Louisville SWAT Team Looking for Pot Needlessly Terrorizes Family

[Helena]

A Louisville, Kentucky, SWAT team looking for marijuana broke into a home and terrorized the family living there, based on claims police easily could have debunked if they had been doing their jobs properly, according to a lawsuit filed last week. The cops "continued to detain Plaintiffs, with rifles drawn on them, even after it became clear that the Residence was a family household—not a drug dealer's lair," the complaint says.

Ashlea Burr and Mario Daugherty say more than a dozen SWAT officers stormed into their home without warning on the morning of October 26, 2018, breaking the front door, setting off "exploding devices" (presumably flashbang grenades), and shouting commands while threatening them and their three teenaged children with "assault rifles." The family initially thought they were being robbed, and one of the children, a 13-year-old girl identified as "Z.S." in the lawsuit, "ran through the back door and into the yard in an effort to reach her grandmother's house next door." The cops sprang into action:

Officers drew their assault rifles on her, yelling commands at her to get on the ground….Z.S. was extremely frightened, began crying and submitted [by kneeling on] the ground. It was cold and rainy, and Z.S. was not wearing any socks, shoes or a jacket. She repeatedly requested to be taken to her grandmother's next door, but the Officers refused the requests, kept her in the cold, wet conditions, and kept their rifles on her.

The girl can be heard sobbing in a video of the raid's aftermath. "Hold on, hon, we're almost done, OK?" says one of the officers. "We'll get you back inside. You're not hurt, right? You're just scared? I'm sorry."

Burr and Daugherty's lawyer, Josh Rose, says police initially denied they had any video of the raid. After he pointed out that the SWAT officers were required to wear body cameras, he says, the Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) released a highly expurgated copy of the footage.

More at Link - https://reason.com/2019/11/01/louisv...tectives-nose/

[The Xl]

Why is it that only civil and never criminal charges are filed in instances like this? This is criminal.

[Helena]

I don't know.. something probably to do with qualified immunity.

[The Xl]

I don't know.. something probably to do with qualified immunity.

Yeah. "Justice," I suppose

[Standing Wolf]

This kind of ludicrously militarized "law enforcement" is driven largely by the cowardice of those involved. The current philosophy of "go home safely after your shift, even if you have to terrorize, brutalize or even shoot any number of innocent civilians in the course of your day" has got to stop.

[Just AnotherPerson]

That's too sad. Thank God they didnt shoot that little girl. This isnt right. Arent they even human beings? How can they do that and be so cold to that little girl? You would think once they realize it was a child, they would at least grab her a blanket and tell her everything was going to be ok. This is so so sad. They treated her like she didnt even matter cold and sobbing. This is heartbreaking.

[The Xl]

This kind of ludicrously militarized "law enforcement" is driven largely by the cowardice of those involved. The current philosophy of "go home safely after your shift, even if you have to terrorize, brutalize or even shoot any number of innocent civilians in the course of your day" has got to stop.

While this is true, it's on the government, the higher ups in law enforcement, and the courts to bring them to justice. And they unfortunately do not. I fail to see the difference between the acts of civilian criminals, who usually go to jail for the transgressions, and the criminal acts of these government agents. We have basically created a caste system where different sets of laws and rules are applied to people based on their job, wealth, if they're a member of the state or not, etc. I don't really see how this sort of system is acceptable, fair, or just. And the members of the state that enable these sorts of acts are accomplices who are just as guilty. We literally have criminals overseeing the law and justice. A perversion of what justice is supposed to be.

[Crepitus]

A Louisville, Kentucky, SWAT team looking for marijuana broke into a home and terrorized the family living there, based on claims police easily could have debunked if they had been doing their jobs properly, according to a lawsuit filed last week. The cops "continued to detain Plaintiffs, with rifles drawn on them, even after it became clear that the Residence was a family household—not a drug dealer's lair," the complaint says.

Ashlea Burr and Mario Daugherty say more than a dozen SWAT officers stormed into their home without warning on the morning of October 26, 2018, breaking the front door, setting off "exploding devices" (presumably flashbang grenades), and shouting commands while threatening them and their three teenaged children with "assault rifles." The family initially thought they were being robbed, and one of the children, a 13-year-old girl identified as "Z.S." in the lawsuit, "ran through the back door and into the yard in an effort to reach her grandmother's house next door." The cops sprang into action:

Officers drew their assault rifles on her, yelling commands at her to get on the ground….Z.S. was extremely frightened, began crying and submitted [by kneeling on] the ground. It was cold and rainy, and Z.S. was not wearing any socks, shoes or a jacket. She repeatedly requested to be taken to her grandmother's next door, but the Officers refused the requests, kept her in the cold, wet conditions, and kept their rifles on her.

The girl can be heard sobbing in a video of the raid's aftermath. "Hold on, hon, we're almost done, OK?" says one of the officers. "We'll get you back inside. You're not hurt, right? You're just scared? I'm sorry."

Burr and Daugherty's lawyer, Josh Rose, says police initially denied they had any video of the raid. After he pointed out that the SWAT officers were required to wear body cameras, he says, the Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) released a highly expurgated copy of the footage.

More at Link - https://reason.com/2019/11/01/louisv...tectives-nose/

Remote them all to desk jobs or parking wardens.

[Peter1469]

If that happened here, cops would die. If they didn't stand down, I would die.

2nd Amendment is here for a reason.

We need to demilitarize our police forces.

[Standing Wolf]

One mindset common among some older folks is that the police are always on the right side of things, and that anyone who opposes them, almost regardless of the circumstances, is in the wrong and probably a criminal or a Communist. Yeah, I too grew up watching 'Dragnet' and 'Adam-12', and even older cop shows in re-runs, wherein Joe Friday or Pete Malloy were these squeaky clean, virtuous, by the book characters, and I've known police officers in real life who were almost like that...but I've had enough experience in the real world, directly and via the news, not to be too surprised when cops are the bad guys. My personal philosophy with regard to police officers is similar to my philosophy about members of the Armed Forces: I'm going to assume that they are the good guys right up to the point where they prove to be otherwise. When and if they do that, by all means hang them high as an example to the others. I think Joe Friday would approve.