Sheriff's Deputies Team with Military for Special-Ops Exercises -Residents Advised to Ignore 'Sounds of Gunfire,' Vehicles in Streets +Video

Cheryl Chumley / WND

A joint exercise of Fort Bragg special operations troops and sheriff’s deputies in Richland County, South Carolina that’s due to wrap Friday has set the Internet on fire, with bloggers and watchdogs – already upset with the looming Jade Helm 15 military training mission set for seven states this summer – decrying what they perceive as a Posse Comitatus violation.

The Posse Comitatus Act was passed in 1878 to limit the federal government from using U.S. military forces to enforce laws against American citizens. As one blogger at D.C. Clothesline wrote, though: Many are concerned recent and upcoming military training exercises that pair the federal forces with civilian police officers are treading dangerously close to that Posse Comitatus line.

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“The fact that the police and military are engaging in joint drill exercises in violation of Posse Comitatus and a long-standing American tradition of separation between domestic policing and military activity is concerning,” the blogger wrote.

The comments come in context of discussing a Fort Bragg-initiated special forces training with Richland County civilian law enforcement officials that began a week ago.

WLTX described the training this way: “Military and sheriff’s department vehicles will be traveling in the Lower Richland County community near Eastover and Hopkins … The sheriff’s department says people in those areas may also hear ordinance being set off or shots being fired. They say those will be simulations or blanks and do not pose a risk to the community.”

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WLTX also reported the sheriff’s department Special Response Team was tasked to partner with the 3rd Special Forces Group from Fort Bragg to stage simulated scenarios for the military. But Infowars reported a more startling scene.

In a report filed earlier this week, Infowars said: “Special forces out of Fort Bragg are training with SWAT officers in Richland County, South Carolina, this week for house-to-house raids, another unnerving sign of the militarization of domestic law enforcement. The late night and pre-dawn exercises … have been running since May 8.”

Infowars also posted a video from YouTube that claimed to be images of special forces conducting night raids in civilian spots in the county.

Read more at WND:

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