When a mother of three was killed during a drug raid, the offending officer isn't charged and there's no outcry from the media. In this case, when it's the officer who suffers the consequences of these no-knock raids, the homeowner has the book thrown at him. One gets the feeling that when law enforcement kills someone who is target of a drug raid, they are expendable. Executing these no-knock search warrants appear to law enforcement a license to kill. There has to be some elected official to rein in this ubiquitous use of excessive force and give some protect to a homeowner when their door is broken down in these raids. Fortunately, this suspect has good legal representation. That's rare in these cases.

Most people own guns to protect themselves against intruders. When somebody kicks in your door in the middle of the night un invited, they are an intruder.  I would like to see people shoot first when intruders kick in their door. Maybe law enforcement will get the idea that breaking into a persons home un invited will get them killed. I don`t want to see ANYBODY get killed over drugs but this needless killing innocent people needs to stop one way or the other.

I did a quick little search for "Adam Sowders" on Google just out of curiosity to see how the media outlets would headline this story and paint their own picture of it. Funny how all of them took roughly the same tone with near total consideration for the sheriff as a victim, but none for the family that was terrorized in the middle of the night by a gang who came to their house with weapons, knocking their doors down, all while concealing their identity.

What reasonably sane person wouldn't think that they're suddenly being invaded and attacked by night prowlers who conduct themselves this way? Why wouldn't your first reaction be to do anything and everything to protect yourself and your family from the intruders?

I'd like to think that their justice department would be smart enough to see how unreasonable and ridiculous it is to serve no-knock raids based on suspicion of marijuana plants, but I don't think they have that capacity.

You can bet your bottom dollar that I would be voting for Henry Magee to be found innocent of ANY wrong-doing.   The Sheriff's personal estate and each of the leo's involved in this debacle needs to pay Magee for emotional pain and suffering by setting up this scenario whereby Magee was put in a position of having to take another life in order to defend his own and the surviving involved leo's need to serve time for attempted murder.

There is absolutely zero reason for the homeowner to be charged with capital murder. If someone violently breaks into your home you should be able to defend your life with violent force. There's no way to expect the homeowner to know that the invaders are cops. These idiot cops need to go back to the days where they knocked on the door and waited for someone to open it.

Same thing happened several years ago in San Marcos.  Cops come in,  5 am,  Rusty was sleeping, his girlfriend beside him.  When the door burst open, it was dark. The IMMEDIATELY shot his dog.  Rusty went for his gun with no idea of who was breaking in.  They shot him dead!   and  THEY FOUND NO DRUGS!

WTG AZZHOLES!  

When will we understand  that it is  US AGAINST THEM!!   

There is NO "justice system"  in America,  only a "Legal system".

A  system bent on making it harder and harder for the "average" person to live,  creating a "slave market"  for the rich folks.    With McWalmart wages  and benefits.  Keep them down and they will be easier to control. 

at what point when you break into a mans house do the cops start yelling its po po we have a warrant? was that mans life worth couple pot plants...this is why they need to announce thems selves ! i understand why they have no knock warrents but once your in the house and you see people thats when you yell po po we got a warrant get down  this cop enter the mans bedroom and got killed cause he dident yell po po cops are wrong on this one for sure they dont want me on jury...its sad day in  the usa.

when stuff like this happens

Announcing themselves isn't good enough, in my opinion. There's too many things that can still go wrong. The residents could still be asleep and not hear anyone yelling. I know I've slept through all kinds of loud noises which I only knew about because they would wake my wife up, but not me. Even if everyone in the residence woke up, it's likely that they're too disoriented to realize what's happening, so they might grab guns to protect themselves, only to end up shot or as in this case, a cop gets killed.

No-knock raids are just a bad idea, most likely cooked up by law enforcement agencies who wanted to continue to get as much federal funding as possible by spending more and more money on military grade equipment and more and more raids, all while lining their own pockets, no doubt.

