Infowars.com
May 21, 2013<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/static.prisonplanet.com\/p\/images\/may2013\/210513gov.jpg\")
<\/p>\nGov. Rick Scott Image: Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Florida Governor Rick Scott has killed funding for a controversial \u201cviolence prevention program\u201d in Florida which caused a public backlash after the Sheriff\u2019s office in Palm Beach County encouraged people to report on their neighbors for anti-government rhetoric.<\/p>\n
As we reported<\/a>\u00a0earlier this month, the program would have created a 24 hour hotline via which citizens could report \u201csuspicious behavior,\u201d prompting \u201ca knock on the door and a referral to services\u201d by specially trained deputies and mental health caseworkers.<\/p>\n Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw, a Democrat, stoked anger amongst conservatives when he suggested the program would be used to target political free speech deemed potentially violent by authorities.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want people to call us if the guy down the street says he hates the government, hates the mayor and he\u2019s gonna shoot him,\u201d Bradshaw said. \u201cWhat does it hurt to have somebody knock on a door and ask, \u2018Hey, is everything OK?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Following a\u00a0public backlash<\/a>\u00a0from critics who denounced the program as a\u00a0disturbing throwback<\/a>\u00a0to how political dissidents were imprisoned in Soviet mental hospitals for criticizing the state, Governor Rick Scott announced that the campaign would not receive taxpayer funds and the Sheriff\u2019s office has said that it is now reconsidering the plan.<\/p>\n \u201cGov. Rick Scott vetoed $1 million from the state budget that was part of funding for the county\u2019s \u201cViolence Prevention Program,\u201d designed to encourage communities to report suspicious behavior. Now the Palm Beach County Sheriff\u2019s Office says it will \u201cre-evaluate the feasibility of going forward,\u201d\u00a0reports the Florida Sun-Sentinel<\/a>.<\/p>\n However, Scott\u2019s reason for vetoing funding was because the whole state would have been paying for a local program, and apparently had little to do with public rancor over the proposal. Scott called the program a \u201cvery-well-intended project.\u201d<\/p>\n Although the Sheriff\u2019s office had previously indicated it would go ahead with the scheme even without state funding, the project now appears to be on the verge of being mothballed.<\/p>\n \u201cThe sheriff appreciates the fact that the Legislature saw fit to fund the program and the governor considered the program and its value before making the tough budget decision,\u201d a spokeswoman said in a statement. \u201cGiven the lack for funding, the Sheriff\u2019s Office will re-evaluate the feasibility of going forward, and continue with existing programs to combat violence in the community.\u201d<\/p>\n Critics like former Soviet Union resident Dmitry Levin said the project bore hallmarks of belonging under a tyrannical regime, \u201cIt\u2019s a specific telephone line to report your neighbor who doesn\u2019t like the government,\u201d he remarked. \u201cWhen I read that, my jaw dropped. That\u2019s KGB in its finest form. The next step would be, what, bonuses for reporting?\u201d<\/p>\n However, as we have highlighted, Americans are already being targeted for \u201cpsychiatric evaluations\u201d as a result of their political opinions.<\/p>\n Last year, former Marine Brandon Raub was\u00a0forcibly incarcerated in a psychiatric ward<\/a>\u00a0by authorities in Virginia for political posts on Facebook.<\/p>\n In addition, authorities are greasing the skids for wider gun confiscation by\u00a0expanding the definition<\/a>\u00a0under which a person can be declared \u201cmentally ill,\u201d to the point where harsh anti-government rhetoric is now being treated as a potential precursor to terrorism.<\/p>\n Veterans are already having their guns seized<\/a>\u00a0by police off the back of forced \u201cpsychiatric evaluations,\u201d while the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is\u00a0sending out letters to servicemembers<\/a>\u00a0warning them that \u201cA determination of incompetency will prohibit you from purchasing, possessing, receiving, or transporting a firearm or ammunition.\u201d<\/p>\n *********************<\/p>\n Paul Joseph Watson is the editor and writer for\u00a0Infowars.com<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Prison Planet.com<\/a>. He is the author of Order Out Of Chaos. Watson is also a host for Infowars Nightly News.<\/p>\n <!– <\/p>\n –><\/p>\n This article was posted: Tuesday, May 21, 2013 at 7:46 am<\/p>\n Tags: police state<\/a><\/p>\n
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