[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Mail] [Sign-in] [Setup] [Help] [Register]
|
Status: Not Logged In; Sign In
New World Order Title: Homeland Security trains Iowa for crazed Cracker Honky Supremist terror attack Foes of illegal immigration are up in arms over plans for a weekend disaster exercise in western Iowa with a fictitious scenario in which white supremacists shoot dozens of people amid rising tensions involving racial minorities and illegal immigrants. The exercise is planned for Saturday at Treynor High School in Pottawattamie County and will involve more than 300 people, confirmed Doug Reed, the lead exercise planner for the county's emergency management agency. Some 30 to 40 "victims" will be transported to area hospitals. He said a terrorism scenario is required by federal officials for the exercise to be eligible for funding. The exercise scenario describes shootings occurring after rising tensions in the community because of an influx of minorities, Reed said. The newcomers, some who are American citizens and some who are illegal immigrants, were to have moved into a rural area from urban areas in search of more-affordable living. The newcomers are not welcomed by racial extremists, and controversy sweeps the community, he said. One of the fictional suspects involved in the shootings is described an 18-year-old white male with a quick-tempered father who is a firearms enthusiast with ties to an underground white supremacy group. A second fictional suspect is described as an isolated 17-year-old white male student who was befriended by the older student and who mimics his new friend. Craig Halverson of Griswold, national director of the Minuteman Patriots, a conservative activist group, said today he is concerned that the exercise is intended to portray people who legally possess guns and who oppose illegal immigration as extremists. Members of his organization, as well as members of the Tea Party Patriots and the 9/12 Project, are calling and emailing Iowa's elected officials to voice their objections, he said. "We are trying to get this stopped because all it is doing is building up prejudices by calling people white supremacists and stuff like that," Halverson said. "We are mad at the government for ignoring illegal immigration, but nobody is going to run out there and start killing people in Iowa or anything like that." Robert Ussery of Des Moines, state director of the Iowa Minutemen, who opposes illegal immigration, said he believes the exercise will defame patriot group members by depicting t hem as criminals. Ussery is among many members of patriot groups who have read a copy of the exercise plan that has been circulating through email groups. "Most of the people who break the law and are involved in school shootings don't quote the Constitution or love their country," Ussery said. "Most of the people who I am involved with feel that in order to fix the situation we need to change the laws and work lawfully within the system." Tim Albrecht, a spokesman for Gov. Terry Branstad, said the plans for Saturday's event are a local decision using federal funds. "The governor's office is not involved with this exercise," he added. Officials at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in Washington, D.C., didn't immediately respond today to a request for comment. Treynor, population 919, is about 16 miles east of Council Bluffs on Iowa Highway 92. Reed said the exercise is not intended to be political and shouldn't' be interpreted as criticizing gun owners or opponents of illegal immigration. The fictitious scenario will not be played out during the exercise and there will be no use of racial slurs, cursing or actual gunplay. Firearms will be used a props, but no ammunition will be used during the event. "This is purely the backdrop and the setup, if you will, to help create a perception of reality for the responders," Reed said. The exercise is intended to help improve the emergency response effort in Pottawattamie County to a crisis situation in the public schools, Reed said, noting that there have many incidents of school shootings nationwide, including the recent fatal shooting of an Omaha, Neb., high school administrator. But to qualify for federal homeland security grant money to help pay for some of the exercise's costs, a terrorism incident must be part of the exercise, he said. Simply staging an incident in which a student would shoot someone because they are unhappy over a grade or have an altercation with a teacher doesn't meet the definition of a terrorism incident, Reed said. About 32 agencies, including area hospitals, law enforcement, fire and emergency medical teams, government officials, private agencies and others , are scheduled to participate in the exercise. Kevin Elwood, superintendent of Treynor Community Schools, said today he has received about 30 emails from people throughout the Midwest who have seen plans for the crisis drill and have asked, "What is your school district thinking?" Elwood said he has been involved in the planning of the exercise for about two months and the first he learned of the fictitious scenario was Wednesday when copies of the plans were circulated. He noted that a disclaimer on the plan says that details and circumstances of the scenario "reflect no actual conditions, attitudes or current threat assessments in or around Pottawattamie County, the City of Treynor, its citizens or the Treynor Community School District." The Treynor public schools have 735 students and less than 1 percent are racial minorities, Elwood said. He added that he isn't aware of any racial tensions or the existence of any local white supremacists. "It is unfortunate the kind of black cloud that is hanging over this because of the misunderstanding of the scenario that was painted," Elwood said. "This is not applicable to anything we have intended to portray or utilize as part of the drill. We are not going to have crazy people running around the building shouting inappropriate things. There is no need for that. We wouldn't condone that."
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread |
|
[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Mail] [Sign-in] [Setup] [Help] [Register]
|