Here’s a little visual quiz I put together to illustrate the way cops and soldiers are increasingly difficult to tell apart. There are 21 images. All police photos are from domestic U.S. police agencies. A couple of the “soldier” photos are from foreign military. I blurred or blacked out insignias that would give away the answer.
A Kihei couple is suing the Maui Police Department in federal court after officers allegedly raided their home while executing a search warrant on the wrong address last year.
April and Norman Freeland allege that police forced them outside and searched their home for nearly half an hour, even after they knew they were at the wrong location. Attorney Sam MacRoberts of the Law Office of Philip Lowenthal said the couple still has never seen a warrant for the search.
“Everyone is supposed to feel safe inside their home, and the one person who’s supposed to protect you, the police, are the ones who invaded their home,” he said. “They feel violated.” . . .
According to the Freelands’ complaint, they were at home hosting a dinner for three guests on April 15 when they heard a loud noise from their front lanai at around 9 p.m.
When the Freelands approached the door to their lanai they found armed men who did not identify themselves but were later identified as Maui Police officers, according to the complaint.
“When Norman Freeland touched the door, the men rushed into the Freelands’ home without permission,” the complaint alleges, adding that the officers did not “knock and announce” their presence as required by state law.
The officers “screamed and yelled” as they entered the home, grabbed Norman Freeland by the wrist and forced him and his wife outside, where they were held by a man carrying a “combat-type weapon,” according to the complaint.
The men told the Freelands that they had a warrant but did not show it to them, according to the complaint. It also claims April Freeland told them that they were at the wrong house and pointed out that their address was clearly displayed on the outside fence and door. Still, the officers continued to detain them and searched the house for around 30 minutes, according to the complaint.
The officers “overturned furniture,” “searched the Freelands’ drawers” and “created a mess in the Freelands’ home,” according to the complaint.
The police say they promptly apologized once they realized they had the wrong house, and that the Freeland’s are lying about the search, the time they were detained, and that the police overturned furniture.
“If a chair got knocked down in the process of an entry, that might have happened, but it would not have been done purposely to damage any part of their home,” she said.
Maybe the Maui police are different, but that’s certainly not consistent with the many post-drug raid photos I’ve seen. In any case, there’s no need for concern, as this was just a, well let’s just let them say it . . .
Lutey said the situation was extremely unusual, but police responded correctly as soon as it was apparent that they were at the wrong address.
“It’s certainly not our practice or policy to go to the wrong house to execute warrants,” she said. “This is the first time I’m aware of this ever happening in all the years I’ve been involved in representing the Maui Police Department.”
So who is the bigger threat to the community in this story?
Eric Stevens and cousin Henry Dondle, both longtime Homewood residents, woke this morning along with many of their neighbors to the sound of explosions and shattering glass.
It wasn’t long before scores of officers clad in military fatigues and brandishing assault rifles ordered Stevens and Dondle to the ground where they were restrained, according to Stevens.
Now, more than 10 hours later, bits of shattered glass lay strewn about the living room and outside perimeter of the residence that Stevens shares with his 74-year-old father. The front door is splintered and at least 17 windows were broken. Heat from the flash grenades left char marks on the walls and burned through a hanging curtain. Stevens’s father, a retired Chicago police officer, was returning home from security duty when the event unfolded.
“It looks like a terrorist attack on my house,” Stevens said.
Dondle said police confiscated 20 grams of marijuana and several water pipes. He claims they had a gathering the night before and that the marijuana was for recreational use.
Derek Copp, the Grand Valley State student shot during a 2009 drug raid, has settled with the city for $144,000.
Police were serving a marijuana warrant (Kopp’s roommate was actually their suspect) when they broke into Kopp’s apartment. Deputy Ryan Huizenga’s gun “accidentally discharged,” striking Kopp in the chest. Kopp was unarmed. Huizinga was convicted of a misdemeanor for reckless discharge of a weapon, but is back on the force.
Huizinga’s lawyer initially blamed Kopp for “startling” Huizinga as Huizinga and the other officers were breaking into Kopp’s home.
. . . both on Matthew Stewart and the Ogden drug raid.
This one, from the Standard-Examiner is headlined “Suspect had a bomb,” and repeatedly, explicitly refers to a “bomb” that police detonated in Stewart’s closet. Meanwhile, this one, from the Salt Lake Tribune, quotes an ATF spokesman.
Earlier Monday, Brad Beyersdorf, public information officer for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, confirmed that bomb technicians detonated “explosive materials” or components found inside Stewart’s house Saturday. Beyersdorf did not specify what was found but said that “to characterize it as a bomb or device is not accurate at this time.”
Emphasis mine. The same article also quotes Stewart’s father on the “device:”
But Stewart’s father, Michael Stewart, told The Tribune he believes the chemicals found by police were used by his son to grow marijuana, which apparently spurred the Weber-Morgan Narcotics Strike Force to obtain the search warrant they attempted to execute Wednesday night on Stewart’s house at 3268 Jackson Ave. in Ogden.
Michael Stewart claims police “botched” the initial investigation into his son’s marijuana growing activities.
“It’s possible the authorities may have been relying on an informant who broke the law who was trespassing,” Michael Stewart said.
He did not specify why he believes that but said he has spoken with his son’s attorney, Randall Richards.
I got a little chill at that line about a trespassing informant. Flashbacks to the Ryan Frederick case.
Here’s the Standard-Examiner, once again:
The neighborhood was evacuated, and the federal Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms was called in, said a source close to the investigation speaking on condition of anonymity. The bomb couldn’t be moved and was detonated inside the home, he said.
