Covert Mission
New member
This is old news to some, but I wanted to post an excerpt, adn draw attention to a quote which made me laugh at its absurdity. The quote and important passages in boldface, and my comments at end
from:
http://www.apbnews.com/cjprofessionals/behindthebadge/2000/04/28/deathvalley0428_01.html
Downing of Chopper Leaves Police Wary
Extremists Held in Unprecedented Civilian Attack
April 28, 2000
By David Barry
DEATH VALLEY, Calif. (APBnews.com) -- One month after three heavily armed anti-government extremists shot down a California Highway Patrol helicopter and held 118
law officers at bay for 12 hours, authorities are mulling what went wrong -- and right -- in the potentially deadly conflict.
Three suspects surrendered shortly before midnight March 17 after spraying gunfire from a makeshift desert bunker at a CHP helicopter, downing the aircraft. Authorities said it was the first time civilians downed a police helicopter.
The incident began at 5:15 a.m. when a Nevada highway patrolman stopped a black BMW for speeding on U.S. Highway 95, about 65 miles north of Las Vegas. Seeing a shotgun in the vehicle, he radioed for help and waited in his car for backup before writing the ticket. When the backup car arrived, the BMW sped away, and the chase was on.
The shooting came without warning a few minutes later when a passenger in the BMW stuck his head out of the sunroof and fired four shots from an M-1 carbine at a sheriff's deputy's vehicle. Uninjured, the deputy dropped back and continued the pursuit By 8 a.m., when the CHP Long Ranger helicopter arrived from Dagget, the trio in the BMW had struck out across the saltpan for the Panamint Mountains and abandoned the car when it got mired in mud. Carrying rifles, pistols and plenty of ammunition, they made their way on foot to a gully that they fashioned into a bunker by piling rocks at both ends.
"Our air unit arrived and went looking for the suspects' location, taking directions from a park ranger with a spotting scope," Bonnett said. "Unfortunately, the helicopter crew flew right over the bunker at about 250 feet and took two bullets from the .308 rifles they were firing." One bullet passed harmlessly through a cowling. Another bullet hit an oil line and ricocheted into the transmission oil cooler, forcing an emergency landing. "They lost all their oil," Bonnett said of the helicopter crew. "But they managed to fly it for over a mile and put it down safely."
A search of the BMW turned up a stockpile of weapons and ammunition. "There was over 700 rounds of .308 rifle ammunition, both regular and armor-piercing," Lutze said. "There were rifles, some scoped, some without, shotguns, pistols, a derringer and knives. There were at least 200 shotgun shells." Lutze said there was also extremist literature, some of it written by the elder Burrus. Lutze and Deputy Jim Jones made phone calls to Idaho to find out information about the fugitives and learned that Lloyd Burrus had ties to a militia in Alaska and had outspoken anti-government views.
"People said they doubted Lloyd would surrender," Jones said. "When they were arrested, they still had 500 rounds with them." Rifle fire at the aircraft continued through the afternoon. Toward nightfall, a helicopter from the Kern County Sheriff's Department and a U.S. Customs jet arrived with special night-vision equipment, which allowed officers to see the suspects and report what they were doing. By 10:30 p.m., the suspects were arguing over whether to stay and shoot it out, or leave the bunker and go for water and supplies, authorities said.
"The guys on the ground had night-vision glasses, and they were close enough to hear the argument," Bonnett said. Bonnett said the argument had heated up to the shouting and shoving stage when SWAT team officers yelled at the suspects to surrender. "We can see you, but you can't see us. You're surrounded. Give it up." Then the Kern County helicopter lighted up the scene with a multimillion candlepower searchlight. The suspects surrendered without resistance. All three are being held on $250,000 bail in Independence, facing multiple charges of attempted murder of peace officers.
Bruce Hoffman, a national expert on terrorism for the Rand Corporation in Washington, was surprised to hear of the downing of the CHP helicopter.Hoffman said he is disturbed by the way the growing availability of off-the-shelf hardware has become a "force equalizer" in conflict and violence. "It used to be that governments had a technological superiority over their adversaries," Hoffman said. "But with armaments, bulletproof vests and armor-piercing bullets available, that's gone." "We're not completely powerless against these adversaries," he said. "Law enforcement agencies are better trained than they've ever been."
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Not completely powerless. Would that be an example of understatement?
Let's see:
bozo Bad guys= old BMW stuck in mud
Good guys= helicopters and jets
Bozo Bad guys= assorted motley civilian weapons
Good guys= automatic weapons
Bozo Bad guys= stuck alonein the dark, cold and thirsty
Good guys= warm, with radios, night vision gear and 2 million candlepower searchlights
Bozo Bad guys= nowhere to go
Good guys= all the time in the world, with reinforcements aplenty
Bozo Bad guys= no body armor
Good guys= body armor
Yeah, I just wonder why the heck that SWAT team didn't just surrender. They barely stood a chance.
Not completely powerless. What a stupid thing to say, and an obvious example of trying to induce panic among the sheeple.
