Consequences of Prohibition
Drug War Issues
A 77-year-old Foley, Alabama man was shot and killed during a pre-dawn raid by police officers with a search warrant for marijuana. Robert Woods had emerged from a rear bedroom holding a gun and fired once, wounding one police officer. Four other officers returned fire, killing the homeowner.
Arrested in the raid was Woods' son, Michael Woods, 51, who had been the raid's target. Woods had told an undercover investigator he had a large quantity of marijuana, resulting in the search warrant served during the fatal raid. It is not clear how much marijuana was seized. Michael Woods shared the home with his parents.
In the police version of events, officers knocked on the door, then announced they were entering the house, then entered the house yelling "Police! Search warrant!" Then they detained Michael Woods and his mother before a man came out of the bedroom holding a handgun. Officers shouted for Woods to drop the gun, but he fired, striking Officer Randy Stillworth. The other officers then fired back, killing Woods. That version of events has not been corroborated by witnesses.
In the comment section of the article linked to above, a person who identifies herself as Wood's granddaughter had this to say: "He and my grandmother survived being robbed at gunpoint in their home in McCalla, Alabama. He also survived a horrible accident when the golf cart he was driving, working as a security guard, lost control and went up under an eighteen wheeler. He had to have brain surgery to remove a tumor due to that accident. Now, let me set the scene for y'all. For one, he didn't have his hearing aids in. Secondly, he didn't have his glasses on. Thirdly, what the hell would y'all do if you give his history, if all of sudden you where woken by a loud boom?!?!?!? You would grab the nearest object that you have by your bed. And seeing that we all live in Alabama, you either have a baseball bat or a gun. So, he grabs his gun and goes running towards the sound of the boom, all he sees is a figure moving in his home!!! Now, Mike sold to an undercover the night before in the driveway and says he has a large supply in the house. People, it was 4 small bags of pot. My paw-paw lost his life for 4 small bags of pot."
Foley Police have called in the Alabama Bureau of Investigation, as is standard with police shootings. They will be assisted by the Baldwin County District Attorney's Office and the Baldwin County Sheriff's Office, he said. Meanwhile, the officers involved in the shooting are on administrative leave.
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Comments
Alabama discipline cops?
Alabama discipline cops? yeah, right! On a cold day in Hell, maybe.
They'll probably get medals.
In reply to Alabama discipline cops? by Anonymous (not verified)
Proof of failure
This is another proof that SWAT has no good cause for arresting people that have in their private homes what entheogenic substance they choose to comfort themselves with while living in the grace of God.
This home owner, father and grandfather was simply trying to protect his family! And the ethics of a "Surpise" attack upon a Citizen of the United States is a direct violation of our right to privacy as well as our right to be secure in our possessions.
Unfortunatly, our government has as of yet come to the rational awareness of comfort that Cannabis does provide, and for some cause the government has not come to recognize that those who do smoke herbs (gen 1:29) are normally Peace loving, patriotic baring souls of God hoping to keep their comforts not upon destructive substances such as alcohol and tobacco!
We have to create ministries that teach officer's how to uphold the rights of us who partake by legal right, in the use of cannabis. The officer's must have a conscience to want to do the right thing! They are the line between us who love God and partake in His sacrament (exodus 30:23) and those who have usurped the authority given us in the 1st Amendment and the Religious Freedom and Restoration Act of '97!
We must show everyone that the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were written on the founding anointing of our God (Hemp), and that our own misleadings have stolen our fruits of God from us by the unlawful arrests that are being made daily, for our seeking to accept the comfort of our Gods anointing, "Kaneh Bosm"!
Keshet Israel
The THUGS are still at it.
SWAT teams are just another way for the resident thugs in any community to get their rocks off. Their weapons are just an extension of their dicks or really a substitute for their dicks.
They act on erroneous information without checking to see how much, if any, of the information is true.
