Where
Is The "Follow-Up"
To The FLDS Raid?
By Timothy V. Gatto
05 May,
2008
Countercurrents.org
The lead story in April was the raid on the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints compound in Texas. The story was that a woman (in this case a sixteen year old girl), called the authorities and claimed that she was being held against her will and was being forced to have sex with older men. The details from that point on are a little bit confusing. The truth is that this entire saga is, and continues to be, so confusing that the mainstream media has seemingly dropped it.
At the time of the first news reports, I received a call from a colleague in Texas. He stated at the time that he believed that the entire story was a hoax. He went on to say that he believed that there was no phone call from this “mystery woman” because she didn’t exist. That wasn’t all, he went on to say that the warrant wasn’t legal, and that the government had broken the law by allowing members of another religion to take custody of the church members (remember the busses with “First Baptist Church” on the sides?) and illegally searching the FLDS compound.
While I disagree with this particular religion’s belief system, and also believe that the young women should have been afforded protection under the law, I must take exception to the way this entire charade was orchestrated. The main problem was the “phone call”. I find it hard to believe that an operation against a religion was carried out with such flimsy evidence. The authorities must have known that the call could have been made by someone with a score to settle with this church. They also should have known that eventually they had to produce the caller or the warrant would be challenged. The fact that the authorities acted without sufficient grounds, is cause for alarm, not only from members of this particular group, but by every citizen in this country.
The most disturbing part of this entire episode is the follow-up of this story. Since April 8th, when the airwaves were blasted with video of the women being “rescued” and the church compound almost 24/7, the reports from the area abruptly stopped. This just happened to occur at the same time that authorities admitted that they couldn’t find the “mystery caller”. I can’t believe that I am the only person in the country wondering what has happened since. I have a hard time understanding why the networks aren’t asking the government why they had to trample on the Bill of Rights. I want to know where the women who were “rescued” are now. I want to know if The First Baptist Church is still caring for them. I want to know why they couldn’t wait until they had solid evidence before they pulled this raid. I want to know if anyone was disciplined for violating just about every amendment that comprises the Bill of Rights. Most importantly however, I want to know why the mainstream media has not followed up on this critically important story.
Is the reason behind the MSM dropping this story because it would embarrass the government? Were they told to let this story die, or did they self-censor? Will the same type of reporting be used the next time the government wants to circumvent the Constitution and comes up empty? Does this set a precedent?
You would believe that the government would have learned its lesson at Waco. Apparently it hasn’t. While I don’t condone the actions of the FLDS in any way, the specter of the government side-stepping the Constitution concerns me more. The American people, especially the MSM, should be asking how this happened and trying to make sure it doesn’t happen again. This episode reminds me of the period after 9/11 when hundreds of Arab-Americans were rounded up and accused of being terrorists or terrorist sympathizers. It wasn’t until recently when it was learned that not one of these “terrorists” were charged with anything. Where was the follow-up to that story?
This set of circumstances shows exactly why America needs organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union. While you might not agree with what the FLDS is doing, it doesn’t warrant any civil authorities to act outside of Constitutional law. When civil authorities bypass or ignore the Constitution, we are all put in jeopardy, and we are that much closer to living under a totalitarian government that makes up its own laws as it goes along. Sometimes the issues are larger than the crimes. I think I can safely say that most Americans abhor the practice of using young girls as ‘breeders” and in the process satisfy the lust of old men, but that issue isn’t as important as civil authorities acting outside the law. We are supposed to be a nation that believes in the rule of law. That premise is behind the definition of a civilized state. The law is for everyone to obey, the governors as well as the governed. Once the line that separates civilization from lawlessness is crossed, the result is anarchy, no matter who crosses that line first. There were other ways of stopping what was happening to these young girls. The authorities didn’t have to violate anyone’s constitutional rights. The media should follow this story until the end, no matter where it leads, that is their duty.
That’s the way I see it.
