Editor:

The Department of Homeland Security has come to the Outer Richmond.
 
At 6 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 12, we awoke to find a massive black SUV double parked in front of our house and another smaller SUV double parked some 20 feet behind it. We later identified another SUV that was parked across the street. None of the vehicles were ID’d in any way.  Clearly an undercover operation, but the people in the cars made no secret of who they were with Police and HSI clearly labeled on their clothes. No one was in uniform. 

Most of them were armed with pistols in holsters, but the HSI people carried heavy weaponry and wore bullet-proof vests.  One had what appeared to be an assault rifle with a stand for it in the back of his vest.  Another had a submachine gun hanging across his chest. I watched one of the team walk across the street carrying what appeared to be an assault rifle. These guys were ready for a combat situation. One of the officers had a dog with him, but he and the dog left relatively early in the piece.

For the next four hours they were in and out of their cars and up and down the block. The street was not cordoned off in any way and parents taking their kids to daycare, dog walkers and bicyclists continued by, apparently oblivious. No one was arrested as far as we could tell, no shots were fired or anyone’s movements restricted. By 10 a.m. they were gone and aside from the scare of having someone ready for combat and armed with a submachine gun standing 10 feet from our front door, we were none the worse for the experience. 

David Romano