Mario Paz probably never imagined he would be listed with Randy Weaver and Waco as a victim of big-brother government gone bad.

Near midnight on August 9th, Paz, a 64-year-old grandfather, slept in his Compton, California, home with his wife, Maria Luisa. Suddenly, the front and back door locks were shot off. Paz -- who earlier in the day withdrew money from a Tijuana bank over Y2K concerns -- was frightened that a gang of thugs was trying to steal his life savings.

Paz was correct.

The thugs were with the El Monte Police SWAT team. A former neighbor and drug trafficking suspect, Marcos Beltran Lizarraga, used their address for his cell-phone bill and DMV registration. (The Paz family insists Beltran asked to use it as a mailing address while moving.) Police believed the residence was used for storing money and drugs. They were given a "high-risk entry" search warrant.

They did not knock before entering; if they had, it would have been apparent that their suspicions were false. Instead, they assaulted the home. When they finished, Paz was dead, and over $11,000 of the family's savings and four weapons had been confiscated. Mrs. Paz was handcuffed, hustled outdoors in panties, and -- along with six family members -- suffered hours of interrogations without a lawyer. No drugs were found.

Police originally insisted they believed Paz was armed and dangerous. But Paz was unarmed, and killed by two shots through the back, indicating he was in a defensive posture. Police then claimed he was reaching for a weapon, which even if true -- and Mrs. Paz denies this -- would be understandable, since they never properly identified themselves.

The autopsy report presented an even more absurd explanation: The death was partially caused when Mrs. Paz "tackled the lead officer." Previously, Mrs. Paz stated she had begged for her husband's life, grabbing the officer's leg as she did so, which perhaps inspired the pitiful excuse. That a well-armed SWAT team could feel threatened by a nearly-naked, 51-year-old grandmother is astounding.

Despite finding no evidence that the money is drug related, the police have yet to return it. When a family representative asked for it back, he was reportedly told "the only way we're going to release the money is if Maria Paz submits to an interview." The usage of assets as leverage for information borders on extortion, the continued confiscation legalized theft.

The police may have committed an illegal activity with the money as well. The Paz family has receipts showing they withdrew over $11,000 dollars: The police report lists the amount as $10,000. What explains the discrepancy? Though this "mystery" remains uninvestigated, vast opportunities for corruption exist in drug raids.

The corruption continues: Another immigrant family (who bought used cars from Paz) claims that on September 22, six El Monte police threatened to prosecute them for drug trafficking if they did not testify that Paz and Beltran were dealers. The police searched their home without showing a warrant (taking an address book and personal papers), then threatened to arrest the mother, Rosa Felix, and take her children if she failed to provide them with the desired information.

The contempt for both families and their rights began the moment El Monte Police blew off the locks at the Paz home, threw a flash grenade, and fired wildly inside the family's home. A witness described the carnage succinctly: "It was like war."

It was war, the "Drug War," which has led to a greater deterioration of civil liberties than any hysteria this century.

Incredibly, the Drug War has been popular with the public, despite being an expensive, destructive failure. A failure, that is, assuming its purpose is to stop drug usage: Many believe the Drug War's real goal is to condition public acceptance for authoritarian control, linking it to the suppression of undesirables and social misfits. If so, it has been a smashing success.

A popular belief in the patriot movement is that we are entering a vicious New World Order police state, where black-helicopter-flying, jack-booted stormtroopers are slowly clamping down on the public, and preparing to put dissidents in concentration camps. Waco and Randy Weaver were warm-ups to prepare troops for the Illuminati's dystopian future.

This seems unlikely; an overt police state entails an honest fight. It's in your face, something people can resist. More nefarious is a Gestapo cheered by the masses, who wait in line for seconds. This scenario implies consent, albeit of a manufactured, Chomsky-esque brand. Here, oppression wins by carrot rather than stick, with the people as willing collaborators, à la Orwell.

Despots usually work this way, training majorities to follow the leader while attacking a growing list of "undesirables." Both Waco and Randy Weaver fit the pattern: Targets are labeled as "religious wackos" and "white supremacists" to justify eventual abuses. Reduced to subhuman status after linkage with disapproved values, their suppression becomes a smarmy punchline in a Jay Leno monologue.

The Drug War has provided the perfect sales job for this police state activity. Frequently focused on minorities like Paz, the war feeds off the racism that permeates our society.

Fortunately, some unlikely allies are getting the clue to threats of freedom posed by the Drug War. Of note is WorldNetDaily, a popular conservative website, which already has written two articles on Mario Paz and his family's tragic tale. Perhaps this -- like Waco and Weaver -- will serve as a wakeup call. It's about time.