The DEA Carries out a Mini-Kristallnacht

Will Grigg
May. 15, 2014

Ilana Lipsen and her sister arrived at their store in Alpine Junction, Texas before business hours, but a handful of unpleasant-looking strangers were already there. One of them brusquely ordered Ilana’s sister to produce a key. As she explained that the building was locked with a security code, the man directed a subordinate to break down the door.

The invaders were from the DEA, and they claimed to be executing a warrant in search of synthetic drugs. They confiscated computers, hard drives, security cameras, and firearms, all of which were legally owned. As they ransacked the business, the intruders ordered the sisters from their property. After Ilana’s sister hesitated, an agent threw her to the ground, and when she made incidental contact on the way down, he accused her of assaulting an officer. This supposedly justified a retaliatory strike to the prone woman's face with the butt of an assault rifle.

Lipsen’s sister was charged with assaulting the officer who attacked her. Despite photographic evidence of the agent's assault, the DEA denies that the attack took place.

The raiders described this atrocity as a victory in the war on drugs. Rational people would see it as kindred to the behavior of the Nazis on Kristallnacht.