THE WARNING A Novel of America in the Last Days (The End of America Series Book 2)

by John Price

  Before DHS could secure the video tape Channel 9 in Colorado Springs aired a full report on the destruction at Fort Carson. The local news reporter estimated that nearly three thousand “rebels” were killed in the attack, with about the same number of active duty personnel dying in the “Battle of Fort Carson”. The initial Channel 9 news flash referred to “drone missiles used to repel the rebels”, but all subsequent news coverage omitted any reference to the use of drones. Local news outlets only reported that a small group of right wing gun owners had attacked Fort Carson and had all been killed, omitting any mention of other loss of life and failing to mention how the deaths took place. No news source carried any report on the neighborhood destruction that occurred in a northwest Colorado Springs suburb. National mainstream media completely ignored the story. The Battle of Fort Carson was over.

  38

  Solid Word Baptist Church

  Lansing, Michigan

  “We are confounded, because we have heard reproach:

  shame hath covered our faces:

  for strangers are come into the sanctuaries

  of the Lord's house.”

  (Jeremiah 51:51)

  The Pastor of Solid Word Baptist Church received a considerable amount of feedback after the overflow meeting at his church. Local media were generally fair, sensing that they should report the truth of what was said by the incensed local residents. The conservative talk radio station in town was abuzz for several days after the meeting at Solid Word, with callers applauding the growing antagonism against the President. Though most of the residents of Lansing were pleased with the outcry for something to be done to take back their country, official Washington was less than pleased.

  The President himself reviewed highlighted parts of the transcript of the meeting. His review hastened his approval of the DHS plan to punish America’s religious leaders who refused to sign the Loyalty Oath. It also increased his determination to make an example of the Lansing Pastor whose church was the site of a meeting that he considered to be treasonous. He was not about to allow radical right wing religious zealots to rabble rouse others to oppose his rule. He authorized DHS to take the appropriate action.

  Three armored trucks pulled up in front of the Solid Word Baptist Church just as the second service started. The dark green, almost black, armored SWAT trucks were painted with the logo and name of the DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, an American Flag and the words SPECIAL RESPONSE TEAM. Twenty-one armed DHS employees with body armor and helmets quickly exited their SWAT trucks, formed up and ran towards the church’s three entry doors. The leader of the DHS assault team held up his hand until he confirmed that his full team was in place. He then dropped his hand, motioning towards the church. The lead assaulter in each of the three sub-teams jerked open their assigned doors, as all twenty-one SWAT team members ran into the church, entering the sanctuary.

  The armed men and women trotted down the middle aisle and the two aisles on the side of the sanctuary, reaching the front of the church in seconds. Congregants were hushed as their eyes saw something that didn’t match with reality – armed, helmeted, uniformed men and women in their sacred space. Half of the strangers entering the sanctuary had their guns trained on the Pastor and the three men seated behind him on the front platform of the church. The other half turned and trained their guns on the people - men, women and children, seated in the pews. For almost everyone present this incursion represented the first time that any of them had experienced someone training a gun on them.

  Solid Word Baptist Church, like most American churches, organized a security team a few years ago in the off chance that some deluded soul would attempt to enter a church service to harm or kill. Four of the members of Solid Word’s security team were in attendance at the second service when it was invaded by DHS armed employees. Three were off duty police officers, with the fourth a retired SEAL.

  The leader of the DHS SWAT team moved across the podium next to the Pastor, handing him a document. He said in a loud voice, “Pastor, our agency records show that your church has been used for meetings to plot the overthrow of the government. In addition you have thus far refused to sign the President’s Church Leader National Loyalty Oath, swearing allegiance to our President and agreeing not to engage in any attempt to overthrow the government….Pastor, this is your last opportunity to sign this Loyalty Oath….Will you sign this Loyalty Oath, Pastor?”

