==================================================================
The BIRCH BARK BBS / 414-242-5070
==================================================================

THE NEW AMERICAN -- October 31, 1994
Copyright 1994 -- American Opinion Publishing, Incorporated
P.O. Box 8040, Appleton, WI  54913

==================================================================

ARTICLE: Front Page Sidebar
TITLE: "About Those Black Helicopters"
AUTHOR: William F. Jasper

==================================================================

In the rumor galaxy, "black helicopters" are the supernovas. If you
have not heard hair-curling accounts of mysterious solid-black,
unmarked helicopters hovering menacingly over your city or
assaulting some patriot's house, you almost certainly have not been
listening to many radio talk shows or reading conservative
newsletters. If, however, you have been even a casual peruser of
various "patriotic papers" and like-minded radio programs, you will
know that these aircraft play a prominent role in much of the
current hysteria.

Two notable patriot personages, Mark Koernke ("Mark from Michigan")
and Linda Thompson, appear to have played the primary roles in
popularizing this scare. Through their lecture tours, video
programs, and radio talk-show appearances, they have stoked the
fires of panic and paranoia. Ms. Thompson, who was the subject of
a profile by Robert W. Lee in the September 19th issue of The New
American, rose to prominence in the wake of the Waco tragedy.
However, her ill-conceived call to insurrection and an armed march
on Washington, and her self-appointed grandiose role as "Acting
Adjutant General, Unorganized Militia of the United States of
America," appear to have cost her much of her earlier support.

"Mark From Michigan"

The popularity of "Mark from Michigan," however, appears unabated.
Identifying himself only as "a former military intelligence
officer," he claims to be fighting to stop the onrushing new world
order police state -- a praiseworthy objective, to be sure (and one
that we share). But his message seems more inclined to produce
paranoia, paralysis, and despair than robust and effective
resistance. On his video, America in Peril, "Mark" tells his
audience that vast numbers of black helicopters -- "more than you
can count" -- can be seen regularly filling the skies over
Michigan. These, he claims, are the vehicles which will be (and are
being) used by UN-FINCEN-FEMA-MJTF forces to invade our communities
and to haul us off to concentration camps. He is entitled to his
opinion, of course, and to his own pet "end-times" scenario, but he
should realize that knowledgeable patriots will not automatically
accept as gospel his every riveting word solely on the authority of
his alleged past as an "intelligence" analyst.

Before venturing further, we must digress; we can almost sense the
reaction of some readers (since we have already experienced it with
telephone callers): "Are you trying to tell me that I didn't see
that black helicopter that was only 40 feet above my house?" Not at
all. We are not questioning the reality of these aircraft. We have
received acknowledgment of their existence by responsible
government officials and have many confirmed sightings of the
choppers (parked on the ground and in flight) by extremely reliable
witnesses. But the appearance in the skies of a single black UH-1
Huey or even a whole squadron of AH-64 Apaches does not validate
"Mark's" frightening thesis. Not by a long shot. That much should
be evident.

First of all, is there another reasonable explanation for these
craft? There appear to be many. Although an all-black paint scheme
is not the most common one for helicopters, it apparently is used
by a number of city, state, and federal law enforcement agencies as
well as by some military units. One of the many places our research
led us to was Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, home to the U.S. Army
Special Forces. Army spokesperson Carol Jones confirmed that all of
the helicopters of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment
-- nicknamed the "Nightstalkers" and stationed at Ft. Campbell,
Kentucky -- are indeed black. She explained that her office has
handled a number of calls "on the East coast here where people
think they are seeing some of our helicopters, but we check and
they're not ours; they actually belong to local police departments
or other law enforcement agencies."

Fort Rucker, Alabama is the Army's helicopter training center.
Major Endicott, spokesman for the base, told The New American,
"I've never seen any helicopters painted black," but noted that the
Army paints many of its choppers in very dark shades of brown or
olive green that often will look black unless you are very close
and have very good light. Which comports with the testimony of many
servicemen with whom we talked -- and with several of our witnesses
who reported that at first sight they were positive the helicopters
they had seen were solid black (like those described by "Mark"),
but when they got within a few yards or a few feet of them they
could see that they were indeed Army green or brown. Moreover, as
many veterans told us, and as one can easily confirm for oneself,
most helicopters will appear to be black to an observer on the
ground looking up at a chopper silhouetted against the sky. And if
it is a cloudy day, near dusk or after dark, many choppers will
appear to be black even if they have another paint scheme.

Is the color scheme of helicopters that important and worth
belaboring? Not in and of itself; but an understanding of it does
help explain why so many alarmed citizens have reported seeing
these "FINCEN" aircraft. Undoubtedly, many of these witnesses are
seeing local police, medical, fire, news, or military choppers
painted "FINCEN" black due to visibility factors and "Mark's" power
of suggestion.

The central fact to keep in mind is that neither "Mark," nor Linda
Thompson, nor any of the other alarmists we are aware of, has
produced a shred of credible documentation to substantiate their
shocking tales. They appear to be gambling that the legitimate
outrage and apprehension caused by Waco and the accelerating
police-state agenda of the Clinton Administration can be counted on
to cause most Americans to suspend all exercise of discernment and
the standard rules of evidence as long as the tale-bearer bashes
Clinton, blasts the feds, brandishes the Constitution, and swears
to "go down shooting."

