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drewkittyGWOT - Appendix - War Crimes In & Around Gerlach NV USA
Executive Summary
This unit was tasked with investigation of alleged war crimes that took place in the north of the US state of Nevada approximately 1-2 months after the nuclear destruction of San Francisco.
The area was inhabited by approximately 2,000 rural residents, mostly in the town of Gerlach but also on ranches and in residences scattered throughout this very large but sparsely populated desert. In addition to inhabitants, approximately 14,000 refugees fled to the area, mostly but not entirely from the San Francisco Bay Area, and were mostly encamped on the perimeter of Gerlach and on nearby ranches.
The paramilitary agency referred to by most Americans as Homeland (official name "US Dept. of Homeland Security - Special Enforcement Unit") was formed to keep domestic order with so much of the US military, Federal law enforcement and even local police deployed overseas in the invasion of China. Command personnel were recruited from military officers found unfit for service, often for psychological problems. Initial recruitment of troopers was by consultation of police disciplinary files ("Internal Affairs") but soon expanded to include known criminals, deserters offered service in Homeland to avoid the otherwise mandatory death penalty, and rejected police employment applicants. Equipment was primarily from surplus US military sources, especially items available in abundance or unsuited to transport or service in China. The MRAP, or Mine Resistant Armored Personnel, was the primary armored vehicle. Helicopters were generally older models without modern electronics and avionics, in some cases taken from civilian press and the aerial fire service. A typical Homeland unit was organized as a force of 18-30 troopers under a single officer, with 1-3 MRAPs and/or 4-15 mixed police cars and crew cab pickup trucks.
The Reno operations office of Homeland was tasked with keeping refugees from California out of Nevada. This was primarily accomplished with a series of checkpoints on the I-80 corridor between Sacramento and Reno. This was augmented with ground and air patrols of other routes and occasional "flying checkpoints" on other roads.
When a patrol determined that many thousands of California refugees had been in Northern Nevada for over a month, the enraged commander of the Reno Homeland office decided to take direct action to "solve the problem." He mobilized approximately 14 Homeland units / 300 troopers with eight MRAP armored wheeled vehicles, supported by fixed and rotary wing aircraft and deployed them first to the town of Gerlach, then to sweep the major roads and outlying residences, and finally to the Black Rock Desert, a dry lake bed referred to locally as the 'playa.'
Both the residents of the town of Gerlach and the local law enforcement, Washoe County Sheriff's Office, expressed concerns about Homeland's arrival in force. The commander's reaction was to declare all of them in rebellion and under his special police powers, destroy the town.
Town of Gerlach: approximately 700 human remains, mostly bones but a few mummified, were found in and immediately adjacent to the town. Some were undoubtedly lawfully killed while engaged in resistance. However, most were killed with no evidence that they were attempting to resist. Photographs received by this unit show evidence of murder of children, rape of both men and women, and torture of all three. Some of these photos have been authenticated as taken within specific buildings in the town. Finding: war crimes.
Killing Site 1: the burned remains of approximately 300 persons were found in the school auditorium. Bone inspection determines that only a handful were shot prior to death; most likely died of smoke inhalation. Testimony from a surviving refugee contacted by this unit is that these persons submitted to detention and were locked in the building before it was deliberately set on fire. Finding: war crime.
After the investment of Gerlach, refugees attempted to flee in all directions. Small forces of Homeland had been pre-positioned by air to block major roads using heavy machine gun fire. It is a well established principle of international law that fleeing combatants can be lawfully engaged. Whether or not these refugees were "combatants" is moot - they were fleeing lawful orders to assemble (in Gerlach) and thus their flight was treasonous under American law. About 1,000 bodies at 23 locations. Finding: not a war crime.
