NaturalNews exclusive: Michigan government unleashes armed raids on small pig farmers, forces farmer to shoot all his own pigs

Monday, April 16, 2012 by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger Editor of NaturalNews.com (See all articles...) Tags: Michigan, farms, raids

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(NaturalNews) NaturalNews can now confirm that the Michigan Department of Natural Resources has, in total violation of the Fourth Amendment, conducted two armed raids on pig farmers in that state, one in Kalkaska County at Fife Lake and another in Cheboygan County. Staging raids involving six vehicles and ten armed men, DNA conducted unconstitutional, illegal and arguably criminal armed raids on these two farms with the intent of shooting all the farmers' pigs under a bizarre new "Invasive Species Order" (ISO) that has suddenly declared traditional livestock to be an invasive species.

See our previous report on this subject at:
https://www.naturalnews.com/035372_Michigan_p...

And hear my interview with Mark Baker, who runs one of the farms to be targeted by the Michigan government, at:
http://tv.naturalnews.com/v.asp?v=67C793DC05...

The ISO also deems farmers who raise these pigs to be felons, and DNR officials were ready to make arrests on the scene and haul away these farmers to be prosecuted as hardened criminals.

Farmer forced to shoot his own baby piglets in cold blood

"I think this is an unconstitutional order, these actions of the DNR are way out of bounds," attorney Joseph O'Leary told NaturalNews in an interview today. He is representing one of the farmers who was targeted in these raids. "To take what was six months ago an entirely legal activity, and suddenly people are felons over it. They're not growing drugs, running guns or killing anybody, they're raising animals pursuant to USDA regulations and state of Michigan regulations. They haven't done anything wrong here, and the DNR is treating them like they are hardened criminals."

In anticipation of the DNR arriving on the scene, one farmer engaged in what can only be described as a heart-wrenching task of shooting his own pigs, one by one, including baby piglets before the DNR arrived. This was to avoid being arrested as a felon. His livelihood is now completely destroyed, as the state of Michigan has put him out of business. Even after this farmer informed the DNR that he had destroyed his entire herd of pigs, the DNR continued to illegally acquire a search warrant by providing false information to a court Judge, then conducting an armed raid on his ranch to verify that the entire herd of pigs had indeed already been shot to death. That this took place satisfied the DNR, which is now showing itself to be engaged in the mob-style destruction of targeted farming businesses through its mass-murder agenda of Michigan's small-scale farm pigs.

"It was very traumatic for him. These guys are farmers, and I know how much he cared for the animals there, and the DNR treats these like they're some kind of a plant that needs to be exterminated rather than animals that people care about," said O'Leary.

Here is what one of the raided farmers had to say about his experience of being forced to destroy his pigs:

"I was served a search warrant yesterday at 7: 45am. I have killed all my hogs. [DNR] gave me papers that say I do not have any hogs on my property. All they saw were dead hogs laying around from my mass slaughtering. It took 12 guys 4 times in there to kill all of them, sows with young, Pregnant sows, dozens of piglets, and old mature boars. It has been a sad few weeks. Does anyone know what it feels like to open fire on 20 baby piglets in one group which weigh between 5 lbs and 15 lbs. They are so adorable and cute. They commented to everyone that they never saw a fence built so tough and no way would a hog get out of this area." (www.BakersGreenAcres.com)

One of the raids targeted Ron McKendrick of Renegade Ranch in Cheboygan County. His ranch was raided on Saturday morning, and DNR agents reportedly conducted an interrogation of his customers and his 75-year-old senior citizen employee. In order to gain access to his property, DNR bureaucrats acquired a temporary restraining order which was used to bully their way onto the property (a violation of the Fourth Amendment).

Another raid was conducted against the farm of Dave Tuxberry. He's the man who was forced to shoot all his own pigs before DNR agents arrived, in order to avoid being arrested as a felon.

See the recent interview with Mark Baker on the Alex Jones Show

This embedded video gives you additional details relevant to this case:

Call for arrest of Michigan's DNR agents

Based on the actions of the DNR, it is my belief that the DNR is a rogue, criminal gang of government thugs who are murdering livestock, destroying the lives of farmers, violating the constitutional rights of Michigan citizens and engaging in outrageous acts of destruction of private property.

I believe it is the duty of law-abiding Michigan citizens to call for the immediate arrest of DNR officials who must be brought to justice for their crimes against Michigan farmers. Every agent of the DNR that participated in these raids must be brought to justice to answer for their crimes. If the use of force is necessary to make a lawful and legal arrest of these criminal Michigan government agents, then such use of force is fully authorized under the United States Constitution as well as the Constitution of the State of Michigan. It is under these laws, in fact, that police officers are given firearms to use in the protection of the People. In Texas, the state Constitution even says that farmers have the right to use lethal force to prevent someone from committing a felony crime against their property. This includes shooting horse thieves, for example, and being in the right to do so.

