Trucks designed to withstand explosive blasts
The Army is giving 13,000 Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected Trucks, or MARPs, to police departments around the country, including departments in Wyoming, New York, and California, Bloomberg TV reports. Designed to withstand serious explosive blasts, the trucks weigh 20 tons and cost $500,000 apiece.
In 2008, President Obama said that law enforcement should become “just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded” as the military. This armored truck giveaway is seen by some as the latest step in the ongoing militarization of domestic police forces.
Last year, police in New Hampshire sought to obtain an armored personnel carrier, citing groups such as “the Sovereign Citizens, Free Staters and Occupy New Hampshire” as domestic terror threats. A retired USMC colonel protested against the request, saying “the government is afraid of its own citizens. The last time more than 10 terrorists were in the same place at one time was September 11th.”
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