David Edwards has spent over a decade reporting on social justice, human rights and politics for Raw Story. He also writes Crooks and Liars. He has a background in enterprise resource planning and previously managed the network infrastructure for the North Carolina Department of Correction.
Televangelist Pat Robertson on Thursday became the latest conservative voice to promote the conspiracy theory that the government was buying millions of rounds of ammunition to use against the American people.
For months, conservative sites like Alex Jones' Infowars have been pushing reports like: "Obama DHS Purchases 2,700 Light-Armored Tanks to Go With Their 1.6 Billion Bullet Stockpile."
And on Thursday, Robertson weighed in on the side of the conspiracy theorists, calling it "like something out of science fiction: long trains of full or armored vehicles, personnel carriers with armor."
"What are they for, the Army going into battle against the enemy?" the TV preacher asked. "They're used by Homeland Security against us!"
"Imagine what Homeland Security is doing, it's just awful," he continued. "We're going to talk about how much ammunition they're stockpiling. Who are they going to shoot? Us?"
But Republican Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn has told Fox News that if the Homeland Security purchases were examined "without fear" then it would be clear that DHS was doing "exactly what they need to do."
Coburn pointed out that ammunition purchases had actually decreased from 148 million round in 2010 to 103 million in 2012.
Watch this video from CBN, broadcast March 28, 2013.