  The Pastor was the wrong man to try to intimidate. He glanced down at the document and then looked up at the armed man standing with him behind his church’s pulpit. The Pastor said, loud enough for everyone in the sanctuary to hear his voice, “We recognize in this church only one king – the king of kings – King Jesus. We pledge all of our loyalty and allegiance to King Jesus, not to any other king, ruler nor even a President. Now, please leave this sanctuary. You, sir are on holy ground…..and you stand on the brink of eternal judgment depending on what you do in this holy place. And, sir, the meeting you referred to was a community meeting, not an official meeting sponsored by our church, if that makes any difference to you.”

  The DHS SWAT team leader had been carefully prepped for this moment. The leader was given a prior rule of engagement that allowed him to take any action he might choose. His superiors advised him prior to the assault that the Pastor would most likely react as he did. The leader also knew that a team member was videoing everything that happened, for later viewing at DHS and the White House.

  “Pastor, the President’s executive order requires religious leaders who refuse to sign the Loyalty Oath to be incarcerated in a local FEMA Emergency Camp for re-education.” The SWAT team leader raised his assault rifle, placing the barrel of the rifle in the center of the Pastor’s chest, He raised his voice by several decibels to make sure that the video properly captured his DHS bravado, saying, “As a result of your refusal to comply with the President’s request to sign this Loyalty Oath I am authorized to arrest you and convey you immediately to the FEMA Emergency Camp west of Detroit.”

  The Pastor said a silent prayer, stared into the agent’s eyes then said, “Sir, this country threw over 100,000 Japanese-Americans into internment camps during the Second World War, so I guess what is happening here today shouldn’t surprise me. Just do what you have to do.”

  The off-duty police officer seated at the end of the front pew couldn’t contain himself any further. The pastor’s words were a cold reminder of the loss of his grandfather’s California farm as a result of the Japanese internment. The family never recovered. The officer knew he was out-gunned, but all of his years of training had taught him that he had to respond to the placement of a firearm in the chest of the man he was sworn to protect.

  He stood, shouting at the team leader “Lower that gun….now….,” while also withdrawing his side arm from the holster under his arm. Before he could raise it though, he was hit by numerous rounds, catapulting him back across his pew, his blood splattering on those behind him. Two persons behind the off-duty officer, an elderly woman and a teen-ager, were hit, both in their foreheads, by bullets meant for the officer. The other three armed security team members who were scattered across the sanctuary, started to reach for their weapons. Each, though, wisely realized that he would invite instant death for himself and most likely those around them. They left their weapons holstered.

  Within a short time the Pastor and the three men who had been seated behind him on the platform were restrained and hustled out of the sanctuary before anyone could further resist their actions. The three dead parishioners were attended to by those around them, with many using their cell phones to call 911 for medical help. Those who called local media to report what had just happened in their church were soon disappointed as they learned that a total news blackout had been placed on local and national media by the DHS for ‘security reasons’.

  39

  CAMP CHARLIE - FEMA RE-EDUCATION CAMP

  KANSAS CITY, KANSAS

  “Shape up, citizen and SHUT UP. No
w! This isn’t Club Med, if you haven’t noticed. I’m tired of hearing your whining. Complain. Complain. Complain. MREs were good enough for the military, so why are you so much better, huh?”

  FEMA Re-Education Camp Guard Dwayne Hatch was tired of hearing Camp Charlie’s new detainees grouse about the food, about the housing, about why they were even there. Can’t they just suck it up and get used to the fact that their country charged them with violations of the law, they were convicted and now they have to serve their time? The FEMA Camp had been funded by Congress, and re-built by RBK, in order to provide housing for Americans adversely affected by natural catastrophes. The camp’s capacity, fully populated, was twenty-thousand. Camp Charlie now had over sixteen-thousand five-hundred residents, over twenty percent of whom were children. All held under ‘protective custody’.

