Makes on wonder!!!
Feds Conduct Gestapo-Style Raids On Guitar Maker
September 8, 2011 by Lesley Swann
Feds Conduct Gestapo-Style Raids On Guitar Maker
UPI FILE
Henry Juszkiewicz, chairman and CEO of Gibson Guitar, has referred to the raids as an “outrageous abuse of federal power.”
On Aug. 24, Federal agents conducted a Gestapo-style raid in Tennessee (complete with automatic weapons and bulletproof vests) on Gibson Guitar’s manufacturing facilities in Nashville and Memphis. What was the reason for all the firepower and taxpayer money spent to fly in agents to take part in the raid from New Orleans; Albuquerque, N.M.; and Washington, D.C.? The Federal government executed search warrants to seize wood — yes, wood — from Gibson that it alleges was imported illegally.
What were the Feds expecting Gibson employees to do that required SWAT gear: make the Federal agents cringe by playing out-of-tune guitars at them?
According to statements by Chairman and CEO Henry Juszkiewicz at a press conference following the raids, Gibson was never informed by the Federal government about the charges leveled against the company.
“What is more troubling is that the Justice Department’s position is that any guitar that we ship out of this facility is potentially obstruction of justice and will be followed with criminal charges,” Juszkiewicz said.
In other words, to add insult to the injury inflicted when the Federal government took Gibson’s property without informing the company of the charges (a violation of the 6th Amendment right of the accused “to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation”), it has also attempted to shut down Gibson’s business by preventing it from moving any guitars outside of the searched facilities.
Gibson speculated in a press release that the raid is related to the Federal government’s misinterpretation of the laws of India and Madagascar that, according to the Federal government, require that all of the finishing work on the wood Gibson purchases from the two countries be completed there by local workers before being shipped to the U.S.
The United States’ Lacey Act requires that U.S. companies comply with the laws of the country from which wood is exported. Gibson claims to have affidavits from government officials in both India and Madagascar verifying that its purchases meet all legal requirements and that the Federal government’s interpretation is erroneous. The press release states:
• Wood seized was Forest Stewardship Council Controlled
The wood the Government seized on August 24 is from a Forest Stewardship Council certified supplier and is FSC Controlled, meaning that the wood complies with the standards of the Forest Stewardship Council, which is an industry-recognized and independent, not-for-profit organization established to promote responsible management of the world’s forests. FSC Controlled Wood standards require, among other things, that the wood not be illegally harvested and not be harvested in violation of traditional and civil rights. See www.fsc.org for more information. Gibson has a long history of supporting sustainable and responsible sources of wood and has worked diligently with entities such as the Rainforest Alliance and Greenpeace to secure FSC certified supplies. The wood seized on August 24 satisfied FSC standards.
• Nearly two years later, no charges have been filed
In 2009, more than a dozen agents with automatic weapons invaded the Gibson factory in Nashville. The Government seized guitars and a substantial amount of ebony fingerboard blanks from Madagascar. To date, 1 year and 9 months later, criminal charges have NOT been filed, yet the Government still holds Gibson’s property. Gibson has obtained sworn statements and documents from the Madagascar government and these materials, which have been filed in federal court, show that the wood seized in 2009 was legally exported under Madagascar law and that no law has been violated. Gibson is attempting to have its property returned in a civil proceeding that is pending in federal court.
The Justice Department has asked the judge to stop the court case indefinitely.
Interestingly, the Justice Department’s request to halt Gibson’s court case would prevent Gibson from ever reclaiming its property or having its day in court. Why is the Justice Department trying to circumvent the justice system?
Theories about the real motivation for the raid abound, including Gibson’s use of non-union labor and the Gibson CEO’s donations to the Republican Party. According to a story on Fox News, a competitor guitar manufacturer uses the exact same wood as Gibson, yet it has not been raided. The competitor’s CEO is a Democratic Party donor.
Whether Gibson Guitars is in the right or wrong is irrelevant at this point. What the Federal government did in conducting a Gestapo-style raid on unarmed guitar makers is evil. James Madison had something to say about the role of the State government when the Federal government begins perpetrating evil in the Virginia Resolution of 1798:
That the General Assembly of Virginia doth unequivocally express a firm resolution to maintain and defend the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of this state, against every aggression, either foreign or domestic; and that they will support the government of the United States in all measures warranted by the former.
That this Assembly most solemnly declares a warm attachment to the union of the states, to maintain which it pledges its powers; and that, for this end, it is their duty to watch over and oppose every infraction of those principles which constitute the only basis of that union, because a faithful observance of them can alone secure its existence and the public happiness.
That this Assembly doth explicitly and peremptorily declare, that it views the powers of the federal government as resulting from the compact to which the states are parties, as limited by the plain sense and intention of the instrument constituting that compact, as no further valid than they are authorized by the grants enumerated in that compact; and that, in case of a deliberate, palpable, and dangerous exercise of other powers, not granted by the said compact, the states, who are parties thereto, have the right, and are in duty bound, to interpose, for arresting the progress of the evil, and for maintaining, within their respective limits, the authorities, rights and liberties, appertaining to them.
State legislators, Governor Bill Haslam, local sheriffs: It’s time for you to step up to the plate. For too long you, as Tennessee’s elected representatives, have talked tough about standing up against the overreaches of the Federal government. But talking tough doesn’t cut it. You’ve pussyfooted around and done nothing to protect Tennesseans against this evil.
It is your job to interpose the State government between the Federal government and arrest this evil for the sake of all Tennesseans to prevent what happened at Gibson from happening to others in the State.
Tennesseans are outraged that not a single State legislator, nor our Governor, has come forward to express even an iota of concern over not just one, but two Gestapo-style raids being carried out on Tennessee soil, with no due process of law and no disclosure of the charges to the accused.
It is high time that you, as our elected officials, start standing up to this behemoth of a Federal government. This cannot be allowed to happen again in Tennessee. Enough is enough!
–Lesley Swann
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