Politics

Weekend Weirdness: SWAT Team Conducts Raid, Mistakes Organic Tomato Plants for Cannabis

Published on September 5, 2015 · Last updated July 28, 2020

Oh, police raids. With the number of times SWAT teams crack down on cannabis businesses (regardless of legality), you'd think they'd be able to recognize what an actual cannabis plant looks like. Alas, someone hasn't ascribed to the #JustSayKnow mantra, because a recent raid in Arlington, Texas came up short of cannabis but full of another versatile plant (so long as you're looking to make a BLT or a salad).

A team of 15 to 20 officers raided an organic farm called the Garden of Eden seemingly on a hunch that the commune just had to be running an illegal cannabis growing operation. They ripped up the group's plants and indeed found some organic top-shelf grade A vegetation…except they were tomato plants, not fields full of marijuana.

Now members of the commune are suing the city of Arlington for violation of their Fourth Amendment rights, alleging that the police conducted an unreasonable search and seizure based on questionable intelligence and a search warrant that was iffy at best.

One of the founders of the Garden of Eden commune, Quinn Eaker, said:

"We were treated worse than criminals, like terrorists. But they didn't find a thing and not a single fact in their warrant was substantiated. They came in, machine guns in your face, no questions, just death or surrender immediately."

Hey, at least the cops weren't caught on camera eating all the tomatoes.

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Rebecca Kelley
Rebecca Kelley
Rebecca is the Content Director at Leafly, where she oversees Leafly News production and other content projects.
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