Over ten thousand refugees (and a few inhabitants) attempted to flee across the Black Rock Desert, on the 'playa' dry lake bed. Many would not have made it due to lack of fuel and water, even if they were not pursued. This unit has identified 17 "clumps" where fleeing vehicles in groups were engaged by heavy weapons fire, mostly from the air, and hundreds of other individual vehicles engaged individually. As above, they were all fleeing lawful orders to assemble and thus were legitimate targets. About 1,500 refugees perished in this way. Finding: not a war crime.
Testimony from a surviving refugee indicates that when it became clear that flight was impossible, some of the remaining persons stopped their vehicles, displayed white flags and bits of cloth, and walked towards Gerlach as a group. Many held hands. Others stayed with the vehicles, especially the elderly, infirm and mothers with small children. Forensics evidence is consistent with this account.
Killing Site 2: Homeland security forces opened fire with automatic weapons on the refugees walking towards them. Then the vehicles were destroyed with rockets and grenades. The exact number of dead on the 'playa' will never be known but exceeds 10,000 based on statistical survey methods as applied to bone fields and vehicle wrecks. Finding: war crime.
Surviving Homeland records, while fragmentary in many respects (for example, unit rosters and pay records were deliberately destroyed late in the Resistance campaign), were scrupulous about tracking of detainees and prisoners. During the months in question, no detainees are shown as being taken into Reno from only two sources: "Raids" and "Checkpoints." In both cases the number of detainees taken into custody was less than 1,000 total.
It is the conclusion of this investigation that over 11,000 civilians lost their lives to deliberate atrocity, in violation of the laws of war and of basic human rights.
Dissenting Legal Note: while an atrocity certainly took place, both the attackers and their victims were of the same nationality - American - and so no question of international law therefore arises. This is a domestic legal issue. The Resistance had not yet begun so no question of civil war arises. The number of persons killed is relatively small (under 15,000) and also heterogenous (mixed in racial and ethnic groups). It is the opinion of this office that this atrocity is an isolated incident that for these reasons cannot be called a genocide.
Rebuttal to Dissent: the refugees were fleeing from what was at the time believed to be a foreign nuclear attack. New information makes it clear that the Firecracker War was a civil war ab initio ...
Executive Summary
This unit was tasked with investigation of alleged war crimes that took place in the north of the US state of Nevada approximately 1-2 months after the nuclear destruction of San Francisco.
The area was inhabited by approximately 2,000 rural residents, mostly in the town of Gerlach but also on ranches and in residences scattered throughout this very large but sparsely populated desert. In addition to inhabitants, approximately 14,000 refugees fled to the area, mostly but not entirely from the San Francisco Bay Area, and were mostly encamped on the perimeter of Gerlach and on nearby ranches.
The paramilitary agency referred to by most Americans as Homeland (official name "US Dept. of Homeland Security - Special Enforcement Unit") was formed to keep domestic order with so much of the US military, Federal law enforcement and even local police deployed overseas in the invasion of China. Command personnel were recruited from military officers found unfit for service, often for psychological problems. Initial recruitment of troopers was by consultation of police disciplinary files ("Internal Affairs") but soon expanded to include known criminals, deserters offered service in Homeland to avoid the otherwise mandatory death penalty, and rejected police employment applicants. Equipment was primarily from surplus US military sources, especially items available in abundance or unsuited to transport or service in China. The MRAP, or Mine Resistant Armored Personnel, was the primary armored vehicle. Helicopters were generally older models without modern electronics and avionics, in some cases taken from civilian press and the aerial fire service. A typical Homeland unit was organized as a force of 18-30 troopers under a single officer, with 1-3 MRAPs and/or 4-15 mixed police cars and crew cab pickup trucks.
The Reno operations office of Homeland was tasked with keeping refugees from California out of Nevada. This was primarily accomplished with a series of checkpoints on the I-80 corridor between Sacramento and Reno. This was augmented with ground and air patrols of other routes and occasional "flying checkpoints" on other roads.
