Government Crackdown on Survivalists?

UrbanSurvivalSkills received several e-mails from readers alerting us to "government raids on private citizens who had been stocking food" because these people fit a profile for domestic terrorist activity. Apparently this story came from an Oath Keepers report on a federal raid on a Mormon (Latter Day Saints) facility in Tennessee and was later de-bunked by Glenn Beck and the Blaze and the
story recalled by Oath Keepers.

However, the roots from this story, and possible others like it, come from government "intelligence" reports about domestic terrorism with survivalists, "gun nuts" and returning "disillusioned war veterans" as potential "lone wolf" type domestic terrorists. One of the government documents that fuel the belief is a joint bulletin from the FBI and Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) titled "Communities Against Terrorism" where the bulletin listed potential indicators of terrorist activities related to (purchases at) military surplus stores.

The joint bulletin lists suspicious activity and encourages store owners to call authorities if they have customers who meet any of these profiles:

What Should I Consider Suspicious? People or Groups who:

Provide ID that is inconsistent or suspect, or demand identify privacy.

Insist of paying with cash or use credit cards in different names.

Significantly alter appearance from visit to visit.

Have missing hands/fingers, chemical burns, strange odors or bright color stains on clothing.

Make racist or extreme religious statements coupled with comments that are violent or appear to condone violence.

Make suspicious comments regarding anti U.S radical theology, vague or cryptic warnings that appear to endorse the use of violence in support of a cause.

Demonstrate interest in uses that do not seem consistent with the intended use of the item being purchased.

Possess little knowledge of intended purchase items.

Make bulk purchases of items to include: Weatherproofed ammunition or match containers; Meals Ready to Eat; Night Vision Devices, night flashlights or gas masks; high capacity magazines; bi-pods or tripods for rifles.


See the Blaze story here, as well as a copy of Joint FBI-BJA Bulletin.

UrbanSurvivalSkills believes that if you are not doing anything illegal then you have little to fear from the government, except tanking the economy and running businesses out of business, but it stills pays to maintain OPSEC,....against misguided government instusion and criminal threats targeting you because you are a prepared survivalist.

The Bad Guys Are Us

Starting to come out two days ago, then more fully yesterday and today, are details of the Senate Defense Bill for Fiscal Year 2012 that has a provision, Section 1031, which allows for the designation of the homeland (meaning the 50 states) as a part of the War on Terror or as Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) put it: "The homeland is part of the battlefield and people can be held without trial whether (they are) American Citizens or not." Notable supporters include Senator's John McCain (R-AZ) and Carl Levin (D-MI).

On the surface it seems like a logical means and set of tools for Federal Law Enforcement to combat domestic and imported terrorism. Until you get to these four facts:

1 - The Senate Defense Bill was developed in secrecy contrary to law.What is the Senate worried about? That the People would see what the bill was shaping up to be and be outraged as they should be?
2 - The bill allows for the use of the Armed Forces in domestic law enforcement and anti-terrorism operations.
3- That domestic Terrorist suspects include,.....people who disagree with the Government; people who may be missing fingers; people who collect or store guns and ammunition especially multiple guns and waterproof ammunition,...and people who have 7 days or more of food stocked.
4 - Finally, some wisdom from one of our great Founders, Benjamin Franklin,.."Those who would sacrifice freedom for security deserve neither.

I don't know who else besides Rand Paul (R-KY) is on our side and the side of tens of millions of Americans, but what I do know is if this bill is passed the game changes. Primarily focused on conditions and threats outside of our control,.e.g..economic collapse, dollar break, external terrorist attack by Weapon of Mass Destruction or EMP attack,.....or even natural disasters have now been superseded by the very real threat of a totalitarian government,....at least we have a counter-measure that that is redress of grievances through petition (phone call and e-mails) or through the ballot box. Holy Jesus, this scares the shit out of me!