  Camp Charlie was originally a retro fitting facility to re-build Amtrak trains. As such, it was served by connecting train lines from all areas of the country. Thus, transporting guests to the facility was easy and cheap. The federal FEMA camp was surrounded by ten foot high fences topped with coils of razor wire, facing inward. Oversized industrial-sized incinerators had been newly installed. Visitors were only allowed during a two hour period on Sunday afternoon. No local media were allowed inside the facility and all cameras, laptops, cell phones and other electronic devices were seized from residents upon their admission to Camp Charlie. National media had no interest in reporting on the camps.

  Bill Benner still couldn’t believe that he was there. How, he wondered, could I be charged and convicted of violating the law, just because I’m a church leader and for joining my city’s Tea Party organization? I wasn’t even an officer of the group. I only went to two or three meetings. I regularly received Tea Party e-mail solicitations for funds and announcements of meetings, which also encouraged me to turn out and vote in elections. Since when did being an elder in an evangelical church constitute a hate crime? He’d heard rumors that such arrests were happening to pastors and church leaders of certain churches around the country. How could any of this violate the law?

  Though he still couldn’t believe it, he’d heard the official charges when the federal judge in his case issued his ruling from his elevated bench in the federal building the day Bill was convicted. As bad as the bogus charges were, though, Bill was much more agitated by the fact that he was convicted in a group of defendants. Bill’s best friend, a lawyer, told Bill the bad news that the Department of Justice had convinced a federal appeals court that charges, trials and convictions of groups of associated domestic terrorist defendants and their mass sentencing were all constitutional. Thus, Bill’s trial was conducted in a large assembly room in a federal government building, along with over two hundred and fifty other defendants. The trial lasted two days. All two hundred and fifty defendants were represented by only one attorney, selected by the judge.

  The U.S. District Attorney argued that each defendant had violated the Lawrence McAlister Hate Speech and Hate Weapons Elimination Bill. The government alleged that the defendants, by joining the Tea Party, receiving communications over the government-regulated internet and on occasion attending meetings had violated the hate speech provisions of the law. Words criticizing the President contained in the e-mail to Tea Party members and recorded at their meetings by undercover federal agents were offered as proof of hate speech. The law prohibited criticizing public officials, including of course, the nation’s Chief Executive. Bill’s pastor’s sermon in support of the Biblical view of traditional marriage was offered in evidence to show that his church, of which he was a leader, violated the McAlister Act.

  The presiding federal judge had earlier ruled that a jury would not be allowed to try the defendants, as the jurors “might be needlessly confused” by the charges. At the conclusion of closing arguments the judge motioned to his bailiff to hand him a dark green file folder in his possession. Not looking up at the defendants, the judge opened the file and read to the defendants the contents of a prepared Order.

  “This Court having heard the evidence proffered to it by the United States, by the U.S. District Attorney, and by the attorney for the several defendants, Mr., uh, Mr….I don’t have that name here….you know who you are….the Court now rules that the burden of proof has been met by the government. Therefore, the Court finds and rules that the defendants, each of you, has violated the Lawrence McAlister Hate Speech and Hate Weapons Elimination Act. I find that each Defendant has engaged in illegal hate speech by either participating in the unlawful criticizing of public officials or by participating in hate speech against protected groups in their respective churches, or both, in violation of the McAlister Act. “

  Laying aside the prepared order, the Judge finally looked up at the convicted Americans packed into his Court Room, “Uh….I should say for the record. Actually, this isn’t for the record. Madam recorder, please turn off the device….It’s off?.... OK….I will just say….Some defendants were guilty, I would say, to a greater extent than others. I must also say that it troubles me that we are trying you all together as a group. I have multiple problems with that procedure. But, nevertheless, under new Department of Justice guidelines and recent court of appeals opinions, I appear to be required to try you together and to rule on your guilt or innocence as a group. This somewhat unusual procedure does have the advantage of saving the government a great deal of money, as well as complying with the speedy trial provisions of the law. If that’s any consolation, that is.