When a patrol determined that many thousands of California refugees had been in Northern Nevada for over a month, the enraged commander of the Reno Homeland office decided to take direct action to "solve the problem." He mobilized approximately 14 Homeland units / 300 troopers with eight MRAP armored wheeled vehicles, supported by fixed and rotary wing aircraft and deployed them first to the town of Gerlach, then to sweep the major roads and outlying residences, and finally to the Black Rock Desert, a dry lake bed referred to locally as the 'playa.'
Both the residents of the town of Gerlach and the local law enforcement, Washoe County Sheriff's Office, expressed concerns about Homeland's arrival in force. The commander's reaction was to declare all of them in rebellion and under his special police powers, destroy the town.
Town of Gerlach: approximately 700 human remains, mostly bones but a few mummified, were found in and immediately adjacent to the town. Some were undoubtedly lawfully killed while engaged in resistance. However, most were killed with no evidence that they were attempting to resist. Photographs received by this unit show evidence of murder of children, rape of both men and women, and torture of all three. Some of these photos have been authenticated as taken within specific buildings in the town. Finding: war crimes.
Killing Site 1: the burned remains of approximately 300 persons were found in the school auditorium. Bone inspection determines that only a handful were shot prior to death; most likely died of smoke inhalation. Testimony from a surviving refugee contacted by this unit is that these persons submitted to detention and were locked in the building before it was deliberately set on fire. Finding: war crime.
After the investment of Gerlach, refugees attempted to flee in all directions. Small forces of Homeland had been pre-positioned by air to block major roads using heavy machine gun fire. It is a well established principle of international law that fleeing combatants can be lawfully engaged. Whether or not these refugees were "combatants" is moot - they were fleeing lawful orders to assemble (in Gerlach) and thus their flight was treasonous under American law. About 1,000 bodies at 23 locations. Finding: not a war crime.
Over ten thousand refugees (and a few inhabitants) attempted to flee across the Black Rock Desert, on the 'playa' dry lake bed. Many would not have made it due to lack of fuel and water, even if they were not pursued. This unit has identified 17 "clumps" where fleeing vehicles in groups were engaged by heavy weapons fire, mostly from the air, and hundreds of other individual vehicles engaged individually. As above, they were all fleeing lawful orders to assemble and thus were legitimate targets. About 1,500 refugees perished in this way. Finding: not a war crime.
Testimony from a surviving refugee indicates that when it became clear that flight was impossible, some of the remaining persons stopped their vehicles, displayed white flags and bits of cloth, and walked towards Gerlach as a group. Many held hands. Others stayed with the vehicles, especially the elderly, infirm and mothers with small children. Forensics evidence is consistent with this account.
Killing Site 2: Homeland security forces opened fire with automatic weapons on the refugees walking towards them. Then the vehicles were destroyed with rockets and grenades. The exact number of dead on the 'playa' will never be known but exceeds 10,000 based on statistical survey methods as applied to bone fields and vehicle wrecks. Finding: war crime.
Surviving Homeland records, while fragmentary in many respects (for example, unit rosters and pay records were deliberately destroyed late in the Resistance campaign), were scrupulous about tracking of detainees and prisoners. During the months in question, no detainees are shown as being taken into Reno from only two sources: "Raids" and "Checkpoints." In both cases the number of detainees taken into custody was less than 1,000 total.
It is the conclusion of this investigation that over 11,000 civilians lost their lives to deliberate atrocity, in violation of the laws of war and of basic human rights.
Dissenting Legal Note: while an atrocity certainly took place, both the attackers and their victims were of the same nationality - American - and so no question of international law therefore arises. This is a domestic legal issue. The Resistance had not yet begun so no question of civil war arises. The number of persons killed is relatively small (under 15,000) and also heterogenous (mixed in racial and ethnic groups). It is the opinion of this office that this atrocity is an isolated incident that for these reasons cannot be called a genocide.
Rebuttal to Dissent: the refugees were fleeing from what was at the time believed to be a foreign nuclear attack. New information makes it clear that the Firecracker War was a civil war ab initio ...
