There were two stories out today that Glenn could not believe. According to a Colorado undersherrif, Ron Trowbridge, alleged that the Department of Homeland Security trained police to look at Christians who take The Bible literally with intense skepticism.
Trowbridge wrote:
On April 1, 2013 I attended training in La Junta, Colorado hosted by the Colorado State Patrol (CSP). The training was from 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm and covered two topics, Sovereign Citizens, and Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs. I was pretty familiar with motorcycle gangs but since we often deal with the so-called sovereign citizen groups I was interested to see what they had to say. The group consisted of police officers, deputies, and CSP troopers. There were about 20 people in attendance.Trooper Joe Kluczynski taught a 2-hour section on sovereign citizens. Kluczynski spent most of his two hours focusing on how, in his view and apparently the view of Homeland Security, people turn to the sovereign citizen movement. Kluczynski started off by saying there are probably some sovereign citizens in this room and gave a generalized list of those groups that have sovereign citizen views. Among those groups, Kluczynski had listed, were those who believe America was founded on godly principles, Christians who take the Bible literally, and “fundamentalists”. Kluczynski did not explain what he meant by “fundamentalists” but from the context it was clear he was referring again to those who took the Bible literally or “too seriously.”
The sovereign citizen movement is comprised of individuals who believe they don't answer to federal, state, and local laws. "It is a loosely affiliated group that rejects many elements of governance, including, but not limited to, taxation," TheBlaze explains.
Trowbridge's letter implies that Trooper Kluczynski believes and is teaching other officers that Christians who follow The Bible are more likely to embrace the ideas of the sovereign citizen movement. Many officials have cited concern that members of the sovereign citizen movement will be likely to engage in violence against government authority figures as well as crimes like tax evasion.
During the radio show, Glenn said that he does believe the country was founded on godly principles and that The Bible should be taken literally and wondered if that made him a suspect for the Department of Homeland Security.
The Department of Homeland Security told TheBlaze:
The training referenced in the Undersheriff’s letter was not done in coordination with DHS and no DHS training materials were part of the prepared presentation. DHS provides law enforcement around the country with access to training that focuses on the behaviors and indicators of violent behavior, regardless of the ideology that may motivate it.
Glenn said this wasn't the first time that Tea Party members and Christians have been portrayed as dangerous despite their peaceful actions.
" Have you ever ever listened to Tea Party people? Have you really listened to them? Have you listened to what they're saying? Have you ever interacted with them. If you're a police officer I can guarantee you that if they've ever had a rally in your town you've not had a problem with them. I can guarantee you if you're honest, even if you disagree with them politically, you have seen a group of people just exercising their First Amendment right to assemble and to speak their mind. And they most likely have treated you with uber respect and they've treated your town, they've treated its parks, and they've treated our country and our history with respect," Glenn said.
"And you compare that to Occupy Wall Street and you compare that to what happened with the labor unions in Wisconsin," he added.
"You make your decision. Are Christians who believe in the Bible, are they extremists? Are Christians who believe that this country was founded on Godly principles, are they extremists?"
Glenn encouraged police officers not to get sucked into their job and to stand for freedom when presented with any kind of training or orders that involve targeting people simply because they have strong belief in their faith or their freedom.
Morningstar via Investopedia