No Conviction, No Trial, but FBI Lock Up Woman for Five Days for Being Suspected of Non-Violent Crime

posted May 24, 2014 by Bob Allen

Why do we continue to let this happen to our neighbors?
Worse: How do our neighbors who are FBI agents and police officers justify inflicting this kind of evil upon others?
From the Daily Sheeple: “Woman Suspected of Non-Violent Crime Wakes Up to a Home Invasion, FBI-Style.”

Gracie was still in bed that morning when her home was raided by armed Federal law enforcement officials. They jumped the six-foot fence around her house, pounded on the front door, and demanded to be let in.

[…]

The Escamillas live in a region that is rife with home invasions. Residents even have reason to fear the police: the Hidalgo County sheriff’s federally funded Panama Unit has participated in illegal home invasions, which have resulted in convictions and long federal prison sentences for some officers.

With this in mind, Joel considered grabbing his gun but realized it wouldn’t do much good against the armed men. He let them in.

The Escamillas said the men were FBI agents, Gracie was not read her rights before being taken away, and she was not told to hire an attorney

[…]

Gracie was suspected of involvement in a Medicare/Medicaid fraud conspiracy.

Yet, not one bit of possible evidence was taken from her home during that raid.

Gracie was held for five days without being allowed to communicate with anyone on the outside.

Was it worth risking the lives of these innocent citizens, and the officers, in order to come for a person accused of a completely non-violent crime?

Gracie had been interviewed by authorities twice before. When they left a business card at her gate with a request that she call them, she complied. When investigators asked her to come in for interviews, she did. The raid followed five months of no contact from officials.

Gracie claims to be innocent of all charges, but her guilt or lack thereof is beside the point: was it really necessary to inflict such a violent, humiliating, and invasive raid on someone who is suspected of a non-violent crime?

Mr. Officer, Mr. Agent, let me make it plain: When you do things like this, you are not heroes—you are criminal thugs. America has a long tradition of calling our police officers heroes, but you are jeopardizing that respect by your heavy-handed goonery.
In addition, this woman’s life and business have now been destroyed—a woman who is still innocent, according to our legal system. Words fail to describe just how wicked this is.
One more note, if you watch the 15-minute video, there is a very important exchange near the end with which I really, really resonated. I share these men’s angst over what is happening through our police. I want to respect and honor them. I want to seethem as heroes and good guys (and many still are) but this kind of action is jeopardizing EVERYTHING. It is creating an Us vs. Them mentality with law enforcement. This must stop. It must.