Earlier this year, the state of Texas brought several SWAT teams to the quiet and peaceful Garden of Eden Community and threatened its existence. In what appears to be an intimidation tactic, only a single arrest was made based on unrelated outstanding traffic violations, and a handful of citations were given for city code violations. Absolutely no drug related violations were found and all inhabitants of the community were unarmed.
Each of the community members present in the house were initially handcuffed at gunpoint by heavily armed SWAT officers. This included the mother of a 22 month old and a two week old baby. As part of the raid many of the crops were destroyed by officers, this included wild and cultivated plants such as blackberries, lamb’s quarters and okra. Officers also proceeded to remove a variety of materials the community had planned to use in sustainability projects like pallets, tires, cardboard and more.
The Garden of Eden Community is a sustainable community geared towards living a ‘high vibing’ lifestyle outside of the confines of how the average person would live. The community believes in coming together to produce the basic necessities of life and they support each other through each step. They grow their own food, live peacefully and since 2009 they have been providing food, shelter and sustainability education classes and workshops to the public for free.
