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Montana Town Reassures Public On APF: "There Are No Commandos In The Streets"
Zachary Roth | October 1, 2009, 2:13PM
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Fear and paranoia are running so high over Hardin, Montana's decision to put a shady private security contractor in charge of a local prison that the town agency behind the deal has posted a message on its website saying that "there are no commandos in the streets," and seeking to knock down other outlandish rumors.
A message on the website of the Two Rivers Authority, Hardin's economic development arm, reads:
We welcome anyone to visit our town! There are no commandos in the streets. There is no fence or gate being built around Hardin. People are free to come and go as they please. APF is not running our town or our police force.
The message is a response to false rumors that have surfaced on conspiracy-oriented web sites, such as that the APF deal is part of a plan by the Obama administration to have "all major cities locked down" by the end of October.
But the town has done little, of course, to ease more legitimate anxieties about the lack of information available about APF, and about the lengthy criminal record of Michael Hilton, the APF staffer involved in the deal.
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joevan
October 1, 2009 2:43 PM
I'm not sure I'd call the rumors "outlandish": the city really contracted with these clowns--and their website plainly advertises a variety of criminal activities. (I guess that's OK, but people get busted for dirty Craigslist services?) Jails are already run all over the country by similar companies that aren't just empty shells, and have all kinds of shady dealings: policing for profit's a logical next step.
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jamesro
October 1, 2009 2:45 PM
Click on the link to the "Detention Center" where there's this message scrolling across the page to assuage APF generated panic (note the awful patrio-jezac playing in the background).
"There is no fence or gate being built around Hardin. People are not being put in jail for refusing the swine flu shot. And our city is not being taken over by a private police agency."
Hope the local station isn't running Red Dawn this week!
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jamesro
October 1, 2009 2:48 PM
Here's the link:
http://www.tworiversauthority.org/Detention-Center.html
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soupson52
October 1, 2009 6:55 PM in reply to jamesro
Thanks, James. It was funny and incredibly sad. Sure like to see the folks who wanted this video.
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commie atheist
October 1, 2009 2:50 PM
Damn Serbs are trying to get back at us for Bosnia.
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EH
October 1, 2009 2:56 PM
Comic Sans? Is Conan O'Brien the mayor?
Genius.
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Johann
October 1, 2009 3:14 PM
It's past time to investigate the finances of the members of the Two Rivers Authority, Hardin's economic development arm.
Other pertinent questions would be:
Who do they intend to incarcerate in this prison?
Where will these prisoners come from?
This could actually be a real money maker. Charge other prisons to take their "problem" prisoners off their hands, keep them in a maximum security prison, feed them little or nothing,
provide no medical services, and cut other costs where ever possible.
Sounds like a miniature Guantanimo, Abu Ghraib, Bagraim, or Diego Garcia in the making.
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EH
October 1, 2009 3:15 PM in reply to Johann
But TRA is only a "quansi-governmental agency."
That's right, "quansi."
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Johann
October 1, 2009 4:32 PM in reply to EH
Why should that prevent their being investigated?
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slb
October 1, 2009 3:46 PM in reply to Johann
Illegal aliens, perhaps? There's a private prison facility being built in Farmville, VA now to house illegals, with the town itself standing to make some money off of it.
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SkippyFlipjack
October 1, 2009 3:22 PM
You know, if I were President Obama and my objective was to have "all major cities locked down" by the end of October, I'm not sure that I'd start with Hardin, Montana...
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CyberDuckie
October 1, 2009 4:27 PM in reply to SkippyFlipjack
My thoughts exactly. According to TPM, the town has a population of about 3500. How does that possibly constitute a "major city"?
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Rockridge
October 1, 2009 3:27 PM
Can someone please explain their coat of arms/logo?
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pinson
October 1, 2009 3:34 PM in reply to Rockridge
Josh has been saying its the Estonian national coat of arms, but I think it might be Poland's or Russia's. GOt the fearsome double-headed eagle thing going. Boo! Yikes!
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Dorn76
October 1, 2009 4:22 PM in reply to pinson
Someone said Serbia....
This whole thing sounds like a title for an action spoof, "American Police Force"???
In the style of "Reno:911" or "Tropic Thunder".
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jeffgee
October 1, 2009 3:37 PM in reply to Rockridge
The crown at the top is reminiscent of imprisoned white supremacist Matt Hale's World Church of the Creator flag.
