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Politics : About that Cuban boy, Elian -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: marcos who wrote (3355)	4/28/2000 1:10:00 PM
From: lawdog	Respond to of 9127

Article explains a lot about INS actions: If someone can't agree that the people surrounding Elian at the Miami home were wackos I guess we just differ on terms. --INS Says It Feared Violence in Raid-- By Karen DeYoung Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, April 28, 2000; Page A01 {excerpt} Immigration and Naturalization Service agents charged with setting up and executing the seizure of Elian Gonzalez had identified as many as two dozen potentially armed individuals ? many known to have concealed weapons permits or criminal records ? around his Miami home who agents believed were prepared to thwart any government operation, INS officials said yesterday. -------- cont ---------- The first layer, he said, was "an immediate bodyguard contingent" of five men who "provided immediate, close-in security for the Gonzalez family and Elian." All of the five were found to have concealed weapons permits. "Source information told us that part of what they were to do, if needed, was to help prevent the recovery of Elian from the house . . . and that while they were on the scene, they might well be armed." A second layer, he said, consisted of a "cadre of between 15 and 20 individuals" headquartered directly behind the Gonzalez residence in the home of an elderly woman who had accepted their activities. "We were successful in identifying about eight or nine of these individuals," the intelligence agent said. "Virtually all had notable criminal histories, including convictions for crimes such as armed robbery, weapons, aggravated assault. They were acting in a robust and somewhat structured security effort. Sources told us [they] viewed their mission as alerting the Gonzalez family to any attempt by the government to recover [Elian] as well as, if possible, to thwart that effort." A third layer, he said, was the crowd itself. "We knew that there were people in the crowd who, perhaps rhetorically, had threatened to literally die" to prevent Elian's removal. The agents also identified a cadre of five members of Alpha 66, a radical anti-Castro group that employs paramilitary and weapons training, which was active in the crowd.