According to the Lorain County Sheriff, as reported in the Plain Dealer's cleveland.com, last Wednesday's account of the Manna Storehouse raid was a bit overblown. The sheriff states that his force has no automatic weapons, and the raid took four hours, not nine as was reported by my sources. He considered the raid "uneventful", and stated that no one was held at gunpoint, but were confined to one room of the house as part of a standard procedure when searches are conducted.
"Assistant Lorain County Prosecutor Scott Serazin said 'any business that sells perishable foods must be licensed and follow regulations covering those who store and supply food. There is no exception in the law for a co-op,' Serazin said, and Manna cannot ask customers to waive safety regulations."
The Stower family has no comment, probably because a suit is being prepared, but even this account does not explain why a raid was necessary to enforce a law requiring a license to sell food, and one wonders, in the light of the Ohio Department of Agriculture's past record of using excessive force, whether the sheriff is telling the truth or covering up.
I suspect that a very interesting trial is in Lorain County's near future.
All posts on Manna Storehouse.
Virtual buckeye to Ed.
No comments:
Post a Comment