Steve Watson
Infowars.net
Thursday, April 24, 2008


Teams of police armed with submachine guns, body armor and bomb-sniffing dogs are to begin patrolling New York subways today in an effort to "prevent terrorism".

The special bomb teams known as "Torch Teams" will consist of six officers and a dog will patrolling all platforms and trains in 12-hour shifts.

The cops will carry huge MP5 submachine guns that are usually used by Navy seals and FBI hostage-rescue teams.

ABC eyewitness news has a video report here.

The move comes after a 50 percent increase in a homeland security grant was announced earlier this year, translating to $153 million.

"The show of force will no doubt make many riders feel safer, although some weren't sure how much of a difference it will make." reports ABC.

If you believe six storm troopers pointing massive machine guns at passengers makes them feel safer I've got a bridge I want to sell you.

(Article continues below)

"They will look similar to the NYPD's heavily armed hercules teams, which have showed up guarding city landmarks since the 9/11 attacks." ABC reminds us, slipping in the now ubiquitous 9/11 reference point, in case you'd forgotten that evil muslim terrorists want you dead.

Meanwhile CBS tells us "In this age of heightened security, commuters and keen canines will share the underground world of mass transit."

Though the "Torch Teams", presumably so called because they "shine a light" on evil terror in the dark and dangerous underground, are officially the first of their kind, the idea was road tested in late 2005 with TSA VIPER squads patrolling mass transit facilities in major cities conducting searches and checking ID's.

"The so-called "Visible Intermodal Protection and Response" teams — or VIPER teams — will patrol Amtrak's Northeast Corridor and Los Angeles rail lines; ferries in Washington state; bus stations in Houston; and mass transit systems in Atlanta, Philadelphia, Washington and Baltimore." reported the AP.

The move coincided with a federal judge's ruling that police had a constitutional right to randomly search passengers' bags on the New York City subway to deter terrorist attacks.

Though the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits searches without probable cause, the judge declared searches to be only a "minimal intrusion" of privacy.

Presumably the same gross violations of the Fourth will be within the remit of the new "torch teams" and you will be treated as a terrorist suspect and be forced to comply with their orders for your own safety.

The pretext for these jackboot subway patrols came in October 2005 when authorities in New York announced a major terror alert on the underground.

Police temporarily shut down parts of the transit system after a soda bottle filled with a substance resembling the household cleaner Drano was found near an Amtrak ticket counter, the announcement said.

However, it emerged that there was never any corroboration of any terror threat, merely some rumor about it having originated in Iraq:

"the plot to bomb city subways with remote-controlled explosives has not been corroborated after days of investigation, law-enforcement officials said Sunday amid an easing sense of concern."

This did not seem to matter as all the key phrases, "bombs", "subway" "New York" "Terrorists" "Iraq" "Afghanistan" and "Al Qaeda" steamrolled the incident into becoming a brand new terror alert.

The random bag searches ensued. Even small children with pink My Little Pony bags were considered possible terrorists.

Everyone can see that this activity is absurd and contemptible, and that is the point. We are being acclimatized to consider this as normal and it's working, the typical reaction is simply, "oh well that's the way it has to be in order for everyone to be safe". The lazy and selfish reaction to this climate of fear is severely damaging our society, the masses are sleepwalking towards a police state, they see it, but it doesn't register.

The VIPER and Torch teams have nothing to do with preventing terrorism, they are there to get people to cower and accept they are under control. There has been no new intelligence indicating that terrorists are interested in targeting transportation modes, these programs are rolled out regardless.

Perhaps the subway storm troopers will start taking a leaf out of the books of Canadian police and start tasering passengers who try to avoid paying fares.

Or perhaps they will demand middle aged women present ID or arrest those evil terrorists caught donating travel tokens to people without the right change.

This is textbook, mechanized, classic tyranny.

The federal government has ensured that the very same people who grope pregnant women and make 90-year-old men remove their shoes in airports are now going to be on American streets and subways.

Only through constant activism, lobbying and vigilance can we escort martial law away from American shores and live peacefully in a society where we do not cower in fear of the armed security guard barking orders at us when simply walking down the street, "citizen, show me your papers."