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[This message has been edited by Covert Mission (edited May 01, 2000).]
from:
http://www.apbnews.com/cjprofessionals/behindthebadge/2000/04/28/deathvalley0428_01.html
Downing of Chopper Leaves Police Wary
Extremists Held in Unprecedented Civilian Attack
April 28, 2000
By David Barry
DEATH VALLEY, Calif. (APBnews.com) -- One month after three heavily armed anti-government extremists shot down a California Highway Patrol helicopter and held 118
law officers at bay for 12 hours, authorities are mulling what went wrong -- and right -- in the potentially deadly conflict.
Three suspects surrendered shortly before midnight March 17 after spraying gunfire from a makeshift desert bunker at a CHP helicopter, downing the aircraft. Authorities said it was the first time civilians downed a police helicopter.
The incident began at 5:15 a.m. when a Nevada highway patrolman stopped a black BMW for speeding on U.S. Highway 95, about 65 miles north of Las Vegas. Seeing a shotgun in the vehicle, he radioed for help and waited in his car for backup before writing the ticket. When the backup car arrived, the BMW sped away, and the chase was on.
The shooting came without warning a few minutes later when a passenger in the BMW stuck his head out of the sunroof and fired four shots from an M-1 carbine at a sheriff's deputy's vehicle. Uninjured, the deputy dropped back and continued the pursuit By 8 a.m., when the CHP Long Ranger helicopter arrived from Dagget, the trio in the BMW had struck out across the saltpan for the Panamint Mountains and abandoned the car when it got mired in mud. Carrying rifles, pistols and plenty of ammunition, they made their way on foot to a gully that they fashioned into a bunker by piling rocks at both ends.
"Our air unit arrived and went looking for the suspects' location, taking directions from a park ranger with a spotting scope," Bonnett said. "Unfortunately, the helicopter crew flew right over the bunker at about 250 feet and took two bullets from the .308 rifles they were firing." One bullet passed harmlessly through a cowling. Another bullet hit an oil line and ricocheted into the transmission oil cooler, forcing an emergency landing. "They lost all their oil," Bonnett said of the helicopter crew. "But they managed to fly it for over a mile and put it down safely."
A search of the BMW turned up a stockpile of weapons and ammunition. "There was over 700 rounds of .308 rifle ammunition, both regular and armor-piercing," Lutze said. "There were rifles, some scoped, some without, shotguns, pistols, a derringer and knives. There were at least 200 shotgun shells." Lutze said there was also extremist literature, some of it written by the elder Burrus. Lutze and Deputy Jim Jones made phone calls to Idaho to find out information about the fugitives and learned that Lloyd Burrus had ties to a militia in Alaska and had outspoken anti-government views.
"People said they doubted Lloyd would surrender," Jones said. "When they were arrested, they still had 500 rounds with them." Rifle fire at the aircraft continued through the afternoon. Toward nightfall, a helicopter from the Kern County Sheriff's Department and a U.S. Customs jet arrived with special night-vision equipment, which allowed officers to see the suspects and report what they were doing. By 10:30 p.m., the suspects were arguing over whether to stay and shoot it out, or leave the bunker and go for water and supplies, authorities said.
"The guys on the ground had night-vision glasses, and they were close enough to hear the argument," Bonnett said. Bonnett said the argument had heated up to the shouting and shoving stage when SWAT team officers yelled at the suspects to surrender. "We can see you, but you can't see us. You're surrounded. Give it up." Then the Kern County helicopter lighted up the scene with a multimillion candlepower searchlight. The suspects surrendered without resistance. All three are being held on $250,000 bail in Independence, facing multiple charges of attempted murder of peace officers.
Bruce Hoffman, a national expert on terrorism for the Rand Corporation in Washington, was surprised to hear of the downing of the CHP helicopter.Hoffman said he is disturbed by the way the growing availability of off-the-shelf hardware has become a "force equalizer" in conflict and violence. "It used to be that governments had a technological superiority over their adversaries," Hoffman said. "But with armaments, bulletproof vests and armor-piercing bullets available, that's gone." "We're not completely powerless against these adversaries," he said. "Law enforcement agencies are better trained than they've ever been."
-------
Not completely powerless. Would that be an example of understatement?
Let's see:
bozo Bad guys= old BMW stuck in mud
Good guys= helicopters and jets
Bozo Bad guys= assorted motley civilian weapons
Good guys= automatic weapons
Bozo Bad guys= stuck alonein the dark, cold and thirsty
Good guys= warm, with radios, night vision gear and 2 million candlepower searchlights
Bozo Bad guys= nowhere to go
Good guys= all the time in the world, with reinforcements aplenty
Bozo Bad guys= no body armor
Good guys= body armor
Yeah, I just wonder why the heck that SWAT team didn't just surrender. They barely stood a chance.
Not completely powerless. What a stupid thing to say, and an obvious example of trying to induce panic among the sheeple.
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[This message has been edited by Covert Mission (edited May 01, 2000).]
