Commandos in downtown Manhattan?

I live in downtown Manhattan (a few blocks from the WTC site) and was crossing West & Chambers reets yesterday at about 4pm, when a motorcade of about 6 black cars came speeding down Chambers street. The first car was a black SUV. The window was open and you could clearly see several guys in green military-looking uniforms putting on camouflage makeup. The rest of the cars were black Town cars and limousines and had darkened windows. They didn't even stop for the red light--West Street is a 6 lane highway, so this could have caused a major accident--and screeched around the corner, turning south on West St. to speed further downtown.

I was standing on the corner with 7 other people, stunned. We all didn't know what to make of what had just happened. It looked like something out of a movie, but there weren't any cameras around.

When I got home, I called the local police station and they said that they didn't know of any training programs going on in the area--and if so, they usually wouldn't do so in the middle of rush hour traffic. The PO I spoke with said that there wasn't any police activity in the area, but I really didn't expect them to tell me if anything anyway. But the fact that there were commandos in my neighborhood has been bothering me and I can't imagine what possibly could have been going on. And what was the camouflage for?? I don't know what they could have been expecting to blend into in lower Manhattan! Any thoughts?

Yes, buy a disposable camera and make it SOP to carry it around.

I have done this, but will admit sometimes forget to bring it with me. So I have one in my overnight bag, will be getting a couple more in my jeep and am saveing up for a digital image device.

You should try checking with local news groups, field reporters on the street may have noticed this also. do you know any of the seven people you wer 'stunned" with? If you stood there a gain would you ecognize them? If so, see what they can recollect of the incident.

[edit on 15-7-2004 by ADVISOR]

Perhaps it was a politician abusing his power to get to trafic.

Really do I smell fowl play by this adminstration and NWO? or I am going paranoid.

Maybe they were rushing somewhere.
they do need to protect things. I never saw anything like that in Brooklyn!

perhaps it was reservists heading to one of their training exercises

I'm from the Lower East Side, and during my college days at BMCC and Hunter, I was a messenger. Every now and then, usually uptown and midtown, I'd see black cars and guys in black suits with uzis. I just always assumed they were some type of private security, since I never saw them around government offices. This was many years ago, but creepy now that I think about it, and have been on ATS.

Thanks for the camera idea--I have a digital camera and I should probably start carrying it around.

What made it so weird was the way they rushed out into traffic and the fact that the guys were putting on camouflage makeup. Perhaps there was some diplomat & entourage in the limousines & they needed sniper protection, but the whole camo thing was just a little too surreal.