Terrorists come in all flavors. A man in my neighborhood (a black man) who once lived across the street from me with his wife (white woman) and kids (not sure whose they were) and Grandma (a Mexican woman [go figure]) was apparently a hard working good citizen. He left for work every weekday (picked up by a co-worker at 6:30a.m. sharp) and from all appearances led a quiet, happy life. There were birthday parties with bounce houses for the kids; his wife(?) left the house at times to buy groceries; Grandma washed clothes and cooked, I suppose. I did not associate with them; my only interaction was once with Grandma (their dog escaped and fled to my vehicle; I trapped it when it jumped into my car expecting a ride, and Grannie took custody) and once with his wife, who asked me to help her fixing her car (I declined, knowing nothing about cars).
One fine day very early on a Saturday, our local Police, the Sheriff, an FBI team, and a ATF SWAT team in an armored vehicle surrounded the house, bull-horned a command for them to "COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP!" and then threw flash-bangs into the upper floors, stormed the castle and dragged out the man, the wife, Grannie, and the kids, all of whom were then driven away in the armored vehicle. Damndest thing I've ever seen. The local police told me they were wanted for terrorism and human trafficking. That was over three years ago. The house still stands vacant. I never heard the outcome. The City mows the yard once in a while. Other than that--a complete mystery.
Ya never know. This happened in around 2018. Those people had lived there for about five years, and then---POOF. Gone. The rest of the story: the following Monday, the chap's work ride showed up as usual and began honking his truck horn when his pal didn't come out of the house. I was on my way to work too, and I told the man, "I don't think he's going to work today or any more, dude...the Feds came and took the whole family the other day." He thanked me for the info and drove away, and I've never seen HIM since, either. True story.
