RE: More suspicionless checkpoints in the USA...

Reasoning

Active Member
Apr 15, 2010
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For those of you who still think it's easier to roll over & just answer their questions than exercise your fundamental rights while being detained & interrogated by armed agents at suspicionless checkpoints inside the country, this letter to the editor might open your eyes a little...

"Dear Editor,

I wanted to tell my story from the weekend so other Americans are more prepared than I was when traveling in Southern California and Arizona. I read some of the comments on the web page today and I think if those who supported the border patrol concerning the video shown experienced what I did, they would think different.

I was traveling back from San Diego yesterday after a fun weekend surfing. I was stopped at the California checkpoint on I-8E and asked my citizenship. I told the Border Patrolman I was an American. He instructed me to pull off to the side for an inspection. I did as I was told. When I got out of the car, I was set to a covered area and told to keep my hands out of my pockets. The agent told me the reason he had me pull over was that he smelled pot in my car. He asked me if I had a criminal record, if I smoked pot, and if I was transporting pot. I said no. I told him I do not do drugs, drink or smoke. He asked me all the questions again and told me he was going to search my vehicle and get the dogs there. I told him to do whatever he felt he needed to do. At this point, I was not too concerned. I had nothing to hide and I do not do drugs. So why worry right?

They then had another agent sit with me. He just talked casually, but the conversation always went back to drugs, trying to trick me into saying anything self incriminating. They found nothing, so the agent told me to confess or they would put the “screws” to my car. I told him again that I did not do drugs, sell drugs, or transport drugs. He then went over to my car and took everything out. I looked at the agent next to me and said, “Well, this will take a while.” His response was: “ If you had just told the truth and been honest, we would have gone easy on you.” I reaffirmed my innocents. Now, I was nervous. I was unsure of what to expect.

After another 10-15 minutes, the initial agent went to give me my driver’s license and then pulled it away. He said, “I know you are lying to me. They have dogs at the next check point and you will be charged with a felony when they find the drugs.”

The whole ordeal lasted about 30 minutes. It was embarrassing and stressful to say the least. I gave 5 years of my life to the service of our country and I got treated like a criminal. At the border patrols, there is no innocent until proven guilty.

Yesterday I was naive. Today I am aware. Americans need to be prepared for these stops and have a lawyer’s number handy. Learn you rights. I am still not sure what I can say/do and not say/do at a border patrol check point. But I will find out.

Sincerely,
Kevin Flannery"

<<SOURCE LINK>>

Letter Written by: Kevin Flannery
Date of Letter: 2010-08-30
Subject: Immigration
 
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Sounds like a load of made up bullshit to me. There is no logical reason for the authorities to stop someone and accuse them of having drugs if it's more than obvious they don't. Nothing is to be gained from it.
 
Sounds like a load of made up bullshit to me. There is no logical reason for the authorities to stop someone and accuse them of having drugs if it's more than obvious they don't. Nothing is to be gained from it.

You obviously haven't been paying attention to the rash of internal border patrol checkpoint incidents recently...

YouTube - CheckpointUSA's Channel

Power corrupts...

Hell, I have an extended family relative in the border patrol that I have listened to brag about how hilarious he finds it when they tear someones car apart on the inside looking for drugs and then they get to try and go through some convoluted claims process to get compensation for repairs to the interior of their vehicles...
 
I smell bullshit but even if its true, big fucking deal. There will always be overzealous people in LE, as well as many other fields. 1/2 hour of his life and now he's got a mildly entertaining story to tell at his wild and crazy teetotaler party. Lol
 
big fucking deal. There will always be overzealous people in LE

Assuming everything described in the letter is accurate, do you feel that the officer should be disciplined in any way?
 
You obviously haven't been paying attention to the rash of internal border patrol checkpoint incidents recently...

I'm very aware of the border patrol conducting checkpoints in the southwest. This particular story, however, does not seem legitimate to me and one man's blog is simply not a credible enough source.
 
Can I just ask one small question. In the letter he claims the Border Guard said he got pulled over because they smelled pot in his car.

Was that a Border Guard or a Border Collie? Cuz I don't know any Border Guards whose sense of smell is that good that they can smell it by driving by another vehicle.
 
Sounds like a load of made up bullshit to me. There is no logical reason for the authorities to stop someone and accuse them of having drugs if it's more than obvious they don't. Nothing is to be gained from it.

Apparently it's not always obvious to the cops.

I had something very similar happen to me once driving through Texas. The cop was convinced he'd nabbed a drug runner. The douchebag took everything out of my car (which had taken me probably an hour to pack) and found nothing. And instead of apologizing he got really annoyed and became an ever bigger dick. Then we had to wait for the dogs because he was so sure I was lying. Finally they let me go, 1 1/2 hours later, and didn't even offer to help me pack all the shit back into my car that he had thrown all over the damn place.

Take it from me, the story in the OP is very plausible.
 
