NC: Storm troopers' terrorize citizens

Operation “Something Bruin” was run by the North Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission (NCWRC), in conjunction with the United States Forest Service (USFS). This four-year, $2 million undercover operation was conducted to uncover bear poaching rings in our state. However, it has instead raised serious questions about the officers and agents involved in the operation. 

Rather than pursuing legitimate poaching arrests, “Something Bruin” reportedly exposed 81 hunters and their families to terrible abuses at the hands of the undercover agents and officers. Hunters caught up in the operation report entrapment, killing of bears by the agents themselves, and the use of storm trooper tactics against hunters and their families. Ms. Linda Crisp and her daughter, Michelle, describe having their homes invaded, and family heirlooms seized by agents wearing body armor and carrying fully automatic weapons. As this occurred, parents were detained outside while small children were left screaming, scared and alone inside homes. 

Scores of arrests yielded very few convictions. State charges against most of the hunters have reportedly been dismissed, while only a few were later rearrested on federal charges. These are not the statistics you would expect to see from a legitimate undercover operation. 

Valone demands answers
 
Now GRNC President F. Paul Valone is demanding answers—and action. Pursuant to a conversation about the travesty between Valone and Congressman Mark Meadows (R-11, GRNC ****), Meadows sent letters to Inspectors General at the Department of Interior and Department of Agriculture demanding an investigation.

Valone has already delivered letters to Governor McCrory and Senator Burr, calling for both state and federal investigations and, if illegal entrapment occurred, for criminal prosecution of the agents responsible. Said Valone: "If it can be proven that USFS or NCWRC officers committed wildlife violations or illegally entrapped hunters, the citizens victimized by their actions deserve to see appropriate criminal charges filed," Valone further demanded that the Attorney General Roy Cooper conduct an investigation of the NCWRC officers involved. 

Action, please