No Weed, Just Weeds, City of Arlington SWAT Raid on Peaceful Organic Farmers is a Big Budget Bust
By Bob TuskinBobTuskin.com
August 12, 2013
Arlington, Texas — A family with a passion for gardening and
conscious living was raided by the Arlington SWAT team early Friday
morning. All 8 adults present in the house were initially handcuffed at
the gunpoint of heavily armed SWAT officers, including the mother of a
22 month old and a two week old baby who was separated from her children
during the raid. I had a chance to interview Quinn who gave me his
first hand account of the raid and the background behind it all.Here is their press release: At around seven thirty last Friday morning, inhabitants of The Garden of Eden, a small Intentional Community based on Sustainability, were awakened by a SWAT raid conducted by the City of Arlington for suspicion of being a full fledged marijuana growth and trafficking operation. Ultimately only a single arrest was made based on unrelated outstanding traffic violations, a handful of citations were given for city code violations, and zero drug related violations were found.
The entire operation lasted about 10 hours and involved many dozens of city officials, SWAT team, police officers and code compliance employees, and numerous official vehicles including dozens of police cars and several specialized vehicular equipment that was involved in the “abatement” operation. Witnesses say that there were helicopters and unmanned flying drones circling the property in the days prior to the raid that are presumed to have been a part of the intelligence gathering.
The combined expenses for the raid itself and the collection of information leading up to the fruitless raid are estimated in the tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars. All 8 adults present in the house were initially handcuffed at the gunpoint of heavily armed SWAT officers, including the mother of a 22 month old and a two week old baby who was separated from her children during the raid.
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