California Mayor Detained by Homeland Security, Forced to Hand over Electronics

Stockton, California happens to be one of most economically troubled cities in America, with an explosive crime rate, high unemployment, and a city government that had to file for bankruptcy not too long ago. That’s why Stockton’s mayor, Anthony R. Silva, took a trip to China last week; in the hopes of drumming up more business for the financially destitute city.

But upon returning to the United States, he was inexplicably detained by Homeland Security at the San Francisco International Airport. They forced him to hand over all of his electronic devices, and told him that he was not allowed to leave the airport without providing his passwords. “Unfortunately, they were not willing or able to produce a search warrant or any court documents suggesting they had a legal right to take my property,” Silva told SF Gate. The Homeland Security officials informed him that he didn’t have a right to an attorney, and that his American citizenship did not “entitle me to rights that I probably thought.”

You know your country is descending into a totalitarian hell hole, when even the political class is being targeted by our police state. We often think of our politicians as being untouchable, but clearly there are forces in the dark corners of our government, that even they have to answer to. During the ordeal, Silva was astonished by how he was treated. “I briefly had to remind myself that this was not North Korea or Nazi Germany. This is the land of the Free.”

Not anymore it isn’t.