Local sheriff defends farmer from FDA intrusion

Brad Rogers, Sheriff of Elkhart County, Indiana, is withstanding FDA bureaucrats who are harassing citizens in his county. The Complete Patient reports,

The U.S. Justice Department has withdrawn its subpoena of Indiana raw dairy farmer Richard Hochstetler to appear before a federal grand jury.

He was scheduled to testify tomorrow in Detroit, in connection with an outbreak of illnesses linked by public health officials, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, to the milk of his Forest Grove Dairy. But yesterday he received a certified letter saying that his subpoena was being withdrawn.

The withdrawal came after Roger’s Sheriff’s Department told the FDA to back off:

He wrote two letters to the Justice Department warning it not to conduct inspections of Hochstetler’s farm without a warrant from a local judge. In the process, he got into a debate over the limits of federal power and the U.S. Constitution with the Justice Department’s Goldstein.

Earlier this month, Rogers emailed Goldstein that there had been “a number of inspections and attempted inspections on (Hochstetler’s) farm…” He warned that “any further attempts to inspect this farm without a warrant signed by a local judge, based on probable cause, will result in Federal inspectors’ removal or arrest for trespassing by my officers or I.”

Finding itself losing battles on local food control lately, the FDA has been itching to make a public example of someone, and it appears Hochstetler is such a target. Yet its allegations of illness fly in the face of the evidence as “extensive testing of Hochstetler’s milk in 2010 had shown no signs of campylobacter.” Nevertheless, “FDA officials had targeted Hochstetler and another farmer, Richard Hebron, of Family Farms Co-op, in meetings in 2009.” It’s clear the FDA is just trying to create a publicity case—a not-uncommon tactic in Federal history.

But now not only its evidence but its tactics are being withstood. A Kentucky Food Freedom blogexplains the inspiration behind men like Rogers:

Sheriff Brad Rogers is member of the County Sheriff Project, a project that Richard Mack (one of the five Sheriffs that stood against the Brady Bill) and others began as an effort to educate its members on their oath to uphold the Constitution and stand up for the citizens against federal tyranny.

Elkhart County Sheriff Brad Rogers was well informed on the rights of his citizens and took action to protect them against the overreaching arms of the DOJ, the FDA, and the USDA.

When asked about the legal attacks, the Amish Hochstetler responded in faith: “I never got too excited about it. It is spiritual warfare between good and evil and if we have God on our side, we will win.”

Having God on your side means having His righteous law on your side, and it’s good to have a local sheriff with the knowledge and courage to stand against unnecessary Federal intrusions into their local jurisdictions. If we are to restore freedom in America, it must begin with God, and it must begin locally. For more on restoring local sovereignty, read here.

For those farmers already tied up in the court process, there is the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund ready to help. Check to see how your state views raw milk sales and learn what you can do to further the cause of food freedom.

Quelle und mehr….