Police raid possible drug house: shoot PitBull & Corgi dead.

[Xarpolis]

http://reason.com/blog/2010/05/05/video ... n-missouri

In February, I wrote the following about a drug raid in Missouri:

SWAT team breaks into home, fires seven rounds at family's pit bull and corgi (?!) as a seven-year-old looks on.

They found a "small amount" of marijuana, enough for a misdemeanor charge. The parents were then charged with child endangerment.

So smoking pot = "child endangerment." Storming a home with guns, then firing bullets into the family pets as a child looks on = necessary police procedures to ensure everyone's safety.

Just so we're clear.

Now there's video, which you can watch below. It's horrifying, but I'd urge you to watch it, and to send it to the drug warriors in your life. This is the blunt-end result of all the war imagery and militaristic rhetoric politicians have been spewing for the last 30 years—cops dressed like soldiers, barreling through the front door middle of the night, slaughtering the family pets, filling the house with bullets in the presence of children, then having the audacity to charge the parents with endangering their own kid. There are 100-150 of these raids every day in America, the vast, vast majority like this one, to serve a warrant for a consensual crime.

But they did prevent Jonathan Whitworth from smoking the pot they found in his possession. So I guess this mission was a success.

I've exchanged emails with the mother of the family, who was in the home at the time of the raid. I'm waiting on her permission to publish her account of what happened.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbwSwvUaRqc

[Xarpolis]

On the youtube link, someone said that both dogs were caged. I didn't see this or read about it other than him saying it, so I'm trying to find out the truth.

[DemoDick]

This is the blunt-end result of all the war imagery and militaristic rhetoric politicians have been spewing for the last 30 years—cops dressed like soldiers, barreling through the front door middle of the night, slaughtering the family pets, filling the house with bullets in the presence of children, then having the audacity to charge the parents with endangering their own kid.

Complete and utter horseshit. Cops "dressing like soldiers" and "militaristic rhetoric" has absolutely NOTHING to do with this. Would anyone make the statement that if police were required to wear class A (dress) uniforms at all times, this kind of thing would stop? That's ridiculous. What we wear and carry and the tactics we use are based on what the situation calls for. Parade: high gloss leather and starched Class A's. No-knock warrant: kevlar helmets, balaclavas and M-4's. This is going to make people with Mayberry fantasies uncomfortable. Tough.

The reality of serving a no-knock warrant means that police are sometimes going to have to shoot a dog or two, and they may even have to raise their voices and say bad words.

Now, on to the REAL source of the problem...

Raids like these are the inevitable result of drug prohibition laws, which have so far had the exact same result that Prohibition did in the 1920's (Aegrescit medendo). If we want to stop this kind of thing from happening, we need to start electing legislators who are on board with the idea that what you put in your body for recreational purposes is your business, and no one else's. We need to dismantle the DEA and repeal all Federal drug laws and then challenge them at the individual State level.

Demo Dick

[maberi]

I couldn't agree with you more Demo

[amazincc]

The reality of serving a no-knock warrant means that police are sometimes going to have to shoot a dog or two, and they may even have to raise their voices and say bad words.

Gah... all the more reason a no-knock warrant should only be issued/served, if and when the police are absolutely sure of the facts, no??? Somehow a misdemeanor pot possession doesn't seem to warrant that type of "invasion" and force, IMO.
And if the dogs were contained/caged at the time... well, then there is no excuse for shooting them.
"Mistaken identity" also happens ALL the time and completely innocent people get caught in the middle... after I read the original post I thanked my lucky stars that *my* officer only had a regular warrant, and didn't attempt to enter my property under the assumption that there was a felon hiding out in my house.
Guarded by two "dangerous Pit Bulls", no less...

Now, on to the REAL source of the problem...

Raids like these are the inevitable result of drug prohibition laws, which have so far had the exact same result that Prohibition did in the 1920's (Aegrescit medendo). If we want to stop this kind of thing from happening, we need to start electing legislators who are on board with the idea that what you put in your body for recreational purposes is your business, and no one else's. We need to dismantle the DEA and repeal all Federal drug laws and then challenge them at the individual State level.

AB -SO-LUTE-LY!!!

[DemoDick]

Gah... all the more reason a no-knock warrant should only be issued/served, if and when the police are absolutely sure of the facts, no??? Somehow a misdemeanor pot possession doesn't seem to warrant that type of "invasion" and force, IMO.

Judges don't sign that kind of warrant without probable cause to believe there is more than a little weed in the house. We are only getting what the press is reporting, and they are the same people who report on Pit Bull maulings". Be skeptical of every piece of information they sell.

And if the dogs were contained/caged at the time... well, then there is no excuse for shooting them.

Of course not. I'm interested to find out if there is even a shred of truth to this.

[airwalk]

Yep, just a reminder, please remember the media's anthem is if it bleeds it leads and good news does not sell. They only report what they want you to read.

[DeeNtheChillas]

Yep, just a reminder, please remember the media's anthem is if it bleeds it leads and good news does not sell. They only report what they want you to read.

What's ironic about this is that the general public is crying out for good news. My previous newspaper published ONLY happy news, human interest stories etc and the public loved it!

Unfortunately, that violates every rule you learn in J-school.

[mnp13]

I read some of the news stories, and the warrant was over a week old; the chief of police of the department said that they shouldn't have served it.

The video is pretty bad, the dog screams for about 5 seconds before it dies. After that it's not a big deal though.

[DemoDick]

I read some of the news stories, and the warrant was over a week old; the chief of police of the department said that they shouldn't have served it.

Of course he said that. If they found $1 million in heroin and a stash of machine guns he would take all the credit for it himself.

Demo Dick