THE DEEP STATE CONTROLS GOVERNMENT POLICY IN US, MOST AMERICANS BELIEVE IN NEW POLL

By Matt Agorist

Broward, FL — In what’s being called the first gun confiscation of its kind in Florida, police have taken four guns and a couple hundred rounds of ammunition from a 56-year-old Lighthouse Point man. The man was not tried, had not committed a crime, and the guns were solely removed because “experts” deemed him a threat.

The guns and ammunition have been temporarily removed from the man under the state’s new “risk protection” law, which is also sometimes called “red flag” legislation, Lighthouse Point City Attorney Michael Cirullo confirmed, according to the Sun-Sentinel.

“We know it’s the first case of its kind in Broward County and we think it’s the first one in Florida, under the new law,” Cirullo said. “Up until the introduction of this law last week, there was no process for us to protect the public in this kind of situation.”

In Florida, prior to passing the new gun control law, people deemed psychologically unfit could be involuntarily hospitalized under what is called the Baker Act. During this involuntary admission to a hospital, the person is evaluated to determine if they are a risk to themselves or others.

Only after they had been psychologically evaluated and deemed a threat could the government then move in to temporarily disarm them. Now, however, this tiny bit of due process is no longer necessary and “experts” can simply deem someone a threat and take their guns.

Although the 56-year-old man was subsequently Baker Act-ed, his guns were taken before this happened.

To illustrate the insidious nature of Florida’s new bill and its rights-violating implications, prior to the new legislation, if police would have done what they did to this 56-year-old man—taken his guns with no due process—they would be fired and fined up to $5,000.

It is important to note that this man was certainly acting strangely and, according to the Sun-Sentinel, he told officers he “was being targeted and burglarized by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and a neighbor who lives in (his) building,” the judge wrote in his order. “(He) could not describe the neighbor but stated that the neighbor ‘shape shift, he can change heights and I’m not sure where he comes from’ and ‘to be honest, he looks like Osama Bin Laden.’”

He also turned off all of his power to the apartment he lived in. By all means, he was acting very strangely. However, he still deserved due process.

It will now be up to the man to prove that he is healthy enough to ever be able to get his guns back again.

To be clear, no one here is advocating for people determined to be mentally unfit to be able to possess firearms. However, they need to be determined to be mentally unfit before they lose their rights.

This law was a reaction to the shooting in Parkland, however, it is important to point out that there were already laws on the books that should’ve stopped Nikolas Cruz from ever getting a gun. Citing Cruz as the reason for advocating the removal of due process, the anti-gun activists are claiming he should’ve had his guns taken which would have prevented the tragedy. Sadly, however, they are ignoring the fact that he was accused of multiple felonies—and should’ve never been able to purchase a gun in the first place—but law enforcement failed to act on any of it.

In Florida, if a person making death threats intends for the victim to fear for her safety, specifically fearful of death or bodily harm, it is considered a credible threat under the law, which changes the crime from stalking, a first-degree misdemeanor, to aggravated stalking, a felony of the third degree. Cruz was reported at least 4 times for this very crime before he bought his AR-15 and police did nothing.

Florida’s law also mirrors another due process-removing law that was recently used in Washington state to remove a man’s guns.

As TFTP reported earlier this month, there is a law on the books known as the Extreme Risk Protection Order or ERPO, which went into effect in June of 2017. This law is used when a person is considered an “extreme” threat as reported by police and family members. An ERPO must be approved by a judge and only after this person is proven to be a danger to themselves or others can police move in to confiscate their weapons.

“We now have to go to someone’s house and knock on the door and say, ‘We’re from the government. Can we have your guns?’” Seattle police Sgt. Eric Pisconski told KIRO Radio’s Dave Ross. “That can get very dangerous.”

SCHERTZ, Tex. — The latest in a wave of bombings rattling Central Texas brought a widening investigation to this city outside San Antonio on Tuesday, after an explosion at a FedEx facility signaled that whoever was responsible for the attacks had offered police potentially critical new clues while again shifting tactics.

The blast early Tuesday — the fifth since March 2 — came as investigators have struggled to explain the bombing campaign that began with a series of packages placed at people’s doorsteps in eastern Austin, escalated to a tripwire-enabled device left along a residential street and, on Tuesday, shifted to an explosive device shipped through a delivery company.

The same person who shipped that explosive also sent another package that was intercepted before delivery and was turned over to the FBI, according to FedEx. Federal officials confirmed that package also contained an explosive device.

[ After fourth Austin explosion, police warn of sophisticated ‘serial bomber’ ]

Police have described the unknown attacker as a “serial bomber” who has been showing increasing sophistication and skill. The explosions on Sunday and early Tuesday also suggested a worrisome — and unusual — willingness to change gears.

The bomb in Schertz exploded just after midnight while it traveled on an automated conveyor belt at a FedEx center about an hour south of Austin, the city that has been the focus of the blasts. One employee at the center said it caused ringing in her ears, but no one else was wounded, police said.

The package was en route to Austin, according to police, and officials said they think it was the work of the same person or people responsible for the four earlier explosions in the Texas capital. Michael Hansen, the Schertz police chief, said investigators are “confident that neither this facility nor any location in the Schertz area was the target.”

FedEx also said Tuesday that by using the delivery service, the person who shipped the packages left behind “extensive evidence,” which the company turned over to investigators.