Sounds like a load of made up bullshit to me. There is no logical reason for the authorities to stop someone and accuse them of having drugs if it's more than obvious they don't. Nothing is to be gained from it.

Apparently it's not always obvious to the cops.

I had something very similar happen to me once driving through Texas. The cop was convinced he'd nabbed a drug runner. The douchebag took everything out of my car (which had taken me probably an hour to pack) and found nothing. And instead of apologizing he got really annoyed and became an ever bigger dick. Then we had to wait for the dogs because he was so sure I was lying. Finally they let me go, 1 1/2 hours later, and didn't even offer to help me pack all the shit back into my car that he had thrown all over the damn place.

Take it from me, the story in the OP is very plausible.

He said he got pulled over 'because they smelled pot in his car'. How exactly does anyone smell pot in a car BEFORE they pull it over? I'll ask again Border Patrol or Border Collie?
 
Sounds like a load of made up bullshit to me. There is no logical reason for the authorities to stop someone and accuse them of having drugs if it's more than obvious they don't. Nothing is to be gained from it.

Apparently it's not always obvious to the cops.

I had something very similar happen to me once driving through Texas. The cop was convinced he'd nabbed a drug runner. The douchebag took everything out of my car (which had taken me probably an hour to pack) and found nothing. And instead of apologizing he got really annoyed and became an ever bigger dick. Then we had to wait for the dogs because he was so sure I was lying. Finally they let me go, 1 1/2 hours later, and didn't even offer to help me pack all the shit back into my car that he had thrown all over the damn place.

Take it from me, the story in the OP is very plausible.

He said he got pulled over 'because they smelled pot in his car'. How exactly does anyone smell pot in a car BEFORE they pull it over? I'll ask again Border Patrol or Border Collie?

Read it again.

He was stopped at a checkpoint, and then asked to pull his car over to the side.
 
Sounds like a load of made up bullshit to me. There is no logical reason for the authorities to stop someone and accuse them of having drugs if it's more than obvious they don't. Nothing is to be gained from it.

Apparently it's not always obvious to the cops.

I had something very similar happen to me once driving through Texas. The cop was convinced he'd nabbed a drug runner. The douchebag took everything out of my car (which had taken me probably an hour to pack) and found nothing. And instead of apologizing he got really annoyed and became an ever bigger dick. Then we had to wait for the dogs because he was so sure I was lying. Finally they let me go, 1 1/2 hours later, and didn't even offer to help me pack all the shit back into my car that he had thrown all over the damn place.

Take it from me, the story in the OP is very plausible.

He said he got pulled over 'because they smelled pot in his car'. How exactly does anyone smell pot in a car BEFORE they pull it over? I'll ask again Border Patrol or Border Collie?

You aren't understanding how these checkpoints work...

Watch these videos...

YouTube - CheckpointUSA's Channel

When your window is cracked or rolled down cops can claim they "smell" marijuana.
 
And because of this one story with no proof by the way.We are now supposed to pull back in Arizona and wave and say welcome to Arizona have a nice day as the illegals and drug runners cross the border.
 
If a Cop has no reasonable suspicion he/she can't search your car. It's that simple. At one of these checkpoints when the Cop asks you if he can search your car you can say "no".

If he has no reasonable suspicion and you are in fact not guilty of anything, politely cooperate with the Officer. When they are done not finding anything, get all the participating officers names and contact the nearest Attorney you can find.

You'll soon be very rich. Please do some research about 4th Amendment Searches and educate yourselves.
 
If a Cop has no reasonable suspicion he/she can't search your car. It's that simple. At one of these checkpoints when the Cop asks you if he can search your car you can say "no".

If he has no reasonable suspicion and you are in fact not guilty of anything, politely cooperate with the Officer. When they are done not finding anything, get all the participating officers names and contact the nearest Attorney you can find.

You'll soon be very rich. Please do some research about 4th Amendment Searches and educate yourselves.

In my case the cop's "reasonable" suspicion was based on my MA license plate and car full of stuff (as I was on my way home from school for the summer).

I had nothing to hide so I cooperated. That was my mistake. Next time I'd tell him to fuck off. It's not like it would've been worse.
 
These checkpoints are a big issue. We are losing our liberties in the name of "safety". I have said that the anti-illegal faction will turn America into a police state because the difference between an illegal and a legal American is not visible.
Change the laws and let's get our rights back.
 
If a Cop has no reasonable suspicion he/she can't search your car. It's that simple. At one of these checkpoints when the Cop asks you if he can search your car you can say "no".

If he has no reasonable suspicion and you are in fact not guilty of anything, politely cooperate with the Officer. When they are done not finding anything, get all the participating officers names and contact the nearest Attorney you can find.

You'll soon be very rich. Please do some research about 4th Amendment Searches and educate yourselves.

The loophole they use is that they can state that the dog they are usually running around the cars that are stopped at the checkpoint "alerted" on your vehicle and you can't contest this so called "alert".

Then they probable cause to order you out of the vehicle and conduct a search.
 

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