 Dear, PEOPLE of LOS ANGELES I feel within my limits to speak freely of the Liberty Bell Temple because the pastors and parishioners are friends of mine, and I, their friend and patient. I enjoy good personal relationships with many, and relish in the day-to-day conversation. The Temple has become a part of my daily routine, and each day, it is both a cathartic and healing component of my life. Above all, I speak out for the Liberty Bell Temple because I believe whole-heartedly in medicinal marijuana cannabis and the practice of truly compassionate care-taking, and with that being said, and valued, I will now speak freely of the Liberty Bell Temple and what happened. This is the nut: the Temple was compassionate and caring to all patients. For their efforts, the federal government robbed them.
The date was December 2nd. Just after The Liberty Bell Temple opened on Tuesday a fully loaded mob cloaked in all-black entered the church. Fortunate to those involved, the action didn't last long... successful robberies never do. The marijuana, concentrates, computers, television, all patient records and money were seized, then, in an instant, it was over. Nobody was arrested, no one was hurt, at least not, physically, that is. (The closest instance of near incident was when an agent put his weapon on Dibo, the Sandlot dog of the Temple. When the sites were set on the great hound, the security guard jumped on top of the dog and gave the thug an ultimatum: If you shoot this dog you have to shoot him through me.)
To wit: what a well-executed heist: no violence necessary and everything of any monetary value was taken. One might assume it would take an impressive battalion of well-trained con-men to pull off such an act of larceny. But then of course, there is the cold reality of these events: this was a well-trained battalion, this was the DEA.
The events went on that noon are as followed: Two of Los Angeles finest (LAPD POLICE OFFICERS) came first, followed closely by three vans and an unmarked Volvo. The Feds arrived and approached the Liberty Bell. All details and accounts of the action thereafter read and sound more like an operations manual for a contra guerilla team, or an ominous sub-contracted batch of thugs. They came in, moved all the employees in to a single room, removed there gear, got settled in, and began ripping the place to shreds. With everyone cuffed in one bedroom, the DEA dismantles the entire place, they even go so far as to enter the Pastors home, located near the raid-premises.
Upon hearing this, I had, and still have high hopes that the group responsible for the LBT mugging was a subcontracted pack of pillagers. Why.... You say? Well, because it would be a much easier pill for me to swallow if I knew my federal government hired thugs to do their dirty work, as opposed training and actually being the thugs. You know, a mob-mix, like the old days, like Nixon. Drifting ahead.....
The event that took place at The Liberty Bell Temple on December 2nd is known in police terminology as: "a raid." Please allow the author of this document to disown that word and realize what happened for what it really was: a burglary, hit, jack-move, theft, another spit on the phase of the entire California populace who believes in holistic healing and who voted, and passed, an act that de-criminalized distribution of medicinal marijuana over ten years ago. So sadly ironic that, today, in that same state such an act of clever-thievery and gross mishandling of civil and human rights would take place at a Temple named after everything our country was founded upon-The Liberty Bell Temple-- as a name, can be easily understood as a grounds where Liberty and Religious Freedom, the two pillars of our Nation's birth and growth, our considered sacred. More disheartening than that is that this Temple was one of the best safe access providers in Los Angeles.
Which begs the question: Isn't medicinal marijuana legal in California?-- and if so, what's with the "raids?" How long will the LAPD, our peoples-state's rights defenders?, in full accordance and support of the Feds, conduct and take part in these sporadic robberies?
What lies ahead? Who knows? One thing is certain though: As the oppressive reign of Bush is dwindling to a quiet, pathetic end, through that dissolution an outgrowth has emerged. Eight years of owing up to a unintelligent, misguided Presidential thorn, and today, our nation has caught a tide of hope-- people are sharing in a growing belief that we can change our future for the better, and our planet for the better, and also, that we may someday become the country our forefathers intended. A Nation where the citizen body's freedom of religion and civil rights are unequivocally protected. Which means, for California: No more raids: no more paranoia: no more hazards and grey risks all created by misguided law-officers. No more unnecessary risk and loss. No more additions to the long list of medicinal marijuana casualties!
Now!
This is the call. I heed all those who are patients of the Liberty Bell Temple, as well as believers in holistic medicinal marijuana, hemp, alternative medicine and care, to come forth and speak your mind, ASAP. Direct whatever attention you can-- by all non-violent means-- at your apathetic District Attorney; at your puppet-police force and the Federal Drug Enforcement Agencies who pulls their strings. Write letters to your district councilman, the governor's office, the LAPD, the DEA, the DA, and ask, demand that council members reconvene about issues involving the use of task forces; demand that Los Angeles is deemed an "Sanctuary City; and also, demand that there is no more LAPD involvement in the raiding of legitimate patient centers. Distribute pamphlets, speak out and give back to the people who have given so much to you. Don't let the cliche of change and the power of denial and apathy dismay.
Californians: Understand that if you are or aren't a patient of the Liberty Bell Temple, or even a registered medicinal marijuana patient, the money seized and the tax dollars spent in arranging these raids is money that belongs to you. This entire movement is intertwined with the public: our money, our rights, our privacy, protecting the laws we passed; and so, when the best safe access providers become subject to a gross mishandling of justice-- you are too.
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