I'm siding with the homeowner whether he had plants and legal guns anyhow. Under the same circumstances I think anyone else would have reacted the same. What does our Constitution and Bill of rights say about illegal searches?? This cop got what he deserved. Knock, present your warrant, let the accused read it, wait for accused person's lawyer to show up, then come in if it's a legal search.

I would have done the same thing, except I would've got them all.

what asshat police dept would put their officers in such a position?  of course people are going to defend themselves when their house is broken into..how do they know it is police?  what a stupid, stupid thing to do.  i feel bad for the officer killed but i feel just as bad for the people that killed him and now are charged for doing nothing more than anyone would do.  

The reason these No-Knock warrants are "NEW" is because they are illegal.  The problem is we fools have put idiot in power that THINK we expect them to stop and control free will.  That is not what this country was founded on and that is not what the constitution allows. The 4th amendment literally says, "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

No REASONABLE person would interpret that to mean the police can upon submission of a warrant burst through the door in the middle of the night without announcing themselves.

These fools think they are playing a video game and they are somehow going to win.  There is no war here to win, this is simply part of the process of law, do not allow them to scare you into believing these actions are necessary. 

They take advantage of the judges that grant these warrants based LITERALLY on lies and emotive language to enhance what they can do, because there is no repercussion, normally. 

The death of officers IS A FORESEEABLE consequence and frankly if I was on the jury based on this article, I would not find the man guilty of any crime.

I  would rather a criminal go free and never be found than a single innocent person be abused, threatened or violated in the process of investigation the crime--even if the crime was against me.  If they police are allowed to be thugs, then where do we draw the line?  Threats for theft?  Bruises for assaults? Broken bones for murders?

There is no gray area here, either the actions are legal and constitutional or they are not.

It is NOT CONSTITUTIONAL to burst in a door, because you "BELIEVE" that someone committed a crime because you were able to convince Joe Blow to swear to it.

There have to be consequences to heavy handed government actions,  because if they can do it to someone--THEY CAN DO IT TO ANYONE AND YOU ARE ANYONE!!!

So, please, support your police in their duty to act legally.

But DO NOT SUPPORT ILLEGAL ACTIONS DONE IN YOUR NAME TO PROTECT YOU, because SOMEDAY they act in your neighbor's name and burst in your door!

.Why a no knock raid for plants?They're notoriously hard to dispose of,as are weapons.If they'd just knocked,everyone would be alive and well.This is clearly the fault of bad planning or no plan at all.It could be blamed on the way drug raids are routinely carried out in the USA today.Heavily armed men in body armor who get all pumped up on adrenaline and then smash down the door while everyone yells at the same time.Often,both doors are hit at the same time,adding to the confusion.

Next time send the dumb A$$ that came up with this no knock rule or idea.What were they Thinking?

Why are they treating that marijuana report as a major drug raid. the report was a few plants growing. It wasn't a  field, and who cares anyways. While everyone is responsible for their own decisions that officer paid for his poor decision, and for the people that get shot during these raids. The only one's who deserve it are the ones kicking in doors. I would expect the same treatment if i went around kicking in doors. Which i why i do not. I like living my life. And by the way in indiana It is legal to shoot an officer that comes in with no warrant. It isnt simple enough to just shout out "__blank___ city police!" because criminals can do that to. And all it takes is a second of distraction and its too late. The man was right to shoot first, especially in the dark with his pregnant wife in the house. Realistically, what would it have hurt to yell through the door about being an officer with a warrant. could he really flush the plants down a toilet. Could he incinerate them that fast, or swallow them. Even if he tried to burn them quickly there would be remains. That officer was not thinking. It wasn't heroin or meth or something that could easily be flushed which is the whole reason behind these warrants. They serve as a tool to get in quickly before the drugs/evidence can be destroyed. It is a dangerous game. and when innocent people are killed, It is a travesty. They should never had allowed a warrant like this to be served for a couple pot plants, and illegal guns. these items would not be easily destroyed. They could have came with a normal warrant and no one would be dead. They would have the evidence they were looking for, and he would have a misdemeanor instead of all this B/S.