credit: NBC News, New Jersey
At present, National Guard coronavirus testing is voluntary; however, will that still be the case in a few weeks?
It was a mere four years ago when public outrage forced police in Missouri, Ohio and Colorado to stop intrusive DNA and drug checkpoints.
Currently, there are at least thirty-three different types of police checkpoints going on at any given time across the country.
In some states, police are actually setting up firewood, agriculture and fish and game checkpoints to name a few. With the outbreak of COVID-19, Americans could be facing new type of checkpoint across the country.
In Florida, state police are setting up checkpoints on Interstate 10 looking for Louisiana residents trying to enter the state. In Rhode Island police are stopping vehicles with New York state license plates and the National Guard is going door-to-door looking for New York City residents. The New York City Metropolitan Transportation Authority has recently issued “travel papers” to all their employees.
My greatest fear is watching authorities use the public's fear of COVID-19 to create mandatory coronavirus checkpoints.
A recent WCTV article reveals what it is like for motorists to go through a Florida-Alabama checkpoint.
A couple moving from Mississippi to Florida said, "it was intimidating seeing all the guards at first, but it also made them feel safe." The article went on to say,
"The checkpoint was a little more extensive for those traveling from New York or Louisiana. They were required to fill out paperwork about their health and recent travel before a decision was made regarding their entrance into the Florida border.
Below are some pictures of voluntary National Guard coronavirus testing taking place in Vermont, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Florida, Louisiana, Colorado and Texas.
credit: Bennington Banner, VT
credit:KUT New York
credit:TheCity, New York
credit:Flickr, New York
credit: Spectrum News1, New York
credit: Bloomberg, New Jersey
credit: Pennsylvania national Guard
credit:WITF, Pennsylvania
credit: Chicago Sun Times, Illinois
credit: NBC6 Miami,, Florida
credit: Miami Herald, Florida
credit: KATC 3 Louisiana
credit: Louisiana National Guard
credit: Colorado National Guard
credit: Fox 7 Austin, T
The Co-Director of The Organization For Propaganda Studies, Dr Piers Robinson, warned that the current strategy of using the coronavirus as an excuse to suspend basic liberties is fraught with danger.
"Whatever the coronavirus event may or may not be, the fundamental lesson of the last 20 years is that governments can and do exploit, even manipulate, events in order to pursue political, social, military and economic objectives. Fearful populations are frequently irrational ones, vulnerable and malleable. Now is not the time for deference to authority and reluctance to speak out."In These Times warned, the U.S. military is not a public health organization: it is a purveyor of wars.
No one should forget about what happened in New Orleans after hurricane Katrina.
“New Orleans was turned into an armed camp, patrolled by thousands of local, state, and federal law enforcement officers, as well as National Guard troops and active-duty soldiers."Here`s hoping that the U.S. and other free countries will not use COVID-19 as an excuse to create mandatory testing checkpoints and suspend our liberties indefinitely.
