FEDERAL AGENTS DEMAND CUSTOMER LISTS FROM MORMON FOOD STORAGE FACILITY

http://www.libertynewsonline.com/article_330_31328.php

12/9/11

Federal agents  recently visited a Later Day Saints (Mormon) Church food storage cannery in  Tennessee, demanding customer lists, wanting to know the identity of Americans  who are purchasing food storage from the Mormons.

This incident was  confirmed, in person, by Oath Keepers Tennessee Chapter President, Rand  Cardwell. Here is Rand’s report:

“A fellow veteran  contacted me concerning a new and disturbing development. He had been utilizing  a Mormon cannery near his home to purchase bulk food supplies. The man that  manages the facility related to him that federal agents had visited the facility  and demanded a list of individuals that had been purchasing bulk food. The  manager informed the agents that the facility kept no such records and that all  transactions were conducted on a cash-and-carry basis. The agents pressed for  any record of personal checks, credit card transactions, etc., but the manager  could provide no such record. The agents appeared to become very agitated and  after several minutes of questioning finally left with no information. I  contacted the manager and personally confirmed this  information.

This event points to  a new level of federal government encroachment on the basic freedoms of the  American people. Likewise, it points to a confused policy within federal  agencies. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), in their “Are You  Ready?” guide to “In Depth Citizen Preparedness” recommends that citizens store  emergency supplies, including bulk food, in the event of a natural disaster or  man-made event (the new politically correct term applied to a terrorist attack).  The FEMA guidance is spot-on as it allows individuals and families to be  self-sufficient during an emergency situation.

And here in  Tennessee, we just learned that Nashville Metro Public Health and the Tennessee  Department of Health are conducting “door-to-door assessment of disaster  preparedness … using a tool designed by the Centers for Disease Control and  Prevention to go door to door and check to see how disaster ready you are. .. in  30 neighborhoods in Davidson County [TN] that have been randomly selected to be  the target of a door to door assessment.” I have confirmed that that is a state  run effort.

So on the one hand,  government agencies both state and federal are urging you to be prepared and  even checking up on you to see how prepared you are, and on the other hand, we  now have federal agencies that are attempting to gather information on  individuals that are following FEMA suggestions. What is the reasoning behind  gathering this information? Are American citizens now being “listed” by DHS if  they are simply following FEMA guidance and purchasing bulk food and emergency  supplies for their families? It appears as so.

This should be a red  flag to all Americans. Not unlike the “trip wires” identified in the Oath  Keepers list of orders that will not be obeyed, this incident should be  considered as further evidence that our federal government is out of control.  What business is it of the government if any of us purchase and store bulk food?  Answer: It is none of their damn business! Maybe during the next Katrina-type  event federal agents will storm your home to take your food stores along with  your firearms. We can only theorize as to the motives of the government for this  type of “list” being developed, but it goes against the very fabric of what a  free people should allow by our government.” – Rand  Cardwell.

Additional comments  by Stewart Rhodes, Founder of Oath Keepers:

As Rand noted, it was  fortunate that this particular cannery does not keep records of its customers.  And Rand is correct that this is a very serious red flag. There’s a very good  reason why one of the top ten orders that active duty Oath Keepers will refuse  to obey is “We will NOT obey any orders to confiscate the property of the  American people, including food and other essential supplies.” As our  Declaration of Orders We Will Not Obey goes on to state:

“Deprivation of food  has long been a weapon of war and oppression, with millions intentionally  starved to death by fascist and communist governments in the 20th Century  alone.

Accordingly, we will  not obey or facilitate orders to confiscate food and other essential supplies  from the people, and we will consider all those who issue or carry out such  orders to be the enemies of the people.”

If those who carry  out such orders to confiscate food are enemies of the people, then that same  label also fits anyone in the government compiling lists of Americans who store  food. There is no legitimate reason for the Department of Homeland Security to  compile such lists. Al Qaida suicide bombers are not known to store powdered  milk and buckets of wheat. Nor are they known to store away dehydrated carrots  and instant potatoes, or fruit punch mix for the kids. But the Mormons are known  to do so, and so are many other Americans who have the common sense and maturity  to take personal responsibility for ensuring that their families will have food,  come what may.

It is part of Mormon  Church religious doctrine to store food for hard times and emergencies, with a  recommendation that each family store a year’s worth of basic dry goods along  with three months worth of store-bought canned and boxed foods. To facilitate  that practice, the Mormon Church runs its own food storage canneries selling  powdered milk, wheat, flour, rice and beans, sugar, salt, and various other dry  goods either in bulk 50 lb bags or in #10 cans for long term food storage (up to  30 years for some items). These Church canneries also often sell food storage  items to non-church members, seeing it as both morally right and prudent to help  their neighbors store food, whatever their faith. The cannery in Tennessee that  was “visited” by federal agents follows that practice of helping the general  public become better prepared.

