And cops wonder why people are growing more leery of them than of the criminals.

They don't care. What's the punishment? A 30-day paid vacation until this blows over and they're returned to active duty?

Buttle?

We've got a war on drugs going on here. We have to expect a few casualties. Like the fourth amendment. And the right to not get shot.

They were trying to say he was part of a rip-crew but I haven't seen them continue with that claim since they killed the guy. And even if he was some bad mofo, they could have just camped out outside his home and surprise arrested him as soon as he walked out the door.

No-knock warrants are almost always unnecessary.

Wenchmaster: And cops wonder why people are growing more leery of them than of the criminals.

land of the free/home of the brave.

Tucson cops are notoriously corrupt.

That's my experience.

violentsalvation: They were trying to say he was part of a rip-crew but I haven't seen them continue with that claim since they killed the guy. And even if he was some bad mofo, they could have just camped out outside his home and surprise arrested him as soon as he walked out the door.

No-knock warrants are almost always unnecessary.

How will they justify having a SWAT team if they don't use them to terrorize the population? You can't use a SWAT team to serve the guy a warrant when he's walking to the car. They have a quota to fill. If real drug dealers aren't available, anyone will do. And as an added bonus, they get to ransack the place and steal all their stuff.

"What reasonable person comes to the front door and points a rifle at people?"

Well, what reasonable person kicks in someone's door while pointing automatic weapons at them?

FTFA:

Kastigar sharply disputed that, calling the Pima County SWAT team one of the best of its kind in the nation. "We're not a bunch of country bumpkins in southern Arizona with big bellies and cowboy hats," he said.

The shooting was justified, he said, because Guerena pointed his AR-15 at the SWAT officers and said, "I've got something for you," before they opened fire.

The five SWAT team members who shot Guerena believed that he had fired his weapon first, he said. Subsequent investigation revealed that the gun's safety was on and hadn't been fired. Ultimately, that is not an issue, Kastigar said.

"What reasonable person comes to the front door and points a rifle at people?" he said. "It takes several milliseconds to flip the switch from safety to fire and take out a couple of SWAT officers. I'm firmly of the opinion that he was attempting to shoot at us."

The officers laid down "suppressive" fire because one had tripped and fallen and the others thought he'd been shot.

I would have a field day crossing the police "use of force" experts during the inevitable "wrongful death" lawsuit.

"so you maintain that the fact that he had a rifle in his hand made him a lethal threat to the officers and they were in fact justified in shooting him?"

"and you officers, who were invading this man's home, this combat trained veteran whose relatives had recently been shot in a home invasion robbery, what did they have in their hands?"

"And were those weapons pointed at him?"
"and were their safeties on or off?"
"and did they at any time identify themselves?"
"and to reiterate this man, who was on his own property, who grabbed a weapon, but didn't point it at these invaders, and in fact never took the safety off, was a lethal threat to your body-armored , trained officers, and it was totally reasonable for them to shoot him dead because he MIGHT have at some point in the future pointed a gun at him, but HE was irrational for grabbing a gun when those officers invaded his home and pointed their weapons at him and his family?

It's been slowly building to this for years. The violations become a little more egregious each time until they're either outlawed in a backlash or codified into law.

FTFA The SWAT team fired 71 rounds, riddling his body 22 times, while his wife and child cowered in a closet.
30% of their shots found their target. Somebody needs a little more range time.

/Not really, this is just ignorant.

Well I mean, if there was some marijuana or cocaine, it makes sense, right? Because that's way more damaging than say destroying the middle class for personal gain.

what_now: Well I mean, if there was some marijuana or cocaine, it makes sense, right? Because that's way more damaging than say destroying the middle class for personal gain.

In Maricopa they would have just dropped a vial of crack on him, and called it good.

F*ck cops.

The Review Journal in Vegas (an extremely right-wing Republican boot-licking authoritarian paper) did a study of all the police shootings in Clark County for the last 20 years.

It's a fascinating read about corrupt, incompetent and blood-thirsty cops.

Link (new window)

Jesus. 71 rounds? Did they just kept on spraying after the man's been shot multiple times? Seriously, if they're claiming that they're one of the best SWAT teams in the nation, that doesn't support their claims. It sounds more like some gangbanger spraying a street with a MAC-10 during a drive by.

Cubansaltyballs: The Review Journal in Vegas (an extremely right-wing Republican boot-licking authoritarian paper) did a study of all the police shootings in Clark County for the last 20 years.

I lived in LV from 1988-1992 and in that time there were, seriously, like 20+ officer involved shootings. All were fatal if I remember right, and every single one was returned "justified" by the Coroner's Inquest.

/off to read that article.

I'm just here to mark this so I can see how the expect cop defenders will find a way to spin this.

dramboxf: I lived in LV from 1988-1992 and in that time there were, seriously, like 20+ officer involved shootings. All were fatal if I remember right, and every single one was returned "justified" by the Coroner's Inquest.

/off to read that article.


The best story they have is where the officer went into a drainage ditch alone, late at night to get a homeless man. He found a homeless man and ended up slitting his throat and shooting him once in the head. It was ruled a justifiable homicide.

I sometimes feel a sense of pride when I see my city appear on Fark. Then I remember what the articles are about, and that pride turns to shame.

This shooting took place in the same housing tract where both my parents and my grandparents live... they were rather surprised when they heard about it, their neighborhood is usually very quiet.

Oh, and obligatory (new window)

Glass. Parking. Lot.

Nels: Way to make a big deal out of a tiny, isolated incident. You cheer when "missing white girls" and cops are killed, but have a problem with an armed drug dealer being shot.

I see what side you're on.

2/10. You'll get a few bites, but misspelling a word or two would've helped your score.

Ezy Ryder: GAT_00: I'm just here to mark this so I can see how the expect cop defenders will find a way to spin this.

I'm pleasantly surprised by the lack of copsuckers in this thread.

It's still early.