FinCEN: A Real Danger

But what about this "FINCEN" business? Actually, the proper acronym
is FinCEN, for Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, an
organization launched by George Bush's Treasury Secretary Nicholas
Brady (CFR) under an Executive Order dated April 25, 1990 (No.
105-08). According to that order, "The mission of FinCEN is to
provide a governmentwide, multi-source intelligence and analytical
network in support of the detection, investigation, and prosecution
of domestic and international money laundering and other financial
crimes by Federal, State, local, and foreign law enforcement
agencies."

In its public relations brochure, FinCEN tells us:

"FinCEN is currently staffed by criminal investigators and/or
analysts from Customs, IRS, DEA, Secret Service, Postal Inspection
Service, FBI and BATF.... FinCEN is in the process of establishing
a working relationship with state, local, and foreign law
enforcement agencies as well."

Are fears that FinCEN is a nascent gestapo justified? Absolutely.
Its sweeping powers, access to records of our most private
financial affairs, and cross-jurisdictional mission strike at the
core of our constitutional protection. Its constantly evolving
definitions of "financial crimes" are leading toward the
elimination of all financial privacy and the criminalization of
perfectly legitimate transactions and economic arrangements. We
have reported on the terrible injustices and dangers to liberty
involved in the increasing use of "asset forfeiture" powers by law
enforcement at all levels of government. (The New American, May 31,
1993.) FinCEN is a major catalyst in the promotion of these abuses.
Moreover, it is a central player in the subversive scheme to
corrupt and nationalize law enforcement: While the federal EPA,
OSHA, EEOC, and other alphabet soup agencies pauperize municipal
budgets with crushing mandates that leave police departments
begging, FinCEN shows local law enforcement how to solve their
funding problems by seizing the property of their citizens -- the
classic good cop-bad cop routine. FinCEN should be abolished for
all of these reasons and more, not because anonymous sources have
conjured up (and presented as fact) terrifying chimeras that
feature armadas of black choppers and fearsome troops in Darth
Vaderesque attire swooping down on unsuspecting communities.

Unfortunately, because of the federal government's phony war on
drugs there are more than enough instances that "Mark" and others
can cite of neighborhood "sweeps" involving large inter-agency
forces (often with helicopters -- some black, some not) that appear
to authenticate their stories.

Louisiana Under Siege?

Over the past year, because Louisiana has been "host" to some of
these operations, the rumor mills would have one believe that the
whole state is under marshal law. On September 14th, for example,
a raid on the Ledbetter Heights area of Shreveport elicited excited
reports that thousands of troops with flotillas of black helos were
taking over the Pelican State. The real story was alarming enough
without hyperbolization. This is from an account by the Shreveport
Times on September 20th of Operation Bottoms Up:

"Last Wednesday, after an 18-month investigation, 200 federal,
state and local law enforcement officials sealed off nine blocks of
Ledbetter Heights and arrested two dozen people on drug and violent
crime charges.

"Altogether, criminal charges were filed against 45 alleged members
of the Bottoms Boys, described by federal authorities as one of
Shreveport's 'best organized and most violent street gangs.' "

The raid involved members of the Shreveport police, Caddo County
Sheriff's Department, state police, the FBI, and the U.S. Marshal's
office. One Louisiana National Guard helicopter -- painted olive
green, not black -- was employed, according to the Times and to
eyewitnesses interviewed by The New American. The Times report
continues:

"... [Attorney General Janet] Reno praised the joint effort.... She
also said U.S. Attorney Michael Skinner has made it clear the raid
was the beginning of the joint federal, state and local enforcement
effort....

"Reno said she wants to end turf battles ... and create cooperative
relationships among federal enforcement agencies and local
prosecutors and law enforcement officials....

"That push became the National Anti-Violent Crime Initiative, which
was announced in March and is ongoing in every state, Reno said."
[Emphasis added.]

Earlier in the year, similar raids were launched in other Louisiana
locales. In January, a large "narcotics sweep" was made in Amite,
a small town 50 miles north of New Orleans. The 140-man force
included elements from the FBI, ATF, National Guard, Amite police,
and the Tri-Parish Task Force. In the Port Allen area near Baton
Rouge, Operation Gold Coast is an ongoing operation that has
involved a number of drug raids. But according to officials there,
it is a local operation involving police and sheriff's departments
-- no federal agencies, and no black helicopters, reports to the
contrary notwithstanding.

Claims that these Louisiana raids were used as cover to conduct
warrantless house-to-house searches for guns also appear to be
untrue. Percy Collins, a retired police officer from Beumont, Texas
and a resident of Ledbetter Heights, watched the Shreveport raid
from his front porch. He told The New American that the officers
appeared to have warrants and were properly executing them at
locations that were known centers of drug activity. He was not
aware of any inappropriate or random searches. We have been unable
to verify or disprove reports of illegal searches of homes in Amite
for weapons. In Port Allen, reports of illegal weapons searches of
residences appear to be false; Operation Gold Coast involves the
so-called "Gold Coast" of U.S. Highway 190, a "sin district" of
bars and go-go dance halls infamous for drug trafficking and
prostitution.

