bedrooms at 10:30 at night."
Jones said he and his wife were sleeping when they were awakened by knocking on the side of the boat.
He went to the deck and was confronted by two armed officers asking if they could come aboard. Thinking something had happened in the harbor that the officers needed to talk to him about, Jones acquiesced.
"It seemed a little unreasonable at 10:30 at night," he said, "but it was the middle of the night and I was half asleep, so I said 'OK.' At this point, I looked out and saw six to eight officers (on the dock) and all appeared armed."
The officers boarded his boat and quickly spread out beyond the immediate deck without invitation, saying they were conducting a safety inspection.
"I can say with all certainly that what they did was not a safety inspection or in any way related to a safety inspection," he said. The officers demanded access to the bilge, saying they wanted to make sure the boat wasn't taking on water.
"This was highly suspect," Jones said. "If you're on board, you'd know if you were taking on water."
When Jones showed them the bilge, the officers repeatedly, and with increasing forcefulness, demanded to know if there were other accesses to the bilge. They also "demanded" the driver's licenses of everyone on board.
Increasingly upset by the nature of the search, Jones asked for the officers' authority and justification. One officer read to him from a federal code authorizing the search.
"It was either the Patriot Act or homeland security,"Jones said.
Warren said the officers would not have cited the Patriot Act because it affords the Coast Guard no additional authority.
Jones conceded he may have heard "homeland security" and registered "Patriot Act," but still feels the search was unwarranted and in a gray area of the law at best.
"I wouldn't question their professionalism, but I do question their motive and their authority," he said. "To me, it sounds like something that an ACLU lawyer would just tear apart."
Coast Guard officials say they are authorized by maritime law to board and search vessels on U.S. waters, including waters that lead to U.S. waters, to enforce federal laws.
Warren said the officers were attempting to ensure the safety and compliance of docked boats by checking for oily water in their bilges and that their sanitation devices were in locked position. Some searches were conducted at night in an effort to catch boats before they went onto the bay for the weekend.
The second boat owner who spoke to The Herald said his boat was searched after he challenged officers who were searching other boats, at 10:30 p.m. Sept. 2, and during the morning on following days. Told they were acting as Homeland Security officers, he asked what they were protecting the harbor from.
"Terrorists," he said he was told by the officers, who exhorted him to "remember the Cole," referring to the October 2000 attack by terrorists on the USS Cole that killed 17 sailors.
"The only terrorists down here are you guys," he told them. "You're scaring the hell out of me with that machine gun."
While Warren was noncommittal about future searches, he said it is important for the public to know the Coast Guard's presence will be increased.
"The Coast Guard's focus on homeland security has increased our presence on the water and will continue to increase our presence simply because that's what Congress is wanting us to do right now," he said. "The concern at the congressional level about the security of ports is pretty high."
PING!
Anyone planning on buying a boat?
They need to tell us what's going on when they do that sort of thing.
"I'm not saying we won't, but I'm not saying we will."
Oh yeah, to avoid offending anyone lets make sure our coast guard is completely unarmed when they confront drug runners and terrorists, and hey let's stop enforcing our laws and trying to stop illegal activity and security threats. How about disarming our police too.
Isn't it more than a little insane to compare this to death squads in argentina? Such whining!
"..O'er the Land of the Free, and the Home of the Brave..."
Kind of leaves a lump in one's throat and a tear in the eye!
Like the 4th Amendment?
Your wonderfull Supreme Court has held these gun-point searches are legal.
The hell they do. Ask anyone who has been boarded. You are held at gunpoint. Literally.
Or maybe how bout a warrant?
Amendment IV:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Nah, that far too constitutional...
Yep....them dang terrorists might not have their "head" devices locked into position.....
Hassle muslims and leave the rest of us alone..heheh..seriously its like cavity searching old ladies at airports. Fire everyone in command.
The water nazi's don't have to obey the same rules that normal police do. They pretty much do whatever they want.
Coast Guard officials say they are authorized by maritime law to board and search vessels on U.S. waters, including waters that lead to U.S. waters, to enforce federal laws.
Including navigatible waters, this means the Mississippi,
the Tennessee, and other large rivers, if you cruise on
them THEY have jurisdiction and THEY are the law.
You must be prepared for a safety inspection, this is not
your average lake.
Still sounds odd though, more like a drug tip, etc.
Meanwhile, every jihadi harboring planet on the face of the earth is given prefered status in next years visa lottery.
And I gladly stand up,
next to you and defend her still today.
' Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA!"
Sniff... sniff... I'm getting all choked up....
< blows nose in hanky >
Typical. Go after those most likely to be law abiding because they are easy and least likely to cause problems.
Most of those young coasties wouldn't know what to do if they had to use those weapons. THAT is what makes me nervous. Soldiers are forced to patrol live fire zones like NOLA w/o mags but these guys roam around marinas and boats where there are LOTS of tripping hazards. Were their weapons loaded? This is a disaster waiting to happen.
My boat was once boarded by a USCG search party for a "Safety Inspection" while I was cruising along in Valdez, AK. The poor lad who had to climb from the inflatable into my boat had on a Sam Browne with a .45 auto, two spare mags, flashlight, handcuffs, radio, etc. and was wearing a PFD. He'd have still sunk pretty fast had he fallen in.
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