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Deputy Adam Sowders was killed during a no-knock raid on someone suspected of growing marijuana. A grand jury refused to indict the killer, Hank McGee on Murder charges. But still faces other charges. You'd think they could have got McGee on manslaughter if nothing else. This happened back in December, so some may have heard about it already, I just found out about it.
http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews...-knock-warrant
It seems that too many of these no-knock warrants end in needless deaths. From raiding the wrong house, to homeowner thinking they're victims of a home invasion and grabbing a weapon to investigate and being gunned down. I can see no-knocks being used in narcotics cases, where the evidence could be flushed down a toilet or hidden real well, or the dealer is more likely to want to shoot it out, but I thought a marijuana grow operation required a fancy lighting system, plus the plants can't be flushed or hidden. And I doubt someone growing a few plants is going to want to get in a shoot out, not like in California and places where they have big fields of it planted with armed guards watching it. It seems to me they could have got a normal warrant, and picked McGee up when he left the house for something. Then went in and got the evidence.
I'm not trying to defend McGee in any way, just saying a good Deputy would be alive today if they'd done things different. I just don't like to see cops or innocent (and even some that are not innocent) people die. Particularly on the word of some informant that may have an agenda of his own.
And now some home invaders are dressing up like cops, and announcing a no-knock raid to gain entry, which is really spooky, as now people don't know if it's really cops or not. And if you wake up in the middle of the night and hear people in your house, most of us will reach for a firearm at which point you most likely get shot, without a warning to "Freeze" or "Drop the gun". (That is just going by what I've read on other cases I've read about or hear of from TV and radio)
I wish they would cut back on this no-knock business, and save it for the big narcotics dealers that are more likely to want to shoot it out, or flush the evidence down the toilet. And certainly not for growing marijuana, which is legal in some state, decriminalized in others with evidence that would seem to be very hard to hide or dispose of, and certainly not as harmful as meth, cocaine, and opiates.
I'd sure like to hear what the jury has to say about not indicting McGee on the murder charge, or at least manslaughter, or do they get a choice? Usually cop killers are treated very harshly, as they should be.
I know we have some LEOs on the forum, I'm hoping they can clear up this no-knock warrant thing, for me and anyone else curious about it. All I have to go one is what I read or see on TV, or hear on the radio, and most of that is slanted one way or the other. Some folks say it's just an excuse to get the SWAT team out and go play army, and make a show of force, but those are mostly left wing anti-authority types, and some Alex Jones type people on the radio. I did notice that the number of these raids has increased from around 3000 the year it was made legal, to over 50,000 last year. I think that is in the article at the link above. Why has the number increased so much? Is it because Law Enforcement has a new tool at their disposal, and want to try it out? Does it increase prosecution rates in proportion to the rate the raids have increased? Does it make a raid less dangerous? I'm just curious, and also feel a bit like this is something you would expect in 3rd world countries, or dictatorships. And not somewhere the 4th amendment used to protect us from such actions. Today it's drugs, it could be illegal semi-automatic weapons in the near future, if the Bloombergs and Coumos of the country have any say in it. They may already have plans to start doing that, looking for weapons or mags that hold more than 7 bullets. It probably already includes weapons capable of full auto fire. I wonder if someone hears you shooting with one of those bumpfire devices, or the little crank things that pull the trigger 3 or 4 times every revolution, maybe they call in a hot tip you have a machine gun and a SWAT teams shows up in the middle of the night.
I'm trying to piss off LEO's or anything, just concerned about all the deaths associated with the no-knock raids. I feel pretty bad about Deputy Sowders, and his murderer not facing ANY charges in his death. That could end up being a bad deal for LEO's if people get to thinking they can open fire on them and then say they didn't know they were Law Enforcement. Or saying they thought they were home invaders masquerading as cops. I think a dangerous job might have become a little more dangerous. Be Careful out there.
http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews...-knock-warrant
It seems that too many of these no-knock warrants end in needless deaths. From raiding the wrong house, to homeowner thinking they're victims of a home invasion and grabbing a weapon to investigate and being gunned down. I can see no-knocks being used in narcotics cases, where the evidence could be flushed down a toilet or hidden real well, or the dealer is more likely to want to shoot it out, but I thought a marijuana grow operation required a fancy lighting system, plus the plants can't be flushed or hidden. And I doubt someone growing a few plants is going to want to get in a shoot out, not like in California and places where they have big fields of it planted with armed guards watching it. It seems to me they could have got a normal warrant, and picked McGee up when he left the house for something. Then went in and got the evidence.
I'm not trying to defend McGee in any way, just saying a good Deputy would be alive today if they'd done things different. I just don't like to see cops or innocent (and even some that are not innocent) people die. Particularly on the word of some informant that may have an agenda of his own.
And now some home invaders are dressing up like cops, and announcing a no-knock raid to gain entry, which is really spooky, as now people don't know if it's really cops or not. And if you wake up in the middle of the night and hear people in your house, most of us will reach for a firearm at which point you most likely get shot, without a warning to "Freeze" or "Drop the gun". (That is just going by what I've read on other cases I've read about or hear of from TV and radio)
I wish they would cut back on this no-knock business, and save it for the big narcotics dealers that are more likely to want to shoot it out, or flush the evidence down the toilet. And certainly not for growing marijuana, which is legal in some state, decriminalized in others with evidence that would seem to be very hard to hide or dispose of, and certainly not as harmful as meth, cocaine, and opiates.
I'd sure like to hear what the jury has to say about not indicting McGee on the murder charge, or at least manslaughter, or do they get a choice? Usually cop killers are treated very harshly, as they should be.
I know we have some LEOs on the forum, I'm hoping they can clear up this no-knock warrant thing, for me and anyone else curious about it. All I have to go one is what I read or see on TV, or hear on the radio, and most of that is slanted one way or the other. Some folks say it's just an excuse to get the SWAT team out and go play army, and make a show of force, but those are mostly left wing anti-authority types, and some Alex Jones type people on the radio. I did notice that the number of these raids has increased from around 3000 the year it was made legal, to over 50,000 last year. I think that is in the article at the link above. Why has the number increased so much? Is it because Law Enforcement has a new tool at their disposal, and want to try it out? Does it increase prosecution rates in proportion to the rate the raids have increased? Does it make a raid less dangerous? I'm just curious, and also feel a bit like this is something you would expect in 3rd world countries, or dictatorships. And not somewhere the 4th amendment used to protect us from such actions. Today it's drugs, it could be illegal semi-automatic weapons in the near future, if the Bloombergs and Coumos of the country have any say in it. They may already have plans to start doing that, looking for weapons or mags that hold more than 7 bullets. It probably already includes weapons capable of full auto fire. I wonder if someone hears you shooting with one of those bumpfire devices, or the little crank things that pull the trigger 3 or 4 times every revolution, maybe they call in a hot tip you have a machine gun and a SWAT teams shows up in the middle of the night.
I'm trying to piss off LEO's or anything, just concerned about all the deaths associated with the no-knock raids. I feel pretty bad about Deputy Sowders, and his murderer not facing ANY charges in his death. That could end up being a bad deal for LEO's if people get to thinking they can open fire on them and then say they didn't know they were Law Enforcement. Or saying they thought they were home invaders masquerading as cops. I think a dangerous job might have become a little more dangerous. Be Careful out there.
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