When the get a "go" for a raid, they're all so ready to go that they don't care whether their information is bogus or not. They are sooo ready that they probably have an ejaculation in anticipation of their proposed "forceful; entry" and a chance to kill someone or maim them for life. They are trained (?) to react but it appears that everything is just a knee jerk reaction because they're really a bunch of misanthropes who do not care whom or what they hurt or destroy.
They go into a situation hoping they will have a confrontation so they can hurt someone.
Why use a SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) to bust a small time pot dealer who is harming no one. What a waste of time, equipment and manpower for such a petty and victimless crime.
ALL SWAT team,s should be disbanded if they're going to use then for such purposes.
This id NOT an isolated instance but rather has become the rule
In reply to The THUGS are still at it. by Anonymous (not verified)
SWAT team?
I saw no mention of a SWAT team in the article...
OUTRAGEOUS CRIME
THE LAW AGAINST MARIJUANA IS IMMORAL IN PRINCIPLE AND UNWORKABLE IN PRACTICE.
Using SWAT-attacks (pretending) to 'enforce' such a 'law' is --in my humble but well considered opinion-- an OUTRAGEOUS CRIME, an indicator of a fascist(oid) tyranny, and a shame for the land of the (once) free.
with heartfelt condolences to all victims of, and best wishes for all who fight against such crimes.
77-Year-Old Killed in Marijuana Raid / Police Forfeiture Next?
I wonder if the cops will forfeit the elderly mother's house because her 51-year old son is alleged to have had marijuana?
Increasing these cop raids are mirroring the SS Storm Troopers in Nazi Germany that would crash into private homes on a snitchâs word in hopes of making arrests or seizing property. I believe the wind is changing. Americans have hadnât with the Drug-War, Corrupt Copsâtheir lying-informants that cause Citizens to lose their quality of life!
You know these have gone to hell when millions of Citizens fear the police they pay to protect them.
The Obscenity Of No-Knock Warrants
Yet another innocent victim of no-knock warrants and the drug war. Will it never end?
In reply to The Obscenity Of No-Knock Warrants by Anonymous (not verified)
No-Knock?
Where did you get the idea that there was a no-knock warrant?
Fucking home invaders...
Everyone should be reminded that an auto 12 gauge makes the best weapon for home defense... coupled with a 20 rd drum-mag... alternating between slug and shot.
Additionally the 7.62 M-14 , not the smaller 5.56 M-16, makes a great hunting rifle with through-the-wall stopping power.
RIP Gramps
B.S. Home invaders, regardless of costume or pretense, should be treated just like they treat us... they should be 'killed or incarcerated by christian compassion'!
In reply to Fucking home invaders... by Anonymous (not verified)
????
Thanks for suggesting that people shoot police officers - which would certainly get them killed as a result...
Baldwin County
Making Alec proud.
let me say it again
They're not waging war on drugs.......they're waging war on us. That is why it MUST STOP and it doesn't matter what it takes to stop it.
Rusty
Let's get real
Nothing in the article says it was a SWAT raid. Nothing in the article says that it was a no-knock warrant.
The police had a warrant and they say they knocked and announced themselves. Family members don't deny it. A man came out of a room with a gun in hand, he didn't drop it when ordered to do so, and then shot a police officer. At that point, how were the officers to respond but to shoot back?
There are many cases of police misbehavior relating to drug raids. This does not seem to be one of them. They apparently obeyed all of the rules, including firing in self-defense. You can argue that drug laws are unfair and that the police shouldn't have been there in the first place. I don't see how you can argue that they didn't perform according to standard operating procedures.
In reply to Let's get real by Anonymous (not verified)
standard home invasion procedures
All I suppose that other home invaders have to do now is shout "POLICE" as they break down the front door.
These magic words will render the inhabitants completely defenseless.
There needs to be a complete re-thinking of NO KNOCK. We should return to the days of a polite knock on the door and respectfully producing a warrant.
If some drugs get flushed down the toilet and evidence is destroyed it is certainly far better that than anyone losing their life because they have watched too many COPS episodes.
The Rise & Fall of the Empire
Any society that makes Patricide legal has fallen. So much for respecting elders...
