Thread: Iowa terror drill portrays immigration foes as killers

DesMoines Register
William Petroski

Critics: Iowa terror drill portrays immigration foes as killers

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 9/12 Tea Party, 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.

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."

Source: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/articl ... |Frontpage

they no longer hide how they view the common American Citizen ...

it's just a prelude to what they have in store for you

Originally Posted by AirborneSapper7

it's just a prelude to what they have in store for you

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

WHAT IS THE DEFINITION OF 'SUSPICIOUS?'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cIFa0oS ... r_embedded

*THIS* IS JUST TOO STUPID FOR WORDS

What a waste of good money when we could be educating responders about "REAL" threats to our country. It would appear that we would rather demonize our own citizens instead

Yes , you mr American citizen are now a terrorist for wanting illegal immigration stopped

It won't be long now before they start to kick in doors and come for you simple for using a website like this

You will be deemed a racist and marked for arrest and extermination later on as the hispanics gain enough power

Its coming and you all know it

Originally Posted by Justthefacts

Yes , you mr American citizen are now a terrorist for wanting illegal immigration stopped

AND if you are a Tea Party Supporter, AND if you belong to the NRA, AND if you are Retired Military, AND... need I go on.

It's not coming...I fear it's closer than we think.

County, DHS Officials Stage Mock Terror
Excercise Featuring 'Anti-Immigration' Shooters

The New Media Journal

Local parents, citizens, and grassroots organizations in Treynor, IA, are expressing concern over the proposed scenario for a "domestic terrorism/school shooting" mock drill to be performed in a rural Iowa school district this weekend. The problem, they say, stems from the depiction of the shooting suspects as "anti-immigration, gun enthusiasts."

In a document dated March 21, 2011, the Pottawattamie County Emergency Management Agency in conjunction with the Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP), Pottawattamie county officials outlined their emergency response plan for a mock school shooting/terrorism exercise scheduled for Saturday, March 26, 2011, at Treynor Community Schools. The plan, Operation Closed Campus, is described as a full scale plan and exercise used to educate players in the proper response of a domestic terrorism or school shooting.

Troublesome to parents and community members is the proposed scenario to be acted out by the students, staff, faculty members, and emergency response teams. The scenario details two white males, ages 17 and 18, with ties to anti-immigration groups and gun enthusiasts, opening fire on a group of minority students, hitting a Hispanic student. The scenario then develops into "full-scale chaos" with both white male suspects shooting indiscriminately.

The scenario presented in the official document (PDF File Link at bottom or post) , provided to the New Media Journal by sources who refused to identify themselves for fear of repercussion by local governmental and pro-amnesty advocacy agencies, says:

"In the past 6 months, the City of Treynor and Treynor Community School District has received a significant influx of minority residents. Increasing economic instability and public service cuts in a neighboring metropolitan area had forced minority populations into smaller, more affordable rural communities where commodities and cost of living is significantly less. The economic migration of minority residents, both legal and non-legal into Pottawattamie County Communities has sparked controversy regarding national immigration policies as well as racial tensions with a few embedded, typically silent, white supremacy affiliates. This tension has sparked public demonstrations, propelled city and state illegal immigrant legislation proposals and the law enforcement community has seen an increase in incidents of racially motivated crimes and incidents. Earlier in the school week, staff found a hand-written note left on a cafeteria table that stated 'If you won’t get rid of them, we will.' Similar notes have been found twice before over the past 3 months. Law enforcement, aware of the situation, have found no strong evidence to take action or make an arrest. Similar occurrences have happened in other schools and public places over the past 6 months throughout the region."

Students were sent home with permission slips to participate in the exercise. One parent whose daughter was slated to participate in the mock drill, after reading the proposed scenario, expressed concern over the scenario and its perceived anti-white, pro-illegal immigrant stance. He was told by the local EMS coordinator in charge that his daughter was no longer allowed to participate in the drill and that she nor her father were allowed to be on site on the day of the drill.

Local grassroots organizations have actively begun to reach out to local authorities, legislators, and media outlets to express their concern that, as one community member says, "There has never been an incident such as the one they are manufacturing here in the State of Iowa or any other for that matter. This is highly politically motivated, racially inflammatory, and completely egregious."

Operation Closed Campus's stated mission is to evaluate the emergency response processes in a "no-fault" setting. The exercise is slated to begin at 9am Central Time and run for four hours.

Official Document
http://files.meetup.com/1503563/ExPlan_ ... 5B1%5D.pdf

http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/925

Could gulags be in the future for those deemed enemies of the state because they are opposed to illegal invaders? This might be a good time to start reading The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, volume III.

They better start preparing for what Is REALLY GOING TO HAPPEN What are they going to do when a group of terrorists that Illegally crossed the border of Mexico syncronize a few bombs to explode Inside certain buildings In a few big cities. Thousands of "terrorists" have crossed the wide open Mexico border over the years,It's only a matter of time....