Yes, never fear in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where the Declaration of Independence was written. The state police are protecting us from, well, beer. The Philadelphia Daily News reports that state police raided bars, claiming that they were selling…unlicensed beers:

IT WAS ELIOT NESS and the Untouchables, as played by the Keystone Kops.

More than a dozen armed State Police officers conducted simultaneous raids last week on three popular Philadelphia bars known for their wide beer selections. The cops confiscated hundreds of bottles of expensive ales and lagers, now in State Police custody at an undisclosed location.

The alleged offense: Although the bar owners had bought the beer legally from licensed Pennsylvania distributors and had paid all the necessary taxes, the police claimed that nobody had registered the precise names of the beers with the state Liquor Control Board – a process that requires the brewers or their importers to pay a $75 registration fee for each product they want to sell in Pennsylvania.

Apparently, there was an anonymous complaint (probably from a rival bar that insisted on selling just Bud Lite) that set off this act of bravery by these Costumed Creeps. Kudos to the reporters from the Daily News, however, as they wrote a good account, as opposed to what we might see in the New York Times, which is little more than a mouthpiece for the abusive state.