Three Pennsylvania State Troopers and seven other individuals spent several hours inside a building on Amos Miller’s Lancaster County farm while conducting a search on Jan. 4, 2024, eventually leaving with multiple coolers containing Miller’s property.
Attempts were made by The Lancaster Patriot to enter the facility during the search, but a Pennsylvania State Trooper said, “we’re conducting a search warrant inside this building right now,” and told the reporter to leave the building until the search was completed.
The search was conducted by employees of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, with Pennsylvania State Police offering assistance as needed.
A search warrant was issued on Jan. 3, 2024, by Magisterial District Judge B. Denise Commins and included an affidavit of probable cause completed by Sheri Morris, Acting Bureau Director of Food Safety with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.
The affidavit referenced incidents involving Miller’s products dating back to 2016, with the latest including the claim that on Dec. 19, 2023, Morris was informed “by the NY state Department of Health of a confirmed positive case of a foodborne pathogen (STEC – Shiga toxin producing E. Coli) in an underage individual” who had allegedly consumed products from Miller’s private buying club. On Dec. 28, 2023, Morris was allegedly notified about a similar incident in Michigan.
In the affidavit, Morris contends that Miller has not filed for applications from the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture “for registration, licensing, or permitting under the pertinent Retail Food Facility Safety Act, Food Safety Act, or Milk Sanitation Laws.”
A report of seized property provided to Miller after the search was conducted listed 37 items, including sour cream, chocolate milk, ice cream, and eggnog.
A notice affixed to a walk-in cooler door stated that the food in the cooler “has been detained by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture pursuant to Section 5726(a) of the Food Safety Act.” The notice states that the food “may be adulterated or misbranded and shall be detained.” The notice states that it is “unlawful to remove the food from the premises or to dispose of it without approval of the Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.”
Removal or disposal of “a detained or embargoed food article” is a criminal and civil offense.
The cooler contains hundreds of items and represents a large portion of Miller’s products.
Miller’s private buying club provides customers with sustainable alternatives to commercially produced food. In addition to serving customers who travel to his location, Miller also ships his products across the nation.
“They [his customers] don’t trust the large corporations,” Miller told The Lancaster Patriot in 2022. “It’s not sustainable. For some reason the government keeps endorsing the large corporations, and it can cause big trouble.”
Miller’s products include cheese, meat, eggs, and raw milk. His company website states that all food products “are only available to members who belong to our Private Association and are NOT available to the PUBLIC.” Miller’s products are not sold in grocery stores.
U.S. Congressman Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky) shared a post from The Lancaster Patriot on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) and commented in support of Miller.
“Looks like Amos Miller’s farm is being raided,” Massie said. “With all of the problems in society today, this is what the government wants to focus on? A man growing food for informed customers, without participating in the industrial meat/milk complex? It’s shameful that it’s come to this.”
The post on X has garnered over 745,000 views in less than six hours, with many comments in support of Miller and food freedom, noting that Miller’s buyers knowingly purchase his raw products and accept any associated risks.
Miller’s attorney, Robert Barnes, released the following statement just hours after the search was conducted:
“Today, the Department of Agriculture of the State of Pennsylvania suddenly came, without notice, raided Amos’ farm, and detained everything Amos had in the farm’s freezer. They did so in a lawless manner, without appropriate authority, in violation of their own rules and regulations, despite never objecting to the prior resolutions reached with the federal government, and despite a complete failure by the state to even reach out to Amos’ known counsel, Robert Barnes. The state’s own rules require advance notice, reasonable time frames for inspections, and a showing of credentials, none of which occurred here. Instead, the state unlawfully obtained a search warrant, based on materially false statements in an affidavit by a high-ranking state official in an agency with a known grievance against independent farmers like Amos, and, after the raid and finding no evidence of wrongdoing, then illegally ordered detained every item of food in one of Amos Miller’s coolers, including buffalo meat not even subject to federal regulation. The detention order is patently illegal under Pennsylvania law. Despite the constant harassment, Amos will continue to do all he legally can to provide the food his members deeply need. Amos thanks you for your continued support at this critical time for food freedom in America.”