“They also found a picture of the suspect dressed as a terrorist,” he said. “He was posing in a suicide bomber’s vest.”
The source had no detail on the type of bomb or any indications of a link with Stewart and any terrorist group. “I have no idea what any of it means,” he said.
And back to the Tribune:
But Stewart’s father said the photo actually shows his son in a Halloween costume that he wore three or four years ago.
“He was going to the party as Osama bin Laden,” the father explained.
Amazing the different impression you if you read just one of the two stories. Once again, we know very little so far. But it’s unfortunate that (a) someone “close to the investigation” is feeding the Standard Examiner bad information, (b) that person is requesting—and being given—anonymity, and (c) the Standard-Examiner is running with the bad information, apparently without bothering to get confirmation.
The DA, by the way, has announced that he’ll be seeking the death penalty.
I haven’t had time to write about the awful drug raid in Ogden, Utah just yet. But the gist is that a veteran who apparently grew marijuana to self-medicate for anxiety and depression apparently shot and killed one cop and wounded several others during a nighttime raid on his home. This is the same narcotics task force, by the way, that shot and killed a man wielding a golf club five seconds after breaking down his door during a botched meth raid last year. That cop was forgiven for his mistake. Heat of battle, volatile situation, mistakes were made—you know the drill.
Perhaps we’ll soon learn that Matthew Stewart was a big-time drug dealer hell-bent on taking down a team of cops. We don’t know enough yet to say anything for certain. But from what we do know, it doesn’t appear that way. The guy had no prior criminal record. And the article below suggests that the authorities are already setting expectations for the possibility that Stewart was just a guy who grew for his own use.
Here’s a DEA flack defending the raid and pointing out the (very real, though not in the way he’d have you believe) dangers of pot smoking.
The head of Utah’s Drug Enforcement Administration spoke with FOX 13 about the recent Ogden shooting that left one officer dead and five other officers wounded. There has been evidence gathered that may point to the shooting suspect maintaining a marijuana grow operation.
DEA Special Agent in Charge Frank Smith has been involved in the war on drugs all over the globe. He is quick to dismiss any arguments about legalizing drugs like marijuana, especially after fellow officers were shot and killed, presumably trying to take down a so-called indoor marijuana grow operation.
“They’re heroes, they’re protecting the public!” said Smith . . .
Army veteran Matthew David Stewart, 37, is the suspected triggerman. Police will not say exactly why the strike force raided his home, but Stewart’s father says his son has issues and may have been growing marijuana in his home to “self-medicate.”
Smith says that, even if Stewart had allegedly used marijuana to only self-medicate, that his drug use is not a “victimless crime.”
“It’s not a legalization issue, it’s not an immigration issue, it’s a public safety issue. If someone is willing to shoot it out with police, who is self-medicating on marijuana, what’s to say he’s not willing to walk out his house and start shooting his neighbors?” Smith says.
Jesus. How about the fact that he hadn’t harmed a soul until armed government agents broke down his door? Reading these articles is like slamming your head against the wall. People keep dying. And the drug warriors keep taking that as confirmation that they need to double down on the policies that are exactly why people keep dying.
You wonder if Smith’s even capable of comprehending the possibility that it’s the tactics that caused this tragedy, not pot’s sinister—and completely unsupported by any scientific research—effect of turning unassuming veterans into cold-blooded killers. That is, I wonder if people like Smith really believe their own bullshit?
Smith says the shooting case will be reviewed and he hopes lessons will be learned to prevent a tragedy like this from ever happening again.
Oh, there are lessons. But they won’t be what Smith and other drug warriors take from this awfulness. Which is why you aren’t going to “prevent a tragedy like this from ever happening again.”
No. So long as we have people like Agent Smith in positions of power, the pile of bodies—both cop and citizen—will only get larger.
MORE: Stewart’s father is now speaking out. Here he criticizes the tactics used in the raid.
After four years in the military, Matthew returned to Ogden and got a job as a security officer for the IRS. But he began having problems with depression and anxiety. He didn’t want to use prescription drugs, his father said, and chose to self-medicate with marijuana that he grew.
He eventually left the IRS and got a warehouse job at Walmart, working graveyard shift. About two months ago, he broke up with his girlfriend.
“He was a good guy,” his father said. “He worked hard. He served his country. He tried to live his life his way. He didn’t think he was hurting anybody.”
The Stewarts say they know very little about the Wednesday shootout at their son’s Ogden residence at 3268 Jackson Ave.
“We’re devastated by this whole thing,” Michael Stewart said.
The Stewarts have not been allowed to see their son at an undisclosed hospital. And they don’t know what happened when the Weber-Morgan Narcotics Strike Force entered the house with a search warrant.
Michael Stewart said his son kept a handgun for protection. But he said that his son’s shotgun had been in his parents’ possession for years and he didn’t have any automatic weapons.
Michael and Sonja Stewart say they can’t understand why the strike force would execute a search warrant the way that it did, knocking down the door and rushing into the residence….
If Matthew Stewart was sleeping or listening to music in his back room, there is a good chance they would not have heard police announce their arrival.
“If they had done some research, why not arrest him at Walmart?” Michael Stewart said.
“I’m hoping the citizens of this state can look at what’s happened here and rethink the drug war,” he added. “Are we losing the drug war?”
This is taken from the SWAT team page for the Barton County, Kansas Sheriff’s Department.
The glib sloganeering about how they apply violence is bad enough. But note that they chose the word use, instead of sell or deal.
Thanks to Eapen Thampy for the tip.
