Florida Police Have a New Toy: A U.S. Military Surplus Battle Wagon

“If you see my SWAT team roll up in this, it’s over, so just give up”

A Florida police department has a new toy – a U.S. military surplus battle wagon.

The six wheel, 30-ton armored Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle (or MRAP) is in “lightly used condition” and only has 5,000 miles on it. It is worth $700,000, but the department got it for $2,000. What a deal!

Fort Pierce Police Chief Sean Baldwin told WPTV that he hopes the vehicle remains parked:

Hopefully, we’ll never need the MRAP, but knowing that it is ready to roll is comforting.

Fort Pierce Police posted an ominous warning to citizens on their Facebook page:

Chief Baldwin has some advice for anyone that may find themselves facing the MRAP on the wrong side of the law. ‘If you see my SWAT team roll up in this thing… it’s over, so just give up.’

Yes, how comforting.

Guess how the department got the vehicle?

Officer Keith Holmes got it through the generosity of the National Defense Authorization Act, which allows the military to transfer excess military vehicles to law enforcement agencies (among all of the other wonderful things the NDAA allows the government to do).

Over $4.2 billion worth of property has been transferred to law enforcement since the program began, in the ongoing effort to militarize US police.

The St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office helped get the vehicle painted for free, so the sides say “Police” and “Fort Pierce.”

Lily Dane is a staff writer for The Daily Sheeple, where this first appeared. Her goal is to help people to “Wake the Flock Up!”