  “Having been convicted, you are all bound over to the U. S. Marshal to be transported to the nearest FEMA Re-Education Camp. You are ordered restrained and detained under a form of protective custody at said federal facility for a period not to exceed twenty-four months, unless new evidence of anti-government activity is produced. If that should occur your sentence could be extended and your place of incarceration could be changed to a federal prison, which I can assure you will not be as hospitable as the FEMA Camp. We are adjourned.”

  Five hours later Bill Benner and his fellow defendants were unloaded at Camp Charlie, each receiving in the left arm a subcutaneous GPS micro-capsule. When asked its purpose, Camp guards assured the new detainees that the device was “for your own good”. The words were said with a wry smile, followed by, “it’s just in case you should happen to escape and get lost, we can be sure to find you.”

  40

  Offices of Pitkin County Sheriff Colton Armstrong

  Pitkin County Court House, Aspen, Colorado

  Sheriff Armstrong was not amused. He had been elected the Sheriff of Pitkin County by the resident voters of his county. The Sheriff was well aware of the fact that the Colorado legislature recently enacted a law allowing the federal Secret Service to usurp his authority as Sheriff. That didn’t mean, though, that he had to like it. Sheriff Armstrong believed that he was the one public official in Pitkin County authorized by law to enforce the laws of the State and the County. Secret Service Agent Barrett, now towering over the Sheriff’s desk holding a document out for the Sheriff to accept, had a decidedly different view.

  “First of all agent….whatever your name is….sit down. I will not talk with you until you….sit down.”

  “I’ll do what I want, Armstrong. Lower your volume. Now.”

  Sheriff Armstrong waited on the federal agent in his office to comply with his demand.

  Secret Service Agent Barrett waited on the Sheriff to take the extended document.

  Neither man was willing to move.

  Finally, Agent Barrett dropped the document on the desk and took a seat, barking out, “Armstrong. Read the paper. We don’t have all day.”

  The Sheriff waded up the two page document, turned and nailed the waste basket behind his desk.

  “Funny, very funny. So that’s how it’s going to be, huh, Armstrong?”.

  Agent Barrett punched the send button on his communication device, immediately after which three Secret Service Agents pushed through the door to the Sheriff
’s office, two with guns drawn.

  Sheriff Armstrong reached under his desk, pushed an alert button and watched as four of his Deputies quickly entered his office. When the Deputies saw the drawn guns each pulled his own service revolver.

  “Well, Armstrong, looks like we got ourselves a Colorado standoff.”

  The youngest Deputy, not much liking Agent Barrett’s attitude and tone of voice, snapped, “That’s Sheriff Armstrong to you, whoever you think you are….and what are you two guys doing aiming firearms at our Sheriff?....Sheriff, what do you want us to do with these punks?”

  “Sheriff,” Agent Barrett said, using his title for the first time, “I seriously suggest that you shut down your pit bull there, before somebody gets hurt, or worse.”

  “So, you gonna’ shoot us all, Agent? Is that it?”

  “We’re here for a simple reason, Sheriff, and it’s not to shoot you. I’ll leave that up to some other agency.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “I’ll let you figure it out. Since you apparently won’t read the warrant I just served on you, let me summarize it for you. Under the law recently adopted by the Colorado General Assembly I am officially relieving you of your duties, title and office as the Sheriff of Pitkin County, Colorado. The basis of this warrant is that as Sheriff you have refused to enforce the law regarding firearms in this country and….”

  “You don’t have a clue, sir, what’s going on out here in the country, do you? Where do you think the several million firearms that weren’t turned in under the McAlister gun grab bill are located? Don’t you know that just in this county alone we’ve still got probably a hundred to hundred and fifty thousand hidden firearms? Don’t you know that if you actually try and kick me out of my office that anyone who tries to sit in this chair, to drive my police car, to try and act as a fake sheriff, will be gunned down? My office was created in 1876 under Article Fourteen, Section 8 of the Colorado Constitution. Sonny, that was many years before your little office was set up in DC. We take our history seriously out here, but we take even more seriously efforts to take away our sovereign rights. So, pack it up, get your sad selves out of Pitkin County and leave us alone.”