Glorious Martial Law?

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? (Who watches the watchers?) – Juvenal

Are we allowed to talk about martial law, the militarization of police, and the complete shutdown of cities on command? Or will that get the glorious law enforcers to storm and kick in our own doors now? Just what are the rules in effect today? Just what sort of precedent is being set here right before our eyes?

It was your commoner citizens who located the Boston bombing suspect after finding him hiding in a boat. This was after the martial law decree had arbitrarily been lifted, and it was now ordered permissible to go out in one’s backyard again.

Is martial law the answer to sticky incidents with fleeing suspects? Can this now apply to any suspects or any manhunt in the United States, anywhere, for any reason?

One might argue that clearing the streets under military decree is very useful for a particular purpose when pursuing a suspect: allowing a “free fire zone” of automatic .40 caliber hollow point gunfire, the known preference of the new “Homeland Security” apparatus. So what precedents are we setting now, in terms of rewriting the entire law enforcement paradigm, arguably a much more serious concern than a single 19-year-old bleeding suspect. Yeah. What the fuck actually happened last week in Boston?

Governor Deval Patrick took an unprecedented security step, asking people in Boston, Watertown, and several other nearby communities — totaling a million people — to “shelter in place” — stay at home behind locked doors and open up only to police officers with proper identification.” – Boston Globe

“Asking?” Martial law is just a friendly request, and the Globe dutifully disseminates. CBS News counts “thousands of heavily armed law enforcement officers and scores of military-style tactical vehicles,” but is quick to have an expert standing by to justify it as “perfect sense.” Just perfect. All that for one bleeding, injured 19 year old.

One wonders how many tank divisions and predator squadrons might have been called in if this was one of the much-fabled “cells” we hear so much about on TV. I’m not disputing the need to capture the suspect, an obviously dangerous person, given what he is accused of doing. I am disputing the federal intervention, the military suspension of the Constitution and the militarization of local policing – all greatly warned about numerous times as we descend into outright authoritarianism, clamoring for the federal troops and toys to come and save us. Not only were the public politely “asked” to stay within their homes, authorities also pushed the “media back further and further from the action unfolding (CBS).” This bodes well for a free and open society.

In the midst of all this bombing hysteria the House of Representatives (sic) passed CISPA, with more government/private sector spying. Less accountability for the mishandling of your private data, and more total information awareness totalitarianism is ensured. That is the direction that every single one of these bills travels, bar none. Nearly every act of Congress concerning security of any sort increases government and corporate surveillance powers, diminishes accountability, oversight and the public’s right to challenge their own surveillance by authorities both public and private. We are living more and more in The Matrix, with 4th Amendment protections now considered “quaint” and of a bygone era that no longer has any relevance today.

Praise for surveillance cameras has been noted since Boston with calls for more public surveillance, more facial recognition, more integration of things like traffic cameras and license plate readers.

I think CCTV cameras are much more needed in urban areas. – Rep. Peter King (R), New York, House Committee on Homeland Security

Of course he does. He thought that before this latest photo op. The answer is always more security, more surveillance, more intrusion, and less individual protection from government and from the private corporate sector.

A tremendous catharsis overwhelmed Boston with the announced capture of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, as if that explained and ended everything. When you enact martial law with thousands of machine gun wielding stormtroopers and armored personnel carriers in the streets, and then make them go away, the people will be grateful. No doubt.

But this is where the story should be entering a new phase of discovery, intense investigation and disclosure. Sorry Boston; this is far from the end.

It was the FBI, apparently, who had monitored the two Chechen brothers for years, according to their own mother. Zubeidat K. Tsarnaeva claims the FBI had contacted her and her sons repeatedly over the past 5 years. She even claims that the two were “controlled” by the Feds and “set up” in some kind of sting operation. If that sounds baseless, well we have already had an admission by FBI that they “interviewed” the older brother Tamerlan back in 2011. Further, the Wall Street Journal reports that this FBI interview was in response to a “request by the Russian government.”

Scratch the vinyl. Say what?

Russian intelligence / counter-terrorism is already reported to have asked FBI to check out the older brother, now deceased, whom the FBI says blew up bombs at the 2013 Boston Marathon. The FBI admits to talking to this suspect. They then claim, absurdly to have “closed the file” because they allegedly found nothing “suspicious.”

Do these suspected terrorist files even get closed at all? We’re straining credulity here.

Magnitudes more disturbing than any of that is the actual on-the-record activity by the FBI in at least 17 “terrorism” cases with so-called “foiled plots” since the 9/11 attacks. What the FBI does routinely – and this is not in dispute – is to orchestrate terror bombings with targeted individuals. These bombings are suggested and assisted by an undercover FBI provocateur. Often fake explosives and arms are provided. The targeted individuals are strictly monitored, and then set up and arrested with spectacular headlines and a grateful public that was saved from yet another act of senseless terror. The plots are provoked by the government itself in a controversial practice that many call “entrapment.”

Was the Boston Marathon bombing such a case of a sting that was somehow allowed to succeed?

What is the evidence?

