SWAT Team Kills Mayor's Dogs in Botched Drug Raid
The mayor of Berwyn Heights, MD is the latest botched drug raid victim:
Nothing about this guy says "drug dealer," and while anything is possible, I think the most likely explanation is that the package was meant to be intercepted by its intended recipient prior to ending up in the possession of the mayor. A neighbor or someone at the post office was probably keeping an eye out for it, which seems not to have occurred to police.
Since this happened in the D.C. area, I got to hear callers discuss the incident on a popular NPR call-in show. It was frustrating to hear multiple people complain that this should have been dealt with more delicately because the suspect was the mayor. It's bullshit. Almost any drug raid can be handled better than this, regardless of who the suspect is. You can't flush 32 pounds of marijuana down the toilet. There was no risk of flight or destruction of evidence and no reason why a simple knock on the door wouldn't have sufficed.
This is big news in Washington, D.C. today. Everyone seems to be very shocked by what has taken place, except for those of us who've been following the drug war and know that this type of thing (hell, this exact thing) happens to innocent people and their pets all over the country all the time. Ladies and gentlemen of the nation's capital, welcome to the war on drugs.
A police SWAT team raided the home of the mayor in the Prince George's County town of Berwyn Heights on Tuesday, shooting and killing his two dogs, after he brought in a 32-pound package of marijuana that had been delivered to his doorstep, police said.
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"My government blew through my doors and killed my dogs," Calvo said. "They thought we were drug dealers, and we were treated as such. I don't think they really ever considered that we weren't." [Washington Post]
Nothing about this guy says "drug dealer," and while anything is possible, I think the most likely explanation is that the package was meant to be intercepted by its intended recipient prior to ending up in the possession of the mayor. A neighbor or someone at the post office was probably keeping an eye out for it, which seems not to have occurred to police.
Since this happened in the D.C. area, I got to hear callers discuss the incident on a popular NPR call-in show. It was frustrating to hear multiple people complain that this should have been dealt with more delicately because the suspect was the mayor. It's bullshit. Almost any drug raid can be handled better than this, regardless of who the suspect is. You can't flush 32 pounds of marijuana down the toilet. There was no risk of flight or destruction of evidence and no reason why a simple knock on the door wouldn't have sufficed.
This is big news in Washington, D.C. today. Everyone seems to be very shocked by what has taken place, except for those of us who've been following the drug war and know that this type of thing (hell, this exact thing) happens to innocent people and their pets all over the country all the time. Ladies and gentlemen of the nation's capital, welcome to the war on drugs.
Looking for the easiest way to join the anti-drug war movement? You've found it!
No surprise to me.
Why isn't it obvious to the government that the "Drug War" on citizens is a failed policy? If only they would get this aggressive about securing our borders, inspecting cargo at our ports, alternative energy, healthcare, education, and doing background checks on people coming into this country. Our government really needs a priority check and the entire country could use a reality check..
I agree 100% the police
I agree 100% the police today a nothing but a gang of lying
thugs. and always arrest the wrong people.
this was a set up from the begining! what are cops doing delivering drugs to houses? nice to see are tax money at work
down with all these cops who where there and KILLed the dogs they all need to be thrown in jail !
There are scores of criminal whores in all wars!
Sounds like standard operating procedure to me!
Home invading criminals, regardless of costume or pretense, intent on violating our rights, liberties, and freedoms, and, god forbid, shoots and/or kills a member of my family... my dog included... will get a cheer, not a tear, from me if they get killed during their next home invasion!
SWAT raids, for those unfamiliar with the tactic, are supposed to provide the best protection to both the occupant(s) and the policing agent(s). The tactic requires a Nazi 'blitz' like raid, when everyone is sleeping peacefully to have the maximum 'shocked shitless' effect, which makes controling the situation and thus the safety of all parties involved easier. That's the working theory anyway.
But, that theory has as many bullet holes in it as the drug war has whores... no that's probably not possible... there are scores of whores in all wars!
Killing the dogs first is standard operating procedure
They do this even if the dogs do not threaten them in any way. The reason is psychological. It shocks and frightens the target(s) of the raid and makes them more readily compliant - at least in theory.
Every drug raid
IS A TERRORIST ATTACK
Ridiculous
If someone kills my dog I will become the terrorist. Especially if I have done nothing wrong. Authorites have their thumbs up their asses. Invest in catching Bin Laden,illegal aliens, rapists and murders. God forbid a 40yr old wants to smoke a joint instead of downing a 6 pack on a Friday night.
swat team home invasion
Citizens, we better pay attetion as this is where this country is headed. We are fast becoming a police state. This government is out of control. It will only get worse.
I knew it...
...killing the dogs... that does it ... people won't stand for it ... the drug war is coming to an end. Then people, will stop being killed too...right? When will police act humanely?
yes........killiing the beloved dogs/ children
The dogs were Cheye and Trinity's children. The Mother-in-law's grandchildren........that was their kids !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So??????????/. who pays for this crime on animal cruelty and the hurt and suffering for Cheye and Trinity?
Trin and Cheye and the Mother in Law are not even a suspect....................but the dogs are dead and the family has and will suffer so much trauma for this stupid / outrageous act from our government.
What the hell are we about????? Where is the USA????????
It really makes me sick that my father fought his heart (purple) and soul to make this country proud to live in.
I hate what has become of our country......what ass said the stupid comment about the dogs being black? Karma just wait....
