You may remember Shane Bauer as one of several American writers imprisoned by Iranian hardliners for more than two years. So when the Mother Jones reporter seems a little creeped out by the militarism on display at a SWAT convention in California, you might want to pay attention.

Bauer and videographer Prashanth Kamalakanthan spent their weekend at Urban Shield, "a first-responder convention sponsored by over 100 corporations and the Department of Homeland Security." While multiple SWAT teams from all over competed and trained in 31 emergency scenarios, the reporting duo took some time to rove the merchandise mart—until they were booted from the shindig, by parties unknown.

The pair plans to release more on their exploits, but until then, check out the video synopsis of Urban Shield above, as well as Bauer's tweets, below, of the UC-Berkeley SWAT team (!) taking down an Islamofascist; drone salesmen getting wary; and convention toughs giving Bauer and Kamalakanthan the heave-ho.