SWAT Warrant
The article does not mention SWAT but the tactics are the same. As for the warrant, well we have the cops who say they had a warrant. I'm surprised they bothered to get one, it's not like they really need one and it wouldn't be the first time.
May 21, 2003 --
If I had owned a gun on that day, I would most certainly be dead. And I most certainly would have taken at least one of the sons of bitches who broke into my home at 6:00 a.m. whooping and screaming like a bunch of kids on holiday with me. Let me tell you, there have been many many times since that day that I've wished with all my heart that I had owned a gun.
Every drug raid is a terrorist attack. Whether you live or die, your life is forfeit.
A few years ago the roommate of a friend of mine was arrested on murder charges. The police KNOCKED on the door and WAITED to be let into the home. They had a LEGAL (as in constutitutional) search warrant, stating exactly WHAT they were looking for (the murder weapon) and WHERE they would be looking (in the suspect's room). Having arrested and searched, the police LEFT, NOT having harrassed or threatened anyone else in the house; NO furniture was overturned, NO holes punched in walls, NO children taken to foster care.
It's only drug raids where they "knock" with a battering ram and "announce" by screaming like banshees. That way, the neighbors, if necessary, will testify that THEY heard the word "police', while inside, all you hear is your door breaking, your dogs barking and your children crying.
Judge Wilters in Baldwin County, Alabama
Hears all drug cases and Michael Woods will be standing in front of this man who sentenced the Green Earth Ministers to an Alabama prison. Those Universal Orthodox missionaries stood before Judge Wilters and testified that the Second Coming is in the understanding of the genuine truths of the Word that Jesus is the Anointed with marijuana. Also, they testified that all Christians are required to be anointed with marjujana just like Jesus and that marijuana cures cancer.
These missionaries also made the record complete with all evidence for a Motion to Dismiss Hearing from the documents on the www.brothersformercy.com website by going around their attorneys. (They had already entered pleas and could not utilize the Demand for Bill of Particulars program) The Alabama Bar attorneys that were appointed to sell them out argued that they were 'practicing religion'. Judge Wilters ruled they don't have the right to practice the Christian religion in Alabama.
Later, it was learned that Judge Wilters is a Baptist lay preacher. And that means dear reader the judge that will be hearing this case practices Divine Law without a license(teaching the Word without having been ordained). There is a saying is LA (lower alabama) that goes like this. "I came to the Gulf Coast on vacation and left on probation."
In Jesus Anointed (with marijuana) who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
SWAT
A couple of weeks ago I watched the local TV news show a piece about how they had "embedded" a reporter as he went along with the Eau Claire SWAT team on a drug raid. They spent quite a bit of time explaining how these drug dealers were "suspected" of dealing Heroin. They put alot of emphasis on how dangerous these people were, suspected of being highly weaponized and how dangerous it was for the officers involved. Then the news showed the before dawn raid as it raced through the streets of Eau Claire, WI on their heavily armored SWAT vehicle, as the officers looked like they were about to take on al-Qaeda or something. There must have been at least a dozen officers. They pulled up at a duplex and proceeded to start off by setting off a concussion grenade behind the duplex. This made the next door neighbor couple and their daughter sit up, startled by the sound, and wonder what the explosion was. I suppose that was somewhat terrifying for them as the Police broke down their next door neighbors door. They entered the side of the duplex yelling and screaming and proceeded to arrest the three young guys that lived there, while they trashed the place in their search. What did they find? Perhaps a quarter ounce of pot, a derringer and two bullets for it. Sum total. I almost fell off the couch, laughing. Unfortunately, it was a very sad moment for Amerika too.
Abuse of Alabama Cops
Hope this doesn't come up twice. My first missive dropped off the screen before I finished. I said...
Let me remind folks that the cops in Atlanta who killed the 80?90?yo woman in a similar raid were convicted and jailed. So it does happen. (Yeah I know, a country-club jail? suspended sentences? etc? I don't know.)
What's the old saying: "If the robbers don't get you, the cops will."
When is the U.S Justice Dept going to clamp down on cops-gone-wild?
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