Federal officers establish unconstitutional checkpoints on road to Burning Man

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/08/22/mobile-justice.html

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Who authored this?

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So 2nd world tactics creating 1st world problems?

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So where’s the Bundy clan when you need them?

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I think “giving offers a pretense” should read “giving officers a pretext”.

The Mobile Justice app seems to be available in multiple state-specific versions … but there isn’t one for Nevada. Will any of the other versions do, or do you have to use the one specifically for the state you’re in?

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If you’re on tribal land, would Nevada state law apply? It seems like you would only be subject to federal and tribal law.

If you’re not on tribal land, how does Bureau of Indian Affairs have jurisdiction?

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#burningtrumpman

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Nixon, where the stops are apparently taking place, is in the Pyramid Lake Reservation, governed by the Pyramid Lake Paiute. It seems that this is enough to give the BIA jurisdiction.

Reportedly the stops are carried out by BIA officers drawn from elsewhere, rather than by local Paiute officers.

Operation Hassle the Hippies 2018 is go!

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Not cool at at all, but this may just be a big sign of the times that BM is officially ‘played out.’

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First they came for the rich hippies . . .

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It is; the BIA is the part of the Federal government that coordinates with the tribes as part of the sovereignty that the tribes have. So they technically have the right.

My personal opinion is that it’s all under the pretenses of the War On Terror™ or some BS. (i.e., security theater, only this is actively causing problems instead of minor disruptions.)

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Sounds like intimidation to me.

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It’s ok. The really rich hippies fly in.

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Dear feds,

I realize hippy bashing is a fun, time honored tradition of out government, but BE ASVISED

If you are instructed by your higher ups to hassle these hippes, then you are being hazed. These are not the hippies you want to be bashing.

Those “hippies” control billions of dollars. Check your handbook under the chapter “class, race, and politics”. Going after those people is just not done.

Good luck, and enjoy the hazing that will follow"

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Reportedly the K-9 checks are being carried out with drug-sniffing dogs, rather than bomb-sniffing dogs, so unless they’re expecting Ayman al-Zawahiri to come riding dirty through Nixon with his pockets stuffed with molly, this probably falls under the rubric of the War on Drugs™ rather than the War on Terror™.

I agree about the theatrical aspect, though. I suspect the goal is to make it clear that weirdness will not be tolerated in Once Again Great America™, and that if the freaks don’t straighten up and fly right, there’ll be trouble.

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Still waiting for the inevitable “Budweiser Presents: Burning Man 20xx”

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I don’t think that we should use arbitrary federal law enforcement harassment as the metric for whether an event is worthwhile to attend. Neither Trump nor his authoritarian proxies get veto power over what I like or support.

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I got pulled over in Nixon on the way to Burning Man as far back as 2001, for going 23 mph in a 20 mph zone or something stupid like that. Fortunately (very), they didn’t ask to search my vehicle, but them pulling people over for chickenshit things is nothing new. Assholes.

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It’s Miller Burning time!

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