![\"Many](\"http:\/\/themillenniumreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Beech_Grove_residents_awoken_by_booms__g_0_38852942_ver1.0_640_480.jpg\")
<\/a>Callers reported explosions, gunshots and the sound of low-flying helicopters as a simulated raid on the old St. Francis hospital got underway.<\/p>\n
Residents were \u201cupset about the drills,\u201d according to Fox 59<\/a>, many of whom say they didn\u2019t receive a knock on the door warning them about the exercises.<\/p>\n Startled locals took to Twitter to express their shock.<\/p>\n \u201cDid we go to war and no one mention it?\u201d asked Mary Graham.<\/p>\n http:\/\/twitter.com\/themarygraham\/status\/734959163202142208?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re about a block away on 14th & no one told our street. Whole neighborhood was out bc we thought the world was ending,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n http:\/\/twitter.com\/themarygraham\/status\/734964186850070528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/p>\n \u201cBeech Grove was just #underfreakingattack,\u201d tweeted Rick Frank.<\/p>\n http:\/\/twitter.com\/rfrank911\/status\/734966394463227904?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/p>\n Another resident claimed his sister, \u201csaw a helicopter shoot down another helicopter\u201d.<\/p>\n http:\/\/twitter.com\/alllyZ\/status\/734965753904914434?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re sorry people were startled,\u201d Beech Grove Police Capt. Robert Mercuri told the Indianapolis Star<\/a>. \u201cWe hope they understand that the city of Beech Grove was trying to help the people who protect us everyday.\u201d<\/p>\n Controversy over military drills taking place near populated areas has been raging for years<\/a>, with many concerned about a blurring of the lines between the military and domestic law enforcement.<\/p>\n During a 2012 U.S. Army exercise, St Louis City residents were told<\/a> not be alarmed at the sight of U.S. Army tanks rolling down residential neighborhoods after sightings of the vehicles provoked fears of martial law. Local news media channels featured interviews with residents whopraised the sight of troops on the streets<\/a> as a valuable crime-fighting tool similar to that used in foreign countries.<\/p>\n In March 2014, the Department of Defense conducted military training in Broward County<\/a>, with exercises involving low flying helicopters designed to \u2018scare the crap out of people\u2019, according to one local reporter.Residents were shocked<\/a> to see Navy SEALS practicing storming a university building from a Black Hawk chopper.<\/p>\n Alarmed residents who reported low-flying black helicopters with their lights turned off buzzing downtown Dallas in December 2014<\/a> were witnessing U.S. Special Forces drills intended to allow troops to get a feel for \u201crealistic urban sites\u201d. The maneuvers were part of preparedness training for U.S. Special Operations Forces.<\/p>\n Blacked out helicopters also buzzed Kentucky and Cincinnati residents<\/a> in May 2014 as part of an unannounced military drill, with one eyewitness telling Infowars the maneuvers resembled something out of a \u201cwar zone\u201d.<\/p>\n During a March 2015 drill in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, military and law enforcement practiced the internment of citizens<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/article>\n