“We have also confirmed that the individual responsible also shipped a second package that has now been secured and turned over to law enforcement,” FedEx said in a statement. “We are thankful that there were no serious injuries from this criminal activity. We have provided law enforcement responsible for this investigation extensive evidence related to these packages and the individual that shipped them collected from our advanced technology security systems.”

In a statement Tuesday evening, the Austin police, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives confirmed that the package found in Austin that morning “contained an explosive device [that] was disrupted by law enforcement. No injuries were reported.”

As tension lingered in Austin, authorities raced Tuesday night to a reported explosion at a Goodwill store in the city’s southwest area, where a man in his 30s was thought to be injured. But police said later it was an incendiary device rather than an explosive.

Ely Reyes, an assistant chief with the Austin Police Department, said investigators have “no reason to believe” that the incident was connected to the four other explosions in Austin and the fifth in Schertz.

He said the “incendiary device” went off at the Goodwill store when an employee handled two old military devices left in a box of donated items. He described the devices as six-inch-long “artillery simulators.” When an employee picked one of them up, the device “initiated,” injuring the employee, who was taken to a hospital. Reyes said he is in stable condition.

[ A century before Austin’s bombings, a deadly Wall Street explosion was never solved ]

The hurried response to that blast spoke to the unease in Austin as officials waited to see if another explosive would emerge. Meanwhile, investigators were carefully examining the unexploded FedEx package, hoping it could provide new evidence pointing to a possible suspect.

The discovery of any unexploded device linked to the case could prove crucial for investigators, because it could lead to the identity of a suspect or suspects; the materials used to assemble a bomb potentially can be traced back to a supplier — and, in many cases, the individual purchaser.

The suspect “is not stupid. He’s being diversified in his methods and attacks, and may have done this before somewhere,’’ said Malcolm Brady, a retired ATF explosives investigator. But each new device — and delivery method — offers new potential leads, such as business records, video or other evidence.

“It’s a big jigsaw puzzle, and you put all the pieces of information together and go from there,” he said.

[ A father, a musician, a salsa maker — the lives and futures lost in the Austin bombings ]

Brian Manley, the interim Austin police chief, said his department had sent officers to Schertz to help investigate the “new development” there.

“The working theory right now … is that that was a package that was in the shipping center destined for Austin,” he told the Austin City Council on Tuesday morning. All four explosions in Austin have occurred outside the city’s core, which includes downtown, the Texas Capitol and the University of Texas.

San Antonio Police Chief William McManus had said, during a morning news briefing, that officials believed a second package found at the Schertz facility was “also loaded with an explosive device that they are working on right now.” A spokesman later issued a statement saying: “There is no secondary device at the Schertz facility.”

Finally, officials confirmed late Tuesday that a second package found in Austin had contained an undetonated bomb.

The confusion and contradictory statements underscored the frantic pace of the investigation, which now includes more than 300 federal agents along with scores of local law enforcement officers in Texas.

President Trump said Tuesday that the federal government is working “hand in hand” with local authorities to “get to the bottom” of the bombings in Austin and find those responsible.

After a string of explosions in the Austin area, residents are on edge and are taking extra precautions. (The Washington Post)

The package that detonated early Tuesday morning is believed to have been sent from a FedEx location in Sunset Valley, an enclave city within Austin, police said.

“The FBI believes that the package that detonated in Schertz may have originated from here,” said Sunset Valley Police Lt. Rich Andreucci.

The police department cordoned off the FedEx storefront — located three miles from the site where a bomb, rigged with a tripwire, detonated Sunday night — but neighboring stores in the shopping center were open.

“The more we’re sitting here, the more we realize it’s serious,” said Jessica Wilkinson, who was celebrating her 37th birthday by having lunch outside with her sister and mother. “It’s just all over the place.”

A mother of two children, ages 8 and 4, Wilkinson said it’s been a scary time to live in Austin, “but it’s so random, it’s hard to change anything in my day-to-day life to avoid it.”

Her mother, Kellie Metzler, 59, said she thought about texting Wilkinson to say, “Don’t be scared; I sent a couple of packages for your birthday.” Metzler said she was infuriated by the seeming randomness of the bomber’s targets.

“Why pick on people you don’t even know?” Kellie Metzler said. “Not one of them did a thing to you. I just don’t get that.”

[ Police said the first blast was “isolated,” then shifted gears when two more followed ]

The first three bombs — one on March 2 and a pair that detonated March 12 — were in packagesdropped off at people’s homes, authorities said. The fourth bomb was placed on the side of the road in a residential neighborhood and was rigged with a tripwire; when it detonated Sunday night, two men were wounded.

The first three explosives all detonated in eastern Austin, affecting areas where black and Hispanic residents live, leading to suggestions that they might have been motivated by racial bias. The explosion Sunday night detonated in an affluent, predominantly white neighborhood and injured two white men in their 20s.

Police and experts have pointed to the change in tactics as suggesting the proficiency of whoever is responsible.

“That bomb was very different from the other three,” Manley told the Austin City Council. “The first three appeared to be targeting a specific residence, resident address. And whether they were targeting the person at that address or not, we know they were placed on a specific doorstep at a specific home.”

The device Sunday night, by contrast, was seemingly intended to detonate at random, ratcheting up the fear in a city already unnerved by the package explosions. Police said Tuesday morning that they had received more than 1,200 calls about suspicious packages since March 12, the day two bombs detonated; one-third of the calls came in between Monday morning and Tuesday morning.

Berman, Barrett and Flynn reported from Washington. Matt Zapotosky, Brian Murphy, Julie Tate and Jenna Johnson in Washington contributed to this report, which has been updated.