From firearms-alert-owner Thu Mar 23 23:38:21 1995 Received: (chan@localhost) by jobe.shell.portal.com (8.6.11/8.6.5) id XAA18835 for firearms-alert-outgoing; Thu, 23 Mar 1995 23:36:43 -0800 Received: from nova.unix.portal.com (nova.unix.portal.com [156.151.1.101]) by jobe.shell.portal.com (8.6.11/8.6.5) with ESMTP id XAA18820 for ; Thu, 23 Mar 1995 23:36:36 -0800 Received: from gatekeeper.nra.org (gatekeeper.NRA.Org [192.156.97.62]) by nova.unix.portal.com (8.6.11/8.6.5) with SMTP id XAA24175 for ; Thu, 23 Mar 1995 23:36:35 -0800 Received: by gatekeeper.nra.org (5.65/DEC-Ultrix/4.3) id AA21204; Fri, 24 Mar 1995 01:40:33 -0500 Date: Fri, 24 Mar 1995 01:40:33 -0500 Message-Id: <9503240640.AA21204@gatekeeper.nra.org> Originator: rkba-alert@nra.org From: alerts@gatekeeper.nra.org (NRA Alerts) To: firearms-alert@shell.portal.com Subject: INFO: BATF Abuse Reports for 95-03-20 and 95-03-21 X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Comment: NRA Alerts list Sender: firearms-alert-owner@shell.portal.com Precedence: bulk Reply-To: alerts@gatekeeper.nra.org (NRA Alerts) Followup-To: firearms-politics@cup.hp.com Status: RO March 20, 1995 Attacking a Woman Deep Asleep: The Montgomery Case Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) abuses are becoming all too common. In a series of reports starting today, NRA will open the case file on BATF abuses from civil rights violations to tax payer money that is being squandered. Our intent is for Congress to regain control of this rouge agency, expose and prosecute government agents and officials guilty of civil rights abuses, and institute strict policies and oversight to ensure that the Bill of Rights is honored, not condemned. At 4:00 a.m. on July 13, 1994, dressed in their Ninja-style outfits, agents of the BATF stormed into the bedroom of 21-year-old Monique Montgomery. The BATF says it was looking for drugs in the home of the St. Louis woman, but it found none. The BATF says it was looking for illegal guns, but it found none. Instead_after an investigation that was six weeks in the making_it found a woman alone_ and asleep_in her bedroom. According to press accounts, two agents clad in terrorist-style black jump suits hit the bedroom with guns drawn, shields up and high intensity lights glaring. As the agents knocked down this young woman's door at 4:00 a.m., Miss Montgomery did what most reasonable Americans would do. Seeking to protect herself against unidentified and uninvited intruders, she armed herself with a firearm she lawfully owned for personal protection. The agents claim to have repeatedly identified themselves and told her to drop her weapon. But this is the same BATF which set the time for the raid at 4 a.m._to maximize the victim's disorientation. It is natural that the victim would be alarmed and confused. According to the BATF, the agent didn't have any other choice, but to shoot the victim. And he did. FOUR TIMES. Long before Ms. Montgomery was released from the hospital, after being shot in the chest and hip, the agent who shot her was back on the job. This week, the Senate will hold hearings on BATF abuses before the Treasury, Postal Service, General Government Appropriations Subcommittee. Coming tomorrow: Wastefulness in the ATF air force. March 21, 1995 BATF Abuses Continued William M. Reece a highly respected manager in the beleaguered Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) is now the subject of a criminal investigation into the alleged theft of $1.5 million. The investigation has unveiled a poor system of accounting controls at BATF. The investigation is looking into allegations that Reece, as the agency's chief pilot and aviation division administrator, submitted false invoices on airplane leases and maintenance services between 1988 and 1993. ATF's seven-plane air force had a budget of $1.2 million in 1992. If the allegations are proven true, more than a third of the aviation divisions budget would have gone to bogus services over the five year period in question. One administration source described the case as a classic example of agency "vulnerability" created by centralizing too much responsibility in the hands of a longtime employee overseeing a highly technical area. Critics within ATF describe the allegations against Reece as part of a "good ole boy" network at the bureau in which some managers were given extraordinary freedom with little oversight. This week, the Senate will hold hearings on BATF abuses before the Treasury, Postal Service, General Government Appropriations Subcommittee.