No government has any right to terrorize its citizens in the way that has been witnessed here with the DNR of Michigan. These people are utterly out of control, waging a private armed war against selective targets, using taxpayer money to destroy the lives of productive Michigan citizens. These DNS agents are dangerous and clearly psychologically imbalanced. They desperately need to be reminded of the tenants of lawful government and the rights of citizens. They need to be immediately arrested and given the privilege of a trial by jury to answer for their crimes against farmers.

While I do not espouse the use of violence to resolve issues with government, when innocent farmers are faced with being raided by criminal gangs of rogue government operatives who are forcing them to destroy their entire livestock herds, there is little choice but to halt the actions of these criminals through lawful arrest and bring them to justice in the court system where they must face charges of conspiracy, destruction of private property, the violation of the civil rights of private citizens, illegal trespassing and much more. This is the whole point of the Second Amendment, by the way: To give the People some balance of power so that they might protect themselves against the overzealous, tyrannical agendas of out-of-control governments which inevitably try to rule over the People as violent dictators.

Take action: Join the hearing this Friday

A court hearing is scheduled this Friday at 9:00 am at the courthouse in Cheboygan County. I have been told that a very important legal strategy to halt this DNR madness will be unveiled in the courtroom that morning. Ron McKendrick, whose ranch was raided by DNR over the weekend, will be appearing in this hearing.

I am calling upon all patriots, farmers and food rights activists in Michigan to be there on Friday morning and join in this show of support for farming freedom and fundamental human rights. Do we not have the right to raise livestock without the state raiding our property and murdering our animals? And why is this not being covered in the national media?

Also: This battle continues to be waged by Mark Baker at www.BakersGreenAcres.com who desperately needs additional legal funds to continue his fight against the out-of-control government tyrants in Michigan who are trying to destroy farms. Please check his website for updates and make a small donation (even $5 or $10 helps) using the "Donate" button on his website.

NaturalNews will continue developing this story and we anticipate bringing you more details after the Friday hearing. In the mean time, I will continue to call for the immediate arrest of DNR officials who are now, by any standard, runaway criminal thugs who are operating under the false cover of government. If anyone has a list of the names of these people, please contact NaturalNews with that list so that we can publish them under a "WANTED FOR CRIMES AGAINST THE PEOPLE" heading as we continue to call for their arrest.

Watch NaturalNews for more breaking news on this front. In the mean time, as a message to Michigan farmers: Yes, they really ARE coming for you. You need to get together and deputize a 20-man posse to catch these thugs and arrest them at gunpoint, then haul them into the local Sheriff's office to be booked and prosecuted.

Take Action

Today, I am urging you to join hundreds of thousands of NaturalNews readers, DrudgeReport readers and InfoWars listeners across the country in taking action to loudly and aggressively denounce the Michigan state government's actions in terrorizing farmers and forcing a slaughter of their traditional animal herds.

Here's how you can help:

#1) CALL the office of Governor Rick Snyder
PHONE: (517) 373-3400
PHONE: (517) 335-7858 (Michigan constituents)
FAX:(517) 335-6863

When you call, DEMAND the investigation and arrest of the DNR workers who conspired to conduct these illegal and illegitimate armed raids on Michigan farmers.

#2) CALL the Michigan DNR offices and loudly complain about their total tyranny against Michigan farmers and ranchers:

http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,4570,7-153-103...

Director, Rodney A. Stokes
Phone: 517-373-2329
e-mail: [email protected]

Acting Natural Resources Deputy, Kelley Smith
Phone: 517-373-2329

Chief Administrative Officer, Mark Hoffman
Phone: 517-373-2329

Legislative Liaison, Gary Owen
Phone: 517-373-0023

Public Information Officer, Ed Golder
Phone: 517-335-3014

Upper Peninsula regional Coordinator, Stacy Welling
Phone: 906-228-6561

Policy Coordinator, Donna Stine
Phone: 517-241-3774

Senior Executive, Patricia Stewart
Phone: 517-335-1833

#3) CALL the law enforcement division of the Michigan DNR to condemn them for using gun-toting officers to enforce the mass slaughter of privately-owned livestock:

Law Enforcement Division
Gary Hagler, Chief
Phone: 517-373-1230
Located: 530 W. Allegan St.
Mason Building, Fourth Floor

#4) CALL the Michigan office of Attorney General and demand an investigation into the illegitimate and unlawful activities of the DNR operating in that state.

G. Mennen Williams Building, 7th Floor
525 W. Ottawa St.
P.O. Box 30212
Lansing, MI 48909
Main Number (517) 373-1110
Facsimile (517) 373-3042

http://www.michigan.gov/ag/0,4534,7-164-2115...

#5) SHARE this story on Facebook, Twitter and elsewhere. LINK to this page and spread the word.

Special thanks to Alex Jones and Matt Drudge for covering this breaking story. More details to come here on NaturalNews.