Which isn't to say that these drug raids are not being used to
prepare the way for gun raids. It is obvious from the anti-gun
agenda of President Clinton, Janet Reno, Handgun Control, Inc., and
most of the major media, that that is exactly what is in the works.
That was made clear earlier this year when warrantless
apartment-to-apartment firearms searches of federal housing
projects in Chicago were ruled unconstitutional and stopped by
court order. President Clinton's response was to try to skirt the
constitutional protection by calling on "tenant associations to put
clauses in their leases allowing searches when crime conditions
make it necessary." In other words, extortion by the federal
landlord: "Sign away your rights or you're out on the street."

Multi-Jurisdictional Task Forces

A regular feature of the black helicopter legends is "MJTF," which
stands for Multi-Jurisdictional Task Force. According to the rumor
circuits, this is an organization composed of hundreds of thousands
of members of the military and federal, state, and local police
operating under FinCEN and the United Nations. Multi-jurisdictional
task forces are not new; local sheriffs and U.S. marshals have
cooperated in tracking down bad guys since the days of the Old West
and before. But using the "multi-jurisdictional task force" as a
proper noun with capital letters and the MJTF acronym is deceptive.
As far as we have been able to determine, there is no discrete
entity known as MJTF, in the sense that there is an FBI, BATF,
FinCEN, CIA, etc. Yet, that is what alarmists always imply and
often explicitly state. They claim to have seen black helos and
black-uniformed police with "MJTF" on them. None of the law
enforcement officers we interviewed had ever seen any "MJTF"
markings or had heard the term used other than in the standard
generic sense. This included officers who had participated in
multi-jurisdictional operations involving federal agencies (and who
were not, it should be noted, at all sympathetic to federal
encroachment).

Multi-jurisdictional task forces can serve a legitimate,
constitutional law enforcement function. However, in recent years,
such operations have been used as a cloak to federalize law
enforcement. Most of the multi-jurisdictional operations underway
can and should be carried out (if conducted at all) without federal
involvement. If a local crime situation is out of control, the
sheriff has the authority to deputize law-abiding citizens and to
appeal to county officials to provide the funding necessary for
more officers; there is no need to go hat in hand to Washington for
funds that must come out of the pockets of local taxpayers anyway.

Militarizing Law Enforcement

Another ominous development with the explosion of federal
multi-jurisdictional operations is the increasing involvement of
the military. Our posse comitatus law provides that, "Whoever,
except in cases under circumstances expressly authorized by the
Constitution or Act of Congress, willfully uses any part of the
Army or Air Force as a posse comitatus or otherwise to execute the
laws shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more
than two years, or both."

The courts have upheld the right of law enforcement agencies to
receive "passive" military assistance -- the use of training
facilities and equipment -- but the federal government has been
pushing the limits of what the law will allow. Federal, state, and
local law enforcement and regulatory agencies are sending personnel
to military training facilities in growing numbers. Military
planes, helicopters, and other assets are being tasked to police
operations with increasing frequency.

In October 1993, National Guard units were deployed in Puerto Rico
to perform law enforcement functions alongside the police. James
Pate, writing in the May 1994 Soldier of Fortune, revealed that an
Army Special Forces team from Joint Task Force Six (JTF-6) at Fort
Bliss, Texas was involved in advising the ATF force that assaulted
the Branch Davidian compound in Waco in April 1993. Texas National
Guard helicopters were used in that deadly debacle. JTF-6 operates
in conjunction with Operation Alliance, a creature of the Justice
Department which provides military assistance to civilian law
enforcement.

According to Pate, the JTF-6 handbook states that military
personnel "are precluded by the Posse Comitatus Act from performing
search, seizure, arrest or other similar law enforcement
activities." However, notes Pate, the Operation Alliance/JTF-6
legal staffs are busy "finding legal loopholes to allow further
military involvement in civilian law enforcement." This skirting of
posse comitatus restrictions is seen as "innovative" at JTF-6.
"Innovative approaches to providing new and more effective support
to [law enforcement agencies] are constantly sought," the JTF-6
guidebook says, "and legal and policy barriers to the application
of military capabilities are gradually being eliminated.... Pending
legislative actions may soon alleviate some of these
restrictions...." If these "innovations" are allowed to continue,
we will soon have to worry not just about "black helicopters," but
federal tanks and troops at our doorstep.

END OF ARTICLE

==================================================================

THE NEW AMERICAN -- October 31, 1994
Copyright 1994 -- American Opinion Publishing, Incorporated
P.O. Box 8040, Appleton, WI  54913

SUBSCRIPTIONS: $39.00/year (26 issues)

ATTENTION SYSOPS: Permission to repost articles from The New
American may be obtained from the above address.

==================================================================
The BIRCH BARK BBS / 414-242-5070
==================================================================
