National
Guard units seeking to confiscate a cache of recently banned assault weapons
were ambushed by elements of a para-military extremist faction. Military and
law enforcement sources estimate that 72 were killed and more than 200 injured
before government forces were compelled to withdraw.
Speaking
after the clash, Massachusetts Governor Thomas Gage declared that the extremist
faction, which was made up of local citizens, has links to the radical
right-wing tax protest movement. Gage blamed the extremists for recent
incidents of vandalism directed against internal revenue offices. The governor,
who described the group’s organizers as criminals, issued an executive order
authorizing the summary arrest of any individual who has interfered with the
government’s efforts to secure law and order. The military raid on the
extremist arsenal followed widespread refusal by the local citizenry to turn
over recently outlawed assault weapons.
Gage
issued a ban on military-style assault weapons and ammunition earlier in the
week. This decision followed a meeting in early this month between government
and military leaders at which the governor authorized the forcible confiscation
of illegal arms.
One
government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, pointed out that none
of these people would have been killed had the extremists obeyed the law and
turned over their weapons voluntarily. Government troops initially succeeded in
confiscating a large supply of outlawed weapons and ammunition.
However,
troops attempting to seize arms and ammunition in Lexington met with resistance
from heavily armed extremists who had been tipped off regarding the
government’s plans. During a tense standoff in Lexington’s town park, National
Guard Colonel Francis Smith, commander of the government operation, ordered the
armed group to surrender and return to their homes. The impasse was broken by a
single shot, which was reportedly fired by one of the right-wing extremists.
Eight civilians were killed in the ensuing exchange.
Ironically,
the local citizenry blamed government forces rather than the radical extremists
for the civilian deaths. Before order could be restored, armed citizens from
surrounding areas had descended upon the guard units. Colonel Smith, finding
his forces over matched by the armed mob, ordered a retreat.
Governor
Gage has called upon citizens to support the state/national joint task force in
its effort to restore law and order. The governor also demanded the surrender
of those responsible for planning and leading the attack against the government
troops. Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, and John Hancock, who have been identified
as ringleaders of the extremist faction, remain at large.
And
this, people, is how the American Revolution began on April 19, 1775.
Thank
you http://dcgazette.com/
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