ConspiraciesDHS: conspiracy theories about DHS purchases unequivocally false
Conspiracy theorists have pointed to several DHS solicitations for gear and ammunition as “proof” that the department is in the process of creating, training, and equipping a secret force, the purpose of which would be to suppress public dissent – or worse: one blogger wrote that “Another possible conclusion [regarding DHS’s ammo purchases] is that the bullets are intended to coerce and, if need be, kill us.” DHS flatly rejects these conspiratorial assertions as unequivocally false, saying that each and every purchase is in line with past purchases and in support of on-going, legitimate, and transparent departmental operations.
DHS tactical team during training drill practice clearing a building // Source: wayi.com.tw
Conspiracy theorists have been busy this past year charging that DHS is in the process of creating, training, and equipping a secret force within the department. The purpose of this dark force would be to squash political dissent, disrupt peaceful protests, and infiltrate lawful associations.
The conspiracy theorists say they have “proof” of the department’s preparations for setting up such a force: the hiring of security personnel and departmental bids soliciting offers for riot gear, pepper spray guns, and about 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition.
The International Business Times reports that DHS flatly denies these assertions, saying that the solicitations for personnel and gear are part of normal operations, and that most of them relate to programs that have been inexistence for years.
Thus, DHS’s Federal Protective Service posted a solicitation on 10 October 2013 on the Federal Business Opportunities Web site seeking a firm to fulfill a $75-$80 million contract to provide qualified personnel to serve 400,000 hours as Protective Service Officers (PSOs) in upstate New York. DHS claims the PSOs would serve as guards for federal sites, “IRS buildings during tax season,” and provide security during “public demonstrations” and “civil disturbances, or other unanticipated events on an as-needed-basis.”
The explanations offered by DHS do not satisfy those who suspect the department of harboring suspicious intention. Thus, Paul Joseph Watson, writing on a Web site called InfoWars, argues that “the federal agency is preparing for food stamp riots, anti-tax demonstrations or some other form of domestic unrest.”
DHS says these charges are baseless. “These reports are false. The referenced Federal Protective Service (FPS) acquisition request for Protective Security Officers will replace an existing contract due to expire November 2014, which provides security and screening within federal facilities throughout upstate New York,” DHS spokesman S. Y. Lee said in the statement to IBT. “This routine acquisition planning is not in response to, or anticipation of, any potential situation.”
Many conspiracy mongers (International Business Times calls them “breathless bloggers”) used reports about a plan by DHS to buy 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition as “proof” of the department’s plan to build a secret force for domestic oppression.
Thus, Catholic Online asserted that DHS’s explanations notwithstanding, “Another possible conclusion [as to the reason for the ammo purchase] is that the bullets are intended to coerce and, if need be, kill us.”
“This conclusion would be outrageous if taken alone,” Catholic Online darkly confides.