Little is known about the operational planning, other than a vague claim by the boys’ mother alleging “control” and “set up.” However, some highly suspicious evidence has emerged from the bombing incident itself. Two main things remain unexplained, and corporate media has not, to my knowledge, investigated the most disturbing evidence the public has seen so far. This corporate media blackout is indicative of unreported, behind the scenes answers likely given by authorities when nosy reporters inquire about these matters.

First: We have the cross country coach from the University of Mobile, AL saying that authorities announced “training exercises” by the bomb squad at the start of the race. Bomb sniffing dogs were present and used, according to Alastair (“Ali”) Stevenson, who ran the race. Repeated public address announcements told the runners and spectators to “…not worry, this is just a training exercise.”

A lengthy list of justifiable questions springs to mind, which any reporter worth his lunch would immediately want to ask. Yet, none of these questions, and none of the responses to them were published last week. But how could that be?

Let’s start with the absurdity of running a “training exercise” with the bomb squad in the middle of a sprawling, 26-mile-long, city-wide event that draws 500,000 spectators and more than 22,000 runners. It’s not really a time for an “exercise,” but a time to actually protect the public, no? Am I out of line here? I’m sure someone will inform me if I am.

Is this phrase “training exercise” a public relations lie to calm the sheeple, when in fact it is not an “exercise” at all, but a live security detail searching for possible explosives?

Other obvious questions concern who participated in this exercise? Which agencies and which private entities? What were the specifics of the exercise? Did this alleged exercise open up security holes by giving away critical information about security procedures to numerous parties beyond the control of law enforcement? Were explosives, real or fake, involved? Why is information regarding this exercise covered up?

The little matter of who was involved brings up big main question number two.

Second: Photographic images from the finish line / bombing of the Boston Marathon show a collection of suspicious characters acting in some semi-official capacity. What little can be discerned from the photos suggests they may be military mercenary contractors, possibly from a company called Craft International.

These men wore large black backpacks, very similar to the exploded backpack seen in photos immediately after the bombing. They also stand in positions very near the location of one of the bombs. They communicate with one another. One seems to hold a device in hand, perhaps a radiation detector. Others, who are dressed identically, rush over to an FBI bomb squad truck, which arrives minutes after the detonations. They talk with FBI personnel.

This all suggests that these men were coordinating with the FBI bomb squad all along. Is this the “exercise?” It also suggests that the FBI’s bomb squad (a federal entity) was already present before the bombings even happened. Why is a federal bomb squad unit at a marathon race even before bombings occur?

I’ll unload just one more question, concerning these mysterious, unnamed operatives. How can private military mercenaries be involved in any way, shape or form with domestic security on US streets, and notably at an event that turned out to be highly insecure, in the extreme?

Perhaps our society has reached that tipping point into utter insanity and breakdown.

The two brothers Tsarnaev have been established by the FBI as the only perpetrators, the only suspects, the only reason for the Boston bombings to have occurred. An FBI press conference went so far as to caution the entire media and public against looking elsewhere:

For clarity these images should be the only ones, I emphasize the only ones, that the public should view to assist us. Other photos should not be deemed credible and they unnecessarily divert the public’s attention in the wrong direction and create undo work for vital law enforcement resources. – Special Agent Rick DesLauriers, the head of the FBI’s Boston office

I find it hard to interpret this diktat as anything other than a direct order to narrow one’s thinking and evidentiary standards. The entire nation has been cautioned that all other evidence is to be deemed by the civilized world as not “credible.” As George W. Bush said a decade prior, at the United Nations: “Let us never tolerate outrageous conspiracy theories…”

One might expect such direct state orders inside Soviet Russia, but in our allegedly free society with its proudly proclaimed “free press” this is disturbing. The FBI has just discredited the entire concept of investigative journalism and assumed the role of sole authority on all information related to this case. The media is cautioned not to entertain any additional facts, no matter how they may appear to bear on the case. Nothing that doesn’t come directly from the Federal Bureau of Investigation is to be considered “credible” by anyone. Period.

So, is this the end of the so-called “free society?” Land of the free, home of the brave? Or is our new paradigm the land of the surveilled and controlled, home of the cowering, with martial law and propaganda for all?

And with so many thousands upon thousands of law enforcers available at the touch of a button, how about sending, say, one of them to investigate at least 14 counts of manslaughter and massive criminal negligence at that Texas fertilizer plant explosion? Or is that not in the script?

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev lies in critical condition since Friday evening, but as of Sunday morning:

“Boston Mayor: Bombing Suspects Acted Alone” – Reliable Stenography by Time Magazine & Associated Press

How the hell would he know?

Several hours later:

Bombing suspect throat injury prevents questioning Dzhokhar Tsarnaev for now – Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is in a hospital, sedated and unable to be interrogated because of a throat injury. Authorities want to know if anyone else was involved. – Christian Science Monitor

Welcome, my son. Welcome to the machine. – Pink Floyd

Joe Giambrone is a filmmaker and author of Hell of a Deal. He also edits The Political Film Blog, which welcomes submissions. polfilmblog at gmail.