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fkaZk0sm0
October 1, 2009 4:53 PM in reply to Rockridge
it is the coat of arms of the republic of serbia.
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kgb999
October 1, 2009 3:29 PM
This is going back to the days of Pinkerton ... when those with money to pay ran the police force.
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pinson
October 1, 2009 3:31 PM
I understand they're offering black helicopter rides.
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jeffgee
October 1, 2009 3:34 PM
One of their pages says "Not mercenaries"
Newsmax, Shelly Bachmann and the rest of the paranoid right don't seem concerned about this. Everything on the website indicates "paramilitary".
They don't paint their helicopters black, though.
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CT Voter
October 1, 2009 4:42 PM
People think this is part of an Obama plan? WTF? Everyone knows that Dems are a bunch of nambly pambly wine sipping arugula chomping effetes who wouldn't have the cojones to do something like this! What is the world coming to?
And that poorly written website says that the U.S. government is the predominant client. . .someone should ask the U.S. government if that's really the case.
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mlicari1a
October 1, 2009 5:25 PM
If it's "American" Police Force, why not a US-flag-and-bald-eagle logo?
This thing has to be one big joke. The town officials and local news outlets are being far too credulous.
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nrimmer
October 1, 2009 5:48 PM
Waco/Ruby Ridge here we come!!!
I'm definitely concerned about the intended target of this armed militia. If anyone is interested the Southern Poverty Law Center has a fantastic article up describing the resurgence of right-wing militias. http://www.splcenter.org/news/item.jsp?pid=415.
Do you trust the American Police Force?
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demosaur
October 1, 2009 6:19 PM
This is the same City Council who suggested relocating Gitmo detainees to their prison a few months ago.
That said, this isn't really the heart of Montana's milita territory. Hardin's in a reservation-bordering, overwhelmingly Democratic area of the state. The people who work there aren't backwoods yokels hoarding guns; they likely commute to Billings to work in the city but enjoy having quiet and being a 90 minute drive from Yellowstone Nat'l Park.
I imagine most of Hardin's citizens are pretty upset about APF being there, themselves -- so try not to kneejerk with the rural-person stereotyping too hard.
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cwnidog
October 1, 2009 8:57 PM
But then they would say that, wouldn't they? I betcha that this is the first phase of a fiendish plan to take over the US, city by city and replace them with Obama-loving Nazi-Commie Pinko replicants who want to take away our guns, force 13 year-old pregnant girls to have secret abortions, and leave our elderly out to die of exposure, as they're no longer useful. And worst of all they want to RAISE OUR TAXES!!!.
There, did I miss anything?
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The Hedonistic Pleasureseeker
October 2, 2009 6:10 PM
I've done some digging here, but I've run out of time and must go chop wood and carry water, so maybe an enterprising individual will pick up where I left off:
Vance Global - est. 1984, acquired by Gardaworld (or Garda Global) in 2006. Garda is the Canadian Blackwater.
Argus Shield - est. 1984, later acquired by Pinkerton. Pinkerton is the UK's version of Blackwater.
Have at it, pajamahadeen! Lord knows the MSM isn't on it. My money is on Garda, because they're over the Montana border, have a lot of mercenaries in Iraq, as do their subsidiary Vance. Vance has a BIG mercenary footprint in Iraq, one of their vice-president types looks . . . uh, connected.
Serbian mercenaries work for cheap, and are undercutting the Westerners. http://news.pacificnews.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=68c393b4db74f12d009eab2321704610
Serbian army photos, look at the arm bands:
http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=100069
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Hardin Resident
October 6, 2009 1:58 AM
I find it funny that some uninformed idiot is calling Hardin "Overwhelmingly Democratic". The reservation is overwhelmingly democratic for sure but the majority of our townsfolk are "died in the wool conservatives". The head of TRA, Al Peterson is very conservative as are the other members. Those of us who support the APPF are all, for the most part, conservative and business owners, with few exceptions. We have kids that fought and died it Afghanistan and Iraq. Do you really think that we would let some force come in like this and take over our town? We all own guns here and most of us more than one. So before you believe some BS Whack job on the radio, or some stupid email full of lies. Why don't you come down here to "Not so Obama country" and check things out for yourselves.
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