textfiles/conspiracy/CN/cn1-16.txt

              Conspiracy Nation -- Vol. 1  Num. 16
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                    ("Quid coniuratio est?")


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[From an interview with Linda Thompson on the *For the People* 
radio show, Feb. 11, 1994. Host is Chuck Harder.]

[Continued...]

CHUCK HARDER: We're back. We're talking to Linda Thompson. She 
has been investigating the Waco matter. [...Info on how to get 
videotape...]

Now. What was the plan of the government? And why?

LINDA THOMPSON: I don't think anybody's got the answer to "why" 
yet (including me), other than the obvious. Number 1, they were 
able to do things that were completely illegal out in the open, 
in the public eye -- such as using tanks on American citizens, 
firing down on them from helicopters, and all of the things that 
we saw for 51 days that were illegal -- and get away with it! In 
fact, they were able to blame the victims for all of it! And I 
think that was one purpose of it, was to see how well and how 
effectively the American public could be manipulated *through the 
media* by accepting all of the stories that we were told about 
how "crazy" the Branch Davidians were -- David Koresh this, David 
Koresh that -- and that we were stupid enough that we would sit 
there and go, "Yeah. Those are bad guys. They deserve it.", and 
not even consider the historic precedent of using *military* on 
140 men, women and children! {1}. That's unheard of! And people 
were so dumb they *didn't* stop and ask about it at first. {2}. 
They are now, thank goodness.

HARDER: What is "*posse comitatus*"? What does that mean?

THOMPSON: There is a federal law... "*Posse comitatus*" means, 
literally, a posse or a sheriff's posse; a body of men that are a 
posse; or a legal body of men. Used to be, historically (and it's 
still in effect today), the sheriff of any county is the highest 
authority in any state. And that sheriff has the ability to use 
anybody he wants to as a posse to go after bad guys. In fact, the 
*posse comitatus* is the whole body of men in any county that can 
be in the posse, whether the sheriff picks them or not. They can 
volunteer and automatically are in it.

You are forbidden... by federal law, the government is forbidden 
from using any military as a posse or as a *posse comitatus* -- a 
body of men to enforce the law. The military cannot be used for 
law enforcement purposes under our Constitution and under this 
federal law.

Now I would personally prefer to rely on the Constitution, 
because it's a much stronger document than any federal statute -- 
but either way. You've got a federal statute, it's at XVIII 
United States Code, section 1385, the Posse Comitatus Act, which 
provides criminal penalties for anybody that uses military in a 
law enforcement capacity.

HARDER: Isn't that what was done?!

THOMPSON: That's exactly what was done.

Now we have several congressmen who have written me and asked me 
to write questions for them to give to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 
and the Treasury Department and the FBI -- which we did, and 
which they did. And the response that they've got back to that 
exact question, "Isn't it illegal to use military on civilians?" 
uh, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and all of 'em have replied, "No we 
didn't, really. We just used the equipment. We didn't use the 
*people*. There's no active duty military in the tanks..."

HARDER: Hang... Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down... Who flew the 
helicopter?

THOMPSON: That's... Well, see, that's a lie! What they have told 
our congressmen is a lie and I can prove it. But until we went 
out to get... We had to first get their response, all right? And 
see what their story was going to be so we would know what 
evidence to go get to prove they're lying. So, so they came back 
and said, "Well we didn't really use military. We used just the 
equipment." They claimed FBI agents were driving the tanks and 
they claimed FBI was flying the helicopters. We now have film 
footage that proves that's an absolute lie. They did have active 
duty military in those tanks. They had active duty military 
flying the helicopters. And they had active duty military on the 
ground in a much greater capacity than merely advisory.

And even if they weren't, I don't care. A rose is a rose is a 
rose. I don't care who's driving those tanks. If you've got a 
*tank* in somebody's front yard, it's a military assault. Tanks 
are only for war.

HARDER: All right. Now, one would think that a helicopter 
gunship, a helicopter fitted with a machine gun, would be 
essentially a military *war* item, would you not?

THOMPSON: Yeah. Customs has 'em. Isn't that a fascinating little 
factoid? Why do so many of our... Did you know that every 
government agency right now has its own SWAT [Special Weapons And 
Tactics, a police unit with military characteristics] team? 
Including the Post Office? And the forestry service? They all 
have a SWAT team.

HARDER: What are they planning to "swat"?

THOMPSON: Us, best I can figure.

HARDER: Now we know that there have been a number of terrible 
tragedies. Like the Scott case, for instance, uh, where, 
essentially, the government... Have you studied the Scott case?

THOMPSON: Um-hmm. [Affirmative]

HARDER: All right. What was *that* all about? I know we're gonna 
digress a moment, away from Waco, but that was another case where 
something "happened". The government invaded this guys house!

THOMPSON: Scott's property was "smack dab" in the middle of a 
national forest. He owned the last little piece of property that 
the government didn't have yet. And it was literally surrounded 
on all four sides; I mean, he was an island in the middle of a 
national forest.

One of the things that we've investigated is FINCEN -- that's the 
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. And this ties to the Scott 
case because, I think... and then it ties to a *lot* of these 
cases. I think it's important for people to know what it is. 
FINCEN is a 92 computer data bank center, out of [unclear], 
Virginia, operated by the government. And the whole purpose of 
FINCEN is information gathering and keeping it in these databases 
in a way that is interactive. They've asked that all government 
agencies, *every* government agency -- including county, city, 
state, it doesn't matter -- hook into this computer data bank. 
And when I called, I spoke to the executive director. (At the 
time, his name was Andy Slodine(?). And the new guy's name is 
Gardner. But I was talking with Andy Slodine.) I said, "What is 
FINCEN? What do you do?" They have information on everybody in 
this country. They can pull up your customs records. They can 
pull up your IRS records, your credit bureau reports, your car 
tag number, your VIN number, your property records. Anything 
about you that's ever been computerized, they have it.

HARDER: Um-hmm. [Indicates he understands]

THOMPSON: Now they also have a group called OCDETF(?), the 
Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, out of Washington, 
D.C.

I found out that both FINCEN and OCDETF are operated by 
Department of *Treasury*! Not the Drug Enforcement Agency, not 
Department of Justice -- but the *Treasury* Department. Which is 
really very interesting, because Treasury was never intended to 
be a law enforcement body.

HARDER: All right, hang... Let's, let's leave it right there, for 
2 minutes, and we'll come right back. Linda Thompson, our guest. 
Don't go away.

                        (to be continued)

---------------------------<< Notes >>---------------------------
{1} As to Thompson's assertion that the use of military on 
civilians in this country is unprecedented, my question would be: 
What about the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago? Both 
National Guard and federal troops (including tanks) were used 
against the protesters there. Not to say it was right to use 
military at Waco (e.g. because there *was* precedent), just that 
her assertion that the Waco use of military was unprecedented 
seems to be wrong. -- CN Editor.
{2} As to Thompson's assertion that people did not at first 
question what was happening at Waco: Perhaps this is generally 
true, however forums such as "alt.conspiracy" *did* question the 
official version of what was happening right from the start. I am 
grateful for the fact that alt.conspiracy was available to me 
during the Waco siege. Perhaps if it hadn't been there, I would 
have succumbed to the mass media brainwashing. -- CN Editor.

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