19 Aug Keeping pumpkin terror at bay in Keene NH – updated

Yesterday I asked what use a small town police department could possibly have for one of the mine-resistant armoured vehicles US Homeland Security has been handing out like candied apples at a Halloween dance. Thanks to Contrarian reader Ryan Van Horne for pointing our that comedian John Oliver already supplied the answer on his Sunday HBO show, Last Week Tonight:

When applying for one of the vehicles, the town of Keene NH said, “the terrorism threat is far reaching and often unforeseen,” and cited the need to keep its annual Pumpkin Festival safe from terrorists.

Not since Whittaker Chambers led investigators from the House Un-American Activities Committee to his Maryland pumpkin patch in December, 1942, to retrieve microfilm allegedly implicating Alger Hiss as a spy, has the squash family played such a central role in US domestic security.

[UPDATE] When I tried to find photos of Keene’s Lenco Bearcat—the name is an acronym for Ballistic Engineered Armored Response Counter Attack Truck—most of the images that turned up were of a similar model used by the Ottawa Police Dept. A photo caption said Ottawa’s vehicle “resembles the one delivered to sleepy Keene, NH, to defend the Pumpkin Festival. The Keene Bearcat is also painted military OD but has different options.”

The Ottawa Sun celebrated the Canadian purchase with a video showing the attack truck in action:

Ottawa is not Keene, or even Ferguson, but… really? A Ballistic Engineered Armored Response Counter Attack Truck? Aren’t tear gas and truncheons enough?