Federal gestapo illegally raid Gibson Guitar factories, arbitrarily confiscate millions of dollars worth of wood used to make instruments
(NaturalNews) Due process under the law and assumed innocence before being proven guilty are two concepts that are apparently no longer applicable in the United States of America, at least as far as the federal government is concerned.
For the second time in two years, armed federal agents have illegally raided the manufacturing facilities of Gibson Guitars Corp., this time confiscating more than a million dollars worth of imported wood and ebony — and they did so without proper notice or warning, without any valid reason, and without lawful charges of any kind.
Gibson, one of the world’s premier guitar manufacturers, and a company that has continually tried to honestly and readily abide by domestic and international laws concerning its material sourcing while continuing to provide quality products to its customers, has for some reason landed in the cross fire of the federal gestapo.
Though Gibson has not violated any laws, and has gone above and beyond mandated requirements for sourcing sustainable wood and other materials for its instruments, the heavy hand of a bloated and out-of-control government has decided to unlawfully target the company for extinction.
According to a recent press statement made by Henry Juszkiewicz, Gibson’s Chairman and CEO, armed marshals stormed the company’s Nashville, Tenn., and Memphis, Tenn., manufacturing facilities on August 24, and proceeded to evacuate the buildings, shut down production, order all employees to go home, and steal more than a million dollars worth of rosewood and ebony that had been legally imported from India.
Read the rest of this unbelievable story here:
http://www.naturalnews.com/033454_Gibson_Guitar_armed_raid.html
First the Feds raid health food stores for raw milk, cheeses, etc., even stealing the money in the cash registers! Now they have raided a guitar factory ?!? What is more troubling is this passage from the article:
“In the meantime, those who own Gibson guitars, and potentially even guitars of other brands, may want to prepare themselves for potential targeting by the federal government as well. The vague wording of the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Lacey Act of 2008, which is the law that was somehow used to warrant the Gibson raids, places all guitar owners and resellers in the cross fire of potential federal scrutiny.
“According to [The Lacey Act], if you bought a guitar from us and you resell it, you are criminally liable,” stated Juszkiewicz. “Everyone who touches the product, the store owner who sells that guitar, is criminally liable. It doesn’t matter whether you knew or not that there was some issue here. It’s a pretty dangerous precedent in my opinion.””
What will the Feds raid for next? Our singing voices? Or, perhaps our birthdays! :\
What the heck? Gibson should do what many other business are doing and move their production to Mexico or China. This is how the government repays them for being a truly American company.
British Common Law is what separates a civilized government from a tyrannical government. In Napoleonic Law, one is guilty first and must then prove innocence. “Federal Gestapo” is a good way to describe these Fascists.
Thinking of all that beautiful rosewood that was waiting for new lives and to be transformed into musical works of art(guitars) – confiscated makes me cringe .. and may Gibson stand strong against the injustice of a confused governrment – Gibson being one of the few remaining American-made iconic companies!
Here is more on the story ..from an article from Post Modern Times dated Aug 26 says ..
“Agents from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service pore through the workshop at the Gibson Guitar factory on Wednesday morning.
Federal agents swooped in on Gibson Guitar Wednesday, raiding factories and offices in Memphis and Nashville, seizing several pallets of wood, electronic files and guitars. The Feds are keeping mum, but in a statement yesterday Gibson’s chairman and CEO, Henry Juszkiewicz, defended his company’s manufacturing policies, accusing the Justice Department of bullying the company. “The wood the government seized Wednesday is from a Forest Stewardship Council certified supplier,” he said, suggesting the Feds are using the aggressive enforcement of overly broad laws to make the company cry uncle.
It isn’t the first time that agents of the Fish and Wildlife Service have come knocking at the storied maker of such iconic instruments as the Les Paul electric guitar, the J-160E acoustic-electric John Lennon played, and essential jazz-boxes such as Charlie Christian’s ES-150. In 2009 the Feds seized several guitars and pallets of wood from a Gibson factory, and both sides have been wrangling over the goods in a case with the delightful name – United States of America v. Ebony Wood in Various Forms.
The question in the first raid seemed to be whether Gibson had been buying illegally harvested hardwoods from protected forests, such as the Madagascar ebony that makes for such lovely fretboards ..With the new raid, the government seems to be questioning whether some wood sourced from India met every regulatory jot and tittle.”
Note! No illegal activity has been proven in either the first or second raid .. and Gibson maintains all their wood is imported legally ~
No illegal activity has been proven against Gibson but they’re being forced to sue in federal court to get their property back from the first raid – So sad that the government agencies waste our time and money on attacking a American company that has brought so much joy and priceless heart and soul to countless music lovers world-wide ~
And I found more on this story from an article in “New American” echos Johannes’s point of American jobs at risk in targeting Gidson …
It says – “Juszkiewicz noted the irony of conducting such an assault on Gibson at a time of high unemployment, saying the company had “hired over 580 American workers” over the past two years. “We are one company manufacturing in the United States that’s hiring people,” he added, “and yet the government is spending millions of dollars on this issue.” Should the government triumph over Gibson, it would end up forcing the company’s wood to be finished in foreign countries instead of in the United States, thereby depriving some Americans of employment in favor of foreigners.”
And all for accusing Gibson of violating the Lacey Act .. the article goes on to say – “Gibson, for its part, seems to have gone out of its way to comply with the Lacey Act, making sure that its wood complies with Forest Stewardship Council standards, which include ensuring that wood is harvested legally. In addition, the company has kowtowed to environmentalist heavyweights such as the Rainforest Alliance and Greenpeace. One would think this would gain the company some favor in Barack Obama’s Justice Department, but apparently not.”
Great comments, Johannes and Coralina! 🙂 It appears that this sage is becoming more and more complex and may even reach to other guitar manufacturers and owners. Even guitars coming into the U.S. under private ownership may be subject to the Lacey Act, which is retroactive. Check this story out:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2011/08/31/140090116/why-gibson-guitar-was-raided-by-the-justice-department