So why do federal  agents want to know who is storing away long-term food storage? We suspect it is  for the following reasons:

1. DHS/FEMA wants to  know which Americans have food storage so the federal government can at some  future point confiscate that food. Just as with lists of gun owners, compiling  such lists is the first step toward future confiscation.

2. DHS wants to  identify those Americans who are “switched on” and squared away enough to  actually store food for coming hard times (such as during an economic collapse).  That population of awake, aware, and prepared Americans poses a “threat” to  whatever DHS and its masters have in store for the American people, and as  Joseph Stalin so ably demonstrated, one of the easiest ways to subjugate defiant  people is to confiscate their food and starve them into  submission.

The federal  government already tipped their hand by sending the FBI to military surplus  stores (as we reported), gun stores, and pawn shops to encourage those  businesses to spy on their customers who buy MRE’s (Meals Ready to Eat), bipods, “night flashlights”, high capacity magazines, rifle bipods, and bulk ammo. Maybe  some of you fooled yourselves into thinking there might be some legitimate  reason for them to track purchases of such items. But powdered milk and wheat  berries? Those are hardly items that could be used in a terrorist attack. It  must be the storage of food itself that the feds now find so offensive and so “dangerous.”

And while the  door-to-door preparedness assessments in Tennessee appears to be well intended  (and we spoke with a friendly state preparedness officer who said it was  motivated by the recent natural disasters in Tennessee), Americans are well  justified in being concerned about such efforts and how that information may be  used in the future, in light of these other well documented and confirmed  incidents of federal law enforcement collecting information on those who  purchase preparedness items and indicating that the purchases of those items may  be “indicators of terrorist activity.”

If you are one of the  many Americans who still have on rose-colored glasses, or who still have your  head buried in the sand (or stuck somewhere else warm and dark), it is time to  pull your head out and face the reality of what the federal government is  telling you by the actions of its agents. Those actions show both what they fear  and their intent. What they fear are prepared, equipped, and “switched on” Americans, and their intent is to identify who they are, where they are, and  then plan on dealing with them when the time comes. And rest assured that time  will come. The recent U.S. Senate passage of S. 1867, which authorizes military  detention and trial of U.S, citizens under the international laws of war (as if  we were conquered Iraq or Afghanistan) is also an expression of their intent,  and their contempt for the Bill of Rights.

Clearly, in light of  the above, if you purchase food storage, along with any other preparedness  items, you should be concerned about those purchases being tracked and your name  winding up on some government list. But don’t let that stop you from storing  food and other essential supplies, and don’t let this disturbing incident keep  you from using your local Mormon cannery to do so. You need to get prepared. But  do it while following the advice of James Wesley, Rawles over at  www.survivalblog.com, who repeatedly urges his readers to “think OPSEC!” – if at  all possible, buy with cash and pick it up in person, just like the customers of  this particular cannery did, which left the “agitated” agents empty handed and  frustrated. Good. That is as it should be. Don’t make it easy on them. And if  you have not yet begun to store food, now is certainly a good time to start.  You’re going to need it. Time is short, and you need to be prepared for what is  coming. “Are You Ready?” indeed. – Stewart Rhodes

Recommended  Preparedness and Self-reliance Resources:

http://www.providentliving.org/  (LDS website with links to church guidelines on preparedness and food  storage)

www.survivalblog.com  (one of the very best prepper websites, with tons of information. Use the search  feature and enjoy)

http://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com  (EXCELLENT radio show by Oath Keeper Airborne vet Jack Spirko. Also has great  articles, forum, and how-to videos too)

www.operationsleepinggiant.com  (an Oath Keepers sister project, just getting off the ground, to wake up  veterans and get them focused on individual, family, community, and state:  preparedness, security, sound money, and state sovereignty and  independence).

www.alt-market.com  (how to build strong communities, barter exchanges, food independence, sound  money independence, the Montana Safe Haven State project, and excellent economic  analysis by Brandon Smith).

www.americanpreppersnetwork.com  (another great site with tons of information, a podcast show, articles, videos,  and chat)

www.onpointtactical.com  (innovative scouting, tracking, wilderness and urban survival school. Stewart  Rhodes has attended several of these classes and personally recommends this  school to those who understand that “training trumps gear” as Kevin Reeve  says)

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http://oathkeepers.org/oath/2011/12/08/oath-keepers-alert-federal-agents-demand-customer-lists-from-mormon-food-storage-facility/