And now Blackwater is involved with DEA raids
The LA Times covered the July 31st Culver City Medical Marijuana raid, with a photo of a Blackwater operative with a huge semi-automatic side-arm strapped to his thigh. Curiously, the next day, the photo disappeared from the news article. However, you can still see it here:http://digg.com/politics/Photo_of_Blackwater_paramilitary_used_in_California_DEA_raid
Not sure which is the bigger story, that the DEA uses paramilitary, like war-crime-stained Blackwater against US citizens, or that the LA Times is trying to bury that information.
I hope the fact that this guy is a clean cut mayor from Berwyn Heights, wakes a few more people up, namely our "asleep at the wheels" legislators.
it may have been the delivery man
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/08/01/ST20080801...
"In February, for instance, Dunn Loring resident Sid Phillips said his 76-year-old neighbor opened a UPS package left on his porch and discovered marijuana packed in vacuum-sealed pouches inside.
Phillips said the neighbor called him for advice, and the two of them reported the discovery to police. Officers swarmed the house and collected the drugs without incident. The package, Phillips said, had been sent from Arizona, just like the box delivered this week to Calvo in Maryland.
"If the same thing happened to this mayor, I would totally sympathize," Phillips said.
actually the police brought the marijuana to the house
Actually it's even worse -- the police delivered the marijuana to the home. They intercepted it in Arizona after a drug dog singled it out, then flew it out. It was police disguised as postal workers who delivered to box the porch of the home.
Then they hid and waited, for hours, until someone move the box inside of the house, then sprang into action. This means that they had literally all day -- more than a day, in fact -- to think of some different way of searching the house that didn't involve fatal use of force.
David Borden, Executive Director
StoptheDrugWar.org: the Drug Reform Coordination Network
Washington, DC
http://stopthedrugwar.org
cops dealing drugs . thanks
cops dealing drugs . thanks assholes nice to see you earning your pay checks.
cowards with guns and badges
Clearly, there were animals in the house that posed a danger to humans, and should have been put down. It wasn't the dogs.
Where is ronnie white when you need him ?
please refrain from comments like these
People, please refrain from making comments on our message boards that could be used to make our organization and our entire movement look bad. I'm angry about this too -- in fact I'm leaving for a protest of the killings in about 30 minutes -- but publicly dreaming about killings of police officers doesn't help us.
As for Ronnie White, part of the travesty is that we don't actually know if he was the guilty party or not, because he was killed before ever getting to have a trial. However, another black mark against the Prince Georges County criminal justice system.
David Borden, Executive Director
StoptheDrugWar.org: the Drug Reform Coordination Network
Washington, DC
http://stopthedrugwar.org
re: please refrain from comments like these
Sorry, I got a little emotional.
Feel free to remove that comment, I don't want to cause harm here.
no problem
No problem, since it's anonymous I think I'll leave them with my reply. Your indignation is righteous indignation.
- Dave
David Borden, Executive Director
StoptheDrugWar.org: the Drug Reform Coordination Network
Washington, DC
http://stopthedrugwar.org
Publicly dreaming and
indignation... The Washington Post has about a zillion posted reader commentaries about the" SWAT the dogs " issue. Not one, thinks the situation righteous. Many commenters are "dreaming",nodoubt.Most are compassionately indignant. Maybe the dogs died a bad death for a good cause...the END of the stupid WAR ON DRUGS.
let them know it's wrong
Sgt Mario Ellis can be reached at (240) 508-7638. I called to ask for the name of the shooter, and was told this guy is the department's spokesman. Several attempts to contact yielded only voicemail.
Dog Killers and Cowards
I also live in a community where the sheriff's office acts as if it is above the law.
In fact, my parents who are in their 70's were raided by a swat team with drug dogs at least five times in short order. Evidently, the sheriff's office just could not believe that the meth dealer they arrested had given them bad information--or maybe the dealer was telling them what they wanted to hear.
In other words, there could have been some jealously involved. In his younger days, my dad was locally, and nationally well known as a drug-free bodybuilder and Olympic-style weightlifter. Less accomplished people have been slandering my family for as long as I can remember.
Besides sports, my dad and I have our own ideas about politics and social justice.
Nether my dad nor I have ever backed down from our beliefs, and in a mining town, that can be a problem.
Moreover, whether the cops are acting out of corruption, or jealousy, or politics, they have to be spineless bullies to wait until a man gets old to mess with him. Also, what kind of man shoots a dog in the back? Labs, are wonderful pets. What a shame it is to murder them in their own home.
Where I live--near a meth house, one cannot really keep a dog in the yard. The tweakers will throw things at him and drive him crazy, then the cops will tell you to get rid of your dog. (I think an angry narc who tried to climb my fence poisoned one of my dogs. They would be the only ones with dogs--or guns for that matter.
I guess if these guys had any real courage, they would work at real job, like shift-work in the mines, instead of acting like corrupt meth dealers and lackeys for the powerful.
I have plenty of more stories--all of them disgusting
Bob.
anthony diotaiuto
he was killed by the swats in sunrise, florida. Some judge recently ruled that you cannot sue the city, they're not responsible. Will be interesting to see what happens in this case in Maryland. Apparently, Anthony had a gun permit, thats why they sent the swats; to this date not a word from the NRA, who silenced them??? Are the animal rights activists getting involved, or will they be silenced?????
It's official
sheriff jackson released the results of his professional and unbiased investigation into the shooting of the dogs, and it only took 40 days. In his rush to serve the citizens of the county in a timely manner, he streamlined the investigation by not wasting time unneccessarily interviewing any of the actual victims. He was able to get all the facts from "the guys". He was able to sum the results up with the following quote:
......."the guys did what they were supposed to do"........
I guess now that she's shown her stuff, Kim is considered one of the "guys". I sure hope everything turned out OK for her dog at the vet. I gathered it must have been something serious, since she had to make the appointment during the heat of the raid.
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