MARTIAL LAW OFFICIALLY DECLARED IN PARTS OF NW JERSEY AS HURRICANE SANDY BRINGS MASSIVE DAMAGE, FLOODING
Alex Thomas
At least one seaside town in New Jersey is now officially under martial law after Hurricane Sandy ravaged through the area, leaving extreme damage in its wake.
Seaside Heights, New Jersey, made famous by the hit MTV Show Jersey Shore, is under a complete state of lockdown with residents who evacuated before the storm being denied reentry to the island.
During a segment on ABC World News Now, the corporate news anchor reported this fact as if it was either a completely normal occurrence or if it just really didn’t matter all that much.
That’s right, news that a town in America is under martial law was lumped together with news of a country music awards ceremony in Memphis.
ABC News Philadelphia affiliate 6 Action News also ran a report on the declaration of martial law. In the news clip that accompanied the article, citizens are heard demanding reentry into their homes as the police chief looks on.
“It’s hard to conceive of how long that could take. Seaside Heights and nearby towns are under martial law.”
When the police chief was asked about citizens who had ignored the evacuation orders and were still in their homes as well as those who wanted to get back onto the island to check the damage to their homes, he had this to say:
“We know people are there, we’re keeping an eye on them, and they need to stay on their property.
If they come off their property to come off the island, then they don’t get back on.
It’ll be a while before anybody gets back on the island until we make it safe,” Toms River Police Chief Mike Mastronardy said.
Seaside Heights, New Jersey is not the only town that has considered and is implementing martial law.
In the Susquehanna Valley in Pennsylvania officials have openly contemplated martial law after a slew of other emergency declarations in reaction to major flooding caused by Hurricane Sandy.
A report published on citizensvoice.com detailed the emergency declarations and the powers that the city council had given the mayor.
“In Wilkes-Barre, where residents were ordered off the streets by 9 p.m. Monday, the city council met in emergency session and authorized Mayor Tom Leighton to “take any necessary action,” including the declaration of martial law, “to protect the health, safety and welfare” of residents.
City spokesman Drew McLaughlin said Monday evening the mayor had no intention of suspending civil rights, but that the council preemptively granted the authority as part of a package of tools “needed to respond to an evolving situation” and stop immediate, life-threatening harm.”
“At this time martial law has not been enacted,” McLaughlin said in a telephone interview around 7:30 p.m. “It is not intended to be enacted.”
While it is obviously extremely important to save lives, the fact that multiple towns have either implemented or considered implementing martial law shows how horrific and tyrannical a major national disaster will be, with each and every city in the nation declaring martial law rather than just the towns directly hit by a major hurricane.
Ironically, just a few years ago actual independent journalists in the alternative media were labeled crazy, possible terrorists for being worried about and warning of the possibility that martial law would be implemented both on a local and national level.
Obviously the entire country is not under martial law, (although many of the new laws including NDAA indefinite detention are basic forms of martial law) but as noted above, this is simply another snapshot of what may be on the horizon on a much larger level.
You can watch the 6 Action News TV report below:
What do you think? Is martial law the right answer in the wake of a horrific disaster whether it be natural or man-made?
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